Coventry city centre (2 Viewers)

[Gazolba]

<snip> CCS might justify those kind of rents if it comes off and gets high quality retail in, but paying thousands to rent a grubby unit in the arcade or whatever takes the piss.

I remember when the City Arcade first opened when the bird cage had exotic birds flying in it. I thought the city arcade was one of the best things in Coventry. You had all those little specialist shops and could walk the whole length and not get wet if it was raining. The City Arcade was the first place I went whenever I had to get a special gift for someone, whether it was clothes, jewelry, a record or anything else.

 

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[Captain Dart]

Yeah, but it is changing. Plans afoot and the whole south side of the city centre is to be redeveloped and they have a number of really decent retailers lined up.

Perhaps the wording should be 'is going to change.'

About time someone got it through their thick skulls how to run a city centre.

What I don't get it that most of these plans involve more shops in new units instead of first redeveloping existing under subscribed retail space.

So you'll end up with a lot of nice new units you can't rent out as well as the old shabby ones that are used for charity shops.

Unless the unspoken plan is to sell off substantial parts of the existing properties in Market Way and Smithford Way for conversion to studio flats.

 

[clint van damme]

really like this plan to open up the Sherbourne.
Always enjoy going to a city where you can have a drink and a bite to eat riverside:

Hidden river to be opened up to create waterside cafe square

 

[Captain Dart]

really like this plan to open up the Sherbourne.
Always enjoy going to a city where you can have a drink and a bite to eat riverside:

Hidden river to be opened up to create waterside cafe square

If only it goes ahead, there have been numerous schemes to open up the river in this area going back decades, but so far it has not happened.
Bottom line is there is no money in doing the initial works, once its opened up I imagine money will flow in to build leisure venues.

 

[Otis]

Another cafe bar to open. This time in the old Co-op store on Corporation Street.

Next door to that is already announced to be a steakhouse.

Trendy café bar to open at landmark city centre development

 

[Gazolba]

really like this plan to open up the Sherbourne.
Always enjoy going to a city where you can have a drink and a bite to eat riverside:

Hidden river to be opened up to create waterside cafe square

Unfortunately, it's not really a river is it? It's more of a brook. You'll be having a brook-side meal.

 

[Otis]

Unfortunately, it's not really a river is it? It's more of a brook. You'll be having a brook-side meal.

Ah, but they are going to tinker with it and make it wider and deeper.

 

[clint van damme]

Unfortunately, it's not really a river is it? It's more of a brook. You'll be having a brook-side meal.

it's not exactly the Thames admittedly but it would still be a welcome feature to the town centre if it's developed correctly.

 

[NorthernWisdom]

If only it goes ahead, there have been numerous schemes to open up the river in this area going back decades, but so far it has not happened.
Bottom line is there is no money in doing the initial works, once its opened up I imagine money will flow in to build leisure venues.

Yup. Seen this mooted so often, will believe it when I see it!

 

[clint van damme]

Yup. Seen this mooted so often, will believe it when I see it!

oh well, a carry out and a Greggs sausage roll next to the Sherbourne in Spon End until it happens then.

 

[hill83]

Ah, but they are going to tinker with it and make it wider and deeper.

Sounds sexy

 

[Grendel]

Sounds sexy

In the Burgess?

 

[hill83]

In the Burgess?

The sentence out of context. Sounds like the start of a porn film.

As for the Burges, it’s a shit tip, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

 

[clint van damme]

The sentence out of context. Sounds like the start of a porn film.

As for the Burges, it’s a shit tip, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

it's a shit tip now, but years ago, oh yeah, it was still a shit tip!

 

[hill83]

Getting rid of McDonalds would be a start. The pub a couple of doors down is up for sale. The old metro. Anyone fancy chipping in and turning it into CCFC bar?

Fishers Retreat

 

[Otis]

Getting rid of McDonalds would be a start. The pub a couple of doors down is up for sale. The old metro. Anyone fancy chipping in and turning it into CCFC bar?

Fishers Retreat

I'm up for it.

Can we put sky blue umbrellas in all the drinks?

 

[clint van damme]

Getting rid of McDonalds would be a start. The pub a couple of doors down is up for sale. The old metro. Anyone fancy chipping in and turning it into CCFC bar?

Fishers Retreat

owning a bar in the Burgess, I'm in, let's shoot for the moon!

 

[Otis]

owning a bar in the Burgess, I'm in, let's shoot for the moon!

Please don't mention the Burges and shoot in the same sentence

 

[hill83]

We’ll need to start the karaoke at 7am to get the Club Release crowd in though.

