For this video, I went to the historic city of Oxford. Known for its prestigious University, the annual boat race, and, well, posh people, many don’t know about or get to see the rough side of Oxford.
I’m going to give you a tour of the 5 most deprived, dangerous, and worst places to live in Oxford with data from the Census, Police, and Oxford City Council.
I hope you enjoyed the video, if you have any suggestions for other cities I should explore in a similar fashion please leave a comment below, thanks!
#oxford #placestovisit #costofliving
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Chapters
00:00 – Intro to Oxford’s Worst Areas
00:24 – Blackbird Leys
04:42 – Littlemore
07:42 – Rose Hill
10:45 – Wood Farm
13:43 – Barton
All footage filmed by the UK Explored team and cannot be reused without permission.
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48 Comments
Appreciate the support as always guys and gals, feel free to leave a comment – I read all of them! – and have yourselves an awesome day, thanks for being here.
Even the worst bits didn't look nearly as bad as some other places you've covered. The house prices are crazy though. 300k+ to live in the worst parts of Oxford…
"Chillingworth Crescent"
Having lived in and around Oxford nearly all my life this is pretty spot on lol. Surprised you didn’t include Cowley, specifically templars square (hockmore tower and around the pound house/way flats) that area has certainly seen better days. Security door to the buildings has been broken for years and there is constantly drug addicts smoking/shooting up in the communal stairwell.
Nothing wrong with those areas, if fact really decent for social housing. I’d take one tomorrow to be able to live in Oxford..
Should checkout places like Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst, etc
As someone who lives near Oxford I would call it overrated. Expensive, crowded, major traffic issues caused by inept councils and some pretty dodgy areas to boot. If you want to live in the Oxford area the surrounding towns and villages are much nicer.
Doesnt matter where you live there is rubbish dumped for others to clear up and quite often its not the residents who put it there.I was born in Oxford and the people who nake thesevideos should be ashamed because they go to all of the put of the way little nooks and crannies to build up a worse idea than what the reality is.Most of the people who live in these areas are the salt of the earth but as with everywhere there are the bad apples and that includes the so called posh areas of Oxford like Summertown…..
You are so knowlegable about blakbird leys you cant even say it properly.
I'm telling you. Diversity isn't in fact a trength haha
As a local I must say these areas are like anywhere else, some bits nicer than others. At the end of the day, all 'social housing estates' highlight the various social problems that are borne from inequality.
Blackbird Leys developed a poor reputation primarily through problems with car thieves 'joy-riding' around the early 1990s. Yes, some people turned their noses up and confessed to never having set foot in the area, particularly those living in the most well-off parts of Oxford (North Oxford, outer villages).
Personally I have spent quite a bit of time there and find it ok, I think the people enjoy a better sense of community than many other parts of the city.
Well done for highlighting the true fact that even 'the city of the dreaming spires' has it's problems, huge inequalities and very 'normal' areas😊
Just a quick point though regarding the pronunciation of 'Leys', it is pronounced 'Lees' like the name 'Lee,' rather than 'Lays'. Hope that helps😊
Lived on the leys for years It's multi cultural and the people get on most of the time You seem to hear reggae blasting out loud In the summer months which is a pita The crime rate is not so high as years ago mainly the perpetrators either died or moved elsewhere The area been labour run for years so it won't get better The traffic calming routes have caused plenty of problems around by Cowley But public said no labour council did it anyway The crime will go up soon due to all new houses being built for the unchecked visitors on boats here No mention of this or the sexual crimes by them in our area Overall if you own your own house your lucky if not then what chance at those quotes
Are there gangs in Oxford?
Who’s that guy u put behind the blackbird leys sine
Ten migrants in a 3 bedroom house who provide cheap labour to the upper middle class in North Oxford and the Upper Middle classes sneer at these areas. .. they have to live somewhere. Landlords charge them extortionate rent per person. Wait till Labour start building houses in the green belts around Oxford to house more cheap labour. Then youll hear the moaning.
Oxford is run by a hard left wing dictatorship in the Councils – they are a mixture of Lab, Lib Dem & Green zealots who are further wrecking & gridlocking Oxford with failed mindless anti-motorist & anti-business road closure policies like LTNs.
Yes, never been anywhere that seems to have so many weirdos.
The dog poo bag pile phenomenon is not isolated to Rose Hill – I’ve seen the pile of dog poo bags dumped at stiles on tracks in the Peak District – some dog owners think that fairies ‘magic away’ their non-biodegradable, ‘biodegradable’ dog poo bags.
As long as Oxford City Council keep putting troublesome families in amongst the nice residents then these estates will always feel run down and crime ridden. If you put a rotten apple in a barrel of good onesm it still is a rotten apple which will spread to the others. Having worked in Oxford since the mid 1980s I would agree with your choice of locations although East Oxford is also interesting! Some of these estates in the last few years have totally changed in their demographic with many eastern european people taking over from the locals who had been there since the estates were new
Barton born and bred it's a shit hole but it's my shithole
My husband is oxonian and moved to devon and we visit oxford often and i know the rough areas but this shouldnt tarnish the beautiful city oxford is we are trying to move back
Umm excuse me i was brought up on a council estate and we are not criminals so dont tar everyone with the same brush although i am from devon
Rose Hill? Dangerous? You did call it that, before retracting that later in the video. I was brought up there, granted a long time ago now, but my sister has continued to live there, having bought her home which was once a council house, and lived there happily this past 70+ years. There's very little that's dangerous or actually deprived about Rose Hill and she is more than happy there, as are most people who choose to live there. I feel no sense of menace or experience any trouble there, when I visit which I do frequently. Most homes are now privately owned. Blackbird Leys has had a more chequered past, but is well through its most anti-social period. It's so easy to take footage of the worst of a place and to trot out statistics and opinions to back that up. And regarding your crusade to 'call it out' in the hopes of improving the state of anywhere, that's rather naive! The need for all people to be housed outweighs any other consideration, and never, ever, forget the huge power engendered in Local Authorities. Do you honestly think they would be influenced by the opinion of a few random YouTubers? They have massive power to push through any plan they wish and aren't out to listen to the public, whether that be you or anyone else. And it's a well known saying that 'You can prove anything with statistics' and I find that to be true. What resources are Local Authorities misusing? Strange comment given how Local Authorities are struggling to keep themselves afloat. No-one wants a slum but no-one wants to pay more council tax! I also see as you slag off Littlemore while showing footage of some very respectable houses. I think you must 'gross out' quite easily and the proper course of action when finding a treasure trove of s*^t is to take the time to report it, not video it and present it as another excuse for downgrading an area.
