Is Your City Centre

[nailedit]

Quieter than usual?
(Say, from a couple of years ago?)
My city centre's dead now.
Shops closing left, right.and centre!

Just curious as to how other cities are fairing?

[nailedit]

And why you think that is ????

[Atheist]

Cities are the devil's work. Ideal community is a couple of hundred people, so that everyone knows everyone else and everyone knows who's trustworthy and who's not. In cities everyone mistrusts and avoids eye-contact.
Town-centres is different. Towns are small enough to preserve human relationships.

[237SJ]

That's because lockdown changed peoples' habits. But it's all been worth it (apprently)

[Hazlinny]

My nearest city is Edinburgh - the well known Princes Street is now nothing like it was years ago - big Department stores disappearing, smaller individually owned shops all gone - quite sad but this also seems to be the way with many towns in the area.

[bednobs]

i dont have any cities nearby

[ZebuSanctuary]

The best way to kill a town centre is to pedestrianize it.

Not been in for years. However I am reliably informed it's just a string of charity shops, turf accountants and eateries.

[nailedit]

//The best way to kill a town centre is to pedestrianize it//
15 minute towns if anyone care to google it...
Oxford is the latest victim of this madness !

[nicebloke1]

2 reasons I believe, cost of Xmas and inflation.
There are only 3 shops that seem to still be doing well.B&M, ALDI and Primark.All 3 very busy.

[webbo3]

Bristol city centre is packed every night, all the pubs, restaurants and shops are full of people.

[237SJ]

Pedestrianisation didn't seem to hurt Kingston.

[jno]

Westminster refuse to pedestrianise Oxford St, preferring to kill people instead. Of course they did provide a mountain so people could rise above the pollution but it was so tacky nobody went

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/jul/23/marble-arch-hill-mound-london-oxford-street

[1581960]

Every town and city the same perhaps. Parking in towns near me is difficult and expensive, a number of 'out of town' retailers provide ample free parking and remain quite busy! Town/City councils need to change things, if you can't go to town easily in your car it's likely that you won't go at all.

[pastafreak]

Plymouth is partially pedestrianised. It must work...they are digging it all up and bringing us a new improved multi million pound version.
I hope it's done soon...there's nowhere to sit!
Shopping still leaves something to be desired but the town(no way would I call it city) centre is busy 5-6 out of 7 days.

[237SJ]

I drove into town today to drop a donation off at the charity shop and nip into a M&S to pick up a couple of bits. Didn't cost me anything in parking because I use my library card which gives me 30 mins free parking in town. If I hadn't got 30 mins free parking I wouldn't have gone there. Some councils are progressive and forward thinking and some aren't.

[douglas9401]

Glasgow's LEZ goes live in March apparently, that should kill off the last of the city centre businesses.

Not that you'd want to take your car on what they like to call roads, unless you were used to Third World driving and the joys of potholes.

[Redhelen72]

No busier than ever

[Prudie]

I live nowhere near a city but do live 5 miles from a county town (which was pedestrianised years ago so that's not a factor). The biggest culprit is business rates, they have priced nearly everyone out of the market. Loads of empty premises. Just from the High Street the following have gone since start of Covid - M&S, Argos, Coast, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Next, M&Co, Clintons. The Body Shop, Samuels, Thorntons, Halifax, Ladbrokes, The Panasonic Shop.....
Thomas Hardy would turn in his grave, it's become a total dive.

[jno]

pasta, did you ever see the documentary about rebuilding Plymouth after the war?

[bednobs]

yes prudie, i believe thomas hardy LOVED a nose round marks :)

[jno]

Thomas Hardy is turning in a lot of graves at the moment

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64110086