| Ipswich losing out on city of culture 08:44 - Oct 22 with 6166 views | Mullet |
https://www.ipswich.co.uk/ipsw
Given the club are now in the Prem (for however long that might be) how do you locals feel about missing out? It’s a great way to boost the coffers and local economy and seems a bitter blow for the town and Suffolk generally.
Ashton being praised and then blamed here doesn’t reflect well either does it? |  |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 11:15 - Oct 23 with 630 views | MattinLondon |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 10:56 - Oct 23 by TownieRob |
You are correct that crime figures for Ipswich are lower than Norwich, but Norwich is well above the national average itself, so that’s not really saying much.
I just had a look and Ipswich’s violence and sexual offences rate has been around 20% above the UK average pretty much every month from January last year through to February this year. So, I can definitely see why people feel the way they do. [Post edited 23 Oct 10:58]
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Can you please share that link? |  | | |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 11:19 - Oct 23 with 627 views | Dubtractor |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 11:15 - Oct 23 by MattinLondon |
Can you please share that link? |
I've just found this, from Suffolk Police. Suggests that most crime (apart from shoplifting) is down.
https://www.suffolk.police.uk/ [Post edited 23 Oct 11:25]
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 11:55 - Oct 23 with 547 views | MattinLondon |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 11:19 - Oct 23 by Dubtractor |
I've just found this, from Suffolk Police. Suggests that most crime (apart from shoplifting) is down.
https://www.suffolk.police.uk/ [Post edited 23 Oct 11:25]
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Thanks for this - I was more intrigued that the poster mentioned that violent crime is 20% higher in Ipswich than the national average (albeit not from feb 26). [Post edited 23 Oct 11:57]
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 12:13 - Oct 23 with 529 views | TownieRob |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 11:55 - Oct 23 by MattinLondon |
Thanks for this - I was more intrigued that the poster mentioned that violent crime is 20% higher in Ipswich than the national average (albeit not from feb 26). [Post edited 23 Oct 11:57]
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Hi Matt, I’ve used scos.co.uk, which gets its figures fro: police.uk, the ONS and the Home Office: https://scos.co.uk/crime-rate/ - apologies I dont know how to hyperlink it.
If you click through the monthly pages, violence and sexual offences were above the UK average in every month I looked at from January 2025 to February 2026, mostly around 19–24%, and 38% above in February this year. February’s the latest I could find.
I get that people want data and trends, and that is fair enough, but how a place feels counts for something too. It’s funny how vibes and feels are fine on here when trying to portray somewhere as safe, but not when someone says they don’t feel safe in town. |  | | |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 12:22 - Oct 23 with 504 views | Dubtractor |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 12:13 - Oct 23 by TownieRob |
Hi Matt, I’ve used scos.co.uk, which gets its figures fro: police.uk, the ONS and the Home Office: https://scos.co.uk/crime-rate/ - apologies I dont know how to hyperlink it.
If you click through the monthly pages, violence and sexual offences were above the UK average in every month I looked at from January 2025 to February 2026, mostly around 19–24%, and 38% above in February this year. February’s the latest I could find.
I get that people want data and trends, and that is fair enough, but how a place feels counts for something too. It’s funny how vibes and feels are fine on here when trying to portray somewhere as safe, but not when someone says they don’t feel safe in town. |
I do get the 'vibes' thing, genuinely, but there is also an element of unconscious bias (EDI alert!) that then comes into play. How you feel does matter, absolutely, but equally I think it is important to acknowledge that those feelings may not be borne out by the reality.
I'd be lying if I said that I've never had nervous thoughts when passing a group of people (I have unconscious bias too), but the number of times those nervous thoughts have proved valid is zero. In fact the only time I've ever had aggro in Ipswich has been pissed up white lads desperate to demonstrate their alpha male status. | |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 12:28 - Oct 23 with 484 views | StokieBlue |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 11:19 - Oct 23 by Dubtractor |
I've just found this, from Suffolk Police. Suggests that most crime (apart from shoplifting) is down.
https://www.suffolk.police.uk/ [Post edited 23 Oct 11:25]
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Same link as I posted earlier.
