When Did The City Centre Lose Its Soul?

[harvey19]

1 minute ago, ads36 said:

it's sort of tucked behind John Lewis.

 

it's not finished yet, but they're spending 6million quid on it.

I know where you mean.

Thank you.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, ads36 said:

it's sort of tucked behind John Lewis.

 

it's not finished yet, but they're spending 6million quid on it.

He said old, which doesn't really mean something that's not finished yet.

 

9 hours ago, hackey lad said:

What ?

Please explain what   "What?"   means, or I can't answer.

[ads36]

you need help.

[Jack Grey]

58 minutes ago, harvey19 said:

I wish some of the old cutlery works and housing had been retained to show how people lived and worked many years ago.

 

But the buildings have been retained

 

Look at kelham Island....its incredible now

 

Just another fantastic example of Sheffield gentrification  

Edited April 6, 2023 by Jack Grey

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, ads36 said:

you need help.

You are talking about something old,  which is not finished yet,     And I need help?

Everything I've seen that was old, was finished umpteen years ago.

I'll stand in the help queue behind you,  as I at least know the difference between old and new.

 

[St Petre]

4 hours ago, harvey19 said:

Thank you.

Where about is that ? 

It's an alley on Cambridge Street.

[Mister M]

15 hours ago, hackey lad said:

Is it better now ?

I think so.

Charter Square (where the old Grovesnor Hotel was) is lovely, with a tiered seating area. Behind that, where the fire station was, a small park is being built. 

The Winter Gardens and Museum, where the 'egg box' was is lovely. Tudor Square looks nice, especially when the snooker is on! Weather permitting, people can sit outside with a drink and watch matches on a big screen. 

As has been said Leah's Yard is been renovated, not sure to what. 

The Moor is busier than I have known it. 

Fargate is suffering to be honest. I do think as population has changed and spending habits have changed, the sprawling nature of Sheffield City centre probably makes it feel much more deserted than it should do.

13 hours ago, Organgrinder said:

I stated that  it's clear the city centre has lost it's soul because that's the title of the thread and no one seems to have disputed that this is fact except yourself.   You are of course, entitled to this opinion.

I have lived here well over 80 years and remember the city as a big, busy noisy city employing many many thousands of skilled men making quality products that were known all over the world.

The streets were always thronged with people and, no matter what you wanted, someone supplied it close by.  I have stopped going to town (nothing to go for now) but photos and videos show it as almost deserted.

What to do is quite a question and I don't have all the answers but, firstly, the council and the police need to talk to the people of the city and spell out what they are going to do  regarding all the points that redruby raised.

They also need to explain  just what they are aiming for with the city centre. A couple of small city centre parks and a broken down stone wall are not going to be major attractions.

We need some initiatives to create real jobs in the city, not selling burgers, but something that earns real wages for our citizens.

There has been no investment to replace all the skilled and decently paid jobs we lost and the government should be shamed into doing it's share with that, although I think that's a non-starter.

We are certainly never going to be a shopping city again and the shops and markets were definitely the biggest draw in the old days.

I agree we have good theatres but , by creating an anti-car feel in the city, this must deprive the theatres of a certain amount of custom.

When we look at the massive amounts of money which have been wasted by our council with it's build it up - knock it down policies we should have already had a good start but are back at the beginning..

I consider that Sheffield was a very proud place and that sense of pride has been thrown away with litter and debris all over except for the chosen places within  half a mile of the town hall.

I see the cities traffic plan as utterly stupid and  a major cause of congestion causing traffic to  take all kinds of weird diversions to get from A to B. I would sack the entire lot of traffic planners.

I could go on all day in this vein but, as I think that too much damage has already been inflicted on the city, in my view, it would take years and billions of pounds of investment to make a real change.

In the meantime, I shall continue to shop at shops and traditional markets elsewhere and leave the council to carry on with their vandalism whilst the forces of law & order look away.

 

 

You obviously have a longer memory than me of when Sheffield centre was thriving, and the reasons for its demise. 

Cities like Manchester and Leeds were certainly in the same situation as Sheffield was in the 1970s and 1980s - their deindustrialisation happened a little earlier, so they got a head start on attracting new investments and their newer industries like the creative and financial sector have created much needed work.

Although a friend of mine works in the computer science area, and says Sheffield over the last 10 years has become so much better for jobs in digital technologies.

