To think, get rid of the driving restrictions, make parking easier and watch Oxford Street flourish 🤷‍♀️

[mumofoneAlonebutokay]

Just that really

https://metro.co.uk/2025/01/28/oxford-street-suffers-fatal-blow-multiple-retailers-announce-leaving-22447406/

How many shops are closing in Westfield, both branches? Londoners want to drive.

Who the fuck wants to be in Oxford street what a shit hole

i can be there in 20 mins from my house via tube it would take forever by car

loads of shops close in westfields all the time every time I’m there something is gone

Where do you propose siting all these new parking places?

Same story everywhere.

Nope. Too many idiot drivers around. 🤷‍♀️

The high street is being destroyed by internet shopping.

Just do the maths.

It was always inevitable, it's universal and it's a long term trend.

The thought of trying to persuade people to drive into the centre of London by. making it cheaper, when it's already hideously congested ... completely nuts.

Metro Newspaper is owned by the Daily Mail, so this is exactly the sort of barking story I'd expect from the paper.

There's always new developments going up, I'd want some money to be invested in underground parking

And I'd want money to be given so that parking is free/subsidised in the existing surrounding car parks.

I'd run a campaign saying 'drive in, park and use the bus to get to Oxford street'

Oxford street as a retail sector mustn't be allowed to die out

Im a leftie but I'm so not a fan of sadiq

i mean it’s horrible to shop there too as it’s on 2 sides of a busy road and narrow busy foot paths - bringing more cars in would make the experience way worse than it already is 🤣🤣

Underground parking?! Where specifically do you think this Underground space is? Also why is it the Mayor's problem to create Underground parking space. You do know that most Londoners don't actually own cars !
Oxford street is dying because people shop online. Simple as that. Westfield etc are remarketing as destinations for food, cinema as well as shops. But there's not enough people who want to shop for all the retail space. Row back the Internet I'd say is the answer

I'd always prefer to shop somewhere with fewer cars, not more.

Pedestrianise as much of it that can be done.
Have a tram that connects Marble arch to Tottenham Court Rd running down the middle.
A strict cycle path running along side the tram (if the cyclists ride into the pedestrian part they will be electrocuted 🤔).
Lots of seating. LOTS of seating.
Last thing it needs is more traffic.

There are loads of londoners with cars, who want to drive into London, they may not be the majority but they're a big and important 'minority'

Lots of the new developments that go up come with underground parking, it's not a very out there thought

There should be other incentives to get people into London, and that includes being able to drive and park relatively nearby/access the street with ease

People like shopping but they don't want to travel, hence Westfield is still going

Oxford street needs to adapt, it's so sad to see it dying

Have you done some research among Londoners who live within driving distance to show people want to drive to Oxford Street? Or is this poll your research?

FWIW I don’t want to drive to Oxford Street.

agree with pp that it’s internet shopping what’s done it

I really don't agree that a lack of cars are the cause of the retail sector's failure. Whenever I've been to Oxford Street over the last 12 months (work commitments nearby) it's been busy, but not may people carrying multiple shopping bags.

The seeds were sown many years ago when internet shopping was so encouraged as it was cheaper for brands. So they stocked less stuff in store and people shopped in store less as there was nothing in the shops. Add in the fact that this has coincided with a reduction in product quality across all price ranges (both poor materials and inconsistent sizing) and people's wages dropping in real terms consistently since the 2007 financial crash means people just don't shop like they used to, particularly for clothes.

Imo, the retail industry has wholesale followed the opportunity for short term savings and in doing so, tanked the long term survival of the high street. I blame people like Philip Green and Mike Ashley.

It's my opinion 😄 and tbh is shared by those i interact with daily, ie popping to the shops

Would love to be able to drive into central london personally. As a disabled person with a disabled child, being able to drive places is very important

Agree with pp who said lots of seating should be available as well

I've thought similar about some of the town centres around here. The high street is a bus lane and double yellow lines. A bus probably goes down there every 20-30 minutes. It might have made sense in the 80s but it doesn't now. If they made it so you could park up for an hour, the shops would benefit. The 5 people on the bus would have to walk around the corner

Have you tried getting a bus around the west end. Traffic moves slower than footfall. If you drive to Oxford Street might take you an hour to drive 2-3 roads.

i used to live in Kilburn so it wasn’t far as the crow flies through Maida Vale on a bus. Took HOURS

Underground parking? Near Oxford St? There's bugger all space underground in London! There's about 4 or so tube stops down it already - why on earth would people WANT to drive in London? I don't think I've driven into the centre since 1994 and that was only because I was delivering something for work. And why would you catch a bus when you could go on the tube unless you were broke?

Or are you thinking of making it more polluted and cashing in on the extra ULEZ and congestion charge fees?

When I lived in London I didn't know one person who owned a car.
I've long thought of a plan similar to @Needmorelego - pedestrianise as much as possible, with free hop-on-hop-off tramways and cyclepaths the length of the street.

I don't think it's parking that's the issue, I live near the metrocentre in the north east. Huge amounts of free parking but the shopping is rubbish. Old Arcadia units still empty, lots of smaller units that used to be independent traders, all empty. The focus seems to be on entertainment: cinema, bowling, arcade, mini golf, escape room, clip n climb, and tons of restaurants.

The Internet has decimated retail

Oxford street should be be pedestrianised, most people in london don't own a car. Driving in central london is a bonkers idea if you don't need to. Obviously there should be exemptions

God this reminds me of Mike Read's article when he decided not to run for London Mayor and back Boris. All parking underground . That was nearly 20 years ago now but remains one of the unintentionally funniest things I've ever read. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jul/17/imbackingboris

For people with disabilities, driving vs not driving is a different discussion. For anyone else, if you want to drive into the centre of London it should be made as difficult and expensive as possible. It makes the streets dangerous and dirty for everyone - Wardour St is unbearable these days with traffic heading to Oxford St.

@mumofoneAlonebutokay drive from where though? What's your starting point?
I know a lot of non londoners who drive to the end stations of tube lines, park there and then tube in (for example Hillingdon is popular for that).

I really like the Pedestrian idea.

I'm in the east and there are so many cars and people moaning about driving

I think that Oxford street needs to be saved, and to do so they need to encourage people in the surrounding areas to drive in, park locally and cheaply and then be able to easily get one bus to Oxford street

I hate the idea of pedestrianising Oxford street myself but wouldn't a tram be about as effective as making it bus only?

As much as retail is dying, Oxford street needs to be supported to thrive