I wonder if Benters will also give you a down arrow for posting it.
SB |  |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 12:33 - Oct 23 with 469 views | TownieRob |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 12:22 - Oct 23 by Dubtractor |
I do get the 'vibes' thing, genuinely, but there is also an element of unconscious bias (EDI alert!) that then comes into play. How you feel does matter, absolutely, but equally I think it is important to acknowledge that those feelings may not be borne out by the reality.
I'd be lying if I said that I've never had nervous thoughts when passing a group of people (I have unconscious bias too), but the number of times those nervous thoughts have proved valid is zero. In fact the only time I've ever had aggro in Ipswich has been pissed up white lads desperate to demonstrate their alpha male status. |
Fair point, and I agree feelings aren’t always borne out. For what it’s worth, I never said anything about who the groups were. It’s the loitering and the behaviour that bothers my wife and daughter, whoever it is. Your p*ssed-up lads would count just as much, but they’re never in town late enough in the evening to come across them anyway. It’s during the day and early evening that they feel uneasy.
Ultimately the data does show violence running above the national average, so it’s not as if the unease comes from nowhere, but I take your point that it doesn’t mean every group is a threat. | | | |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 13:34 - Oct 23 with 413 views | Broadbent23 |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 18:04 - Oct 22 by urbanpenguin |
As someone who lives in this world and writes about culture, and has visited various UK and European Cities of Culture for writing reasons, I wouldn't be too upset.
I'm very opposed to these City and Town of Culture competitions. They very, very rarely lead to any culture of note and instead kind of find a safe mulch that ticks political boxes rather than anything progressive or meaningfully cultural.
The arts and humanities are struggling in this country because of governmental strategies. This is crazy for an industry that brings in over £12bn a year. Like most industries, but more than most, that money does not trickle down to actual practitioners, makers, or communities.
I see the Culture competitions as a barrier to meaningful local culture and investment in culture. It's impossible to judge Eg Sheffield against Ipswich, they are both incredibly different places and both would benefit from cultural investment. To turn it into a neoliberal competition makes a joke of culture, locality, and how politics should give oversight to such things.
It is the case that most places that lose these competitions go on to claim that they all benefit anyway through bringing people together, self recognition, and idea development. I'm sure Ipswich will say the same and I hope that the council and other local stakeholders - the club included - now properly support culture rather than see it as an exercise in decoration, publicity, or placemaking competition. [Post edited 22 Oct 19:31]
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My view is most Towns and Cities over the years have deteriorated because Superstores were built on the outskirts of the main shopping areas with free parking hence the footfall started to diminish in Towns like Ipswich. The demise of Debenhams, Coop and now T G Jones (ex WH Smiths) the go to shops is another kick in the teeth for Town planning. How many barbers, Vape shops etc does a Town need. The building of modern structures in a Town like Ipswich were not planned properly, thus a historic town looking mismatched in places. Whilst buildings like The White Horse (in renovation as I write) , The Ancient House and others were forgotten about whilst a variety of other shops were allowed to trade in different parts in the centre of Ipswich making the Town a place to avoid. The idea of segregated trades/shops in a Town gives a community feel . The Westfield at Stratford although indoors gives the feel of a High street. But with the current level of high prices Ipswich won't change maybe apart from our football team with a new stand in the next decade | |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 13:59 - Oct 23 with 392 views | Slambo |
I get extremely frustrated by these negative perceptions of Ipswich, and particularly from people who don't live here and just pop in every once in awhile.
It has so much going for it: abundance of bars, cafes and restaurants, a huge cultural offering (more independent arts councils than both Norwich and Cambridge, by the way), a huge array of accessible green spaces, a rich history and heritage and beautiful buildings and architecture to show this. The only thing it should have a better offering of is bricks and mortar retail (like that's the be all and end all of a good town centre), but even then it's deficiencies here are massively exaggerated. There are still plenty of interesting, quirky independent shops if you just bother to look.
