Birkenhead has gained a reputation as a rough area, and in recent years the level of crime centred in the town has done little to help that.
Last year violence and shootings, shook the town and reverberated throughout Merseyside. In December, Merseyside Police launched a crackdown on the Woodchurch Organised Crime Group, which they believe is connected to many of the shootings causing misery in the estate and throughout other areas of the town.
Aside from crime, years of deprivation and lack of funding have also had an impact, which seems to be the story all over Merseyside, and at times it seems the town is playing second fiddle to Liverpool in terms of development and regeneration.
READ MORE: Mum's 'Scouse Lion' so big people mistake it for a bear
When the ECHO went to Birkenhead to talk to people about its reputation, and their pride in the town, two younger men, Alfie and Adam, students at the Wirral Met College, spoke about the "sense of loss" they feel when thinking back to what the town was like when they were children.
Alfie told the ECHO: "We're here I guess, but I don't necessarily take pride in the town. It's changed since we've been younger.
"In the early 2010s it was really nice in the centre, but now we'd prefer to go over to Liverpool to do anything. There is a sense of loss in a way.
"But whatever is left, that's what we deal with really."
When asked if he thought the town had a negative reputation, he said it was "fair," citing the organised crime gangs believed to be operating out of the Woodchurch and Beechwood estates.
Despite some despondency, there is some sense of hope about the town. It could be the £4.5bn investment in Wirral Waters coming to parts of Seacombe and Birkenhead or the police crackdown on OCGs promising a better future for the town, but more likely it's from the resilience of the people living there.
Vicky Chadbourn, who runs The Bakehouse Wirral just off Hamilton Square, said: "No, I don't think it does deserve to have a bad reputation. There's definitely a bigger feel of community than there is danger.
"There's a whole support system for people who really struggle too.
"Around this part you get all walks of life. I moved away for 20 years."
Vicky was brought up on Laird Street. When asked why she returned to her hometown she said it was because of the people.
She added: "It just has a lovely feel. When I first moved back here I'd forgotten how everybody talks [to each other], I didn't get that elsewhere.
"The thing that drew me back is that people are so friendly. That's why I moved back, everyone will stop and chat."
One woman who knows a little about the Birkenhead's resilience is Amy Butterworth. Amy now runs Make It Happen, a charity and community hub based in Birkenhead that seeks to "help people help themselves," but at the start she came to the town without a home and in need of help herself.
Speaking with the ECHO alongside her colleague Anthony, Amy said: "This place I owe a lot to, and so does my passion to help people. We help them help themselves, and if you stay here for a whole day you'll see there's a real equilibrium of people helping each other."
Amy told the ECHO about her hope and belief the town will see better days, and said she believes the town goes through rough "cycles." She said: "Every ten years there seems to be a cycle.
"I would probably agree with those lads [Alfie and Adam]. The early 2010s was the time to be alive.
"That time there was a lot more activity, there was a lot more footfall of people.
"There's beginning to be that same feel again now. We're hopeful that we can get back there again."
Anthony added: "We're seeing that people realise they can survive when it's been really difficult and we've got that through collaboration and cooperation. There's a lot of work on community resilience going on."
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
READ MORE:
40 photos of life in 1950s Liverpool from the Adelphi to Blacklers
Sister's tribute to murdered man who told taxi driver he was in 'wrong place at the wrong time'
People with these surnames in Merseyside could be heirs to fortunes
Mum's 'Scouse Lion' so big people mistake it for a bear
A&E doctors: 'This isn't healthcare, it's a lottery whether you will survive'
