Is the City of Leicester a dump?

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

****ing Bish, blokes off his head

[Wymsey]

Think London Road is under-rated by some.

Perhaps a rough area but has a good number of bars which appear decent.

[Bellend Sebastian]

59 minutes ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

****ing Bish, blokes off his head

Hell yes.

 

When those two get together, sparks are going to fly - sexy ones, probably

[Stadt]

8 hours ago, Christoph said:

 

I work in the city centre (Near the train station) and I walk down Granby street often. It is an absolute mess now. The amount of crackheads outside sainsbury's is mental. Theres always about 5 or 6 of them loitering around. 

 

I can't believe the amount of homeless people in the city centre at the moment. So many crackheads and alcoholics walking around. 

Not that these aren't issues but every major city in the UK is worse than Leicester in regards to homelessness and drug abuse. There's a horrifying amount of homelessness in Manchester.

[foxfanazer]

15 hours ago, Wymeswold fox said:

Think London Road is under-rated by some.

Perhaps a rough area but has a good number of bars which appear decent.

Worked at the William Hill there. Such a grim area full of druggies and somalians causing trouble

[SemperEadem]

On 4/21/2018 at 01:15, Wookie said:

Not that these aren't issues but every major city in the UK is worse than Leicester in regards to homelessness and drug abuse. There's a horrifying amount of homelessness in Manchester.

I used to work for a homeless charity, this sector has had its funding totally decimated by the Tories. Manchester was hit particularly hard with nearly all of the cities homeless shelters and support being forced to close.

[Stadt]

15 minutes ago, baker11 said:

I used to work for a homeless charity, this sector has had its funding totally decimated by the Tories. Manchester was hit particularly hard with nearly all of the cities homeless shelters and support being forced to close.

I was shocked by it, there was hundreds of homeless in view. It can't carry on how it is

[CosbehFox]

On 15/04/2018 at 09:32, Rob1742 said:

Recently had a day and night out in Bristol. Shocked how nice it was and you could see the locals love it as it was buzzing both day and night.

 

Decent quality hotels in the City, high quality retailers, a thriving nightlife of restaurants and bars. Outdoor and indoor markets, absolutely packed with people during the day.

 

The main point I noticed was the numbers of people enjoying the City. It seemed everyone was out enjoying it throughout the day, it really was packed out.

 

The difference between the two Cities is like day and night. 

 

Bristol  has poor areas, but the centre is appealing and makes you want to visit it. Leicester has poor areas and the centre has a poor feel to it. 

 

Well done Bristol, we will be back. 

Bristol is a great city. So expensive when I worked there for a stretch last year.  They’ve done a great job of the waterfront, the Wharf the opposite side and then around King Street. However I found it very ‘shiny’. In the sense, it felt genetrified and as if enjoyed by those that have moved there rather than locals. 

[CosbehFox]

On 17/03/2018 at 08:20, Unabomber said:

Can’t wait for head of steam to open 

 

What’s people’s thoughts? I am really undecided on it. Yeah great to see a wider beer selection but doesn’t feel like a pub and still attracts the Reynard lot. 

[boots60]

4 hours ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

What’s people’s thoughts? I am really undecided on it. Yeah great to see a wider beer selection but doesn’t feel like a pub and still attracts the Reynard lot. 

Tidied it up a touch. Put the prices up. Not bad for a beer or two, people watching in the sunshine (when we have some) outside.

[Unabomber]

7 hours ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

What’s people’s thoughts? I am really undecided on it. Yeah great to see a wider beer selection but doesn’t feel like a pub and still attracts the Reynard lot. 

The beer selection is obviously very good, it's quite nice inside too. Food is terrible although I did only have lunch and as others have mentioned the staff aren't the best

[Rob1742]

Another weekend where our family and another from the other side of Leicester wanted to meet up.

 

As usual, we just couldn’t think of anywhere that appealed as a destination to enjoy our evening so we ended up in a county pub instead.

 

This is usual, as we spend lots of time in other towns and cities, so when you compare you just don’t get the motivation to go into Leicester.

 

Our recent visit to Bristol made us realise how bad the place is in comparison, but appreciate Soulsby has made huge and impressive changes.

 

An example of where we are currently can be drawn to our visit to Bristol. Although only around 20% bigger than Leicester, the revenue it must bring into the City must be huge in comparison.

