Is it just me or is Sheffield the poor neighbour to other cities of the north such as Manchester, Leeds, York etc. I mean in the terms of style, culture, architecture and wealth. I know a lot is being done to improve the image of the city such as the regeneration of the city centre with the installment of the Peace Gardens, Winter Gardens and the proposed hotel, but is there other areas the council is neglecting to take on board?? What areas of the city would like to see changed and why??

Belive me,its not only you who thinks this,i was talking to a few friends about this very subject the other night,and we all agreed that compaired to other large cities in the north,sheffield seems way behind.
The improvement to the city center are going someway towards catching up with the likes of Manchester and Leeds,but when you compaire things such as restaurants,pubs/clubs,shopping and just general things like that they outclass Sheffield nearly everytime.
I think this city has more than enough potential to get on par and even become better than other large citys in the north,i think its just down to getting the money invested and managing it wisely,because i would really love to see Sheffield become the best city in the north,or anywhere in fact.

There is loads of things that I would like to see changed in and around sheffield, but it will take some time for it to happen.

As some of you maybe aware, Sheffield City Council are now a private firm and Housing Benefits are ran by a company called Liberata so hope fully the Sheffiedl government have privatised alot for the right reasons.

I have noticed new office developments and a new ice rink in attercliffe but surely we need to step back a bit and make more INDUSTRIALISED buildings because we lost the steel industry and we deserve it back.

I suspect Meadowhall took a lot of life out of the city centre and the council don't seem concerned to encourage amenity businesses back into the city centre. How come only charity shops can afford the business rate - cos they don't pay it perhaps ?

I thought the recent 'European Fare' event on Fargate was very good and would like to see more events like that and the craft markets they have from time to time.

But illustratve of the council's attitude is their insistence that the old town hall site should be given up for yet another hotel instead of civic amenity, in spite of the fact that there is a hotel right next door and another new one just down Angel Street.

Basically the approach by road is all wrong...the view of the city from Arundel Gate or Charter Row is pretty depressing. These two roads were built in homage to the car and we're stuck with them whatever new direction the council adopts in it's transport policy.

Waingate is the pits - I've bee down there on a frosty Saturday morning when you could hardly see across the road for diesel fumes :o - and what happened to Sheaf Market...are they ever going to rebuild it ?

GB

I mentioned this in an earlier post, so sorry for anyone who has already read it:

Sheffield is making an effort to improve itself, but so is every other city, so it looks like it is just standing still. Sheffield needs something big and radical - but not a white elephant - to appeal to tourists.

But Sheffield has a lot against it - a long 'corridor' of shopping rather than it all being close together.

Most cities undergoing regeneration are making the most of their waterfronts, but Sheffield doesn't have water of any volume going through it. Other cities have the advantage of warehouses from their canal heritage, which were abandoned for many years but have now been converted to housing. The canal basin was done up a few years ago but the shops still remain empty. It doesn't help that the area is 'cut off' from the rest of the city.

We had an 'airport' which has now turned into nothing more than an industrial estate. I made a great effort to make the airport work by using the Amsterdam service a number of times. It was much more expensive than driving to Manchester or Liverpool, but I really wanted it to work.

There was a post on here a few weeks ago requesting information on any Japanese restaurants and the answer was "Go to Leeds" because Sheffield has none. That is truly shameful when other cities have several, Manchester even has a Mongolian restaurant as well as an outstanding Chinatown. But, there is more to it than someone just opening up a Japanese restaurant. Most Sheffielders would probably not even bother going to try it out. Only the enlightened souls on this forum would be their only customers and it would no doubt close.

Before the city can be changed, the minds of it's citizens needs to be opened first.

One positive advantage we do have over many cities are our outstanding views. Perhaps we could make some sort of visitor centre at a couple of these places, with telescopes and such?

I still think my idea of a cable car system from Manor Top across to Crosspool would be good though!

Waingate, Castlegate, Fitzallan Sq + GPO, Dixon Lane, all that delapidated area as well as London Road, are embarrassing. So long as the misguided council of the day don't agree to Manpower Services type constructions, (that gigantic speed ramp at the bottom of the Moor) or their latest wisdom, a sightscreen in front of the wintergarden.

The Sheffield Hallam constituency is actually the most affluent outside of the South East, beating many within the South East too, such as Tonbridge Wells and Windsor. It beats off northern rivals such as Leeds North East and Tatton, Cheshire, so I can't see how you can say it lags behind on that aspect anyway.