I grew up in littlemore and b b leys this video had a lot of truth but the footage is clearly carefully selected why not show the areas the residents av bought their homes and have a lot of pride in them
Another clown who spent 5 minutes walking around a city and claims to know about it!
I lived in Windrush tower block, about 35 yrs ago, long story cut short. Floor 11 with 2 children, 1 was 10 months & the other was 3 yrs old, lift kept breaking down so that was no fun with the kids, but still loved it as it was my safe home from my abusive husband at the time, I used the flat & my brother used my house, I live in Barton & it was a lovely place about 35 yrs ago, looking at it now I'm so happy I moved to Wales yeah had my ups & downs but happy, now with him gone for good I moved & now live happily in South Wales on my own as all my kids are grown up with their families, I still love & miss Oxford as I was from Iffley Road area. Watching this video has opened my eyes as I keep saying I would love to go back to Oxford to live but no not now. Thank you for opening my eyes.
This is totally false! There are worse places in Oxford. I have lived here for 30 years and you have scoured the estate to find the most run down bits. Try Rosehill and Barton, Blackbird Leys is not all bad!
It’s Blackbird Leys not Lays the way you’re pronouncing it!
i have lived on every estate in this video growing up .rose hill was and still is the best place i have lived (40+ years) the council has thrown a lot of money at all the estates mentioned except for Rose Hill i think this is the forgotten estate and a pity you did not come into the estate and not mainly the lower end
I can't stand dog owners.
We need an national education service and a national care service so local authorities can concentrate on highways, waste and recycling, libraries, housing, parks and leisure centres. Two thirds of their budget is taken up with schools and social services as that is statutory..
A lot of this is down to bad housing and estate design. Near me is a small estate with two and three storey low rise blocks of flats scattered about. But the public can walk between the blocks of flats. Each block of flats needs its own enclosed garden not be sited on an open green space. The front doors should be facing the road not the back for better access for deliveries.
Who do you think you are I lived in Oxford over 40 yrs on blackbird leys over 30 yrs no different to any other place I lived loads of areas whiles growing up you showing where they building so what they trying to better our area this estate not that bad hardly no trouble just normal daily arguments as yo6 do in any area they getting ride the run down areas hence the boarded up areas as they building on them areas so get it all right before talking about it
Oh plus the toys & outside people's gardens are for other people to take try thinking hardship people we as a estate try to help each other by putting stuff outside the gardens or on our walls for people to survive as a community being nice to each other so get the facts right before recording estates & running them down
Council estates
The littlemore rosehill tunnel with painting on it it was project for the tunnel to look good they great painting keeps thr young people other streets to paint show their talent so don't run things down yo6 know nothing about
Plus is it that bad on blackbird leys the pub closed down after covid as lost to much money when covid hit ant & deck went there so it's that bad famous ppl went to that pud don't think them 2 go there if the estate is that bad
Couldn't get past you constantly calling it Blackbirds Lays instead of Blackbird Leys. Ley or Lea means field by the way. Common to call estates like this after something bucolic like a farm or whatever.
I grew up in that tower block in woodfarm it’s not that bad
Forgot about Cowley (where a lot of the nonces hung out). Also some estates in Bicester and Abingdon are complete holes.
https://youtu.be/LprsWWSDOgU?si=M3aDOf9iCHeX0FAv …little taste of BLACKBIRD LEYS in the 90s
Most off this mess is down to the council, so what is anyone doing about it
I’ve lived in Blackbird leys all my life and it’s only dangerous if you involve yourself in dangerous things. The isn’t as much crime as people make out and Most of the crime that happens there is between people who have problems with eachother. I personally feel safe in Blackbird leys. I agree that people should look after their assets better and be cleaner but the video does not do the nice parts justice as it focuses repeatedly on the bad things (which I understand, is the aim of the video).
I’d say you pretty much hit the nail on the head with this
It is pronounced BLackbird Lees not Blackbird Lays
Love the videos. Coventry was probably my favourite. Suggest you come to London or try some of the suburbs eg Croydon or Watford
Littlemore, Littlemore,
me and you will settle a score,
written for Eternity,
where will be my destiny!!!
You have wounded, you have cut,
you have hurt, you have shut!
Everything that I had,
in your place has been laid!!!
Barton, Barton, you as well,
carry a burden too heavy to tell,
the Almighty has seen it all,
to relieve us and settle the score!!!
And in secret goes the tale,
in mystery, secretly, and unveiled,
but the heart goes on endlessly,
until Peace will reign unceasingly!!!
God exists, He will hear,
what our heart holds most dear,
to bring the Longing of our heart,
to a Happy Ending without a doubt!!!
❤️ ✝️ 💙
You chat some cracks, you love the sound of your voice