Towns or Cities where you were born or lived that have declined or improved over the years

[Peter Sarf]

What really drums home to me, is that - other than the larger cities, the UK's other urban areas seem to have deteriorated (or not improved) almost without exception.
It makes for depressing, but unsurprising, reading

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Personally not driving they haven't been great for me, but given that sufficient shoppers prefer them then they are hardly a folly.

The town I went to school in, Bedford, is similar to a number of places mentioned here. Both department stores, Debenhams and Beales, have shut and are largely empty, with little hope of replacement. M&S shut a few years ago and W H Smith are about to follow. Like many other town centres, the main grocers left a while ago with just the Tesco Express type grocers remaining, but to be fair also a wide range of ethnic grocers.

The rise of the car means that many have deserted town centres for most of their shopping, using the out of town supermarkets and retail parks plus internet shopping.

Ironically, town centres like Bedford would be helped by converting the disused department stores into flats - an increased set of people within walking distance of the town centre.

The theme I see is large out of town shopping centres that most people prefer because they do have a car.
That leaves out those who do not have access to a car but they are a minority unfortunately.
"Car Culture."
This results in a lot less foot fall in town centres so they start to run down.
Also the undesirables will be the first to not have access to a car so they are concentrated in the dying town centres. Making it even nastier for the desirables that do not have access to a car.

Some town centres will make themselves niche. Attract all the non mainstream shops that sell specialist items. And blossom without the mainstream stores - BUT not perhaps generate much income in the form of business rates. So the temptation is to turn the town centre into a dormitory town has to be fended off.
(in Croydons case it is "luxury affordable housing" and hostels thus concentrating problems in the centre).
Most town centres will decay with just a few local shops.
You cannot get your hair cut on eBay but you can buy the tools to do it yourself.

So I can see the retail process being mainly large out of town centres probably drawing business from a dozen or more classic towns.
Most of the classic town centres will be irrelevant with maybe one in a dozen hanging on.

Then one day people will moan about all the pollution and the fact that public transport does not go near the out of town shopping centres.
Then the bus routes will be re-configured to suit out of town shopping.
Then the out of town car parks will be priced so as to discourage car use.
Then the out of town shopping centres will die and be replaced with flats.

Rinse and repeat.

 

[Howardh]

Saw an old photo of Bolton and my attention was drawn to a shop "Sharps' Electronics" - there used to be a myriad of those around town, Comet, Euronics, Modern Radio, Dixons, Radio Rentals too, and many independent stores all selling TV's, radios, speakers etc. All gone - why? Surely buyers want to see what they are buying first, rather than through a catalogue shop like Argos?

Even Tesco megastores had a decent display of TV's and so on, now just mobile phones! Of course in the past there was always a gaggle of men stood outside a TV showroom at 4.45pm on a Saturday! Also note the disappearance of specialist camera shops; I suppose photos taken on mobiles are as good, or even better?

The demise of those shops, many in small buildings, hasn't helped Bolton or any other town at all.

 

[dangie]

... Also note the disappearance of specialist camera shops; I suppose photos taken on mobiles are as good, or even better?

A 'proper' camera will in most cases be capable of producing 'better' results due to sensor size, lenses etc, but for most users and how the image is to be viewed, a modern mobile phone is perfectly adequate.

Also, the best camera is the one you have with you. An all singing, all dancing 'Canikon' is of little use if it's stuck at home in the cupboard, and your mobile phone is in your pocket.

 

[asw22]

Bradford is an absolute dump. It's the nearest large city to me and I make every effort to avoid going there. Definite contender for worst city in the country!

The larger places in West Yorkshire mostly seem quite run-down now, with the exception of central Leeds (and to an extent Halifax - that's not a bad town centre).

Bradford has been in decline for a long time, not helped by the loss of its main industry and geography (quite a distance from the motorway and not on a major rail link). There has been some attempts to regenerate it with CitiPark, Broadway etc and I would hope the City of Culture could help the city where I spent a significant number of my younger years.
I have also seen Leeds declining over the past 20 years, with some significant employers moving their main offices out of the city in the last 2 decades. In the past 15 years I have been through some sort of redundancy process 7 times. So Leeds now depends on retail (many closed shops in the city centre), cyclists delivering food, high property prices and increasing numbers of student flats in, or close to, the city centre (mostly for overseas students). It is now very difficult to find a job even in Leeds with lots of ghost jobs being advertised.
What we really need in West Yorkshire is a way to stimulate the local economy rather than everything being centralised within a small part of London.

 

[Yorkshire09876]

I would hope the City of Culture could help the city where I spent a significant number of my younger years.

In the year running up to the City of Culture, it seems that the done thing is to dig up most of the city centre and put down a load of block paving. I noticed it happening in Bradford last year (on the occasions when I had to go there for something), and exactly the same happened a few years back in Hull - I was over there a lot with work during the year when that was city of culture and the previous and following years. Apart from more block paving than previously, I can't say that it's had any noticeable impact on Hull (a colleague who is a lifelong Hull resident agrees), so I wouldn't expect it to do much for Bradford either.

 

[alex397]

The city of Canterbury is looking rather tired and run down now. But it still looks a lot better than most other towns and cities I see in the UK.

