Coventry town centre (non football related) (1 Viewer)

[Huckerby]

Alright guyyyyyyyys.

Moved to Nottingham a while ago now...and whenever I tell people that I'm from Coventry all I hear is "oh that's a bit of a shithole isn't it?".

It annoys me, because there are some really nice places in Coventry (Finham, Earlsdon, Styvechelle, and more). Some really shit areas too, but some really nice ones. I think what lets the City down is the City Centre...which is a bit of a dump last time I went there. What do you reckon? The lower precinct is alright, but West Orchards looks very tired, and the City Arcade or whatever it's called is grim.

Do you think there is any chance that someone will invest in a really good shopping centre, like a Westfields, in place of or as well as West Orchards? Most people who aren't from Coventry will obviously first go to the City Centre, and I think that it really undersells the place. I even went to Derby recently, and that doesn't have a great reputation but the Westfields there is incredible - you can just spend the day there!

Thoughts?

 

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[skybluejelly]

you want to thank your lucky stars your not from rugby ..our town centre really is crap

 

[Broken Hearted Sky Blue]

Less of a chance getting shot in Coventry though isn't there?

 

[Otis]

Around the cathedral in Coventry is lovely. Unfortunately they designed the city centre in a way so that everyone pretty much circumvents the cathedral area and walks around it rather than through it.

There are 2 shopping projects awaiting. One by the old postal sorting office in Bishop Street and the other by the rail station.

For me Coventry isn't half as bad as people make out. Parts of Brum are terrible and Manchester City centre is a bit of a grubby mess too.

 

[Huckerby]

Around the cathedral in Coventry is lovely. Unfortunately they designed the city centre in a way so that everyone pretty much circumvents the cathedral area and walks around it rather than through it.

There are 2 shopping projects awaiting. One by the old postal sorting office in Bishop Street and the other by the rail station.

For me Coventry isn't half as bad as people make out. Parts of Brum are terrible and Manchester City centre is a bit of a grubby mess too.

Where abouts by the station? And what do you mean by awaiting - have they been confirmed? Any idea of a time scale?

 

[theferret]

Alright guyyyyyyyys.

Moved to Nottingham a while ago now...and whenever I tell people that I'm from Coventry all I hear is "oh that's a bit of a shithole isn't it?".

It annoys me, because there are some really nice places in Coventry (Finham, Earlsdon, Styvechelle, and more). Some really shit areas too, but some really nice ones. I think what lets the City down is the City Centre...which is a bit of a dump last time I went there. What do you reckon? The lower precinct is alright, but West Orchards looks very tired, and the City Arcade or whatever it's called is grim.

Do you think there is any chance that someone will invest in a really good shopping centre, like a Westfields, in place of or as well as West Orchards? Most people who aren't from Coventry will obviously first go to the City Centre, and I think that it really undersells the place. I even went to Derby recently, and that doesn't have a great reputation but the Westfields there is incredible - you can just spend the day there!

Thoughts?

You can keep up to date with plans and proposals at skyscrapercity.com - the coventry thread is here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1553876&page=64

The next big project is Friagate - http://friargatecoventry.co.uk/ - the first building will be going up later this year.

 

[hill83]

I lived in Nottingham for three years and it's hands down a better place for things to do than Coventry. Things are slowly improving in Cov though for pub and clubs etc, but most people are so cynical about things they die on their arse within 6 months.

 

[asb]

Never known anything different. Almost everyone I know who asks where I am from say Coventry is a "Shithole". Most of them when challenged on why just have no idea as they have never been to Coventry.

It seems we have a bad image. I am sure the saying "Sent to Coventry" does us no favours.

 

[theferret]

Where abouts by the station? And what do you mean by awaiting - have they been confirmed? Any idea of a time scale?

The sorting office plans relate to this:

http://www.bishopgatecoventry.co.uk/

...but it's a bit of a shocker. Hopefully will be revisited.

 

[Otis]

That's the one, thanks Ferret, Friargate!

The rail station does look well outdated and needs to be enclosed to incorporate retail, so hopefully this will do just that.

There is a banner over the the old sorting office stating the project is 'coming soon.'

 

[Otis]

The sorting office plans relate to this:

http://www.bishopgatecoventry.co.uk/

...but it's a bit of a shocker. Hopefully will be revisited.

