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Leeds Live
National
Tianna Corbin

Locals defend Leeds' 'worst area to live' as they slam 'total nonsense' rankings

It seems that the locals who live in Garforth were not happy that a recent report showed that it's been ranked as one of the lowest rated places to live in its rankings of UK areas.

'Research' from Garrington Property Finders ranked different areas up and down the country based on their 'natural beauty, quality of life, architectural beauty, green ranking and price band'.

But Garforth failed to impress Garrington as it was shoved right down at the bottom coming in at 1,307 out of 1,372 - even lower than in 2021 when it was placed at 1,257.

Read more: Quaint Yorkshire village named one of the worst places to live in the UK

Looking at the data from Garringtons, it showed that the Leeds neighbourhood was scored 1,228 for its natural beauty, 1,200 for architectural beauty and 1,083 for quality of life.

Although it seems quite hard to work out how the rankings came about and many readers said the neighbourhood is pretty decent and has a lot to offer, especially for kids.

Many were outraged that it was dubbed one of the worst places in the UK to live and came to defend the area in the Facebook comments of our original article which you can see here.

What do you think of Garforth? Did this property ranking firm do the area down? Let us know in the comments below

Calling it a 'great place' to live, Chris Carter went on to list some of the reasons Garforth deserves a higher place on the ranking.

He said: "Lots of lovely shops you can get anything you need without going into Leeds. The staff in the shops are wonderful. We are pensioners and we love Garforth so lay off you that don't live there."

While some who don't even live in the area, such as Wayne Ranby, also took to the comments to defend it.

He commented: "I’ve never lived in Garforth but have worked there plenty of times. I get what the report says regards natural and architectural beauty, there’s not much green space and many of the buildings in the town centre have a 60’s design vibe. It does have a lot going for it though- it’s clean, nice shops, good pubs and friendly locals plus good links to the countryside. Deserves better than its ranking and is much nicer than many other towns around Leeds."

Branding the ranking 'total nonsense', Richard Hopps, who also stated he doesn't live in Garforth didn't agree with the placement.

He wrote: "Total nonsense. Train station with direct connection to Leeds, York, even Manchester Airport. Great road connections to M1 and M62. Nice countryside nearby, and relatively affordable to boot. I don't even live in Garforth and I know this is nonsense!"

Mandy Iddison added: "I’ve been to Garforth a few times and I think it’s not bad - certainly doesn’t deserve this statement."

While Helen McAllister argued: "What nonsense. Garforth is a brilliant place to live"

However, looking at the comments it looks as though there were a few people who had a different stance on the 1,307 placement.

Paul Chambers said: "Garforth is great, I lived there for 10yrs. Well, it's great if you can withstand all the 10 Bob millionaires who wander around with their noses pointing skyward. Apart from that its great."

Graham Morris joked: "It's that bad someone's even nicked the stripes from the zebra cross."

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