The decline of Leicester

[lcfc278]

Interestingly I did the Loros Elephant walk a couple of weekends ago with the wife and child and it was a real mixed bag. Walking through the High Cross shopping centre and then around the Cathedral and Loseby Lane and St Martins - I actually thought that Leicester city centre does have some really nice areas. That and then parts of New Walk as well (although there were a couple of shady characters around there).

 

In contrast, when we walked from the Haymarket shopping centre, down Humberstone gate and then galowtree gate down to the Town hall square it was horrendous and there were a few times we felt a little unsafe with our little one - some really dingy places, litter and a lot of homeless people or people with what I assume were either drug problems or poor mental health issues.

 

In the space of a weekend we saw two massively different sides of the city within just minutes walk of each other.  

[Tommy G]

 

 

[RoboFox]

41 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

Weekends are when all the people who moved there from down south because The Sunday Times/Telegraph told them to come out to play.

 

It's changed the identity of the town centre and I'm glad it's still vibrant, but I'm not convinced it's doing much for natives who have been priced out of living there.

I'd forgotten about the rave reviews it was getting from the middle-class rags at one point. 

 

I worked at the Springfield Sainsbury's as a teenager for years during the early-mid 2000s and it was just nowheresville. High street littered with slowly dying chain stores and a bunch of old man pubs with a few independents here and there. 

 

This year was the first time I'd been back properly in many years and the transformation is pretty stark although a number of the St. Mary's Road restaurants are STILL going after all this time. Enigma too. 

 

Edited 9 September 2025 by RoboFox

[izzymuzzet]

27 minutes ago, kenny said:

It isn't helped that Leicester City Planning department is grim and development in the city centre is hampered at every turn. We need to increase the number of people that actually live in the city which means stopping Rayners attack on the countryside and producing a proper cities for the future plan.

 

In Leicester we also have the problem of horrendous public transport and a mayor that has no interest in improving it. All the new cycle lanes are barely used and in some cases (Aylestone Road) are ugly and sh*t. We have nice paths like the GCR that are unusable at night due to the lack of lighting and crimes.

 

TLDR Sort the transport out.

 

Sort the planning authority out. Stop building in the countryside.

Worth bearing in mind that local authority planning departments have been completely gutted due to austerity cuts. I'm not familiar with Leicester City Council's planning team but those I have dealt with are less than half the size they were 20 years ago.

[Dr Marco]

what about Wigston?my dad used to live there

[bovril]

Entering Leicester from the East on the A47 is pretty horrific especially as the drive is through some very nice areas. Was quite a culture shock for me when I was like 11 and first going to the football. 

 

City centre isn't too bad and I'm always struck by how cleaner the streets are compared to London. 

[RoboFox]

16 minutes ago, lcfc278 said:

Interestingly I did the Loros Elephant walk a couple of weekends ago with the wife and child and it was a real mixed bag. Walking through the High Cross shopping centre and then around the Cathedral and Loseby Lane and St Martins - I actually thought that Leicester city centre does have some really nice areas. That and then parts of New Walk as well (although there were a couple of shady characters around there).

 

In contrast, when we walked from the Haymarket shopping centre, down Humberstone gate and then galowtree gate down to the Town hall square it was horrendous and there were a few times we felt a little unsafe with our little one - some really dingy places, litter and a lot of homeless people or people with what I assume were either drug problems or poor mental health issues.

 

In the space of a weekend we saw two massively different sides of the city within just minutes walk of each other.  

The redevelopment of the west side into the Cultural Quarter has brought a bit of investment but the entire north & northwest area of the centre is still pretty grim. 

 

Humberstone Gate, Belgrave Gate and everything in between is in massive need of regeneration.

 

They should start by obliterating the Lee Circle from orbit. Absolutely honking eyesore. 

[CosbehFox]

20 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

 

 

Lovely stuff. Warms the cockles of my heart. 

 

Mum's family from Braunstone and two of those areas I bordered during my childhood. Halcyon days. 

 

LE3 4 LYF

Edited 9 September 2025 by CosbehFox

[RoboFox]

10 minutes ago, Dr Marco said:

what about Wigston?my dad used to live there

Apart from the pedestrianisation of Bell Street it genuinely hasn't changed a bit in like 30 years. It's quite incredible really. 

[kenny]

19 minutes ago, izzymuzzet said:

Worth bearing in mind that local authority planning departments have been completely gutted due to austerity cuts. I'm not familiar with Leicester City Council's planning team but those I have dealt with are less than half the size they were 20 years ago.

You don't need many people to say no to the applications going in or to delay to the point of the developer giving up.

 

Especially at present where the number of applications going in has nose-dived.

[kenny]

11 minutes ago, RoboFox said:

The redevelopment of the west side into the Cultural Quarter has brought a bit of investment but the entire north & northwest area of the centre is still pretty grim. 

 

Humberstone Gate, Belgrave Gate and everything in between is in massive need of regeneration.

 

They should start by obliterating the Lee Circle from orbit. Absolutely honking eyesore. 

'The Lanes' and the Cathedral Quarter is great. If Soulsby ever makes up his mind, the Corn Exchange and market should be good too.

[izzymuzzet]

7 minutes ago, kenny said:

You don't need many people to say no to the applications going in or to delay to the point of the developer giving up.

 

Especially at present where the number of applications going in has nose-dived.

Think you probably know this but planning is a bit more complicated than saying yes or no to a planning application. It's the place-making side of local authority planning departments that have been decimated. 30 years ago it was common to have an in-house chief architect and chief planner doing proper urban design work. These days there are barely enough resources to do building/planning control work. This is the kind of thing that happens when council budgets are cut by 40% or more. 