(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,774032,00.html )

Originally posted by Dick Dastardly
Is it just me or is Sheffield the poor neighbour to other cities of the north such as Manchester, Leeds, York etc. I mean in the terms of style, culture, architecture and wealth. I know a lot is being done to improve the image of the city such as the regeneration of the city centre with the installment of the Peace Gardens, Winter Gardens and the proposed hotel, but is there other areas the council is neglecting to take on board?? What areas of the city would like to see changed and why??

yeah i agree.. and shef is apparently the 4/5 biggest city in uk.. whats up with that!!

i personally think that they city center needs a huge regeneration project.. :P

All these suggestions are good and I agree with most, but you must also consider the financial aspect, big projects in a City of this size are very expensive and will take time to bring to fruition.

Bear in mind that this City was decimated by Margaret Thatcher, when she closed down it's manufacturing base and also the coalfields, so losing a lot of it's income, it is alright to come with big ideas about re-generation, if you can supply the money that is needed.

Originally posted by t020
The Sheffield Hallam constituency is actually the most affluent outside of the South East, beating many within the South East too, such as Tonbridge Wells and Windsor. It beats off northern rivals such as Leeds North East and Tatton, Cheshire, so I can't see how you can say it lags behind on that aspect anyway.

(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,774032,00.html )

True, but how does that benefit investors? Or anyone who passes by the grotty parts of the city centre as named above?

Originally posted by t020
The Sheffield Hallam constituency is actually the most affluent outside of the South East, beating many within the South East too, such as Tonbridge Wells and Windsor. It beats off northern rivals such as Leeds North East and Tatton, Cheshire, so I can't see how you can say it lags behind on that aspect anyway.

(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,774032,00.html )

Yeah, but these are residential areas, hardly likely to bring in tourists.

In a small way, it is quite refreshing to be in a city that isn't trying to reinvent itself the entire time, and just gets on with it. I refer mainly to the attitudes of the people I meet, rather than the council PR dept.

Originally posted by halevan
All these suggestions are good and I agree with most, but you must also consider the financial aspect, big projects in a City of this size are very expensive and will take time to bring to fruition.

Bear in mind that this City was decimated by Margaret Thatcher, when she closed down it's manufacturing base and also the coalfields, so losing a lot of it's income, it is alright to come with big ideas about re-generation, if you can supply the money that is needed.

am i correct in saying that £60million was spent on the winter gardens?? cos that is wot i heard?? :o

Sheffield lost a lot of big employers in the industrial decline and has subsequently failed to attract employers who pay decent salaries. The call centre and service industry jobs are inadequate replacements for the old industry that Sheffield thrived on and are themselves in decline. Outsourcing will mean heavy job losses in those industries, which were always going to be short lived. Sheffield is a long way off a full recovery, unlike Leeds and Manchester, Sheffield's manufacturing back was broken !
To regenerate this city we need to attract more employers and create decent jobs.

Manchester was full of cotton mills and coal mines. Both now defunct but still managed to adapt and survive.

And Leeds was full of sheep, err, of the woollen kind, and look where it is now

yeah, sheep sh*ggers!

As a newbie to the city, (fairly new anyway), I must admit I've not really been impressed compared to Leeds and Manchester. To be honest, parts of the city centre are just grotty, (I'm thinking of the moor), though I have seen things changing over the past few months. What I don't see is much in the way of onvestment in the city in terms of jobs, (that pay enough for anyone to buy some of the new flats that are springing up all over the place). Both Manchester and Leeds seem to me to have a lot more in the way of job opportunities and a wider variety of shops and places to eat/drink within easy reach.

That said, I've found you folks in Sheffield to be afr more friendly in general and as I said, things do seem to be changing..

i think we need more big chain stores like costco or ikea. i cant believe we dont even have a nando's in the city! :x

Weren't there plans to open an Ikea a few years ago? I believe it was going to be near the Parkway. Does anyone know what happened to that idea?

We need a Starbucks. Yeah, I know there's one at Meadowhall but we need one in Proper Sheffield. I suppose now we've got a Subway, things are moving in the right direction...

