Nottingham looks grim

[AskAwayAgain]

I live in the East Midlands a bit of a way from Nottingham. But we went into Nottingham to see a show. We had not been there since before the pandemic so I said to DH lets go in early and look around the shops beforehand and have something to eat.

I was really shocked by how awful the street from Marks and Spencers to Broadmarsh looked. Most shops closed and some that were open looked really tatty. I also had memories of the side streets being full of interesting gift shops, but most were gone.

Victoria Centre looked okay, but overall the City Centre was really poor and had little to offer, I am still shocked that a major City looks as bad as this.

😆😆 oh trust me, I know how shit it is! But where I live is so spectacularly shit, with hardly any shops that aren't boarded up, that most people still choose to come to Derby instead!

That end of Notts city centre was pretty down at heel in the mid 90s.
Broadmarsh used to be relatively decent a few years before that

I think the people of Newcastle just genuinely love to shop. The city centre always feels vibrant. When that goes downhill, we all need to worry. Sheffield folks have always used Meadowhall as an excuse for small, uninspiring shops in the city centre but cities like Newcastle and Glasgow have long had big out of town centres (Metrocentre, Braehead) yet maintain excellent city centre shops too.

Sheffield is awful now, I grew up there and it was brilliant in the eighties, shopping going out etc. Don't recognize it now ,feels unsafe and almost dystopian, I avoid at all costs.

@Glittertwins It has been full of shops for poorer people for a long time, but now it is mainly lots of empty shops.

Same as most generic Town Centres in UK. I'm in London and local Town Centre is terrible. Nottingham is better. At least where I am its not too far at all to nicer Town Centres with independent shops bars & cafes, some with a village feel.

I haven't been back for years now. Hockey was always good when I lived there.

Hockley

Meh. It's not very interesting.

I have never felt unsafe in Sheffield city centre.

Hockley is lovely at times now. Loads of bars/cafes with outdoor seating so on a sunny day it has a holiday feel to it.

It's appalling that the begging level is now similar to how it was in the early 2000s. That's government policies though.

I went in to Nottingham a few months ago and somebody asked me for any loose change. It felt like when I was on a lunch break in central London. Homeless everywhere. Except when I was working in London years ago the country still had plenty of money and now the country does not. The student vibe was great though around Victoria Centre.

Nottingham centre has looked run down for some time. It was never great area but has grown worse.

I took my son to Nottingham last year and was surprised by how nice the city centre seemed, Whereas we couldn't get out of Birmingham quick enough, really disliked it.

Yes, planners have successfully ruined that city centre, haven't they? There's clearly a problem with drug addicts and that big empty John Lewis looks awful. Shame.

Well dd was totally sold on the bullring!

Dd2 is at Exeter and I really like the small town but there's a huge amount of drunks/addicts there - its really noticeable.

Yes, I think Brum city centre is quite nice.

I was at uni in NOtts in the early 90s and loved it sooo much! So sad to hear it has declined. I was there v briefly taking ds to a uni open day last year and the road up from broadmarsh was mainly boarded up shops, but once you got to market square it was busy. Ds was knackered by then so we didn’t hang around v much. I wanted to go into Hockley and see if Dragonfly hippy shop was still there!!
A lot of building works around B’Marsh too - didn’t recognise it. But that part was always the ‘cheap’ end & Victoria centre was the posher shops!!

What’s going on with Leeds city centre area around the station? It’s being dug up again. Last time we went there were works going on as well?! The rest of the city centre is ok.

That happens in every big city!

Liverpool is still busy and vibrant in the city centre.

There are cities which are doing well. Manchester and Liverpool city centres are great places to visit. Nottingham is 20 years behind these places.

Let's not discuss Hull or Luton then!

I was in York last week - it's the same - so many closed shops and boarded up retail spaces - so strange