When Did The City Centre Lose Its Soul?

[Irene Swaine]

When do YOU think the city centre lost its soul and vibrancy? Was it in 1990 when Meadowhall opened? Was it in 2013 when Castle Market closed? When Ethel Austin closed? When the lunch shop in Fitzalan Square became a "vaping" store? When The Moor was ripped up and replaced with foreign markets and a very poor excuse for a TJ Hughes?

 

Cast your vote and compare your thoughts with others!

 

 

[Mister M]

32 minutes ago, Irene Swaine said:

When do YOU think the city centre lost its soul and vibrancy? Was it in 1990 when Meadowhall opened? Was it in 2013 when Castle Market closed? When Ethel Austin closed? When the lunch shop in Fitzalan Square became a "vaping" store? When The Moor was ripped up and replaced with foreign markets and a very poor excuse for a TJ Hughes?

 

Cast your vote and compare your thoughts with others!

 

 

I first came to Sheffield in 1991, and frankly Sheffield City Centre didn't look very nice. 

The Hole in the Road stank awful, and although I liked the design of the 'Egg Box', it probably wasn't fit for purpose. The gardens in front of the eggbox looked rundown with some dodgy characters lurking about. I liked the shops Spoils on the High Street, & I love Atkinsons (which is still there). T.J. Hughes was okay in the old Rackhams building. Cole Brothers was fab. C&A was just C&A. 

It's all very well for people to get dewy eyed over Castle Markets, but by the time I arrived in Sheffield they looked very shabby, and smelt bad. It's right they were pulled down.

In 1991 The Moor was deserted and remained so until it was revamped a few years ago. The new markets are very clean and welcoming. The public square where Zizzi's and Cubana are situated is very nice.The Supertram system is excellent. Winter Gardens is lovely, as is Tudor Square. Fitzallan Square does look better now than it did years ago.

There aren't as many shops in the city centre, but a lot of that is to do with people preferring to shop at Meadowhall, or shop online. Consequently the city centre has had to be repurposed as place for people to live as well as shop. I suppose the pandemic also has had an effect.

I understand many people who have lived here all their lives have an emotional connection to the city centre and want it to stay as it was when they were kids. However city centres change, and Sheffield is no different.

Edited April 4, 2023 by Mister M

[Kidorry]

I liked your post. It seems to me that some people will not accept or see the better things in Sheffield. I agree  that some things needed to change. O.K. so some of the changes are not, to some people, better, but to me I think our city has gone through a major and better transformation. I can remember it in the 40s and it was a very different place then.

[Bargepole23]

5 hours ago, Irene Swaine said:

When do YOU think the city centre lost its soul and vibrancy? Was it in 1990 when Meadowhall opened? Was it in 2013 when Castle Market closed? When Ethel Austin closed? When the lunch shop in Fitzalan Square became a "vaping" store? When The Moor was ripped up and replaced with foreign markets and a very poor excuse for a TJ Hughes?

 

Cast your vote and compare your thoughts with others!

 

 

Where are the "foreign markets" on the Moor, and what was ripped up?

Edited April 4, 2023 by Bargepole23

[ECCOnoob]

Where is the "it hasn't" option on the poll?

 

Oh yes, that's right, the OP has decided that no other option exists and everyone accepts the city has gone down the pan without debate.

 

No thought, discussion or allowance for the obvious changing landscape in retail across the world, the changes in consumer habits, the evolution of cities back into places where people are living and spending their leisure time.

 

No mention whatsoever of all the great improvements, public spaces, multimillion pound developments and vast amounts of ongoing building work right now in the city.

 

No no, just another thread attempt to bash the city based on rose tinted delusional nostalgia of how better it was back in the day.

Edited April 4, 2023 by ECCOnoob

[harvey19]

Two of the factors which have changed the city is graffiti and beggars.

 

[bassett one]

its a mess and full of empty shops and cigs for a fiver sales people with dogs,plus you need a helicopter to get to most places,total disgrace

[HeHasRisen]

23 minutes ago, bassett one said:

its a mess and full of empty shops and cigs for a fiver sales people with dogs,plus you need a helicopter to get to most places,total disgrace

Hyperbole klaxon!

[HeHasRisen]

Nobody had dogs or sold cheap fags in the 80s either, famously.

[Jack Grey]

1 hour ago, harvey19 said:

Two of the factors which have changed the city is graffiti and beggars.

 

Spice has is a blight on Sheffield City Centre and every city/town centre in the UK

 

They are openly dealing outside Wilkos

 

And the police station is only across the road