To be honest, although a lot of money is being spent on the city centre AND gradually it may well reach a standard that maybe rivals the likes of Leeds and Manchester, money needs to go on other more dilapidated areas such as Firth Park and Firvale, Shiregreen and Manor Top/Skye Edge. These are just a number of area's that are just a stones throw away from the centre and are also parts of the city that people may pass on the way into the centre.
The centre is making great strides towards becoming 'trendy' and desirable and work as we know is in the process of being started on the gateway (train station) which is in a major mess compared to most major cities around the UK.
I hope the development of places such as West One and the Winter Gardens will provide a back drop of what is too come in the future.

Are things so bad in Sheffield?
Last time I walked around the centre was 1982.:cry: :cry: :cry:

To be fair, no, things aren't so bad. There are certainly worse places to live, and the city centre's improved over the last few years.

I think we're all fustrated though, because we know it could be so much better.

Anyone noticed what Google ads suggested for this page!

Google Ads suggest:

Hotel in Leeds Discounts
Staying in Leeds? - Gomersal Park

So I guess Google thinks Leeds is the Poor City of the North. If you haven't got a clue what I'm talking about - Read this (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2484)

I think it's a bit depressing when we want to "improve" our city by bringing in Ikea, Starbuck's and Costco. The great thing about Sheffield is that it is different, and we should try and build on our individuality. Cities in other countries have unique personalities. I've just come back from a business trip to Italy, and the difference between Milan and Turin, 90 minutes apart by train, is immense.

In Britain, the "one size fits all" mentality has taken hold. Our planners and architects have cut their teeth in other cities and it shows. Little thought is given to the character of Sheffield, we merely get what the latest trendy idea is. For example, the Winter Garden, whilst a welcome addition to the city, appeared first in modern times in Sunderland. The fountain in our Peace Gardens has since been translated into a successful addition to City Square in Leeds.

We are not Leeds, we are not Manchester. We should try and build our city in a way which is unique to Sheffield.

The area north of High Street/Commercial Street is a case in point. This is where Sheffield began, and we should be looking to preserve our history and re-construct what we have lost. The castle ruins could be exposed, the Georgian terraces could be restored. Instead, there are no coherent plans for the redevlopment of the castle area other than more "mixed use developments" (ie. more soulless offices, shops and flats), and the area behind the Cathedral is to be cast into permanent shadow with the construction of ill-considered skyscrapers.

If Sheffield were to become known as an attractive and historic place, at least we would benefit from more day-trippers, like Nottingham. That would help increase the number of unskilled jobs which have been seriously lacking for so long.

As for money, I seem to remember that we were given £1billion by the EU for re-building our city. Maybe we could use some of that.

I say down with Starbuck's, long live Pollards.

Originally posted by hounsfieldjr
I think it's a bit depressing when we want to "improve" our city by bringing in Ikea, Starbuck's and Costco.

Yes, but bringing in these places will take their customers away from Leeds which is where most tourists and our city's residents are going to at the moment.

My nearest Ikea is Warrington, Cheshire. It's on a big retail park that's easy to get to and easy to park with lots of other large stores, such as M&S and they get a lot of my partner's, and I'm sure other non-locals cash.

Before the 'big' B&Q Warehouse (still much smaller than the ones out of South Yorkshire) was built, you had to travel quite a way to get to one. My dad still visits the massive one in Bolton when he pops over to see me because it is much bigger and better than the ones in Sheffield.

It's not what Sheffield is doing to attract visitors, it's what it's NOT doing and driving the locals away!

Just been looking at the SheffieldFirst page. Has it got the answer? Does the City need re-inventing?

Originally posted by vothod
i think we need more big chain stores like costco or ikea. i cant believe we dont even have a nando's in the city! :x

There going to be a Nando's in the Royal Plaza development on West Street soon.

You never know there might be a Starbucks next!!

A lot of the reason Sheffield City Centre isn't like Leeds / Manchester is down to the fact Sheffield was much more of an industrial city rather than a commercial centre.

But the upside is that the City Centre is still very accessible even on foot for many people - we don't have the urban motorways that virtually cut off many city centres.

Originally posted by alchresearch
Yes, but bringing in these places will take their customers away from Leeds which is where most tourists and our city's residents are going to at the moment.

It's not what Sheffield is doing to attract visitors, it's what it's NOT doing and driving the locals away!

OK, I have butchered the quote above, but I see it as two parts anyway.

The first part refers to having big stores to combat Leeds and Manchester, but it has been said, and I agree, that we don't want to be a clone of Leeds or Manchester. If we want to attract visitors from other cities, yes, build the shops, but stress in some way the things which have always been good about out city. The friendliness, the ease of getting around the centre, the old buildings, the history and the parks.

