The Decline Of Sheffield City Centre

[Hogg]

Let us acknowledge the loss of some fantastic shops on the Moor and elsewhere, but we are where we are because of Meadowhall and internet shopping. Persoally, as a cinema, theatre and restaurant enthusiast - the city centre suits me very well as it is, and compared with thirty years ago it looks an awful lot better. The world is changing and in a few years, Leeds and Manchester as big shopping centers might too become irrelevant with youngsters shopping online. We are behind Leeds and Manchester but economists are talking about the fourth industrial revolution - AI - we will be arguing about the hole in the road, whilst AI is changing the world around us.

[LeMaquis]

Student's aren't ghosts, they are zombies.

 

Students are educated and know that there is no apostrophe in students.

 

---------- Post added 11-06-2016 at 08:26 ----------

 

But aren't those 2 things polar opposites. Students aren't here to buy high end furniture.

 

You couldn't be more wrong. I live near a lot of Chinese students and they have money to burn. They move in and buy loads of furniture. And there's also all the day to day spending. But you wouldn't know that from your country bumpkin haystack.

[The Joker]

Have just been having exactly this conversation on Twitter. People are obssesed with parking costs. I don't get it.

 

I can understand the parking anxiety / the parkers dilemma.

 

Say you park in town, expecting to stay for 3 hours, but there's nowt that catches your fancy, so after an hour, you've seen enough and you want to leave. But you've still got two hours on the meter! What do you do? Do you leave town, mumbling under your breath about the extra 2 hours parking you've paid for but missed out on? Or do you stay in town for that 2 hours you've paid for, and walk round the same shops again?

 

On the other hand, what if you pay for one hours' parking, but get delayed at the other side of town for some reason? You can cut short your shopping visit and rush back to your car in a blind panic, or risk getting a parking ticket for overstaying your parking period, which will be an extra unwelcome expense that would put many off from visiting the city centre again.

 

Meadowhall doesn't have this problem.

 

I get free parking in the city centre thanks to my employment. If I didn't receive this perk, I'd probably never set foot in the city centre during weekends.

[Cyclone]

Let us acknowledge the loss of some fantastic shops on the Moor and elsewhere, but we are where we are because of Meadowhall and internet shopping. Persoally, as a cinema, theatre and restaurant enthusiast - the city centre suits me very well as it is, and compared with thirty years ago it looks an awful lot better. The world is changing and in a few years, Leeds and Manchester as big shopping centers might too become irrelevant with youngsters shopping online. We are behind Leeds and Manchester but economists are talking about the fourth industrial revolution - AI - we will be arguing about the hole in the road, whilst AI is changing the world around us.

 

Who's arguing about AI?

 

---------- Post added 11-06-2016 at 10:11 ----------

 

I can understand the parking anxiety / the parkers dilemma.

 

Say you park in town, expecting to stay for 3 hours, but there's nowt that catches your fancy, so after an hour, you've seen enough and you want to leave. But you've still got two hours on the meter! What do you do? Do you leave town, mumbling under your breath about the extra 2 hours parking you've paid for but missed out on? Or do you stay in town for that 2 hours you've paid for, and walk round the same shops again?

 

On the other hand, what if you pay for one hours' parking, but get delayed at the other side of town for some reason? You can cut short your shopping visit and rush back to your car in a blind panic, or risk getting a parking ticket for overstaying your parking period, which will be an extra unwelcome expense that would put many off from visiting the city centre again.

 

Meadowhall doesn't have this problem.

 

I get free parking in the city centre thanks to my employment. If I didn't receive this perk, I'd probably never set foot in the city centre during weekends.

 

You can use one of the many car parks that charges on exit.

Or you can pay for on street parking by phone, allowing you to add an extra hour if you need to from the other side of the city. (Takes a small amount of forethought though).

Guessing the duration of your stay is annoying, I agree, but not insurmountable.

[AndrewC]

Foxylady, modern students bring a stack of cash with them these days, and whilst their pound-shop spend might be the same as most peoples, they are also spending loads in other shops, leisure facilities, supermarkets etc.

[Stoatwobbler]

But aren't those 2 things polar opposites. Students aren't here to buy high end furniture. They are here to study, and are more likely to attract pound shops than Harrods. So if we continue down the road of giving over the city centre to pound shops and students what is there to attract big business to the area within the inner ring road?

If HS2 does actually stop at Sheffield it will be at Meadowhall. It is Meadowhall that is expanding. Meadowhall where retailers want to be. Meadowhall will attract business for its proximity to the motorway, the rail network, and most importantly somewhere where they and their customers can park. It might even expand to become a new town on it's own.

 

One issue with the Meadowhall area is that it is not the most desirable residential location. Even with the big shopping centre that in many respects beats nearby town centres hands down it's not exactly had a whole lot of "gentrification". It's still a place you communute to and not so much from.

[Cyclone]

Foxylady, modern students bring a stack of cash with them these days, and whilst their pound-shop spend might be the same as most peoples, they are also spending loads in other shops, leisure facilities, supermarkets etc.

 

Foreign students maybe, modern UK students, no so much.

[The Joker]

You can use one of the many car parks that charges on exit.

Or you can pay for on street parking by phone, allowing you to add an extra hour if you need to from the other side of the city. (Takes a small amount of forethought though).

Guessing the duration of your stay is annoying, I agree, but not insurmountable.

 

Yeah, but the pay-on-exit car parks come with their own set of problems.

 

If you overstay by a few minutes, you might find your parking charge has exceeded the 1-2 hour charge, and you're now paying the 2-4 hour charge. And no Sheffielder wants to pay more than they have to.

 

And from what I understand, these private car parks can be significantly more expensive than city council car parks. I've seen some hilarious rants in the local press from out-of-towners complaining they've been stung by excessive parking charges at the NCP by the Crucible theater. They've visited the city centre for a play and have been hit with a double-figure parking fee for just a few hours evening parking, and they promise never, ever to visit Sheffield again!

 

I expect most people won't spend time planning their city centre shopping visit with military precision and use the most optimal car park. They'll use the most convenient, or the cheapest (and it's always one or the other)

[nannyogg]

Parked in city centre once at an NCP car park. It cost me £11 and this was on a Sunday. That's the cost of my lunch at Meadowhall!

I love the centre because it has John Lewis and some good eating places (and I now use the car park near the Hilton, so £3 all day). However, I mostly go to Meadowhall, partly because I can pop in mid-week of an evening and partly to avoid the chuggers etc.

[S1 1DJ]

Parked in city centre once at an NCP car park. It cost me £11 and this was on a Sunday. That's the cost of my lunch at Meadowhall!

I love the centre because it has John Lewis and some good eating places (and I now use the car park near the Hilton, so £3 all day). However, I mostly go to Meadowhall, partly because I can pop in mid-week of an evening and partly to avoid the chuggers etc.

 

Why use a multi storey on a Sunday? Costs a pound to park on road bays all day on Sunday and Council car parks.