What is so good about Sheffield City Centre?

[bendix]

 

Sheffield has long had a reputation for retaining a high proportion of it's graduates and I can attest to the fact that the majority of Sheffield Uni students if they can, hang around. Of course many can't because the job market isn't large enough.

 

I'm not meaning to be churlish, but I can't find any sources to back this claim up. Can you point me towards one please? Id be pleased but surprised if it were true.

 

See the attached for example. Figure 11 shows Sheffield to be absent from the top ten university cities for retention, beaten by even the likes of Middlesborough and Swansea. At the very best we keep one in three and that is only if we sneak in at 11th in this table.

 

http://www.centreforcities.org/reader/great-british-brain-drain/migration-students-graduates/

Edited July 26, 2018 by bendix

[Guest makapaka]

You're asking for examples of mute resignation that the city will never be anything? Do you really need them? Look around you.

 

I've already highlighted two - the failure to capitalise on the birthplace of football, and the rather revealing realisation that Gap considers its store in our retail quarter a dumping ground for its surplus stock.

 

What could we add to that? Well, a totally dead city centre (the whole point of this thread), a persistent failure to attract significant businesses or jobs compared to MCR and Leeds, and the inability to turn thousands of students who come to the city into permanent residents.

 

I love the place, but I'm approaching retirement. Young people dont really want to be here. And that's a real shame.

 

None of what you’ve said here demonstrates a mute resignation that the city will never be anything - in fact it could be argued that this very thread shows there is no mute resignation.

[bendix]

None of what you’ve said here demonstrates a mute resignation that the city will never be anything - in fact it could be argued that this very thread shows there is no mute resignation.

 

Fair comment. I hope I'm wonderfully wrong and that there is a huge surge on inward investment, a plethora of international companies coming to set up large operations, and a surfeit of shopping, dining, entertaining options.

 

I wont be holding my breath. I'm quite happy with it. I like a quiet place. Had I wanted to live in Manchester, I would have gone there.

 

I just worry that the city is on a downward spiral at the moment, and losing ground more each day.

[Cyclone]

I'm not meaning to be churlish, but I can't find any sources to back this claim up. Can you point me towards one please? Id be pleased but surprised if it were true.

 

See the attached for example. Figure 11 shows Sheffield to be absent from the top ten university cities for retention, beaten by even the likes of Middlesborough and Swansea. At the very best we keep one in three and that is only if we sneak in at 11th in this table.

 

http://www.centreforcities.org/reader/great-british-brain-drain/migration-students-graduates/

 

Sure, I have to be quick, need to go to work.

 

Sheffield – attracting students and keeping graduates

Sheffield is another city that attracts a large number of students from other parts of the country, but it is also successful in retaining a considerable share of its graduates. In the 2013-2015 period, 81 per cent of its students were not from Sheffield. Unlike Nottingham, Sheffield retains a substantial share of its graduates – 31 per cent of its students remain in Sheffield to work. 75 per cent of the students who were living in Sheffield before university worked in the city after graduation, whereas 20 per cent of the graduates who came from elsewhere to study remained in Sheffield to work. Like Nottingham and many other cities, Sheffield loses students to London. But the share of graduates who moved to London is only 10 per cent.

 

From

 

http://www.centreforcities.org/reader/great-british-brain-drain/migration-students-graduates/

[paula4sheff]

Fair comment. I hope I'm wonderfully wrong and that there is a huge surge on inward investment, a plethora of international companies coming to set up large operations, and a surfeit of shopping, dining, entertaining options.

 

I wont be holding my breath. I'm quite happy with it. I like a quiet place. Had I wanted to live in Manchester, I would have gone there.

 

I just worry that the city is on a downward spiral at the moment, and losing ground more each day.

 

That's largely my view too - I love Sheffield, but it really does feel it's in a downward spiral at the moment, in so many ways. Simply saying "it's great, it's brilliant" I find angering, as its that sort of attitude that stops problems and issues being addressed.

 

If you care about something, you have to say when it's failing, when it could do better, and push for it to be better, rather than simply pretending there are no serious problems.

 

If you look at how a city such as Liverpool has made so much effort to turn itself around it really is worrying how little Sheffield does. It almost seems arrogant the little effort made to make it a desirable place now. Like it or not it simply HAS to compete with rival cities....and at present it isn't. That can, and should, change.

 

But things won't change if the problems and issues people have are just brushed aside, ignored and regarded as 'whinging' or 'putting the city down'.

[Guest makapaka]

That's largely my view too - I love Sheffield, but it really does feel it's in a downward spiral at the moment, in so many ways. Simply saying "it's great, it's brilliant" I find angering, as its that sort of attitude that stops problems and issues being addressed.

 

If you care about something, you have to say when it's failing, when it could do better, and push for it to be better, rather than simply pretending there are no serious problems.

 

If you look at how a city such as Liverpool has made so much effort to turn itself around it really is worrying how little Sheffield does. It almost seems arrogant the little effort made to make it a desirable place now. Like it or not it simply HAS to compete with rival cities....and at present it isn't. That can, and should, change.

 

But things won't change if the problems and issues people have are just brushed aside, ignored and regarded as 'whinging' or 'putting the city down'.

 

What would need to happen for you to see an effort being made? What do you want to see done?

[Longcol]

 

The main store in Leeds too (on Park Row) is not an outlet store. I believe both Manchester and Leeds are closer than Birmingham, and it against those two cities that Sheffield should be measured, not Doncaster or Derby.

 

Why measure against Manchester or Leeds - the greater Manchester conurbation is about 4 times as big as Sheffield, the West Yorks conurbation centred on Leeds is nearly 3 times as big.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom

[Unisol]

Why measure against Manchester or Leeds - the greater Manchester conurbation is about 4 times as big as Sheffield, the West Yorks conurbation centred on Leeds is nearly 3 times as big.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom

 

That’s a terrible comparison to use.

 

The places listed in the West yorks area are many, many miles apart that I wouldn’t ever consider it a conurbation as such and definitely not a built up area.

 

If a similar sized area was used for Sheffield the population would be hugely more than is listed.

 

Manchester, not so as it is a true conurbation/built up area

[Guest busdriver1]

Why does Sheffield have to be measured against anything?

Surely by doing so we are going to find places that are bigger, better, etc., etc.?

Why cant we just say this is Sheffield, it is what it is or do we have to be bigger and better than somewhere to be of note?

To be honest, the only claim made so far that MAY not be beatable is the rather vague one that it is close to somewhere else ( the peak district). Hardly a great selling point - come here it is near somewhere nice :hihi:

[Nijinsky]

You can`t compare counties with cities. Greater Manchester is a county not a city.