Is the City of Leicester a dump?

[westernpark]

3 minutes ago, MattFox said:

Shame

 

Feels like Leicester’s gone from being a tier below the big cities to basically being another Cov/Wolverhampton though in a short space of time 

We ain’t sunk that low.

[MattFox]

4 minutes ago, westernpark said:

We ain’t sunk that low.

Yet

 

Amount of decent places shutting up shop over the past few years is concerning though 

 

If John Lewis ever went..

Edited 11 September 2024 by MattFox

[MonkeyTennis?]

Is it me, or does the city centre smell pretty rank at the moment?

[Footballwipe]

Someone in a local FB group posting pics of Jubilee Square as it was being created a decade ago

 

 

Was it me imagining, or do I remember loads of people kicking off against this at the time? Converting it from a dingy car park to the open space today has been brilliant. It's such a popular place when it's sunny.

[davieG]

Leicester crowned best place to live and work in East Midlands
The UK's 52 largest cities have been ranked

ByLinda SteelyardHannah RichardsonLocal Democracy Reporter
15:07, 19 SEP 2024

Leicester has been crowned best place to live and work in East Midlands (Image: Getty)
Subscribe today to get the latest headlines straight to your inbox with our free email updates

 

Leicester has been ranked the best place to live and work in the East Midlands. A number of factors, including the city's healthy work-life balance and decent transport links, helped it win the accolade in this year's Good Growth for Cities Index.

It was also seen as a "good environment to set up a new business". The city further performed well when safety and workforce skills were considered.

In addition to coming out top in the East Midlands, Leicester placed 20th overall in the rankings which examines the UK's 52 largest cities. In response to the news, city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said that when he was elected in 2011, Leicester had a "collective inferiority complex" and "couldn't believe it had anything good about itself". Today, he said, he believes that attitude is completely different.

 

He told LeicestershireLive: "It's great to see that people want to come and live here, but also to see the numbers of people who want to come and visit here."

The mayor said that for him, Leicester has three key selling points: its history; its historic buildings; and its people. He said: "It has 2,000 years of history. It's got some wonderful buildings from every period of its development over those 2,000 years which are very much cherished and looked after.

"And the third [selling point] is the people. We're very proud of the fact that we're a diverse city, and, as a result of that, we've got an incredible range of things to offer to people wanting to live or work or play here, or visit."

The next best-performing city in the East Midlands was Derby, ranked 23rd overall. Lincoln was 24th, Nottingham finished 35th and Northampton was 40th. The index looks beyond core economic growth and instead considers broad measures of economic well-being such as jobs, income, health, skills, work-life balance, housing, transport and the environment. Leicester received average scores for jobs, health and housing.

But the report authors said they believed the new Government's push for further devolved powers for cities in the UK - enabling them to make more decisions on where Government funding is spent locally - will help to make the outlook in Leicester and elsewhere "far rosier" over the coming 12 months.

The report states: "Though the tough economic environment has affected real economic growth across the UK, we expect a rosier outlook for several cities. The UK economy is recovering slowly and steadily, and we expect economic growth to bounce back this year and continue on into 2025."

Rachel Taylor, of PwC, said it was up to local leaders to now make the push for growth. She said: "As local leaders look forward to playing a greater part in delivering economic growth in their areas, they have a window of time to take stock.

"They must use this time to reassess what their strengths and ambitions are for their areas and how they will grasp the fresh opportunities on the horizon."

[Zear0]

3 minutes ago, Footballwipe said:

Someone in a local FB group posting pics of Jubilee Square as it was being created a decade ago

 

 

Was it me imagining, or do I remember loads of people kicking off against this at the time? Converting it from a dingy car park to the open space today has been brilliant. It's such a popular place when it's sunny.

Fell into a pile of sharp sand whilst falling out of Mosh around that time, depressing it's a decade ago.

[RoboFox]

Now all they need to do is level the shit car park and the grim Holiday Inn on the roundabout and the area would be half decent. 

[Stadt]

31 minutes ago, davieG said:

The mayor said that for him, Leicester has three key selling points: its history; its historic buildings; and its people

We've demolished far too many historic buildings, it's a standard ugly British city centre for the most part.

 

The transport links bit is a reach too. It's the worst connected big city on the country via rail  

[Footballwipe]

Whilst I'm on this thread, I watched these videos the other day. Not sure if they've been posted tho so sorry if it's a duplicate. I genuinely learnt a lot and the background shots of the city as it was in 1998 are enjoyable.

