Charleroi in all its Glory

Charleroi was famously voted as the ugliest city in the World by the 'de Volkskrant' Dutch newspaper in 2008. I had been to Charleroi twice before (first for work and secondly to visit the brilliant Museo de la Fotografía de Charleroi (museum of photography). Apart from the industrial scene you see when arriving on the train from Brussels, I had little first-hand experience of the accolade this town has been crowned with.
I got a chance to visit Charleroi again for work and, unlike my colleagues, chose not to commute from Brussels every day. Staying in Charleroi was frowned upon. But this advice came from people who had never set foot in the town and got their bias from rumour.
I stood up to the challenge and booked a 3 night stay and intended, outside of work time, to walk around the heart of the city and see if it warranted the ominous supplied by 'de Volkskrant'.
Yes, the place is run down. But some regeneration is taking place by the massive building works around Charleroi Sud station, Charles II Place and outside the Beaux Arts Museum (still closed). There is an open drug distribution problem. No one buys a ticket for the metro trains. Some streets reek of pee. I got approached by several unsavoury characters whilst just walking around, especially at the northern edge of the city centre. And I did feel threatened. And I witnessed two women in their 20s coming out of Primark and getting into an argument which developed into a full hair pulling, scratching, slapping each other with a brown paper Primark bag fight. And the list goes on……..
It has potential. Cleaning up the ne’er-do-wells from the town would be a start!
If ever I have an opportunity to work in Charleroi again…. I’ll look for an alternative location to stay. However, I would willing visit as a tourist (maybe one day after 10 years I may find the Beaux arts museum open!).
The backing track was developed using GarageBand loops - Dream State Synth, Ghost Harmonics Guitar, Golden Years Layers 02 and 01, and Evolving Space Bass.

[@121Jaykay]

Hi One has seen worse in the U.K.