frankj

I have lived in Lithgow some 17 years and back in 2000 it was a reasonable place but time has not been kind to the place. The problem is Lithgow is situated between the nice towns of Katoomba and Bathurst which has always left Lithgow as a nothing place. For instance it is definitely not friendly, the Housing Department are more and more dumping their problem tenants all around Lithgow including the housing commission complex on the other side of the highway. I have often heard it described as the biggest open prison in NSW. You will never EVER see the police unless they are picking up their dry-cleaning or buying a coffee. Just read the local paper for news on break-ins and drug problems. Anti-social behaviour is everywhere and you can certainly learn a few more swearwords just by hanging around Main Street. Real Estate prices are way up in the stratosphere. One person has been trying to sell a house on the outskirts of Lithgow for an obscene price - even cockroaches and rats would not live in it. There is nothing in the way of entertainment save the pubs and the "Workies" which is nothing more than an overpriced nonentity. People stare at you all the time which is the norm. Admittedly you have a train every two hours which is OK but they are filthy, the toilets are a disgrace and the City Rail staff very rarely come out of their office. A couple of years ago we had about 100 mm of snow fall and for hours Lithgow was cut off from the rest of the world = no gas, electricity, mobile phone, landline, trains, road transport and the local radio stations went off the air. The Council are hopeless. The roads and pavements are a disgrace yet they can afford $90,000 for halloween. There youhave it have the next time you take the train to Sydney don t come back