‘Ugly’ phone boxes that blight UK streets should be removed, says thinktank
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/19/ugly-phone-boxes-blight-uk-streets-should-be-removed-thinktank
Posted by F0urLeafCl0ver
‘Ugly’ phone boxes that blight UK streets should be removed, says thinktank
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/19/ugly-phone-boxes-blight-uk-streets-should-be-removed-thinktank
Posted by F0urLeafCl0ver
19 Comments
I agree with this idea, hopefully some of the phone boxes removed could be replaced with urinals to tackle the issue of public urination.
[Interesting long read](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/apr/28/last-phone-boxes-bt-payphones-uk) about the UK’s last remaining phone boxes.
In that case, so should ugly people. It’s only fair. Phone Box Lives Matter.
Payphones are a key resource for people who do not have a cellphone.
Considering they already have power and phone lines maybe make them into a public WiFi hub built into something pleasing to the eye.
Why is it that a think-tank saying something is considered news
Ok. They are widely useless nowadays, anyway. Wasted space.
Replace them with rubbish bins. Make it easier on you dirty dirty people to keep the streets clean.
Is there a practical reason beyond ugliness? Is this thinktank just old ladies discussing what’s nice and what’s not nice?
The phone box outside mine in use all the time.
Pretty sure smoking crack is not the intended purpose though…
Or just repurpose them, plenty have been turned into defib stations etc.
The one outside my office in Luton is used as a urinal, drug consumption area and on one occasion an area for the fingering of a person’s bum
What about the multiple telegraph poles now littering every street, thanks to IX wireless throwing poles up everywhere in an attempt to get faster broadband rolled out? Now we have dual infrastructure and street furniture littering the pavements and it looks like a complete dogs dinner. All for WiFi to the home which runs significantly slower than FTTP.
Boo no. I like them, I think they’re iconic. Especially the ones in rural areas.
We must defend the great british right to piss in disused phone boxes………we shall fight them on the beaches…..
I would turn them into one-stop mobile care centres.
Chargers for all current types of connector. Wifi. Perhaps even a public calling app that acts pretty much exactly how a landline used to. You scan a QR into your phone, and can then make a free call over the WiFi (almost like WhatsApp, but for people who don’t have it) to a landline/mobile number.
Oh, and a chair.
Full report available on the [Createstreets website](https://www.createstreets.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/BoxBlight_final-1.pdf).
But where are the junkies going to shoot up if they’re removed? This is discrimination!
They’re free use already, just not maintained very well. Someone mentioned the Australian method (free wifi, USB charging) and I 100% think that should be looked into over here
Less of an eyesore then ugly glass bricks that keep replacing nice looking buildings