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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Stephen Topping

Three Greater Manchester boroughs named in 'worst places to live' list... here's why we agree

The people have spoken, apparently, and England's '50 worst places to live' in 2022 have been revealed.

Each year, the iLiveHere website runs a survey asking the public to dish the dirt on towns and cities across the country.

A total of 110,172 people responded for the 2022 survey - a record turnout according to the website - and the results are now available.

READ MORE: 11 picturesque villages in Cheshire that will make you yearn to live there this year

Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire claims the top spot this year, our dear neighbours in Liverpool sit fourth in the table, and the West Midlands town of Walsall is rather inexplicably named twice on the list.

Obviously, Manchester is nowhere to be found, but three Greater Manchester boroughs have been named among the '50 worst places to live' in England.

Rochdale is named in 16th place, Oldham comes in at number 13, and Bolton finishes sixth.

Here at the Manchester Evening News , we think it's easy to see why people might want to give these three boroughs a wide berth, so we've compiled a list showing the very worst bits of each one.

1. Starting with Rochdale - which is just a concrete jungle really

The sun rises over Hollingworth Lake in Rochdale (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

2. Seriously, it's so ugly

Healey Dell (Sandy Sharples)

3. Rochdale has no history

Excavation work at Town Hall Square (Manchester Evening News)

4. Nothing has ever been achieved here

The Rochdale pioneers who laid the foundations for the co-operative movement (Publicity image/Co-op Group)

5. If you're looking for entertainment in the borough, forget it

Kerry Katona gets into character at Middleton Arena (Eddie Garvey)

6. There's nothing to do in the town centre either

The new Rochdale Riverside development (© Alan Hamer)

7. It's quiet in Oldham too

8. Another borough hit by the ugly tree

Dovestone Reservoir (digihanger/ pixabay.com)

9. There's no charm or character here

The old Saddleworth Bank, behind Dobcross' monument to two popular medics (STEVE ALLEN)

10. Even the wildlife is trying to escape

Geese at Crime Lake, Daisy Nook (Paul Edwards / UGC MEN)

11. Oldham has never been particularly important

An old cotton mill in Oldham (Getty Images)

12. It's hard to find a decent pint

(Manchester Evening News)

13. While over in Bolton, you'd struggle to find something tasty to eat

Pasties at Bolton Market (Instagram @BoltonMarket)

14. Boltonians are famously dull folk

Peter Kay and Paddy McGuinness as Max and Paddy on Phoenix Nights (Channel 4)

15. The buildings are uninspiring too

Le Mans Crescent in Bolton (Dominic Salter)

16. There's never much happening in Bolton

17. It's dead at night too

Revellers queue outside The Bar, in Bolton (Phil Taylor)

18. You can see why Bolton is one of the 'worst' places to live

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