That is a shocker!! Did they do the artist impression mock up using Lego?

 

[Broken Hearted Sky Blue]

That is a shocker!! Did they do the artist impression mock up using Lego?

Tim was so impressed he got them to do you know where

 

[Rusty Trombone]

There's still plenty of blue ribbons around the rail station (and elsewhere), lovely to see.

 

[Otis]

Tim was so impressed he got them to do you know where

I think he misheard.

Someone shouted at Sisu, 'Let go, pricks!' and Tim heard it as 'Lego bricks.'

 

[Tonylinc]

I have not lived in the city for almost 40 years so my observations may well be out of date but you must remember that the city centre was one of the first to be converted to "non traffic", and as such has probably been outdone by those that followed its lead.

 

[Huckerby]

You can keep up to date with plans and proposals at skyscrapercity.com - the coventry thread is here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1553876&page=64

The next big project is Friagate - http://friargatecoventry.co.uk/ - the first building will be going up later this year.

Thanks for that mate, very helpful.

I don't see (or feel) any improvement with all these so-called squares and these 'public realm improvements' - they are always empty and haven't managed to attract much in the way of businesses and many of them are weird bits of land that have been left over from the post-war planning (Which doesn't really seem to have been finished, just fizzled out) and don't seem particularly well connected - a lot of them are actually streets that were once part of the city's busy, commercial heart, that are now reduced to... paving and badly kept patches. More bollards, paving, patches of grass and benches. As city squares they all... rubbish, really.

But who gives a shit about 'public realm improvements'? The shops are shit, the buildings are a disgrace, the restaurants are mediocre, the access at night is terrible, there's nothing much in the way of entertainment or leisure (And what is can be accessed directly from the ring road with ample parking.), and there's just no real reason to go into the precinct. What for? A fucking windswept empty square with a tatty market stall in it?

It's just ridiculous.

The amount of revenue Coventry city centre is bleeding away through its mediocrity is incredible - as a family of four, we spend a fortune at the weekends in Leamington & sometimes Solihull. I suspect we're not alone. We just don't do Coventry city centre anymore unless we're going for something simple that we know we can get.

Fargo is infinitely more interesting than anything they've done in the city centre for decades. They just need to close down all those fucking fast food joints. I don't want my fucking espresso reeking of the fucking kebab meat. I really hope this succeeds, and a PLAGUE UPON THE AREA WITHIN THE RINGROAD!

Sorry, but we've had 10 fucking years of 'public realm' improvements and endless renderings of squares filled with cafes. The reality is Ladbrokes and Greggs... and new spaces for skateboarders and empty restaurant units.

I think the problem is that the city centre has really gone past the point of no return... Frankly, I think it'd be cheaper to just turn the whole lot into a Uni Campus so we don't have to keep paying for these dreadful public realm improvements. If I hear about another plan for a square I'm going to find the nearest paving slab supplier and buy fucking shares in it.

As for the Ricoh - another mess, another failure surrounded by empty land that no one wants to develop. I think they should have given the fucking thing to SISU, who had plans to bring in proper promoters and get enough visitors to make the land around there viable for development of hotels and other businesses. You really aren't going to attract much with a fucking wedding exhibition and a couple of gigs a year. I've never understood why this city is saddled with so many half-baked developments that never really seem to work.

Answers on a Coventry postcard, please!

And as for Browns being sold to a charity? What sort of lame excuse for a city has what was once its premier bar/eatery being sold to a charity? No commercial interest? Why would there be? It's another dead street - it'll end up being Its A Fucking Scream pub selling 2 pound burgers.

Coventry is like a graph that tends to zero, except here everything tends to mediocrity.

I'm stuck in this situation where I love where I live in Earlsdon, but loathe, detest and hate the city centre. It makes me puke to spend more than 1 hour there. I wander round giving money to random strangers as there's nowhere to spend it. I feel like I need a fucking shower after being in West Orchards due to the reek of fat. I get fed up with cutting through service areas to get back to car parks because everything is so badly planned. About the decent thing I can say about it is that the HMV is somewhat better (I've been splurging on German records on Vinyl in there recently) than it was.