The main issue is that Ipswich just doesn't seem to have that self-confidence - although I feel like I hear it being championed more than in the past. Let me illustrate this with an anecdote: an old mate of mine was a serial gigger- several times a week he'd be off to Cambridge, Norwich or London to see gigs. When the Brighten The Corners lot started taking off I said to him, must be exciting now having decent live music on your doorstep and he pulled a face and went 'yeah, but...it's Ipswich'. Like we're not allowed to have nice things. I tell my missus to check out Threads, or Uniform Research or that framing gallery opposite the Regent that's not branching out into fashion. She hums and hahs, then just buys all her clothes online or arranges a shopping trip to Norwich.
Other thing worth flagging up is how everyone is quick to leap onto the IBC, but England is one of the most centralised countries in Europe. Local councils have been so denuded of power and funding for so long, that there's only so much you can do. IBC does not control business rates, for example. The elephant in the room is the internet. Until there is a national strategy to make it cheaper and easier to buy stuff physically than online, we're going to struggle to get retailers to set up physical shops. |  |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:06 - Oct 23 with 375 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 12:22 - Oct 23 by Dubtractor |
I do get the 'vibes' thing, genuinely, but there is also an element of unconscious bias (EDI alert!) that then comes into play. How you feel does matter, absolutely, but equally I think it is important to acknowledge that those feelings may not be borne out by the reality.
I'd be lying if I said that I've never had nervous thoughts when passing a group of people (I have unconscious bias too), but the number of times those nervous thoughts have proved valid is zero. In fact the only time I've ever had aggro in Ipswich has been pissed up white lads desperate to demonstrate their alpha male status. |
It's a totally different threat for men though. I would imagine you probably don't walk past groups of men leering at you and/or making inappropriate sexual comments. That's not a crime and won't be reflected in any crime statistics but nonetheless it makes women feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
I'd imagine most people don't really care about the raw crime statistics, they judge how safe they feel from their own experiences. As such, I can't say I (or probably most of my male friends) feel more or less safe than I ever have done. But if you asked my fiancee, step-daughter and any of their friends you would get a different answer. That comes from somewhere. And it isn't unconscious bias. | | | |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:14 - Oct 23 with 359 views | Mullet |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:06 - Oct 23 by tractorboy1978 |
It's a totally different threat for men though. I would imagine you probably don't walk past groups of men leering at you and/or making inappropriate sexual comments. That's not a crime and won't be reflected in any crime statistics but nonetheless it makes women feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
I'd imagine most people don't really care about the raw crime statistics, they judge how safe they feel from their own experiences. As such, I can't say I (or probably most of my male friends) feel more or less safe than I ever have done. But if you asked my fiancee, step-daughter and any of their friends you would get a different answer. That comes from somewhere. And it isn't unconscious bias. |
I bet he does! | |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:16 - Oct 23 with 354 views | sibrespace |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 12:13 - Oct 23 by TownieRob |
Hi Matt, I’ve used scos.co.uk, which gets its figures fro: police.uk, the ONS and the Home Office: https://scos.co.uk/crime-rate/ - apologies I dont know how to hyperlink it.
If you click through the monthly pages, violence and sexual offences were above the UK average in every month I looked at from January 2025 to February 2026, mostly around 19–24%, and 38% above in February this year. February’s the latest I could find.
I get that people want data and trends, and that is fair enough, but how a place feels counts for something too. It’s funny how vibes and feels are fine on here when trying to portray somewhere as safe, but not when someone says they don’t feel safe in town. |
I get slightly different comparison numbers.
England & Wales: 32 offences per 1,000 population
Ipswich: 38 per 1,000
and for context:
Birmingham: 52 per 1,000
East Suffolk: 24 per 1,000
Similar sized places:
Gloucester: 50 per 1,000
Lincoln: 49
Norwich: 45
Exeter: 42
Bearing in mind that Ipswich is completely urban v England and Wales being a mix of urban and rural, Ipswich is about average, and could be argued to be slightly better than average.
That shouldn’t for a minute detract from people’s perception of safety, which isn’t helped by more empty shops and less footfall. Even though the underlying causes are national as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, the solutions need to be urgently found locally to improve the perception of our town by visitors and residents alike. | | | |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:18 - Oct 23 with 351 views | Mullet |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 13:59 - Oct 23 by Slambo |
I get extremely frustrated by these negative perceptions of Ipswich, and particularly from people who don't live here and just pop in every once in awhile.