[kenny]

2 minutes ago, izzymuzzet said:

Think you probably know this but planning is a bit more complicated than saying yes or no to a planning application. It's the place-making side of local authority planning departments that have been decimated. 30 years ago it was common to have an in-house chief architect and chief planner doing proper urban design work. These days there are barely enough resources to do building/planning control work. This is the kind of thing that happens when council budgets are cut by 40% or more. 

It is very different. My experience is that the attitude of the department is key are they gatekeepers designed to keep 'bad development' (in their often limited opinion) out or are they instigators and facilitators.

 

Leicester very much falls into the first bracket and the planning department appear to be anti-development and will put up any barriers they can. Blaby is terrible as well for this and just narrowly avoided special measures due to having too many applications over-turned on appeal. North West Leicester is more variable.

 

What has replaced 'place-making' is the elected mayors such as Soulsby and the council development Directors that have done a lot of good work. However, they have and continue to totally ignore transport as the city is strangled. They are also ignoring the issue that is too slow and cumbersome to get planning in the city and it is clear that very few residential developments get built once planning is approved. Presumably because the developers loose appetite when stuck in the planning system for 2 years.

[izzymuzzet]

6 minutes ago, kenny said:

It is very different. My experience is that the attitude of the department is key are they gatekeepers designed to keep 'bad development' (in their often limited opinion) out or are they instigators and facilitators.

 

Leicester very much falls into the first bracket and the planning department appear to be anti-development and will put up any barriers they can. Blaby is terrible as well for this and just narrowly avoided special measures due to having too many applications over-turned on appeal. North West Leicester is more variable.

 

What has replaced 'place-making' is the elected mayors such as Soulsby and the council development Directors that have done a lot of good work. However, they have and continue to totally ignore transport as the city is strangled. They are also ignoring the issue that is too slow and cumbersome to get planning in the city and it is clear that very few residential developments get built once planning is approved. Presumably because the developers loose appetite when stuck in the planning system for 2 years.

Interesting perspective. On transport, I am noticing a difference in places that have a combined authority. Those powers seem to be getting passed up to that city-region level which makes sense for more strategic projects. Greater Manchester has done this very effectively but the likes of Liverpool and West Yorkshire now following a similar model. I know the local government reorganisation is controversial but perhaps covering that wider area will allow them to look at transport more strategically across the county and beyond. 

[RoboFox]

47 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

 

 

He could just make one video and cover 95% of towns and cities in the UK. Instead he posts dozens that are so completely interchangeable they basically lose all distinction.

• Find a deprived area of a UK town or city 
• Show shots of random stuff dumped on the street
• Insert headline about MURDER, STABBING or DRUGS
• Some baseless anecdotal evidence
• Hyperbole about DANGER

Anecdotally I lived in Westcotes for years and I wasn't murdered once. 

[kenny]

Just now, izzymuzzet said:

Interesting perspective. On transport, I am noticing a difference in places that have a combined authority. Those powers seem to be getting passed up to that city-region level which makes sense for more strategic projects. Greater Manchester has done this very effectively but the likes of Liverpool and West Yorkshire now following a similar model. I know the local government reorganisation is controversial but perhaps covering that wider area will allow them to look at transport more strategically across the county and beyond. 

The issue is that Leicester City isn't doing a great job generally and is hoping to 'spread its failings' further by expanding. So rather than deal with more difficult urban development, it wants the green spaces to push its housing needs into. These are areas that lack the necessary facilities and is terrible for environmentally friendly towns of the future as we are reliant on car use. The outer urban developments that have gone such as Barkby Thorpe or Thorpe Astley are just soul-less collections of houses totally reliant on cars for transport. We recognised the negative effect of urban sprawl in the 1960's but appear to have largely ignored that in the present day and it is getting worse.

 

I suspect that the current policies will result in the city will becoming a slum as more and more people move out into the county. The new 'city centre' will be located at Aylestone Meadows and we will generally drive there rather than using an integrated urban transport system. Its sad that those in charge don't see that they are allowing our city to suffocate.

 

I went to Nottingham a few weeks ago and there is building everywhere. Its like Leeds but smaller. Their council has done a great job over the past 10 years or so. Interestingly, our head of planning used to be at Nottingham City Council and the timelines of that change make a very interesting co-incidence.

 

 

[whoareyaaa]

As other's have said it's not just Leicester the whole country is on it's knees.

[Dr Marco]

STOP THE BOATS!

[JonnyBoy]

Only go into Leicester if we go to Highcross, maybe a meal around St Martins square but that's it now. Feels so unsafe and just not a nice place 

[Samilktray]

Don’t think I’ve ever walked through town and felt any less safe than anywhere else I’ve been 

[spacemunky]

2 hours ago, Tommy G said:

 

 

Damn, that was depressing 

[Guest Electric Yetis]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

Lovely stuff. Warms the cockles of my heart. 

 

Mum's family from Braunstone and two of those areas I bordered during my childhood. Halcyon days. 

 

LE3 4 LYF

The video does my head. Mentions Aylestone then proceeds to show areas of the Monsell.

 

Aylestone 4eva

[danny.]

5 hours ago, StanSP said:

You've narrowed it down quite precisely there. Not that I agree with it. Unnecessary? Why? 

because they aren't real businesses, just money laundering fronts, obviously

[StanSP]

1 minute ago, danny. said:

because they aren't real businesses, just money laundering fronts, obviously

Got the proof/evidence? Or is it just a  generalisation? 

[Dr The Singh]

To be fair most of the rest of the country is in decline and catching up with Leicester.