'Some people are miserable, but 70 per cent of them are alright' - Dudley reacts to being branded 'least happy' in the Black Country
Dudley came under fire last week after a study of 35,000 people by property firm Rightmove branded it the saddest town in the West Midlands and today, locals have had their say on the matter.
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In the study, residents expressed opinions on topics such as how proud they feeI about where they live, their sense of belonging, community spirit, whether they can be themselves, whether they can earn enough to live comfortably in their area, public transport, sports and recreation, green spaces and artistic and cultural activities.
A host of Black Country areas made the list, with Stourbridge taking the 8th spot, Walsall snagging 17th and Wolverhampton doing slightly better at number 14 - but it was Dudley that was hit the hardest, being slapped to the bottom of the list.
Seeing the news, residents and business owners in the town were quick to point out why the their beloved home was seen as so unhappy, but, were generally surprised to it being below Walsall and Wolverhampton.
The mood is pretty similar across the board on the ground, the people are great and the town has a lot of potential but the lack of investment and feelings of being unsafe were thrown out as the overriding reasons as to why people come to Dudley, but rarely return.
Two local businesses we spoke to had been broken into recently, a market trader said shoplifters are a huge problem in the town and even this years Christmas tree is leaving them feeling less than festive - but they wont be giving up on their town yet.
Speaking today, Dudley local Amandeep Singh, 26, who owns a gadget and vape shop in the town centre, said: "The result of the study surprises me, Dudley is good there are just a few people that can make it seem bad but there are more good than bad people here.
"What we need is more big companies here rather than them going to other Black Country areas, people would rather shop in other places but if we had more options they could instead shop in and support their town.
"It does not help that we have kids running around stabbing each other because it makes the place seem worse than it is, if they see an attack and the news goes viral then people see that and get put off from coming, but there are lots of good people here too.