Like everywhere in the UK, it’s lost major department stores. BHS went, but thankfully replaced by a popular Primark. However, independent Nasons closed, and the building has been vacant since and is crumbling away. Almost opposite that is the former Debenhams, leaving an eclectic mix of buildings, but part of it is a rather beautiful 1920s Art Nouveau (ish) building with the remains of a grand staircase. Sadly some teenagers set it on fire recently, leaving it with no roof. Of course, the roof hasn’t been covered up, so the building is open to the elements awaiting its inevitable rapid deterioration. This is right in the centre of Canterbury, with one side of the building right by the Cathedral entrance.

The city also suffers quite badly with anti-social behaviour which the police don’t really have a handle on. It’s not a pleasant place to be in the evenings. A stark contrast to many continental towns and cities I visit. I’ve now resorted to making a log of all the incidents I witness or am involved in.

Despite this the city remains very busy in the centre, particulalry at weekends with visitors. In fact, there’s recently been an influx of tourists with their selfie sticks, trampling on the flower beds of Westgate Gardens. Canterbury is certainly not a ‘no go zone’ that ‘no one visits’ like some residents hilariously say. But to me it says a lot about the deterioration of Briths town centres, having a tourist hotspot with lots of students in the ‘rich’ South East also suffering. Shops are continuing to close down (and if they are replaced, it’s often a vape shop, nail bar or barbers), but it seems more effort is being put into the out-of-town retail parks. A new Next has opened at Wincheap, despite there being a large Next in the city centre - I wonder if they will soon close the city centre store?

There was also a new development opened in recent years, slightly out the city centre, with a cinema and a few bars/restaurants, which certainly won’t help.

 

[Cletus]

Who's town has had one of these? "Exciting new plan to revitalise Dover town centre" It of course involves experts and consultants, so will cost a lot and achieve nothing.

Exciting new plan to revitalise Dover town centre

www.dover.gov.uk

blah, blah, blah

Dover has been having these plans since after WW2 when the German shelling and bombing flattened half of the town.

 

[Yorkshire09876]

Who's town has had one of these? "Exciting new plan to revitalise Dover town centre" It of course involves experts and consultants, so will cost a lot and achieve nothing.

Probably quite a few will have had one of those, and very few or none of them will have delivered anything worthwhile!

Anyone remember the plans to remodel Barnsley as a Tuscan hilltop town, a couple of decades ago? That was a laugh!

 

[johntea]

Who's town has had one of these? "Exciting new plan to revitalise Dover town centre" It of course involves experts and consultants, so will cost a lot and achieve nothing.

Exciting new plan to revitalise Dover town centre

www.dover.gov.uk

Dover has been having these plans since after WW2 when the German shelling and bombing flattened half of the town.

Castleford has 24 million quid seemingly lost behind the sofa of a few council members!

We 'famously' got a new bridge over the River Aire in 2008 with a bit of help from that Kevin McCloud bloke from Grand Designs and err...not much since!

Castleford’s £24m regeneration schemes delayed as deadline extended

Major work to transform Castleford looks set to be delayed after a deadline to complete regeneration projects has been extended.
Wakefield Council secured £24m of government funding for the town centre in 2019.
It is hoped the revamp will increase visitor numbers and involves creating two of Yorkshire’s ‘premier public spaces’.

https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/people/castlefords-ps24m-regeneration-schemes-delayed-as-deadline-extended-5089035

We do have two 'premier public spaces' already to welcome visitors, the derelict Poundstretcher building and the closed down Wilkos!

Transport wise however we now have excellent bus and rail station facilities so you can at least quickly escape the misery to York / Manchester / Leeds / Sheffield

I think a lot of the damage was done when Freeport / Junction 32 / Xscape opened up however just off the M62, anyone with a car will probably just visit there and have no reason to visit the town centre anyway

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Anyone remember the plans to remodel Barnsley as a Tuscan hilltop town, a couple of decades ago? That was a laugh!

Must have missed that. Were these plans announced on April 1st, by any chance?

 

[asw22]

In the year running up to the City of Culture, it seems that the done thing is to dig up most of the city centre and put down a load of block paving. I noticed it happening in Bradford last year (on the occasions when I had to go there for something), and exactly the same happened a few years back in Hull - I was over there a lot with work during the year when that was city of culture and the previous and following years. Apart from more block paving than previously, I can't say that it's had any noticeable impact on Hull (a colleague who is a lifelong Hull resident agrees), so I wouldn't expect it to do much for Bradford either.

Sadly I think the same in that it will take a lot more than some block paving / pedestrianisation to try to revive Bradford (my dad was in BRI for a few months last year so I made regular journeys from / to Leeds by train & bus so had the "privilege" of walking across Bradford as the Interchange was closed).

We do have two 'premier public spaces' already to welcome visitors, the derelict Poundstretcher building and the closed down Wilkos!

Transport wise however we now have excellent bus and rail station facilities so you can at least quickly escape the misery to York / Manchester / Leeds / Sheffield

I think a lot of the damage was done when Freeport / Junction 32 / Xscape opened up however just off the M62, anyone with a car will probably just visit there and have no reason to visit the town centre anyway

Back in the 1990s, we used to like the Ridings centre (with its glass lift and fish pond) - sadly this seems to have declined since. The library near Westgate seems fairly pleasant though.