The alternative is to get a plan of Leeds, etc, and put the same shops in the same places so people feel at home. Rubbish, we don't want them to feel at home, we want them to enjoy Sheffield just because it is a great place to be.

The second part - part of the re-generation must be to excite our people, and make them happy that they don't need to travel to feel good.

Jeez, what a mouthful. :roll: :roll:

Ehm hi!

As an ex-Sheffield lad coming back to live in Sheffield I've noticed quite a lot as I've been coming back about every 2 months for the last 20 years.

Observations:

a) Town centre is a dump. Ok, compared to some cities its great but lets face it. Shopping in town is rarely an enjoyable experience these days. To be honest, if Cole Brothers (or is it John Lewis' now?) wasn't there I doubt I'd go too often. No amount of playschool red signs are going to make the place better. I'm glad they made the centre a pedestrian friendly area but we have to be realistic and provide lots of cheap and safe parking around the fringes of the centre or Meadowhall will win every time. Sheffield Town Centre suffered because Meadowhall was built miles from anywhere. Manchester and Leeds shopping Malls were in the centre until recently. Maybe a shopping mall with all the shops and cafes you're all craving should be built in town. Not Orchard Square! Sheffield is full of half done places. Leeds and Manchester went all the way! We can still be Sheffield and do things with heart and commitment.

b) No more big projects! After Blunkett et al dumped the Town in it after the Student games the place has been having to live it down along with the Pop museum.

c) No more offices! How many offices does the town need? Half of then seem to be empty anyway.

d) The city has a great night life! Just not in the centre. You need Ecclesall Road or West Street where Fargate is.

e) Clean out the cr@p. Any modern industrial/office/ or council building that have been empty for at least 3 years and not likely to be used in the next 2 should be bulldozed. Do not put anything there until......

f) the City has a real strategy (not a PR one) and the money to back it up. That does not mean lots of private 'partnerships'. Ask locals and visitors what we need. I dont' mean ask a focus group. I mean ask local people (not just groups who always have agendas) and visitors (not business visitors).

g) Get rid of the councillors. To be blunt, most of them are a lazy bunch of ......... who think they'll get re-elected no matter what. I noticed the city got a lot better in a short time when the Lib dems were in charge. I'm not political but it seems they felt they had to work to stay elected. Shame people in Sheffield went back to Labour so soon. Feel it was done without much thought.

h) Repair the roads! Every time I come back I feel I'm driving in the third world. Why are all the new traffic calming projects so popular? The pot holes more than slow the traffic. I also keep finding random road modernisations around the place which are frankly dangerous. They also look damn stupid when on an old pot holed road! Oh and they're also very shoddily made. Only helps increase Sheffield's image as being a poor town.

i) Improve transport links. I still reel at the thought of why the fast train line goes through Doncaster. The Sheffield Councillors didn't want fast trains going through thecity! Oh and Sheffield council rejected Legoland as it would attract too many visitors and the council would have to improve the infrastructure. Sheffield needs fast train links with Manchester, Leeds and London. And people need to use them! Sheffielders need to travel more. I don't care if its the Peaks, other northen cities, london or greece. But Sheffield does not need an airport. Leeds, Manchester and East Midlands are all bigger than any local airport ever will be and all within an hour of Sheffield. We'd have to pay airlines to use it!


Phew! I don't hate the place! After all, I'm moving back from London so Sheffield does have something to offer. It offers space, freedom, friendliness, quality accomodation, quality of life. The city should focus on quality. No more half baked ideas. No more substandard jobs, flats, offices. Sheffield was famous because it made quality steel. Fix the basics and the rest will follow as long as you do it properly and are committed.

So much to say on the subject. SHeffield has many many good points, and boasts much that is not on offer in other cities. What it lacks however is money. Sometimes it sounds like European money is being thrown at us by the bucket load because we're 'a poor' city, but we're allways in debt and theres way to much that needs to have money poured into it.
I read in the paper that the bright sparks on the council are now threatening to close down the visitoer centre. Destination sheffield was a disaster and now this. They can't afford to run it yet spend less on tourism than Stoke on trent council does. There are a lot of bizarre ideas on what sheffield needs coming from the town hall with out looking at the full picture. Plenty of foreign visitors come here, imagine how emmbarasing it will be for this, the forth biggest English city to have no tourist office to advise them on what to do and see here. They will miss out an many of sheffield and the peak Districts treasures.
Steel was what made us yet our little mesters building etc are being lost and seeminly little of our heratige saved to be viewed and admired by the visitors we need. Do we really need a prestigious office block, and an ugly one at that, in the town centre, i doubt it. Hotel??? whos going to stay in them?? They'll be gone straight after their coinference because they didn't know what else to do here becaused there was no information avaliable.