 

[martcov]

really like this plan to open up the Sherbourne.
Always enjoy going to a city where you can have a drink and a bite to eat riverside:

Hidden river to be opened up to create waterside cafe square

Actually that is what is happening where I live. We are on a fjord, but they are building a canal from the Fjord to the lakes in town. Only a few hundred meters, but they have already got restaurants and cafes lined up. The theory here, is that people are not using the city centre for shopping because of the internet, so why not make it more attractive for leisure use? There was historically a water way from the fjord to the lakes and so we are going back to how hings were.

 

[hill83]

I drive a Fjord Focus

 

[Travs]

I know this thread is specifically aimed at the City Centre, but it's the rest of the city that worries me. I'll not go on too long as there is a bit of a feel-good factor about the city at the moment.

But...

I think the rest of the city is at crisis point. I'm all for new houses being built, and new businesses, industrial estates etc, IF the infrastructure of the city is improved alongside it. But we (as a city) just keep tacking on new housing estates etc, with a small junction banged into an already overworked road system, and expect it to cope. New houses at Courtslds.... how's all the extra traffic going to negotiate that particular junction and the shambles that is Burnaby Road/United Footwear junction. Ricoh gets built, and further development and houses up on Prologis Park... the junction with Wheelwright Lane is an absolute joke, if one car turns right then the whole thing comes to a standstill. New houses planned up on Tamworth Road... where's all the additional traffic going to go?

Not to mention the utter abortion that is the railway station new junction just off the ring road.

Most big cities in this country (with the exception of ourselves and Leicester) seem to have some form of transit system, i.e a tram system or even a metro. We've got nothing.

I took me 40 minutes to get home from Cov station to Ash Green/Bedworth this evening. I can regularly get home from my office on Birmingham ring road in 35 mins, even with the current roadworks and speed restrictions on the M6. The transport network in our city is an absolute failure.

Not to mention trying to get anywhere around the city centre or railway station without getting accosted by someone calling you "boss" and asking you for money. Just because Birmingham, Manchester, etc, all have equal or worse homeless problems, doesn't mean it's not an issue in our city.

It's ok though, we're the city of culture... perhaps the council should think about pumping money into the creaking infrastructure of the city for people who already live here...

 

[Captain Dart]

it's not exactly the Thames admittedly but it would still be a welcome feature to the town centre if it's developed correctly.

FYI some pictures here by some 'Urban Explorers' who walked through the culverted section here..
Report - - River Sherbourne Culvert, Coventry -July 2015 | Underground Sites

 

[Otis]

House of Fraser closing over 30 stores.

The high street is changing and it is not all about shops anymore.

A retail analyst bloke on the Big Questions on Sunday was predicting that in 10 years time there will be hardly any shops left and the high street needs to evolve and be more about entertainment, eating out and customer service.

 

[clint van damme]

House of Fraser closing over 30 stores.

The high street is changing and it is not all about shops anymore.

A retail analyst bloke on the Big Questions on Sunday was predicting that in 10 years time there will be hardly any shops left and the high street needs to evolve and be more about entertainment, eating out and customer service.

House of Fraser and Selfridges have destroyed Birmingham as far as retail is concerned.

 

[Otis]

I personally don't like this just shop from home idea.

Think it destroys all the social aspects of going to town, meeting people, looking round stores browsing, interacting with store staff, trying clothes on, testing out headphones etc.

Think I am in the minority though. My daughter loves going to town however.

I see that indoor crazy golf is becoming very popular. Might be a good idea for the old BHS store in Coventry city centre.

There's one in the old BHS store just off Oxford Street in London.

We need more things to draw people in, concert halls, cinema, water parks, entertainment venues, escape rooms, climbing walls and plenty of places to eat.

 

[Nick]

I much prefer shopping online, I need to go into town tonight and I have put it off for the past 3 days as it's just hassle I can't think of anything worse than wandering around randomly trying stuff. Will be straight into the car park and then straight out.

Crazy Golf is pretty decent, the one at Star City is quite good, drove past a huge one on the way to park at Wembley but that was outdoor.

 

[clint van damme]

I personally don't like this just shop from home idea.

Think it destroys all the social aspects of going to town, meeting people, looking round stores browsing, interacting with store staff, trying clothes on, testing out headphones etc.

Think I am in the minority though. My daughter loves going to town however.

I see that indoor crazy golf is becoming very popular. Might be a good idea for the old BHS store in Coventry city centre.

There's one in the old BHS store just off Oxford Street in London.

We need more things to draw people in, concert halls, cinema, water parks, entertainment venues, escape rooms, climbing walls and plenty of places to eat.

I've heard people say this before, and to be honest I just don't get it, (unless perhaps you're elderly and living alone).
Shopping is a means to an end and I do my socialising elsewhere, (football, pub etc).
Though when clothes shopping it is nice to be able to try things on before you but them. If I get something by post and it doesn't fit properly or isn't right in some way I can never be arsed to send it back and end up losing money.