5 hours ago, Jack Grey said:

Sheffield city centre is so much better than it was 20 years ago

 

Remember all those empty delipidated buildings, cutlery works and crumbling warehouses which are all bars, restaurants, offices and apartment buildings now

 

And Sheffield City Centre has to be one of the safest in the country....its why so many students come here

I agree that Sheffield is better than it was 20 years ago. And that its centres certainly feel safer than either Manchester and Leeds.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Mister M

[ECCOnoob]

4 hours ago, Organgrinder said:

You are talking about something old,  which is not finished yet,     And I need help?

Everything I've seen that was old, was finished umpteen years ago.

I'll stand in the help queue behind you,  as I at least know the difference between old and new.

 

So what do you want then? A decaying empty building rotting away for decades untouched just because you like to preserve it being "old"

 

Why are you failing to understand the simple concept that cities evolve. Buildings get renovated and restored and reused.

 

You are wallowing in rose tinted nostalgia. You are clinging onto your delusions of the past so tight you are failing to see the positive changes around you.

 

The city is still filled. Its pavements are still filled with people working and shopping and enjoying their leisure time. There are probably more people living in the city centre boundaries now than there has been for decades. 

 

It is already been pointed out to you that Sheffield is still a prosperous city. It is still filled with workers but you're deluded in your desire that 'prosperous' it only counts if everything is done dirty stinky factories - when the world has clearly moved on and our industries and operations and employment is all through different means.  As I said earlier, there are people doing just as important roles and earning just as much money to spend in those shops and bars and restaurants. But they are doing it from nice clean modern office parks or brand new shiny industrial facilities or even from the comfort of their own living room.  That's how the working world is these days.

 

Those jobs to sustain us into the 22nd century are already here. They are already being filled. You are just so blind to see it.

 

You complain about a lackluster market and the absence of strings of shops completely ignoring the fact that globally traditional bricks and mortar retail is in decline. Department Stores are in their final swansong and consumer habits have completely been transformed by out of town developments, internet shopping and instant delivery.   Its impact is not just being felt here in Sheffield but across the planet and that's why high streets are being transformed away from shopping into other means, including lots of residential.  

 

As for drug users, homeless, beggars and alcoholics, the answer to your question is you will never get rid of them. Just the same as we have never got rid of them centuries previous. That is human nature and the consequences of having a public available space when members of the public of all walks of life are free to use it.  Bringing back Dixon of Dock Green ain't going to change that situation. Just like it didn't for decades previous.  Even back in your rose tinted nostalgia days there were still drunks and homeless people and beggars. Anyone who had the misfortune of walking through the old peace gardens, hole in the road or charter square subways will know all too well.

 

It's you who seems have some warped interpretation of what is "vibrancy" and can't seem to move on from  steelworks, Castle market and the hole in't road.  

 

How about walking around with a view of the present day for a change.  Look at the vast amounts of investment.  Dozens of new buildings and developments happening right now. Look at all the improvements made to the public spaces.  Look at the transformation made to former industrial wastelands like kelham Island or even down at attercliffe.  

 

If you are of the age you are claiming to be, you of all people should understand how things evolve and change.  After major parts of the city got the crap bombed out of them during the war, would you have expected things to remain?  Would you have been filled with objections and self pity about all the new 'modern' developments, public buildings, housing schemes and transport infrastructure that was all done in the 60s and 70s.

 

The city is once again evolving, as it did in the late '90s and will continue to do again.  Its for the next generations. For their future and for their needs which have all moved on.

Edited April 6, 2023 by ECCOnoob

[Kidorry]

I do agree with some of the things you have said, but, are you also seeing it as a vibrant and prosperous city because it is to your taste? Because to me you could be describing the city through rose tinted glasses as you are accusing other people. I think that some of the things you said about the damage that was caused during the second world war is going a bit too far. I was around then and I can assure you and any other person on here that people were very glad to have the city restored, and go to work in the dirty factories .Some people were very happy to be able to go and telephone someone from a phone box, which is virtually impossible now, due to people in offices, thinking everyone has a mobile phone and a computer. Plus in this evolving city, do the planners ever need to go to a toilet, because I think they would find it very difficult to find a public one. Not so many years ago this city had one of the best transport systems in Britain, until  our council was told by a certain P.M. to privatise the public transport. That is your idea of a better city, but, not mine. 

[HeHasRisen]

Lets not start the public toilet thing again, there are countless places to go for a piddle in the city.