 

The hotels in the City shows the desire for their City compared to ours. They have 2 Marriotts in the Centre, a Du Vin, plus lots of other decent groups, many in locations where you felt good about being. Leicester tends to have the poorer chains, with locations you would not want to stop in. I think this gives a real good example of where we are and how a City just 20% bigger is hugely more desirable. 

 

As mentioned, Soulsby has improved it massively, but I still think a lot of money is spent outside of the City rather than in it, due to its desire or lack of it.

 

I assume the same applies to the likes of Coventry, Sunderland and Middlesbrough and the likes of these places. All not desirable so people hunt out areas outside to spend their money. 

 

I suppose the positive is the pubs and restaurants around those Cities do better as the centres are avoided, but it would be great if we could create a destination that people wanted to visit like Bristol, Cardiff, Norwich, Brighton, Exeter, Cambridge, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Chester etc. 

 

It really was the presence of the hotel chains in Bristol and the size of the City that made me think of the above. These companies only put their product where they see a decent return, and it’s clear they don’t see Leicester Centre as good an option as the likes of Bristol. 

 

We have a couple of new hotels opening soon I see, which highlights a change in fortune for our City. Not sure of the target market as I don’t know who the chains are, but you can see Soulsby has made a difference lately and is turning it around. 

 

I just hope we can get to a situation where it is a desirable City and gives a situation where you really want to visit it and look forward to going, rather than hunt out other options. 

 

[NorthfieldsFox]

I had friends visit from Austria recently they loved our city and can’t wait to come back 

 

if your familiar with a place it always feels less exciting than another city or place you visit , it’s a state of mind 

 

I love going into town , it feels like a pair of well worn and comfortable slippers , you know they need upgrading but they feel lovely all the same 

 

leicester is Leicester and Bristol is Bristol ,  we didn’t sell slaves to have the rich city councils that other city’s inherited , I quite like that we have a fairly clean history 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, Rob1742 said:

Our recent visit to Bristol made us realise how bad the place is in comparison, but appreciate Soulsby has made huge and impressive changes.

 

An example of where we are currently can be drawn to our visit to Bristol. Although only around 20% bigger than Leicester, the revenue it must bring into the City must be huge in comparison.

 

The hotels in the City shows the desire for their City compared to ours. They have 2 Marriotts in the Centre, a Du Vin, plus lots of other decent groups, many in locations where you felt good about being. Leicester tends to have the poorer chains, with locations you would not want to stop in. I think this gives a real good example of where we are and how a City just 20% bigger is hugely more desirable. 

 

As mentioned, Soulsby has improved it massively, but I still think a lot of money is spent outside of the City rather than in it, due to its desire or lack of it.

 

I suppose the positive is the pubs and restaurants around those Cities do better as the centres are avoided, but it would be great if we could create a destination that people wanted to visit like Bristol, Cardiff, Norwich, Brighton, Exeter, Cambridge, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Chester etc. 

 

There's a very good reason why those hotels are attracted to Bristol. Bristol is the regional hub for business. Generally salaries are better there too, so it's reflected in retail/hotel.  It's the gateway to the South-West and is the largest city for Somerset (which is a huge county).

 

All those cities you mention are regional hubs and it read likes my employers office bases to be honest. Leicester competes for business and used to be second fiddle to Nottingham. That's reflective in the hotel chains here.  

[foxfanazer]

Never really appreciated our city until I moved away. Now I really miss it and would like to come back. Where I’ve moved to may be more ‘scenic’ but it just doesn’t feel like home. Of course there are rough parts, the centre seems full of junkies and the amount of homeless people is staggering but there’s a almost a beauty to it. Can’t really explain it

Edited 24 April 2018 by foxfanazer

[cambridgefox]

On 20/04/2018 at 19:43, Bellend Sebastian said:

Hell yes.

 

When those two get together, sparks are going to fly - sexy ones, probably

Bish bash bosh!

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

Whenever I walk around town and see people enjoying themselves, I wonder how low their standards must be given we don't have a Marriott in the city centre.

[Stadt]

Most people that moan about it are 40 + and they’re dead boring anyway 

[m4DD0gg]

8 hours ago, Wookie said:

Most people that moan about it are 40 + and they’re dead boring anyway 

Not really they just remember when Leicester was a great night out and not full of smack heads, illegal immigrants and rampaging african gangs.

