Is retail still alive where you live?

[JaceLancs]

My local city is fairly run down with lots of empty retail and business properties
However, I live in a village and retail is thriving - we have everything from local butcher to pet shop, gift shop, post office, bakery and a reasonable choice of cafes, pubs and restaurants - if anywhere comes up for let it gets snapped up straightaway
I also live near to other similar villages and suburbs on the way into the city centre who are equally as thriving
I think the free parking helps, as does a stay local and support local business attitude
I’m happy to pay more locally to avoid the costs of fuel and parking to somewhere that’s no longer a pleasant day out

The city centre where I live is struggling but there’s a local shopping centre that’s thriving

And that's the crux of the matter..it's UK wide.as I said I'm in a city NE Scotland and I'm sure other posters are a lot further south.
England I hope the free bus passes don't happen.
In Scotland it's been a disaster the little hoodlums go on tour causing mayhem.
A driver in Elgin was punched by a 15yr old the driver didn't go home as he'd died from a punch.

Yes @NolanChanceJustLikeTheWeatherNSoul that was absolutely shocking. Too close to home. People are trying to get free passes taken away from troublemakers but I can't see it happening sadly.
Whenever I'm on a bus after 5ish there are gangs of them waiting to get on to wreak havoc in a nearby town.

Yes, we have a fairly new retail park

My town used to be brilliant with a great selection of shops, unfortunately lots have shut down and have been replaced by charity shops, junk shops or left derelict. Every time an area is thriving they put a red route there and with nowhere to park or stop businesses close down. We had a whole street of busy restaurants, you couldn’t even get a space, and with the red route the restaurants are struggling to get customers as they can’t get there or be dropped off. For a place to succeed you need parking, public transport is just not a reliable option outside of London and other large cities.

That's why myself and DW are daytime people and we're late 50s.
My mum who's in her 80s was told hey wifey I'm afore you right.
Mum was scared she's the height of tuppence .

North London suburb with fairly downmarket highstreet for otherwise quite nice area. It has improved since its worst point in late 2010s/early 2020s when there were loads of closed shops and the only things opening were bookies. There's been a few new cafes, a plants/interior shop, a jeweler, some more grocers, some household good shops and generally fewer long-term empty frontages. Largely have our local Iranian and Albanian community members to thank for the revival, as they run most of these new businesses.

When we moved here in 2019 we had 4 banks on the high street they are all gone now. One replaced by a betting shop. We have had at quite a few restaurants and cafes open in the last 6 months. We think there is an element of money laundering going on.