Cov city centre (1 Viewer)

[CovValleyBoy]

Yeah & they are all in the UK I fear.

 

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[pusbccfc]

For a city this size, not many if any in the UK

Wolverhampton, Luton, Bradford, Stoke, Sunderland are just a few that are worse.

 

[CovValleyBoy]

Wolverhampton, Luton, Bradford, Stoke, Sunderland are just a few that are worse.

It's a low bar isn't it ?

 

[pusbccfc]

Yeah & they are all in the UK I fear.

Not true though. There are quiet/rough/depressing places in most countries.

America is full of horrible cities far worse than Coventry. Plenty of poor cities in Germany, Spain, Greece and France. We just don't visit them and associate them with all the lovely parts.

 

[pusbccfc]

It's a low bar isn't it ?

They are comparable in population. Majority of middle-sized cities in the UK are similar to Coventry.

The places which are significantly better are either the major tourist/economic cities like Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester or they are the smaller tourist hubs like Oxford, York, and Cambridge.

I've travelled to many places in England, partly through work and partly through football and everywhere I go people hammer their own cities like folk in Coventry do.

 

[mmttww]

I'm just glad people realised most of it needed tearing down and got on with it. Hope it makes the difference it needs to.

 

[Tommo1993]

Be done with the IKEA building and bring back the dingy Co-op.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

The whole City Centre is a mess, it's too big too spread out and not enough roads. Nobody likes eating and drinking on concrete precinct and walkways. Traffic and roads adds vibrancy

Our city centre is really small compared to most cities our size. The problem is nothing is connected together, or provides a decent, worthwhile route to get between them.

The biggest problem is the RR, as it cuts off the connection between the surrounding suburbs so no-one just 'wanders' into town anymore. The biggest 'miss' of the last 25-30 years was the failure to pass the Swanswell Initiative levelling J1-3 of the RR.

A lot of the redevelopment post-war onwards has been a mess. The Gibson plan made everything disjointed and back-to-front. Rather than putting public squares at 'nodes' at interesting features or where many places intersect he just tried to force them in places where he wanted them even though they made no sense. Why the precinct needed to be precisely east-west when you could have built it following Smithfield St so it was a route that led somewhere I don't know.

The Phoenix Initiative is inside out. Supposed to connect the transport musuem to the cathedral, but doesn't offer a sightline or clear route between the two so you ignore it. The route looks more like an alley leading to service areas.

Talking of that I've got no idea what they think they'll achieve with the area off Hales St where the river runs. Again it will seem like a service area hidden behind tall buildings. I can't see anyone wanting to go there.

The one bit that has been a slight improvement is the route from the train station into the city centre, although overall I think it's a failure because it was never going to need that much office space.

It's so annoying that it doesn't seem to me to be that difficult to see potential routes between sites of interest, or sightlines to appreciate them and then the nodes that are formed between them from that. Yet somehow everytime the planners do almost the exact opposite.

For example I've long said that you could get a brilliant sightline/route from the train station into the city centre that incorporates a view of the three spires. The perspective is ideal. It would lead people towards the city centre and create a unique sense of place. You know you're in Coventry. But guess where was the one place the council decided tall buildings could be built in the city centre? Exactly on that route. Instead they decided to preserve 'sightlines' of the spires that are largely covered with modern structures and even cut off by the RR.

 

[pusbccfc]

Our city centre is really small compared to most cities our size. The problem is nothing is connected together, or provides a decent, worthwhile route to get between them.

The biggest problem is the RR, as it cuts off the connection between the surrounding suburbs so no-one just 'wanders' into town anymore. The biggest 'miss' of the last 25-30 years was the failure to pass the Swanswell Initiative levelling J1-3 of the RR.

A lot of the redevelopment post-war onwards has been a mess. The Gibson plan made everything disjointed and back-to-front. Rather than putting public squares at 'nodes' at interesting features or where many places intersect he just tried to force them in places where he wanted them even though they made no sense. Why the precinct needed to be precisely east-west when you could have built it following Smithfield St so it was a route that led somewhere I don't know.