While it's true that the city centre simply doesn't get close to Manchester and Leeds, Sheffield is unique in that it has its two major entertainment areas away from the centre. Ecclesall Road is a match for anything Manchester has to offer and West Street keeps getting better and better. When you look over S10 and 11 you see suburbs that are head and shoulders above Didsbury and the other much-trumpeted South Manchester areas.

When i started as a student in Sheffield, they called it "England's biggest village". And it is - it's more homely, more leafy and more friendly than any of the other big Northern cities.

In a decade, i'm sure that Sheffield will have regenerated to the point of being acceptable to all but the most picky observer. I think we've fallen too far behind Manchester and Leeds in terms of regenerating the infastructure, but if all you care about is outward appearances, then i think you'll be fine.

I'll just stay on Eccy Road where heaven is.

I think I have said this in a previous post, but Sheffield is a hidden jewel which has not been fully exploited. Essentially an iceberg of which the tip has only been found.

There are a number of factors holding Sheffield back. Some of which include a backwards city council always obeying the demands of big business for all the wrong reasons (or right reasons if their on personal terms!), a lacklustre city centre shopping line up with more mbile phone shops then we collectively need, not enough diversity in high quality restaurants (have a look at Wilmslow Road, Manchester), although we have a good deal of entertainment.

As with all major cities, leeds, manchester etc this development brings a certain amount of "scum" along with it so to speak. Inevitably I think there will be an increase in crime and unsavoury folk on the streets, who will mostly be around the city centre and those areas which attract evening outgoers.

Sheffield is a pretty friendly place I think most will agree, with a unique atmosphere not seen in many other cities. In looking at what is done with the city centre I assume that we also have to look at its users. With such a high percentage of Sheffielders being of pensionable age, it makes you wonder exactly how much change they would like to see. It could be political suicide for the council who rely (Labour) on their vote. Maybe thats why the Lib Dems didn't last very long, too much change in a short space for time gave our senior folk the jitters? Bless em'

1Man&hisBMW

In response to the post(s) about not having a tourist office, I think the intention is to close down the current one and open one in The Winter Gardens and one in Meadowhall. The rationale being that they are the 2 areas of Sheffield which attract the most out of town visitors.

After reading all these posts I am really downhearted about the way some people regard Sheffield. I came here 10 years ago for university, from Cambridge, via London and Bristol, (two places which are apparently lauded as exemplary examples of how Bristish cities should be )........ and yet in comparrison to Sheffield (even before all the work), as places to live they were awful. Within a year I had decided to stay, bought my own home and have loved the place since. The fact that it has one of the highest stay on rates in England for students surely proves something in itself.

There is no comparrison whatsoever with Leeds - where I recently quit my job, simply because the people and conditions there are just what they are so proud of........ a little London. Our nightlife has comparable variety with Leeds, only far safer, our shopping is equally as good, barring Harvey Niks..... and that is hardly a true bonus. If you miss out the inflated egos, lack of manners, high crime rate and over inflated prices, there is really very little difference between Sheffield and most of the other major cities in the UK.

I for one am extremely happy with living in the "biggest village in the UK" and would not want it to change.

Hurrah for Nevyn. I cam here 30 years ago and love it.

Hmm. Some interesting replies here.

I've spent most of my life in Sheffield. Worked/studied in London as well. 4 years ago this month I quit my job in London to start one in Leeds (moved back to Sheffield). I hated London and its people. You never get to speak to your neighbour. You'd be lucky if you ever said hi to each other. London is a dirty , expensive, and unpleasant city. I moved back to Sheffield to live a much better life :)

I agree to an extent Sheffield is a dump - I work in the IT sector and have never actually worked in the city , because there are hardly any IT related jobs in this city - most in the North tend to be in Leeds or Manchester.

