Yeah, the grass surrounds do become gathering spots sometimes. Normally in the summer it's pretty chill and you can crash out there with ya mrs. Not too bad. Not a great place for all tourists, but for foreign tourists who want to take in the architecture and aren't looking for too much to do, it must be quite nice.
It's quite a good deal living here because we're close to a few other bigger cities, so we get the quieter lower crime city with lots of stuff to do 20-30 mins drive away. It's a far cry from living in Bournemouth where I lost 1 car stereo per year and was always a few streets away from a random murder.
I might get a trail bike and then I'll be sorted.
Edit: Not that bmouth is a particularly crappy place. It's quite cool actually, just in comparison it's harsher.