The poorest towns in France

[NormanH]

This shows a list of the poorest towns, and while several are in the Industrial North there are a surprising number in the South

http://www.journaldunet.com/economie/magazine/les-villes-les-plus-pauvres/

One of effects of living in a poor town is that it can be very expensive!

In my town 'seuls 18 000 des 45 000 foyers fiscaux de la ville sont imposables. Et

pour l'immense majorité, le revenu fiscal de référence est inférieur à

10 000 euros'

That means of course that  the 18,000 have to pay for all the rest with a correspondingly higher Taxe d'Habitation.

We pay more than Paris..

See if anywhere near you is in the list.

[Chiefluvvie]

Nothing new there Norman ! Those who can pay, pay and those who can't don't - I'm used to it! A good reason for leaving....

Chiefluvvie

[Frecossais]

I was not too surprised to find a town near us on that list, Norman. Its industrial past is over and unemployment is at 15%.

However it's a pleasant town that's trying to re-invent itself as well as cherish its history.

[Pickles]

I presume that NH has seen this and the blog post to which it refers. The writer has picked Beziers because he evidently has ambitions to get himself elected, but there are other places that could be described in similar terms.  There are some unpleasant "home truths" there, but there is also something of a bias to his viewpoint.

[NormanH]

He wants to stand for Maire on the  same sort of dishonest far-right, but not openly FN basis as Collard.

It is true that one sees many North African and Gypsy families everywhere, but this wouldn't necessarily be a problem if the French bourgeoisie weren’t so paranoid about them.

Those of us who live in the centre have learned to take the rough with the smooth.

The rubbish and dilapidation I have spoken of in some posts can be balanced against the sort of restaurant I reviewed in another.

Many of the most difficult neighbours are in fact French, alcoholic or addicts in very poor quality accommodation owned by absentee landlords.

One little square near me is very pleasant because there is a good mix of owner occupiers and tenants.

Just nearby is another very run-down one where there are only studios occupied by 'cas sociaux' owned by a particular Rachman type French landlord.

In addition this doesn't help:

http://www.midilibre.fr/2012/09/04/ce-chomage-qui-n-en-finit-plus-de-monter,556974.php