Leeds is a much more vibrant city - it has a great city center, and they have been careful with White Rose in that it hasnt killed off the businesses in the city center. If Sheffield had a vibrant city center we would be getting all the big industry players opening offices in the center. But we arent ... so who is to blame? The council?

:evil:

should also add that I have noticed the Sheffield folk , especially car drivers, are friendlier than most. Driving along in sheffield, if you give way to a vehicle coming from the opposite direction you can guarantee that he/she will put their hand up to say 'thanks'. I have driven in many other towns - London, Birmingham, Manchester etc, and havent noticed this level of courtesy on the roads at all

:?

Originally posted by Andy
Weren't there plans to open an Ikea a few years ago? I believe it was going to be near the Parkway. Does anyone know what happened to that idea?

OK, I'm going off the original thread a little bit, but I was going to start a new thread about an Ikea opening in Sheffield when I remembered that someone had written about it before.
I heard a rumour that an Ikea was opening on the Parkway but I'm not sure if it's true. Has anyone heard anything official about this? I would love an Ikea to open in Sheffield and if it's on the Parkway it would be very close to where I work. Oh please let it be true!

I heard the rumour too. My dad told me it was to be in the Don Valley somewhere.

I can't really see it as there is one quite close in Leeds. If you look at where they have other stores (Brum, Warrington, Nottingham), they are all less than an hour from most major cities.

No I can't see it either really since there's one in Leeds. I go to that one in Leeds or occasionally Nottingham. I'm going to keep hoping though!

weeell, I am biased, but after working in the IT industry in Sheffield then in Leeds and now back in Sheffield.... I can quite happily say that of the two I prefer Sheffield......
And I was workin in The Calls in Leeds... and you dont get much more "up and coming/young and trendy" than that in leeds...........
what you do get (or I got) is robbed, pushed over, abused and generaly treated like an animal in leeds, and nothing I saw made me think that these were one off incidents, pensioner and toddler alike got the same rough treatment (oh by the way the local answer to this was that I shouldnt have been using a mobile in town, apparently I was 'asking for it')...............Im sure that all areas of Leeds are not like that.... But the city centre is

like I said Im biased, but I know where Im staying :D

Have things changed since this thread began?? I think so:thumbsup:

Hey, this place is GREAT.....been here 25 years and rate it as quite superb. OK, it has faults......but then where doesn't?

You can take Leeds, Brisitol, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bradford, Nottingham, Leicester, liverpool, etc......sorry SHeffield wins every time....

Sheffield is a great place - I moved up here from down south, London, 5 years ago.

It is so quiet and laid back compared with Manchester and Leeds, feels safe to walk around, City centre is accessible on foot, great social life, pubs and clubs, arts events, cultural quarter, eccleshall and the people are soo friendly :-)

Yes the regeneration is still continuing but going in the right direction but personally I would hate it if Sheffield one day became just like Leeds, Manchester or London. It should retain its own unique individual character and feel of a large village/student campus ...

We now have Nandos and Starbucks, extensive work has recently begun outside (and inside) the train station, Eyre Street has been redeveloped, West One is complete, Barkers Pool is undergoing redevelopment, a 21-storey building is about to start construction at Moorfoot, the bus station has been refurbished and St Pauls Place is well underway.

Where will we be a year from now?

Originally posted by dinp
Where will we be a year from now?

Further in debt?

Originally posted by dinp
We now have Nandos and Starbucks, extensive work has recently begun outside (and inside) the train station, Eyre Street has been redeveloped, West One is complete, Barkers Pool is undergoing redevelopment, a 21-storey building is about to start construction at Moorfoot, the bus station has been refurbished and St Pauls Place is well underway.

Where will we be a year from now?

Yes to all the above except the thought that Nondos and Starbucks are improvements.

Dunno if this has been mentioned (haven't time to read the whole thread!) but it's been reported several time (inc. on national news) that west shef is one of the most affluent areas outside London, and as most will know shef is called the green city as it has more trees that any other cities up north. Have lived in Manchester, Hull and Leeds and much prefer sheff to any of those places in terms of facilities and the place itself, I'm originally from round Manchester and so should be biased there, I just didn't like the place as much.

Nice friendly people, a wicked nightlife and good sports facilities - all I need in a city is in shef.

As mentioned earlier in this thread Sheffield is moving forward quickly with regeneration of its city centre but so are all the other major city centres who are years ahead of Sheffield.

Unless Sheffield overcomes all the odds and under goes seemingly impossible rapid regeneration and investment then it is always going to appear to be the poor city within the top 5 major cities in England.

