Is the City of Leicester a dump?

[Webbo]

It's TRYING to improve.  But there's a still a reason why the vast majority of Leicesterians who get educated here end up leaving.  

 

I can think of precious few people who have visited and spent time in the city say anything nice about the place (plenty to like about the Shire though).

 

Sad to say but from my experience I could reel of at least twenty places I'd rather live and work (will be leaving for one of them next year if all goes well)

The vast majority?

[davieG]

I dislike the fact that most the people who think Leicester's a dump are the same ones who chuck there rubbish on the floor and expect someone else to clean it up for them.

 

Wow that's a massive assumption, part of the reason I think it's a dump is because of the rubbish people drop to the floor we used to have the reputation as the cleanest and second most prosperous city in Europe.

[davieG]

De Montfort University releases artists' impressions of £2.5m Mill Lane revamp

By danjmartin  |  Posted: June 12, 2015

• 

  How Mill Lane will look.

VIEW GALLERY

 

 Comments (0)

De Montfort University has released artists' impressions of what its campus will look like when it completes the £2.5 million pedestrianisation of Mill Lane.

Traffic on road previously cut the university campus in two until the route was closed to vehicles in 2012.

The university is to renovate the area as part of its wider current £100 million campus revamp.

DMU's deputy director of estates Umesh Desai said: "It has always been our plan, since 2003 in fact, to connect our buildings with the city centre and the West End using high quality public open spaces.

•  

  "I am pleased that, through our work with the council, we are continuing to improve our part of the city not just for students and staff but for the public too.

  "DMU is proud of its record in sustainable design as well as our reputation for being a centre for environmental research so it is great to be able to incorporate features such as the rain gardens which provide urban drainage without putting any further pressure on the city infrastructure."

  Once the work is complete the road, still owned by the city council, will remain open to pedestrians and cyclists as a main route for bringing people from the city centre down to the riverside and the West End.

  Leicester city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "This scheme will provide a high quality and attractive link from the city centre to the riverside, which is open to everyone.

  "It ties in well with our other Connecting Leicester schemes, and is a great example of good partnership working."

  DMU's plans have been designed to fit in with proposed changes to the Fletcher building, which is currently being rebuilt at a cost of £42 million to form a new home for the university art and design courses

  It was announced last year that the areas surrounding the redevelopment, from The Gateway down to the banks of the River Soar, would also be landscaped to create more public open space.

Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/DMU-release-artists-impressions-2-5m-Lane-revamp/story-26686944-detail/story.html#ixzz3cw32lfAv 

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[lavrentis]

The uni is getting better, but it still has problems.

[Wymsey]

Another area that doesn't look nice together is De Montfort Business Centre (green outer part) and some old Victorian building that separates two roads (ahead of you when you drive up from the tunnel).

But New Walk is a decent area.

[Rob1742]

As this thread has gone on, I have definitely found improvements in our City.

But it's still a very poor city and there will only ever be pockets of good in a poverty stricken City.

However, fair play to the improvements being made, it has actually made me visit the City more than the customery once a year that I used to, so the improvements are working.

I have visited the bars around the Curve, and had been to The Cosy Club on numerous occasions.

You come out The Shires and the main areas are still uncomfortable to walk around though and the poor areas mean that will never change.

But fair play to those that have invested in the City and credit where credit is due.

Edited 14 June 2015 by Rob1742

[davieG]

Ideas wanted to rejuvenate Braunstone Gate

By danjmartin  |  Posted: June 13, 2015

 

Braunstone Gate

 

 Comments (0)

People living in and around Braunstone Gate, in Leicester, are being invited to get involved in a scheme to rejuvenate the area.

The Braunstone Gate Places for People Project is being run by

Sustrans, Leicester City Council and People's Health Trust, using money raised through the Health Lottery.

It follows an experiment during the recent Riverside Festival where volunteers transformed part of the road into a garden, with games and interactive displays.

 

The aim was to look at possible changes in road layout or tree planting and water fountains.

For the past three months, more than 150 residents and business owners have been taking part in meetings to discuss ideas.

They are now being invited to join a community forum which, over the next 18 months, will shape the plan for change.

Sustrans project co-ordinator Charlotte Jones said: "Streets make up 80 per cent of public spaces in cities, yet we rarely feel they are ours to use.

"We want to support the community in reclaiming that space, coming together to shape how it is used.

"The principle behind the Braunstone Gate project is to empower the community in transforming their neighbourhood

into a place for everyone, whether for elderly people to sit and chat, for businesses to thrive or for families to play, as well as a place for all to travel through easily.

"A street is a community's shared living room and it should reflect the people who live and work there.

"I am looking forward to working with the community as more and more get involved."

Ward councillor Sarah Russell said: "We want to gather people's views on how Braunstone Gate might be improved and the demonstration at the Riverside Festival was a perfect chance for us to explore with the community the sorts of things we could consider.

