Here's the lastest top 20 of the best places to shop in Britain,Sheffield is 20th but not the centre its Meadowhall ,The centre doesnt make it into the list!How sad for the 4th biggest city in Britain. What do you all think?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/northsouth/article/0,2763,1160740,00.html

I can believe that Meadowhall made the poll and the city centre didn't as everyone I talk to seems to go to Meadowhall these days. I don't. I've been about three times in all but much prefer town. I'm not for new-fangled shopping centres at all and so for me the shopping malls are a mere novelty.

Give me town anyday, although it is rapidly changing and that can be annoying especially when roads are closed and you have to make a detour.

As long as they don't demolish the old buildings and that the new ones aren't too freaky to look at I'll keep on shopping there and stick to my favourite retail outlets.

No beggars at Meadowhall and you can park for free - what more do you want?

Fresh air and to not feel like a sardine.

Is Nottingham really that good for shopping? What does Nottingham have which Sheffield hasnt?

Originally posted by Internetowl
No beggars at Meadowhall and you can park for free - what more do you want?

Variety?

Originally posted by rickmiles85
Is Nottingham really that good for shopping? What does Nottingham have which Sheffield hasnt?

I haven't been to Nottingham for years, but I well remember that during the mid eighties, it was definitely a place to go shopping for clothes and stuff. It was a very attractive city centre if I recall correctly. It made Sheffield city centre seem extremely dull in comparison (not difficult, I know, especially in 1985!).

I see Brighton made it into the poll... thankfully.

Brighton is one of the best places to shop IMHO, so much variety and choice it's amazing.
It's far better than Glasgow too, having shopped in both places.

It beats Sheffield hands down and meadowhall too!

The problem with Sheffield is that the city centre isn't that big for a large city. So the choices aren't all that high. I go as far as to say the Majority of Brighton is city centre with some housing and hotels thrown in the mix. It's the outskirts (Saltdean/Woodingdean/Hove) which aren't technically 'Brighton' that make up the rest of the housing and living places.

Sheffield's city centre is under developed and the places which should be taken advantage of (i.e. the canals) are run down and a lot of the time 'no go' areas.

We pay a hell of a lot of council tax... and for what? The council to dig up our roads, make them smaller (so less cars can fit and thus becoming grid locked), so they can install traffic lights etc etc.
The council feel that due to the popularity of Meadowhall that the centre doesn't need to be improved and the arreas affor mentioned can just stay as they are... what's the point. For Sheffield to become a great city a lot money needs to spent and a better council need to be installed.

Originally posted by Internetowl
No beggars at Meadowhall and you can park for free - what more do you want?

No market researchers or Big Issue sellers either.

I struggle to breathe in Meadowhall. I'm not asthmatic or anything like that, but I find that after a while I slow down and feel tired. I think the air goes stale in there and there isn't enough circulation. Alternatively there's too much and I'm suffering from air conditioning fatigue. I rarely go there - if I have to then I don't stay long.

Sheffield is much better than Kingston-Upon-Thames (were I live when not studying)

I found Camden Market to be a nice break from the norm. I'm sure that alot of people wouldn't like it but I just love market stalls and unusual shops. :)

It's an appaling statistic, but hopefully it will improve with the NRQ.

It's just a shame that the Council has stymied plenty of other major retail schemes in the past. :mad:

I went to a market in Chesterfield a few weeks ago. It took 12 minutes on the train to get there, the market was great (I think it's just on a Thursday) and I got some funky bargains and from charity shops too.

If you're into old stuff and bargains and being somewhere a bit different, I'd recommend Chesterfield. It made me wonder why I don't go there more often it's a nice place.

And I *hate* meadowhall!

Originally posted by purplepippa
I went to a market in Chesterfield a few weeks ago. It took 12 minutes on the train to get there, the market was great (I think it's just on a Thursday) and I got some funky bargains and from charity shops too.

If you're into old stuff and bargains and being somewhere a bit different, I'd recommend Chesterfield. It made me wonder why I don't go there more often it's a nice place.

And I *hate* meadowhall!

If it's the market in the centre of Chezza, surely it's also there on Friday & Saturdays, as well? I know I've been there on those days. Maybe the content is different on Thurdays?

Doesn't surprise me at all. Sheffield town centre is dire. I agree with Purple Pippa - Chesterfield is better and it must be a quarter the size of Sheffield.

Nottingham is a terrible city - the most violent in Britain - but it's city centre beats Sheffield because it has a greater variety of shops and its architecture makes it a more attractive city (as do a lot of cities). Population of Notitngham is less than half of Sheffield but I bet peoploe from wherever is in the middle go south, not north.

Originally posted by mojoworking
If it's the market in the centre of Chezza, surely it's also there on Friday & Saturdays, as well? I know I've been there on those days. Maybe the content is different on Thurdays?

To be honest I've no idea, you're probably right. I just heard of it through a friend of a friend of a friend type thing and a couple of us went with minimal information!

I'm not at all surprised - though I am surprised that Meadow Hall made it onto the list. Both the center of town and Meadow Hall are terribly bland and actually quite depressing to shop in! Wheres the variety? the small traders? the hidden treasures? Even the shops up on division street are falling into grey blandness :(

Bluewater in Kent is good, as is the Trafford Centre.

Well, as a student originally from Sheffield but staying in Southampton, I miss both Meadowhall and the city centre.

Southampton is supposedly the definitive shopping destination of the South, but the West Quay shopping centre, although relatively modern and aethetically pleasing, isn't a patch on Meadowhall. If there is something specific I want/need, I have a hard time finding it, whereas back in the Steel City I can attain everything I desire.

You guys back home should count yourself lucky - a rapidly improving town centre and a massive leisure complex to boot.

Not that I'm being cynical or anything. Just a little bitter and homesick...

Sheffield City centre is far too sprawling, and the Moor is being taken over by "cheapo" shops, one very interesting ,and it has to be admitted, expensive shopping town is Harrogate, and for lovers of quaint little shops, York takes some beating.
The sad thing I noticed about Sheffield on my last visit, was how scruffy the City centre was looking, the area outside T J Hughs was spotted with enough chewing gum to start a factory.