It has so much going for it: abundance of bars, cafes and restaurants, a huge cultural offering (more independent arts councils than both Norwich and Cambridge, by the way), a huge array of accessible green spaces, a rich history and heritage and beautiful buildings and architecture to show this. The only thing it should have a better offering of is bricks and mortar retail (like that's the be all and end all of a good town centre), but even then it's deficiencies here are massively exaggerated. There are still plenty of interesting, quirky independent shops if you just bother to look.
The main issue is that Ipswich just doesn't seem to have that self-confidence - although I feel like I hear it being championed more than in the past. Let me illustrate this with an anecdote: an old mate of mine was a serial gigger- several times a week he'd be off to Cambridge, Norwich or London to see gigs. When the Brighten The Corners lot started taking off I said to him, must be exciting now having decent live music on your doorstep and he pulled a face and went 'yeah, but...it's Ipswich'. Like we're not allowed to have nice things. I tell my missus to check out Threads, or Uniform Research or that framing gallery opposite the Regent that's not branching out into fashion. She hums and hahs, then just buys all her clothes online or arranges a shopping trip to Norwich.
Other thing worth flagging up is how everyone is quick to leap onto the IBC, but England is one of the most centralised countries in Europe. Local councils have been so denuded of power and funding for so long, that there's only so much you can do. IBC does not control business rates, for example. The elephant in the room is the internet. Until there is a national strategy to make it cheaper and easier to buy stuff physically than online, we're going to struggle to get retailers to set up physical shops. |
Norwich has had since I was a youth a strong core of middle class ex-students who settle there, raise families there etc and that makes a difference to the demand for certain things and the investment too.
It also makes a difference to property prices and areas.
One thing Burnham is being derided for is devolution but it would make a huge difference to what you're saying. The problem is getting in people who are interested in doing right for Ipswich and Suffolk and not their party etc. | |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:46 - Oct 23 with 318 views | bournemouthblue |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 10:58 - Oct 22 by Bluespeed225 |
joined up thinking up there, for roads, funding for public projects, music, arts etc, inspired in large part by having the Uni . The Uni Ipswich, I have read, turned down in the 60's? |
Is Norwich a Unitary Authority or a Two Tier system like in Ipswich
A lot of Ipswich problems stem from having Suffolk County Council and satelite councils like Babergh and East Suffolk screwing it over |  |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:55 - Oct 23 with 304 views | bournemouthblue |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 12:05 - Oct 22 by SomethingBlue |
Your second and third pars really don't chime with me, I think it's probably yet another case of bad actors on social media spreading fear. |
I am very much of the view that perception and reality are two very different things and there are clearly bad actors who deliberate agitate this view often from outside the town who are not connected to it, for whatever purposes or agendas they have
I thinking there's a working class attitude from locals also which have less positive outlooks than equivalment middle class places tend to have
It's fashionable to talk down Ipswich for some and they ultimately end up with the place that that negativity breeds | |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:55 - Oct 23 with 304 views | Slambo |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:46 - Oct 23 by bournemouthblue |
Is Norwich a Unitary Authority or a Two Tier system like in Ipswich
A lot of Ipswich problems stem from having Suffolk County Council and satelite councils like Babergh and East Suffolk screwing it over |
This times a thousand. | |
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| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 15:47 - Oct 23 with 245 views | mellowblue |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 14:48 - Oct 22 by Dubtractor |
100% agree. |
I see a lot of posts blaming councils under-funding. The other side of that coin is councils
trying to take too much out of town/city centres with excessive business rates and car park charging. | | | |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 19:37 - Oct 23 with 173 views | bournemouthblue |
| Ipswich losing out on city of culture on 15:47 - Oct 23 by mellowblue |
I see a lot of posts blaming councils under-funding. The other side of that coin is councils
trying to take too much out of town/city centres with excessive business rates and car park charging. |
Local Councils don't set business rates, that's a national thing something I know that doesn't make a lot of sense | |
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