"It's really important we get lots of views on this so proposals are generated by the Braunstone Gate neighbourhood and the community takes a lead.

To find out more about the Braunstone Gate Community Forum, call 07833 057595 or

e-mail:

[email protected]

leicestermercury.co.uk

Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Ideas-wanted-rejuvenate-Braunstone-Gate/story-26690429-detail/story.html#ixzz3cy5H0T5Q 

Follow us: @Leicester_Merc on Twitter | leicestermercury on Facebook

[Guest]

Get rid of Marios (is it still there?)

[blueharmie]

Leicester is a dump. We all know this.

Narborough Road is like a street in Romania. Highfields. Saint Matthew are no go. Then trash like Beaumont leys new parks. It's better as you head towards Oadby,great Glen..... Get the fook away from Leicester it's filth.

Horrid place but I like the football team.

Edited 13 June 2015 by blueharmie

[fuchsntf]

I keep telling my German friends, ... many UK cities and towns are dumps compared to those in Germany, for two simple reasons, Our footballers cant hit a ball between 2 posts from 12yards, but put us in a plane and from 12, oooft, our bombaimers are bloody spot on.!!!!! and winners can give money to rebuild.

Any derelict houses, in Uk , we kept for workexperience, so all the landlords could learn how to coax ridiculous revenues from their tenants, and while our farms were top at BSE, we can now use the greenbelt and floodplains to build rabbit hutches, for the rif-raf, and students. Making /turning once good family houses, into 2-3flats and then charging the same per flat, as what the whole house used to cost, then after all that, We keep Buckingham palace to house our German refugees.

Then to really rub it in we release, mail to the press every 30 years, how one of these wanna be's from the 'Buckingham-camp' crazily tells us, how we can and should improve things, in companies and give the workers, a civilised living space.

Why if it wasnt so funny we could, make it into a game called ' Kingdoms ,Empires and thrones'.

[Rincewind]

Funny but has some truth in that.

 

Saw on the front page of Merc that there are plans to pedestrianise Mill lane and merge it with DMU.

[davieG]

Funny but has some truth in that.

 

Saw on the front page of Merc that there are plans to pedestrianise Mill lane and merge it with DMU.

9 posts up the page rince

[Guest Col city fan]

Get rid of Marios (is it still there?)

Yep..and the food has gone really downhill.

[Rob1742]

Ideas wanted to rejuvenate Braunstone Gate

By danjmartin | Posted: June 13, 2015

Braunstone Gate

Comments (0)

People living in and around Braunstone Gate, in Leicester, are being invited to get involved in a scheme to rejuvenate the area.

The Braunstone Gate Places for People Project is being run by

Sustrans, Leicester City Council and People's Health Trust, using money raised through the Health Lottery.

It follows an experiment during the recent Riverside Festival where volunteers transformed part of the road into a garden, with games and interactive displays.

The aim was to look at possible changes in road layout or tree planting and water fountains.

For the past three months, more than 150 residents and business owners have been taking part in meetings to discuss ideas.

They are now being invited to join a community forum which, over the next 18 months, will shape the plan for change.

Sustrans project co-ordinator Charlotte Jones said: "Streets make up 80 per cent of public spaces in cities, yet we rarely feel they are ours to use.

"We want to support the community in reclaiming that space, coming together to shape how it is used.

"The principle behind the Braunstone Gate project is to empower the community in transforming their neighbourhood

into a place for everyone, whether for elderly people to sit and chat, for businesses to thrive or for families to play, as well as a place for all to travel through easily.

"A street is a community's shared living room and it should reflect the people who live and work there.

"I am looking forward to working with the community as more and more get involved."

Ward councillor Sarah Russell said: "We want to gather people's views on how Braunstone Gate might be improved and the demonstration at the Riverside Festival was a perfect chance for us to explore with the community the sorts of things we could consider.

"It's really important we get lots of views on this so proposals are generated by the Braunstone Gate neighbourhood and the community takes a lead.

To find out more about the Braunstone Gate Community Forum, call 07833 057595 or

e-mail:

[email protected]

leicestermercury.co.uk

Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Ideas-wanted-rejuvenate-Braunstone-Gate/story-26690429-detail/story.html#ixzz3cy5H0T5Q

Follow us: @Leicester_Merc on Twitter | leicestermercury on Facebook

You could have a nice old railway bridge running across it at one end. A real feature that you could identify the area with. Just a thought, and I suppose it would cost to much to do? But what an idea eh, wouldn't that be good

[davieG]

World's fastest-growing American burger chain - Five Guys - coming to city centre

By Tom_Mack  |  Posted: June 14, 2015

 

Site for new burger restaurant

 

 Comments (2)

The world's fastest-growing American burger chain could be coming to Leicester.

Five Guys has put in a planning application to turn the former Santander branch in Cheapside into its fourth restaurant in the Midlands, with branches already in Nottingham, Birmingham and Solihull.