[MrSpaM]

On 24/04/2018 at 07:48, Rob1742 said:

Another weekend where our family and another from the other side of Leicester wanted to meet up.

 

As usual, we just couldn’t think of anywhere that appealed as a destination to enjoy our evening so we ended up in a county pub instead.

 

This is usual, as we spend lots of time in other towns and cities, so when you compare you just don’t get the motivation to go into Leicester.

 

Our recent visit to Bristol made us realise how bad the place is in comparison, but appreciate Soulsby has made huge and impressive changes.

 

An example of where we are currently can be drawn to our visit to Bristol. Although only around 20% bigger than Leicester, the revenue it must bring into the City must be huge in comparison.

 

The hotels in the City shows the desire for their City compared to ours. They have 2 Marriotts in the Centre, a Du Vin, plus lots of other decent groups, many in locations where you felt good about being. Leicester tends to have the poorer chains, with locations you would not want to stop in. I think this gives a real good example of where we are and how a City just 20% bigger is hugely more desirable. 

 

As mentioned, Soulsby has improved it massively, but I still think a lot of money is spent outside of the City rather than in it, due to its desire or lack of it.

 

I assume the same applies to the likes of Coventry, Sunderland and Middlesbrough and the likes of these places. All not desirable so people hunt out areas outside to spend their money. 

 

I suppose the positive is the pubs and restaurants around those Cities do better as the centres are avoided, but it would be great if we could create a destination that people wanted to visit like Bristol, Cardiff, Norwich, Brighton, Exeter, Cambridge, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Chester etc. 

 

It really was the presence of the hotel chains in Bristol and the size of the City that made me think of the above. These companies only put their product where they see a decent return, and it’s clear they don’t see Leicester Centre as good an option as the likes of Bristol. 

 

We have a couple of new hotels opening soon I see, which highlights a change in fortune for our City. Not sure of the target market as I don’t know who the chains are, but you can see Soulsby has made a difference lately and is turning it around. 

 

I just hope we can get to a situation where it is a desirable City and gives a situation where you really want to visit it and look forward to going, rather than hunt out other options. 

 

Whilst Bristol is a nice city, it has a huge problem with squatters, something we don't really have in Leicester

 

Bristol looks desirable from the outside, but many young people who come from there can't afford to live there and are forced to move elsewhere or live illegally in squats

 

At least Leicester is affordable

[Dr The Singh]

Walked the town centre on sunday, it seems to big for the visitng..........it has all the chain bars and restuarants, and small number of independants.  The area near highcross, st martins is nice and belvior street, I think is ok.  However large parts of the city centre is boarded up, and you can see why, there wasn't enough visitors, drinkers and eaters in the city centre.....for a warm sunday it was relatively dead.   

 

For me Leicester lacks a big 'corporate crowd' that can keep the city running during the week, so the leisure industry is rather thin, as it is dependant only on weekends.I

 

If I had a choice of Leicester and say one our neighbour city's, other then Cov, I would go elsewhere.

 

 

[davieG]

Demolition of Leicester's eyesore International House begins at last to make way for flats and shops

 

Workmen have begun pulling down a large, derelict office block in Leicester city centre that has been plagued by vandals and intruders.

International House in Granby Street has been earmarked for redevelopment as flats and ground floor shops.

The 1960s-built property has been disused for years and has become an eyesore – covered in graffiti – and regularly broken into by trespassers.

Demolition crews have now started tearing down the rear of the premises which overlooks the Dover Street car park.

Permission was granted to owners Newtech Marketing Network Ltd for an eight storey block of 61 flats ro replace it in the summer of 2016 but no progress has been made on the scheme until now.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “I saw it being nibbled away at by the heavy machinery and I have to say it is not before time.

“The company that owns it was granted permission to redevelop it some time ago.

“Now we are seeing the back of an eyesore in a very troublesome location.

“It has been subject to break-ins and has been covered in a lot of graffiti.

“The front of the building looks particularly grim and Granby Street is an important gateway between the city centre and the railway station.”

International House in Granby Street being demolished (Image: Will Johnston Photography)

International House was once described by Leicester Civic Society chairman Stuart Bailey as a ‘dreadful gargoyle of a building’ It replaced the 19 Century Temperance Hall which was opened by travel pioneer Thomas Cook in 1853 as a new music hall.

Cook also built the historic Temperance Hotel which still stands next door to it.