 

There's more in the series on this channel, too.

 

 

 

[Trav Le Bleu]

12 hours ago, davieG said:

Leicester crowned best place to live and work in East Midlands
The UK's 52 largest cities have been ranked

ByLinda SteelyardHannah RichardsonLocal Democracy Reporter
15:07, 19 SEP 2024

Leicester has been crowned best place to live and work in East Midlands (Image: Getty)
Subscribe today to get the latest headlines straight to your inbox with our free email updates

 

Leicester has been ranked the best place to live and work in the East Midlands. A number of factors, including the city's healthy work-life balance and decent transport links, helped it win the accolade in this year's Good Growth for Cities Index.

It was also seen as a "good environment to set up a new business". The city further performed well when safety and workforce skills were considered.

In addition to coming out top in the East Midlands, Leicester placed 20th overall in the rankings which examines the UK's 52 largest cities. In response to the news, city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said that when he was elected in 2011, Leicester had a "collective inferiority complex" and "couldn't believe it had anything good about itself". Today, he said, he believes that attitude is completely different.

 

He told LeicestershireLive: "It's great to see that people want to come and live here, but also to see the numbers of people who want to come and visit here."

The mayor said that for him, Leicester has three key selling points: its history; its historic buildings; and its people. He said: "It has 2,000 years of history. It's got some wonderful buildings from every period of its development over those 2,000 years which are very much cherished and looked after.

"And the third [selling point] is the people. We're very proud of the fact that we're a diverse city, and, as a result of that, we've got an incredible range of things to offer to people wanting to live or work or play here, or visit."

The next best-performing city in the East Midlands was Derby, ranked 23rd overall. Lincoln was 24th, Nottingham finished 35th and Northampton was 40th. The index looks beyond core economic growth and instead considers broad measures of economic well-being such as jobs, income, health, skills, work-life balance, housing, transport and the environment. Leicester received average scores for jobs, health and housing.

But the report authors said they believed the new Government's push for further devolved powers for cities in the UK - enabling them to make more decisions on where Government funding is spent locally - will help to make the outlook in Leicester and elsewhere "far rosier" over the coming 12 months.

The report states: "Though the tough economic environment has affected real economic growth across the UK, we expect a rosier outlook for several cities. The UK economy is recovering slowly and steadily, and we expect economic growth to bounce back this year and continue on into 2025."

Rachel Taylor, of PwC, said it was up to local leaders to now make the push for growth. She said: "As local leaders look forward to playing a greater part in delivering economic growth in their areas, they have a window of time to take stock.

"They must use this time to reassess what their strengths and ambitions are for their areas and how they will grasp the fresh opportunities on the horizon.

Whoopy-do!

 

Better than Derby and Nottingham.

 

Hardly difficult!

[Trav Le Bleu]

12 hours ago, davieG said:

 

The mayor said that for him, Leicester has three key selling points: its history; its historic buildings; and its people. 

Muppet. That's 2 things. The historic buildings are part of the history.

 

It's like saying LCFC has 3 key selling points; the squad, its players and Steve Cooper.

 

Though that's only 1 key point.

[SecretPro]

1 hour ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Whoopy-do!

 

Better than Derby and Nottingham.

 

Hardly difficult!

In terms of actual City centre, I prefer Notts. Independent shopping is so much better, especially around Hockley. Leicester has gone right down hill when it comes to independent anything. 

[Paninistickers]

7 hours ago, SecretPro said:

In terms of actual City centre, I prefer Notts. Independent shopping is so much better, especially around Hockley. Leicester has gone right down hill when it comes to independent anything. 

I dunno how anyone here with a straight face say they go to that filth.

 

I wouldn't go if the hanging gardens of Babylon were there plus a guaranteed shag (with at least a 7/10) at the end 

[Guest Lako42]

6 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

I dunno how anyone here with a straight face say they go to that filth.

 

I wouldn't go if the hanging gardens of Babylon were there plus a guaranteed shag (with at least a 7/10) at the end 

I had to go recently. 

 

Shithole overran with townie chavs and insane levels of homelessness. 

 

Streets were filthy 

[SecretPro]

1 hour ago, Lako42 said:

I had to go recently. 

 

Shithole overran with townie chavs and insane levels of homelessness. 

 

Streets were filthy 

Have you not been the Leicester recently and seen the encampments on Horsefair Street, Belvoir Street, Granby Street and the Doorway to Highcross Waterstone? Leicester City Centre is grim as ****, its like zombieland out there. 