I think Sheffield will have the excellant city centre Leeds has now now in 8 years, but will hopefully be strikingly different and not just a carbon copy.

But then you have to ask where will Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham be then?

Originally posted by skyfitsboy
I think Sheffield will have the excellant city centre Leeds has now now in 8 years, but will hopefully be strikingly different and not just a carbon copy.


I don't think Leeds city centre is that nice actually, once you get a disstance from the Harvey Nichols area it's quite grotty (like the Wicker or Moor but on a larger scale).

Once Sheffield has some better shops I think we will have a better city centre than Leeds, it's much nicer to look already.

A good first step to developing the city centre would be to clean it. Just wipe everything down, clean all the buildings that are still stained by years of industrial dirt which is no longer been produced.

Why not develop the Canal system properly. Went to Birmingham and they've developed their canal front properly, not just installed a few specialist shops like we have. Why not have a tram stop there.

To be honest the size of town is exagerated slightly. Its not that far from the Moor to Fargate.

why do people moan that we will always lag behind leeds? i don't see the point, the end result of the regeneration in sheff is not to make it into a leeds replica. Fair enough sheffield lags behind leeds in retail, but im sure it will catch up as sheffield's economy is revived and there becomes more demand for a wider range of retail stores in the city centre. Demand has certainly outstripped supply at waitrose which can only send out a positive message to other high quality retailers as to the state of sheffield's economy.
Its not just about retail anyway, we seem to forget that leeds is years and years behind sheffield in terms of sports and leisure facilities- they have no arena,no olympic ice centre,no english institute of sport and their 'international ' swimming pool is one of the most disgusting and poorly maintained buildings ive seen. It looks like a joke compared to ponds forge.

wouldn't it be great though if sheffield was just like leeds? all we need to do is increase the rate of crime, open a harvey nicks and a few more pretentious bars and restauraunts and we'll be in heaven!!

Investment, investment, investment is what Sheffield needs...
And of course, Sheffielders have got to be prepared to spend a bit more than in poundshops...:hihi:

We need more rich people then, perhaps they could bus everyone from Fulwood to the Moor every Saturday to boost the economy.

That would be fun to watch.

There is plenty of money in Sheffield - there isn't anywhere much to spend it though.

I came to Sheffield 12 years ago, and have gradually set down roots here. I couldn't imagine then what it would be like. Now, I can't imagine living in any other city.

Other cities may be prettier (Oxford, Canterbury) but are thronged with tourists and have horrendous traffic.

Some may have better retail outlets (Leeds) but lag behind in terms of sporting facilities and venues.

Others may be "cooler" (Manchester) but are not as friendly.

And nowhere has better parks and countryside.

I also think it's very refreshing that Sheffield is the only big city not to have got a single nomination (as far as I can tell) on that "Crap Towns" website or to appear in either of the books.

I think Sheffielders have more civic pride than to "do down" their city to outsiders - however much we may complain. The things which are unsatisfactory about our city are worse elsewhere - and things Sheffield does well are done better than in many other cities.

Having said all that, the one thing which would really grab Sheffield by the scruff of the neck and haul it out of the 1980s is a complete redevelopment of the Moor and the Castle Markets. They really let the city down. The Moor has the potential to be a great pedestrian precinct, so why is it so grim? It's depressing to walk through the place, especially on a Saturday when it is thronged with chav families in their baseball caps, goldie-lookin' chains and football shirts.

Sorry if that offends anyone...

Conversely, if I go shopping in John Lewis I always feel underdressed. I start to wonder where all these well-heeled and well-trousered people with nicely-scrubbed children have come from. (Driven in from Bakewell and Buxton for the day??)

Originally posted by DannyBoy
Conversely, if I go shopping in John Lewis I always feel underdressed. I start to wonder where all these well-heeled and well-trousered people with nicely-scrubbed children have come from. (Driven in from Bakewell and Buxton for the day??)

The odd thing is that people think Cole Brothers is posh, but it's not, the staff are great and know what they are talking about but realy don't give a toss what you look like.

I dont think John Lewis is posh either!

I do feel like I've gone back to the 80s though when I step inside the building on Barkers Pool, the interior now is so dirty looking and dated.

I can almost her the theme to Dynasty starting on t.v. when I'm inside:hihi:

Cole Brothers reminds me of "Are You Being Served".