The Phoenix Initiative is inside out. Supposed to connect the transport musuem to the cathedral, but doesn't offer a sightline or clear route between the two so you ignore it. The route looks more like an alley leading to service areas.

Talking of that I've got no idea what they think they'll achieve with the area off Hales St where the river runs. Again it will seem like a service area hidden behind tall buildings. I can't see anyone wanting to go there.

The one bit that has been a slight improvement is the route from the train station into the city centre, although overall I think it's a failure because it was never going to need that much office space.

It's so annoying that it doesn't seem to me to be that difficult to see potential routes between sites of interest, or sightlines to appreciate them and then the nodes that are formed between them from that. Yet somehow everytime the planners do almost the exact opposite.

For example I've long said that you could get a brilliant sightline/route from the train station into the city centre that incorporates a view of the three spires. The perspective is ideal. It would lead people towards the city centre and create a unique sense of place. You know you're in Coventry. But guess where was the one place the council decided tall buildings could be built in the city centre? Exactly on that route. Instead they decided to preserve 'sightlines' of the spires that are largely covered with modern structures and even cut off by the RR.

Lots of good points although I disagree slightly with Friargate. I think the area looks really good despite not fully being finished.

For me, that area should be full of residential apartments etc. It is next to a train station which can get you into London quicker than some Surrey and Kent commuter towns.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Lots of good points although I disagree slightly with Friargate. I think the area looks really good despite not fully being finished.

For me, that area should be full of residential apartments etc. It is next to a train station which can get you into London quicker than some Surrey and Kent commuter towns.

I agree entirely and the big problem is it's not finished. The new hotel looks so weird and small considering it was supposed to be the showcase route and make the city seem more built up.

Until it is it'll be a failure. And I foresee that being with a lot of residential apartments.

 

[pusbccfc]

I agree entirely and the big problem is it's not finished. The new hotel looks so weird and small considering it was supposed to be the showcase route and make the city seem more built up.

Until it is it'll be a failure. And I foresee that being with a lot of residential apartments.

They should have gone taller with the hotel but I still think it looks pretty good. The whole area is relatively clean and modern. Far better than what was before!

Coventry City Centre needs more residents. If people live in town, they will eat, shop and socialise there. That's why it's pretty quiet after 6pm.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

They should have gone taller with the hotel but I still think it looks pretty good. The whole area is relatively clean and modern. Far better than what was before!

Coventry City Centre needs more residents. If people live in town, they will eat, shop and socialise there. That's why it's pretty quiet after 6pm.

One thing I will say I don't like about Friargate are the streetlights. I know they're meant to look modern and interesting but it just looks like someone's crashed into them.

If we were going to go bespoke could we not have done a design that was more obviously linked to Coventry?

 

[mmttww]

nothing is connected together, or provides a decent, worthwhile route to get between them..

Exactly this, even within the RR it's the biggest issue.

 

[chiefdave]

Part of Coventry's old IKEA building could be demolished under new plans

A new planning application has emerged after a new contractor was appointed on the project to turn the former homeware store into a cultural hub

www.coventrytelegraph.net

Seems weird to knock the whole multi storey down.

Wondered what this was all about until I got to this line

Space for Future Commercial/Retail tenants will now be created at ground floor.

Although why they think there is a need for that when half the city centre and pretty much the entire SkyDome is empty is anyones guess.

This has all the signs of slowly morphing from something for the benefit of the public into another council disaster.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Wondered what this was all about until I got to this line

Although why they think there is a need for that when half the city centre and pretty much the entire SkyDome is empty is anyones guess.

This has all the signs of slowly morphing from something for the benefit of the public into another council disaster.

I guess it's to do with making a business case for it. And we have had far too many streets where the street level has no frontages. That part of Corp St for example has a wall for IKEA on one side and a car park on the other. Hardly a great streetscape.