[westernpark]

9 minutes ago, SecretPro said:

Have you not been the Leicester recently and seen the encampments on Horsefair Street, Belvoir Street, Granby Street and the Doorway to Highcross Waterstone? Leicester City Centre is grim as ****, its like zombieland out there. 

I think most cities are like this to be honest. I think we do alright but there’s some glaring bits where we could do with a bit of a luck.

[westernpark]

Nottingham does well for pubs. But actual city, and I include suburbs within the city boundary, we are far nicer. Snottingham also only has 1000 years of history, we have 2000 plus. 
I once did a paper on how Leicester’s municipal buildings don’t project enough authority over the city. Whilst I didn’t use Nottingham as a comparison, a lot of people just think of Nottingham’s Council House, within their ontological security of the place. But there’s not much else. 
 

[Paninistickers]

6 minutes ago, westernpark said:

Nottingham does well for pubs. But actual city, and I include suburbs within the city boundary, we are far nicer. Snottingham also only has 1000 years of history, we have 2000 plus. 
I once did a paper on how Leicester’s municipal buildings don’t project enough authority over the city. Whilst I didn’t use Nottingham as a comparison, a lot of people just think of Nottingham’s Council House, within their ontological security of the place. But there’s not much else. 
 

As you said in another post, we need a bit of luck. And any grandeur we have, is lost / separated from the city. 

 

Imagine if De Mont was close to the centre, including the gardens out the front. Imagine if St Margaret's church was the cathedral, and not isolated by two dual carriageways. Or if New Walk Museum was at the bottom of New Walk instead of half way. All three would vastly have proved the city's civic pride 

 

 

 

 

[The Fox Covert]

22 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

Whilst I'm on this thread, I watched these videos the other day. Not sure if they've been posted tho so sorry if it's a duplicate. I genuinely learnt a lot and the background shots of the city as it was in 1998 are enjoyable.

 

There's more in the series on this channel, too.

 

 

 

My dad, a former teacher, used to lead guided walks on summer evenings around the city centre. He didn't like photographs being taken of him and would not have considered putting them on YouTube but I imagine they would have been an interesting watch.

[The Fox Covert]

31 minutes ago, westernpark said:

Nottingham does well for pubs. But actual city, and I include suburbs within the city boundary, we are far nicer. Snottingham also only has 1000 years of history, we have 2000 plus. 
I once did a paper on how Leicester’s municipal buildings don’t project enough authority over the city. Whilst I didn’t use Nottingham as a comparison, a lot of people just think of Nottingham’s Council House, within their ontological security of the place. But there’s not much else. 
 

Gets a laugh for Snottingham (Snotingahame). I once got a two week ban from 606 for commenting on their forum and calling the city Snottingham. I got a snotty message from the mods that people had complained and it was insulting to the city and its people!

[Dr The Singh]

50 minutes ago, westernpark said:

Nottingham does well for pubs. But actual city, and I include suburbs within the city boundary, we are far nicer. Snottingham also only has 1000 years of history, we have 2000 plus. 
I once did a paper on how Leicester’s municipal buildings don’t project enough authority over the city. Whilst I didn’t use Nottingham as a comparison, a lot of people just think of Nottingham’s Council House, within their ontological security of the place. But there’s not much else. 
 

Ive lived in Nottingham for nearly 10 years, and go to Leicester nearly every week to See family, and my family can't stop comming to see me in Nottingham.  And everyone asks me why dont i move to Leicester, we all know the reason why.

 

What surprised me is being a ethnic minority how much better we get treated in Nottingham, people are far more friendlier in bars, restaurants and clubs.  

 

Now we got a Poonjabi pub in Nottingham my family from Leicester are even more intrusive on my life

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

39 minutes ago, westernpark said:

Nottingham does well for pubs. But actual city, and I include suburbs within the city boundary, we are far nicer. 

 

I don't think we are "far" nicer - though there's definitely a case for Leicester here, mainly because the worst bits of Nottingham within their city boundary suburb-wise are bigger tips than our worst. Leicester's green spaces within the city boundary are also fundamentally nicer.

 

That said, Mapperley is bloody fantastic, Mapperley Park is beautiful, Sherwood has shed a bit of a rep and is now a decent mix of people with plenty of indie gaffs for food / drink. Carrington is also perfectly fine.

 

When i worked in Notts 2018-22 I lived in a flat The Park for a good while, and this place never seems to come up during these discussions. In the shadow of the castle there's an oval like estate full of ridiculous old houses, and it must be one of the most beautiful inner-city residential areas in the country. It's got old gas lamps, you can't park there unless you have proof of residency or get a visitors pass, its bloody mad how close it is to Radford etc.