 

When the popularity of the Temperance movement began to decline the hall was transformed into a cinema in various guises between 1913 and the 1950s when it became the Essoldo.

That itself closed in 1960 and the hall was flattened to be replaced with the functional office block.

 

Newtech originally planned to keep and refurbish International House but then after commissioning structural reports opted to raise the structure and start again.

The company has submitted a new application to the city council asking to slightly raise the elevation of the building which has been granted permission.

That is currently being considered by officers.

 

 

 

Shame they knocked down the original Temperance Building to build this shit that hasn't lasted a life time,.

[davieG]

Some improvements

 

New pictures show how Leicester's new £75m space park will look when complete

 

This is how Leicester’s new £75 million space park will look when it is complete.

New images have been produced by the University of Leicester of the development that is now underway on the former John Ellis School campus in Belgrave.

The university is collaborating with the city council and the Leicester and Leicestershire Economic Partnership on the scheme which intends to make the city a major player in space-related research and industry.

Council workmen have been preparing the 15 acres site for the redevelopment as part of a £5 million package.

That includes anti-flood works and the creation of pedestrians and cyclists access between the site and the nearby the National Space Centre and the Abbey Pumping Station.

Some two miles of footpaths and cycleways in the area are being upgraded.

A new artist's impression of Space Park Leicester

 

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said he was excited about the prospect of the scheme emerging.

He said: “We have been getting things underway but it is the university which is driving this forward and transforming what has been a sorry site since the school was demolished a couple of decades ago.

“Its location near the space centre and the Abbey Pumping Station and the city centre is a wonderful site.

“The university already has an international reputation in this field and the space park will be a major part of it expanding its research.”

Earlier this month a consortium of UK universities were nearly £5M from the Research England to fund major national initiatives to enhance research and innovation in the UK space industry.

 

Government ambitions for the UK space sector target 10 per cent of a global space market of £400 billion by 2030 – a challenging goal requiring a coordinated approach from industry and academia.

The Universities of Leicester, Southampton, Surrey, Edinburgh and the Open University, which together form part of the Space Research and Innovation Network for Technology (SPRINT), have received the £4.8M Connecting Capability Fund (CCF) grant in order to support small and medium-sized businesses working with Higher Education institutions, providing them with unprecedented access to university expertise and facilities.

Space Park site proposed at the end of Corporation Road Leicester (Image: Google)

Much of the pioneering work which will take place at Space Park Leicester.

University pro-vice chancellor for strategic science projects Professor Martin Barstow, said: “I am pleased to be working with all our partners in this exciting national project, which will transform the engagement of universities with space and space-related industry.

“The project will provide small and medium-sized companies with direct access to our expertise and facilities, helping them to grow in an increasingly competitive and challenging environment.”

[davieG]

Major National Space Centre revamp begins, this is what's changing

The attraction is expanding and getting a new look as part of a £7.8m investment

 

By

Dan MartinPolitics Reporter

18:23, 24 APR 2018

 

 

Work has started on a revamp of the National Space Centre.

The entrance hall of the attraction, off Abbey Lane, is being refreshed and refurbished to make it more welcoming.

Bosses say more space will be created by the work, which will be completed in time for the summer holidays.‏

‏The project, called Launch Pad, is designed to help the centre handle increasing visitor numbers.

It will significantly increase the cafe seating area, as well as adding a new exhibition space as part of a wider £7.8 million investment.‏

‏The changes will provide a flexible ticketing process for peak and off-peak periods, and bosses say it will significantly improve access around the centre.‏

‏Chief executive of the National Space Centre Chas Bishop said: “Launch Pad seeks to address some of the challenges we currently have at the National Space Centre.

 

New pictures show how Leicester's new £75m space park will look when complete

 

"It will create a highly visible entrance, a purpose built queuing space and ticket sales point.

"It will also look to enhance customer experience and add more space for us to be able to display some truly world class artefacts.

How the revamped space centre will look

"We have a great success story to tell, as we approach welcoming our 4 millionth visitor, but we also want to continue developing and making the attraction appropriate, accessible and enjoyable to all our visitors.” ‏

‏Builders started on site last week and will be working with the National Space Centre to minimise disruption to visitors. ‏

 

[Wymsey]

Leicester ranked as amongst the worse to earn a living.

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/leicester-among-worst-places-earn-1497977