h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As a Swindon resident of some 24 years (most of which made some kind of sense at the time) I do get tired of people perpetually making unkind remarks about it. And yet I have to admit that some of these remarks are actually valid.

The big problem is that the town is growing so quickly that there just isn't a sense of community about the place. It had the fortune or misfortune to be expanded during the Thatcher/Major years of the 80s and 90s and a lot of the expansion seems to be influenced by that ethos. There's plenty of money around, but it seems to have taken Maggie's words to heart about there being no such thing as society, only individuals and families (apologies for any misquote). If you look at the outlying villages, (eg Wroughton, Wootton Bassett) they have a much better community spirit.

It also suffers from being the housing dumping ground of Wiltshire - the county has a structure plan that dictates it must build x thousand houses, so it puts the majority of them in and around Swindon because all the rural parts of the county shout "not in my back yard" and because it has low unemployment levels. This attracts more employers, more people end up moving to the town against their will, it get worse and the cycle continues.

It's a town of contradictions: Plenty of money in people's pockets, but I don't enjoy shopping in the town centre. Lots of amateur dramatics groups, but nearly impossible to publicise and fill a hall for a performance.