Petal. Sorry. I went to university about 17 years ago and it wasn't Middlesborough, it was in London, but quite a run down area. It didn't bother me too much at 17 though.
I live near middlesbrough and i really do think that channel 4's LLL concentrated on just the bad parts. Middlesbrough is like any other city centre but there are loads of nice areas in and around it. The people are friendly and best of all you can get a parmo!!!