 

[Otis]

I've heard people say this before, and to be honest I just don't get it, (unless perhaps you're elderly and living alone).
Shopping is a means to an end and I do my socialising elsewhere, (football, pub etc).
Though when clothes shopping it is nice to be able to try things on before you but them. If I get something by post and it doesn't fit properly or isn't right in some way I can never be arsed to send it back and end up losing money.

Different circles then. I don't go to pubs.

I love wandering round town.

Like to wander in Waterstones and HMV and look at the books and latest music releases and have quite often bought stuff from HMV based on the fact they are playing something, I like it, go and ask and they tell me who it is who is playing.

I quite often go to the library, also go to Wilkinson's a lot, CEX, Game, the market and Sainsbury's.

Will quite often pop into the Belgrade and pick some leaflets up as to what is on and always meet up with my family and go to many of the cafes and restaurants in town.

What's not to like?

 

[clint van damme]

What's not to like?

your company
No, fair comment, each to their own it's just not something I've really understood. Though get the café and restaurant bit, I like to eat/graze out.

 

[Nick]

Different circles then. I don't go to pubs.

I love wandering round town.

Like to wander in Waterstones and HMV and look at the books and latest music releases and have quite often bought stuff from HMV based on the fact they are playing something, I like it, go and ask and they tell me who it is who is playing.

I quite often go to the library, also go to Wilkinson's a lot, CEX, Game, the market and Sainsbury's.

Will quite often pop into the Belgrade and pick some leaflets up as to what is on and always meet up with my family and go to many of the cafes and restaurants in town.

What's not to like?

Think the main thing is time. Everybody I know will be at work at the minute or if they are on nights they will be sleeping, most people are busy with work, school runs, sorting things out at home etc there isn't much time to just wander about much. Like CVD says there is things like the pub or going to other people's houses to see them etc and most of that is in the evening or at the weekend.

I don't usually even really have time for the pub as much any more, by the time everything is sorted just want to sit down and chill out for a bit and can't think of anything worse than having to go shopping in town.

From when I wake up until usually about 7PM my time is accounted for in the week so if I need to go to town it's a hassle to start re-arranging things, then at the weekend we will have other stuff that needs to be done at home etc getting ready for the next week.

I can see the latest books and music when they come up on Amazon or music comes through on Spotify and if I wanted to buy them they will be delivered to my work the next morning and probably be a bit cheaper as well.

We do like going to the book farm so my daughter can have a look through and buy books and have a milkshake as a treat but it's not something we could or would do weekly as it would get a bit tedious and take the shine off it. That's also mainly to do with the location, if it was in the city centre we probably wouldn't bother.

It's just convenience really.

 

[Otis]

Think the main thing is time. Everybody I know will be at work at the minute or if they are on nights they will be sleeping, most people are busy with work, school runs, sorting things out at home etc there isn't much time to just wander about much. Like CVD says there is things like the pub or going to other people's houses to see them etc and most of that is in the evening or at the weekend.

I don't usually even really have time for the pub as much any more, by the time everything is sorted just want to sit down and chill out for a bit and can't think of anything worse than having to go shopping in town.

From when I wake up until usually about 7PM my time is accounted for in the week so if I need to go to town it's a hassle to start re-arranging things, then at the weekend we will have other stuff that needs to be done at home etc getting ready for the next week.

I can see the latest books and music when they come up on Amazon or music comes through on Spotify and if I wanted to buy them they will be delivered to my work the next morning and probably be a bit cheaper as well.

We do like going to the book farm so my daughter can have a look through and buy books and have a milkshake as a treat but it's not something we could or would do weekly as it would get a bit tedious and take the shine off it. That's also mainly to do with the location, if it was in the city centre we probably wouldn't bother.

It's just convenience really.

Some people have time on their hands.

 

[Nick]

Some people have time on their hands.

Which is all well and good if they want to attract OAPS, shift workers, unemployed people etc but it's busy people they will need

 

[Otis]

Which is all well and good if they want to attract OAPS, shift workers, unemployed people etc but it's busy people they will need

I'm busy!


Busy doing nothing.

I go every Tuesday and Friday and there's always loads of people about. Starbucks always seems full, Basement Browns is busy, as is Wagamama and there's lots of people just milling about.

 

[wingy]

I personally don't like this just shop from home idea.

Think it destroys all the social aspects of going to town, meeting people, looking round stores browsing, interacting with store staff, trying clothes on, testing out headphones etc.

Think I am in the minority though. My daughter loves going to town however.

I see that indoor crazy golf is becoming very popular. Might be a good idea for the old BHS store in Coventry city centre.

There's one in the old BHS store just off Oxford Street in London.

We need more things to draw people in, concert halls, cinema, water parks, entertainment venues, escape rooms, climbing walls and plenty of places to eat.

It's just another turn of the binary Isolationist cog .