We’re a bit tardy in reporting Scotland’s Carbuncle Award for most dismal town, but here it is anyway. Urban Realm magazine has named Linwood, just southwest of Glasgow, as the most dismal town in Scotland. The award was established in 2000 with the express intention of stimulating debate about the sorry state of so many of Scotland’s towns and cities

Beating out Nairn and Fort William this year for the title of “worst town”, Linwood was once the prosperous home of the famed Hillman Imp. Today, the Renfrewshire town’s center is in a shocking state of decay with little help on the horizon from the Scottish government. If we can go by previous winners of the Carbuncle Award, which include Glenrothes, Coatbridge and John O’Groats, Linwood has little hope for anything positive in the forseeable future.