And you can't get a fucking seat in Starfucks because it's full of fucking students using the free fucking wi-fi all day. Haven't they got a fucking library they can use?

(Please apply a ) to this. Ho ho ho.

I don't understand why Coventry is sticking with the precinct though. I would have thought they'd be better building that area as an indoor mall. The precinct is pretty fucking depressing when the wind howls through it. The market could actually form a centrepiece and they could put a roof radiating away from it like the one in the British museum and make an indoor area. Turn the outside of the market into restaurant units and build a new market square somewhere smelly. I just don't see the point of knocking down the precinct in that area and rebuilding it as... a precinct. I'd rather stay indoors. The weather's shit 75% of the year, and all you get in the precinct are those weird globs of wet paper when it rains. I slipped in one once.

Skydome is looking a bit shit these days as well, and it looks like a few of the units are empty.

Coventry not a city centre. It's an absence of a city centre.

This guys post made me laugh. Very cynical, but does touch upon some valid issues. God that artist impression is terrible. But I think we've all learnt they don't really mean much As you say, hopefully it will be revisited. I just think that a decent shopping centre will attract some decent shops - something other than god damn charity shops and poundlands that keep popping up! Would love nothing more than Coventry to be somewhere that I would choose to live one day.

I lived in Nottingham for three years and it's hands down a better place for things to do than Coventry. Things are slowly improving in Cov though for pub and clubs etc, but most people are so cynical about things they die on their arse within 6 months.

Yeah, obviously there are some absolute shitholes in Nottingham...but you get them in every city. But the centre of Nottingham has some really nice restaurants, bars, designer shops. The victoria centre and broadmarsh could definitely do with revamping though...

 

[dancers lance]

I am a proud Coventrian, but our city center is a disgrace and has been neglected for years and strangled by over the top business rates, stupid drinking laws, CV1 company, lack of imagination, attitude/apathy of the locals and a laughable council. Just take a look at Bristol and see what we should have been.

 

[Otis]

I am a proud Coventrian, but our city center is a disgrace and has been neglected for years and strangled by over the top business rates, stupid drinking laws, CV1 company, lack of imagination, attitude/apathy of the locals and a laughable council. Just take a look at Bristol and see what we should have been.

Straw chewing inbreds?

 

[theferret]

Some good news about Friargate in the last couple of days though - http://www.insidermedia.com/insider...ring-major-occupier-landmark-friargate-scheme - think this development could be the start of real change.

 

[Otis]

Some good news about Friargate in the last couple of days though - http://www.insidermedia.com/insider...ring-major-occupier-landmark-friargate-scheme - think this development could be the start of real change.

Major occupier?


It couldn't be? Surely not? ........... CCFC and the new stadium!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[japandy]

Alright guyyyyyyyys. Moved to Nottingham a while ago now...and whenever I tell people that I'm from Coventry all I hear is "oh that's a bit of a shithole isn't it?".

You should show 'these people' the history books. Coventry. unfortunately. was worthy of Mr. Hitler's bombs because of our industries but if you see picture of Coventry pre-war our city was as beautiful as York. The City centre of Coventry was built when the country had little money but was a necessity. The regeneration of Birmingham over the last 20 years has been amazing and the same is now starting to happen to Coventry. Nottingham, on the other hand never had to witness the German wrath in the war so never had to rebuild it. If you want to stand up for our fore-fathers just tell your friends about the history of our City.

 

[Tonylinc]

Major occupier?


It couldn't be? Surely not? ........... CCFC and the new stadium!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't be silly. It said something about 80,000!!!!!!

 

[Monners]

Ok - places that were shitholes and now are much better: first pick for this accolade is Pompey. Absolute sesspit 20 years back - significant investment and thoughtful planning and hey presto - it's a really attractive city centre. Cov has a chance to get things right I'm sure.

Now as for where I live (for the last 29 years), Northampton - small minded, self centred market town; could be really nice - but it's a small minded market town. Can never compete with the larger midlands cities, so Cov has no excuse really.

 

[Otis]

Don't be silly. It said something about 80,000!!!!!!

No way. They surely can't build a stadium that cheaply.

Must surely cost a million or more. For 80,000 it would have to be a flat pack Ikea cardboard stadium surely.

