With beautiful countryside, cultural offering and its rich heritage it is hard to understand why Bolton has been included on the shortlist for the country's 'most depressing town' poll.
The poll has been created by iLiveHere, which complies lists of the worst and most depressing places in the UK, voted on by the public.
Their shortlist for the Most Depressing Towns in Britain 2024 includes Bolton, amongst 152 other towns nationwide.
But many proud Boltonians would disagree and say that there is much to celebrate.
Born-and-bred Boltonian, Cllr John Walsh said: "To be negative is the easiest thing in the world, people can always have a moan and never see the positives.
"We sit in a wonderful part of the country, with beautiful countryside within walking distance for some, or at least a bus ride for most people in the town.
"There is easy access on rail and road to Manchester and beyond, and north to the Lake District and wider countryside.
"We have fabulous history in our buildings, wonderful civic buildings such as the Town Hall and Le Mans Crescent, and hopefully we will be seeing regeneration of the town centre."
He added: "Going back to 200 years ago, people were living there, and we are returning to that.
"Culturally, we have not just got the Octagon but vibrant amateur theatrical groups and societies.
"I think, we should be proud, and our football team is doing extremely well!"
Cllr Walsh said: "In the sense that we have had too little regeneration for too long and too many derelict sites, and it has only started to happen in the last 18 months.
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"To see vacant sites is depressing, you can understand where people have that negativity.
"But I hope people will see the recent planning approvals and developments that have taken place. There are places like Logistics North, the announcement about MBDA expanding.
"Our location in terms of motorway networks for distribution, with all of those employment opportunities being highly important."
He added: "There has been a shift from town centre shopping to vibrant Middlebrook and out-of-town developments. People are shopping online more.
"If you go to other places there are boarded up shops. Bolton is not alone in that, and people who disparage the town do so with blinkers, they don't see the wider changing picture for the retail model.
"If we had this conversation 150 or 160 years ago, people would have been talking about the dreadful loss of green fields and orchards when the town hall was being built, something we now celebrate. Things change.
"We are where we are and we need to make the best of it, we should talk up, not talk down."
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