 

Everywhere has it's mertis, I'd avoid the Victoria centre and its surrounding area in Nottingham like the plague the same way I would the clock tower in Leicester. One thing that does seem abundantly clear to me though is how much £££ seems to get spent in Nottingham with big projects. Canal Street looks completely different now to five years ago and the Broadmarsh development / albatross will look great when its done.

 

I do feel like we're starting to look a bit tired in places and every big project seems to get scaled back a bit. Opening up the station should be a cause for celebration but ultimately it's still going to be facing two of the ugliest buildings we've got.

 

But nice little pockets of Leicester seem to be re-appearing again with a few openings and it's great to see.

[westernpark]

47 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

As you said in another post, we need a bit of luck. And any grandeur we have, is lost / separated from the city. 

 

Imagine if De Mont was close to the centre, including the gardens out the front. Imagine if St Margaret's church was the cathedral, and not isolated by two dual carriageways. Or if New Walk Museum was at the bottom of New Walk instead of half way. All three would vastly have proved the city's civic pride 

 

 

 

 

Yes but have to remember we’re lucky to have not lost New Walk. Smigielski saved it and the crescent to an extent, although the ring road went through Roman archaeology instead.

Maybe it’s that attitude that shows why we’re not pushing on further, we can do better. I agree about De Montfort we need a really good venue, easily accessible within the inner ring road.

Whilst our cathedral does not demonstrate architectural significance on the same level, that others do, you’d hope King Richard’s presence will make things better. We have the alterations nearly ready and once Jewry Wall Museum finally opens, we might see a higher footfall in that area. 

[westernpark]

2 minutes ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

 

I don't think we are "far" nicer - though there's definitely a case for Leicester here, mainly because the worst bits of Nottingham within their city boundary suburb-wise are bigger tips than our worst. Leicester's green spaces within the city boundary are also fundamentally nicer.

 

That said, Mapperley is bloody fantastic, Mapperley Park is beautiful, Sherwood has shed a bit of a rep and is now a decent mix of people with plenty of indie gaffs for food / drink. Carrington is also perfectly fine.

 

When i worked in Notts 2018-22 I lived in a flat The Park for a good while, and this place never seems to come up during these discussions. In the shadow of the castle there's an oval like estate full of ridiculous old houses, and it must be one of the most beautiful inner-city residential areas in the country. It's got old gas lamps, you can't park there unless you have proof of residency or get a visitors pass, its bloody mad how close it is to Radford etc.

 

Everywhere has it's mertis, I'd avoid the Victoria centre and its surrounding area in Nottingham like the plague the same way I would the clock tower in Leicester. One thing that does seem abundantly clear to me though is how much £££ seems to get spent in Nottingham with big projects. Canal Street looks completely different now to five years ago and the Broadmarsh development / albatross will look great when its done.

 

I do feel like we're starting to look a bit tired in places and every big project seems to get scaled back a bit. Opening up the station should be a cause for celebration but ultimately it's still going to be facing two of the ugliest buildings we've got.

 

But nice little pockets of Leicester seem to be re-appearing again with a few openings and it's great to see.

The park is amazing to be fair. I’ve taken a few people for tours around there and people can’t believe it’s in the Midlands, let alone Nottingham.

I should know more about Nottingham regeneration funding, given my line of work but the city does have a greater national profile than we do, unfortunately. It’s an uncomfortable admission but one I’d argue is true.

I wonder if they’ve received more funding from various sources, private and central/local, because of this. Whilst it’s difficult to quantify national profile, I’ve always wondered if previous governments have seen putting money into Nottingham, as a tick box for the entire East Midlands region.

 

[Paninistickers]

1 hour ago, westernpark said:

I’ve always wondered if previous governments have seen putting money into Nottingham, as a tick box for the entire East Midlands region.

100%. It helps that 200k residents in Derby all head there for shopping and entertainment and nightlife. So.much for being rivals. Derby boosts Nottingham's reach from 600k to approaching a million. 

 

1 hour ago, westernpark said:

should know more about Nottingham regeneration funding, given my line of work but the city does have a greater national profile than we do

I think the TV stations did it. It's amazing what that does for an economy. And Central / BBC setting up there was the same time as them winning European cups and enjoying a ridiculously high profile. That swung the city upwards. Prior to that, the cities were pretty much the same.