 

[Otis]

Ok - places that were shitholes and now are much better: first pick for this accolade is Pompey. Absolute sesspit 20 years back - significant investment and thoughtful planning and hey presto - it's a really attractive city centre. Cov has a chance to get things right I'm sure.

Now as for where I live (for the last 29 years), Northampton - small minded, self centred market town; could be really nice - but it's a small minded market town. Can never compete with the larger midlands cities, so Cov has no excuse really.

Ah, so that's why Sisu feel so much at home.

 

[ThisManHere]

I also live in Nottingham....Coventry is a shithole.

 

[Samo]

Jeez... criticism from of all places... Nottingham!!! At least we we have the Luftwaffe to blame for our our 60's built concrete jungle. But Nottingham? THE chav capital! Say what you like about Cov but it has spirit and it has soul! It has a rebel heart and I love it!

 

[Huckerby]

fuck sake guys, started a thread about the city itself and any improvements and opinions and it still ends up about SISU and a new stadium lol.

Jeez... criticism from of all places... Nottingham!!! At least we we have the Luftwaffe to blame for our our 60's built concrete jungle. But Nottingham? THE chav capital! Say what you like about Cov but it has spirit and it has soul! It has a rebel heart and I love it!

Yeah but Nottingham city centre is way better than Coventry city centre. You can't contest that surely haha. Also rich to call Nottingham chav capital when our city is nicknamed CHAVentry by most

Monners - hopefully they sort it out then! All it's missing really is a decent City Centre and a big shopping centre.

 

[theferret]

That nickname is just lazy. The words just blend together nicely. Cov is no more or less 'chavvy' than any other large city.

Nottingham has more going for it, but then it is a regional centre with an urban area twice the size of Coventry.

Worse places than Cov, as anyone who made the recent trip to Rotherham will testify. Now that IS a hole.

 

[Samo]

fuck sake guys, started a thread about the city itself and any improvements and opinions and it still ends up about SISU and a new stadium lol.



Yeah but Nottingham city centre is way better than Coventry city centre. You can't contest that surely haha. Also rich to call Nottingham chav capital when our city is nicknamed CHAVentry by most

Monners - hopefully they sort it out then! All it's missing really is a decent City Centre and a big shopping centre.

I do contest it. A few nice boozers and the town square is ok on market day but what else? A pile of bricks that calls itself a castle and the biggest chav shantys in the UK. No thanks.

 

[Monners]

fuck sake guys, started a thread about the city itself and any improvements and opinions and it still ends up about SISU and a new stadium lol.



Yeah but Nottingham city centre is way better than Coventry city centre. You can't contest that surely haha. Also rich to call Nottingham chav capital when our city is nicknamed CHAVentry by most

Monners - hopefully they sort it out then! All it's missing really is a decent City Centre and a big shopping centre.

In all fairness the Council are doing a good job in bringing it all up to date but at the same time maintaing the character of the place, but the locals are generally a pretty conservative bunch that don' t embrace change so these things take time. Also, not much deprivation so hard to attract major regeneration funding. Nottingham is a top place by the way I have family there (Cov is still our home City though!)

 

[Huckerby]

In all fairness the Council are doing a good job in bringing it all up to date but at the same time maintaing the character of the place, but the locals are generally a pretty conservative bunch that don' t embrace change so these things take time. Also, not much deprivation so hard to attract major regeneration funding. Nottingham is a top place by the way I have family there (Cov is still our home City though!)

Yeah completely, proud of it too! Just wish something could happen to make it fulfill it's potential. The memorial park alone is unbeatable

 

[skybluejelly]

The problem with most city centres is that they are all the bloody same... Same shops different locations..it's the independent shops and restaurants that make a city,business rates are killing the city centres that is why there are large numbers of charity shops springing up everywhere..just think back a few years when we had Owen and Owen ,barnabys toy shop, and shops that were different..from everywhere else ,I actually like coventry always seem to get everything I want without the hassle of going to birmingham

 

[Samo]

Oh god I loved barnbys

 

[Covkid1968#]

What happened to the huge development going from Ikea up to Broadgate...with all the green open spaces (some on top of buildings) those plans looked pretty modern and completely changed the precent........but then nothing!!!!