Whether of course it'll be a success is of course very debatable, but I guess it's better than a blank wall.

 

[andy86]

Our city centre is really small compared to most cities our size. The problem is nothing is connected together, or provides a decent, worthwhile route to get between them.

The biggest problem is the RR, as it cuts off the connection between the surrounding suburbs so no-one just 'wanders' into town anymore. The biggest 'miss' of the last 25-30 years was the failure to pass the Swanswell Initiative levelling J1-3 of the RR.

A lot of the redevelopment post-war onwards has been a mess. The Gibson plan made everything disjointed and back-to-front. Rather than putting public squares at 'nodes' at interesting features or where many places intersect he just tried to force them in places where he wanted them even though they made no sense. Why the precinct needed to be precisely east-west when you could have built it following Smithfield St so it was a route that led somewhere I don't know.

The Phoenix Initiative is inside out. Supposed to connect the transport musuem to the cathedral, but doesn't offer a sightline or clear route between the two so you ignore it. The route looks more like an alley leading to service areas.

Talking of that I've got no idea what they think they'll achieve with the area off Hales St where the river runs. Again it will seem like a service area hidden behind tall buildings. I can't see anyone wanting to go there.

The one bit that has been a slight improvement is the route from the train station into the city centre, although overall I think it's a failure because it was never going to need that much office space.

It's so annoying that it doesn't seem to me to be that difficult to see potential routes between sites of interest, or sightlines to appreciate them and then the nodes that are formed between them from that. Yet somehow everytime the planners do almost the exact opposite.

For example I've long said that you could get a brilliant sightline/route from the train station into the city centre that incorporates a view of the three spires. The perspective is ideal. It would lead people towards the city centre and create a unique sense of place. You know you're in Coventry. But guess where was the one place the council decided tall buildings could be built in the city centre? Exactly on that route. Instead they decided to preserve 'sightlines' of the spires that are largely covered with modern structures and even cut off by the RR.

Great post.

The mistakes made when regenerating Coventry is a very long list unfortunately.

Like the 90’s trend of opening out of town retail parks all over the city (including central 6), then wondering why no one shops in the city centre anymore.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

The only city I've been to, of a similar size to Coventry, and thought it was much nicer, was Bristol. Really vibrant parts of the city, nice buildings, lots going on.

Outside of that, Edinburgh's probably the nicest city in the country overall.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Great post.

The mistakes made when regenerating Coventry is a very long list unfortunately.

Like the 90’s trend of opening out of town retail parks all over the city (including central 6), then wondering why no one shops in the city centre anymore.

The retail and business parks I can sort of understand at the time.

We had a number of large industrial sites that lay empty and a real need to increase the number of job opportunities in the city after the closure of a number of large employers, especially in the motor industry. The country was moving to a service economy and it felt there was a market for larger retail units with parking etc. to provide jobs. I guess they must have had some success for a while given how many popped up over the years - if there wasn't demand then we wouldn't have got so many.

There have been errors made within that of course. For example having IKEA, a retailer renowned for needing large, easily accessible units for the furniture was inexplicably shoehorned into a multi-storey city centre site when they clearly better suited an out of town site with good transport links as you're going to visit with a car. You're not taking a wardrobe, even a flat pack one, home on the bus! And so we became the first IKEA failure.

I think the situation has changed quite a bit since the 90's though. There has been a big move to online shopping and WFH. A number of these sites have empty units and some of the business parks (like Westwood) are empty as the offices are no longer up to the standard required.

As we have a huge supply deficit of housing I think it would make a lot of sense for a lot of these out of town retail parks to be turned over for residential, although that would involve the problems of changing the land designation to residential and what costs would be involved to make the sites suitable. The businesses could relocate more centrally as we have plenty of empty retail and office space, although again does it fit the needs of modern day businesses?

 

[wingy]

Just use it for modern need and use it for prefab houses?