The building, opposite the Highcross shopping centre, has been empty since January 2014 and is on a prominent corner, close to the Clock Tower.

Five Guys promises high quality burgers with so many toppings there are a quarter of a million possible varieties.

 

Nathan O'Hagan, 28, of Braunstone, who was enjoying some takeaway food in Cheapside on Friday, said: "The more places to eat the better, if you ask me.

"I like the idea of a gourmet burger – or a gourmet anything. I'm mostly a Nando's man, to be honest, though."

An employee at a nearby shop, who did not want to be named, said: "We've missed Santander because it brought a lot of customers here and I think our sales would go up with a nice burger place here.

But Tina Forty, who works at William Hill next to the empty shop, was less excited.

She said: "When I heard about it I googled them but it's not what I was hoping for.

"I wanted it to be a nice restaurant. There are enough places around here to get burgers and chips already."

In documents sent to Leicester City Council, the chain's agents said: "Five Guys is an originally family run burger restaurant which has been operating for 29 years.

"Since it was first set up in 1986 in Washington DC it has become the fastest growing 'fast-casual' restaurant with 1,200 locations and 400 stores in development globally."

The planning application states that Five Guys has been voted No 1 Burger for the last 11 years in the United States in the Zagat Fast Food Survey, as well as being named best burger in the US Market Force Consumer Study in 2012.

Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/World-s-fastest-growing-American-burger-chain/story-26694253-detail/story.html#ixzz3d1vrPL9U 

Follow us: @Leicester_Merc on Twitter | leicestermercury on Facebook

[Samilktray]

Superb news

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

Bloody love Five Guys but Nathan O'Hagan from that article is gonna be disappointed if he expects a knife and fork 'gourmet' job

Edited 14 June 2015 by Miquel The Work Geordie

[davieG]

Buses and cars could be barred from Leicester's busy Church Gate

By danjmartin  |  Posted: June 14, 2015

 

Church Gate

 

 Comments (3)

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has outlined plans to pedestrianise Leicester's busy Church Gate.

The road, running from the Clock Tower to St Margaret's Way, has numerous shops and bars but is narrow and currently heavily used by buses which Sir Peter says are checking the potential of the area.

Work on the £13.5 million rebuilding of the nearby Haymarket bus station is likely to finished by the end of this year and the mayor has said that will allow buses to be diverted away from Church Gate.

He said that would allow the bus stops to be removed from Haymarket (the street) and open up new possibilities for Church Gate.

 

He said: "Church Gate is in a conservation area although you would never know it.

"It has some fantastic historic buildings.

"It has not had any significant renovation since the 1980s but it deserves the kind of attention we have given to other streets in the city like Silver Street and Loseby Lane.

"Church Gate is high on the list of priorities.

"We would however have to carefully consider loading access for businesses."

Sir Peter said there was so far no specific budget set aside for revamping Church Gate but that the cash would come from his multi-million pound Connecting Leicester plan.

Businesses along the street have largely welcomed the idea of freeing it from cars and buses.

Tracy Rosetti, who manages Brucciani's, said: "It's an excellent idea.

"There's too much traffic along here and it would be wonderful to have seating outside in the summer.

"It would all just look nicer."

A Waterstone's spokesman said: It initially sounds good. Pedestrians have to dodge cars and buses.

"For our purposes it means more footfall and it would also be safer for parents with buggies."

Alycia Green, of Greens Jewellers, said: "It would be fantastic if Church Gate was pedestrianised.

"It's very noisy with the flow of buses and speeding cars. It would be far safer without traffic."

However Praful Hindocha, of Church Gate News, said: "I am totally against it.

"We have bus stop across the road and that means more customers."

Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Buses-cars-barred-Leicester-s-busy-Church-Gate/story-26687690-detail/story.html#ixzz3d3vnAS9j 

Follow us: @Leicester_Merc on Twitter | leicestermercury on Facebook

[Guest Foxin_mad]

Most of the shit places in the UK have Labour run councils....says a lot.

[NewburyFox]

What a horrendously written article.

[bovril]

What a horrendously written article.

 

That's what I thought. Bad even by the pretty awful journalistic standards of the Merc.

[Lionator]

Most of the shit places in the UK have Labour run councils....says a lot.

 

As a consequence and not as a cause. Thatcher is the reason these places are ruined. 

[Webbo]

As a consequence and not as a cause. Thatcher is the reason these places are ruined. 

It never gets old does it?

[purpleronnie]

Most of the shit places in the UK have Labour run councils....says a lot.

 Never get's old either. 

Edited 14 June 2015 by purpleronnie

[Guest Foxin_mad]

Most the citys with shit Labour councils have always voted Labour and will always continue to vote Labour as such they will continue to be shit. Even with a 13 years of Labour government nothing got better! at least the Tories look after their own.