Is it a Labour council now? It doesn't seem to matter, as when the Lib. Dems. had control, things seem to have still been ****ed up.
I do love the look of the building, it really would be great to see it renovated, what style do you think would suit it, 1920s, 1930s maybe
well i went for a walk around York on Sunday (yeah i only spent money on Coffees i admit) but with this thread fresh in my mind , i took more notice of whats going on in York compared to Hull - on a miserable Sunday in January !! Firstly the shops cover a vast area with what i counted to be 4-5 empty shopfronts . Every street with shops in it was about a third full to being called a packed street . the shopping experience has a flow to it too. There was a larger number of coffee shops than in Hull , i counted 9 dedicated coffee shops and i wasnt trying to count. There is still a market nr the little shambles albeit much smaller than other days , but down every street there is an opportunity to buy something different. There may be more but i only noticed one Poundland store , one gold for cash store and im sure theres a few but i didnt notice a bookies . As i said before , the main problem with Hull is the constant re-centring of the "city centre" buildings can't move , the council seems to allow streets with character to be bastardised with Storefront redesignes of windows and the signage above . Imagine what Whitefriargate could look like if all signage was sympathetic to the original building - this feature is far more common in York and to the uninitiated turns shopping into an adventure. And though i advocate breathing life into the marina area 100% it will only stretch the city further ,especially as its on the wrong side of Castle Street . Had Prinny Quay remained the central shopping area it would have worked , but even a retail war between the two shopping centres wont fill that empty 10 min walk .
I had to forgo the game against Huddersfield for family reasons and ended up walking around Hull City centre between 1 and 2pm; what struck me was just how quiet it was all around, but especially down Whitefriargate. It was hardly inviting and really uninviting. I was pushing a wheelchair and the options for a drink and a meal were poor to the extreme; we tried a number of places that had very poor access and facilities, very limited seating and just about non-existant staff concern (what empty tables there were were covered in the last punters empties and rubbish). The food offer in some was just plain poor, aimed at the bottom-dollar market; yes there is a need for cheap eating-out and I do it as do most, but it was simply grubby. After trying quite a few and walking away, we ended up in Admiral of the Humber (Weatherspoons) with coped facilities-wise but was hardly a great experience - much the same as Weatherspoons anywhere. I accept that my knowledge of Hull boozers is now well out of date, but if someone where visiting blind and did not have my allegiance to the City, then I think they would be very unimpressed with the city centre. It's a shame as there were street entertainers trying to build an atmosphere that would have succeeded elsewhere. It seems to me that the shopping centre over the old dock simply contains everyone who can't be arsed to wear a coat; it's a pity because Hull centre could be transormed if some thought were or had been applied.
One of the main problems in Hull is that the rents are over-priced, meaning the likes of cash-for-gold and bookies are the only viable businesses that can afford to rent the units. Another problem, as I have mentioned, is that modern retailers want bright, airy, modern retail units with good lighting and high roofs - look at the majority of shops to let in Hull - old and dingy, not a good look at all as the first impression for your business - again, cash-for-gold and bookies type businesses don't have to worry about image. So, if you take an old, dingy unit that is well over-priced, the chances are it will be left to let - the landlords tend to not be bothered and don't see that they need to spend money on their units to make them modern and attractive again. Look at the old Post Office on Jameson St - been empty for years now, this despite an upturn in footfall for the street, which is the reason the likes of Prem and Size? have opened on the street and seen Greenwoods relocate there from King Edward St, but the old Post Office remains empty, because from the outside it look derelict... yet the new owner spent money on updating the interior, then stuck a 'to let' sign on it... doesn't work like that! You say everything would have worked if only Princes Quay had remained, but it was in decline and looking for a new retail purpose well before St.Stephen's was completed (i.e. looking to become a leisure destination with cinema). There are stores that have opened in St.Stephen's that hadn't even considered Hull before St.Stephen's opened, otherwise they would've already had a store in Princes Quay, which is probably why Princes Quay have spent the last 18 months extending and modernising the Quayside units, to make them bigger, brighter, airy and more modern to attract new tenants. A larger number of coffee shops than in Hull? Hull has Cafe Pasaz, Vanilla, Stanley's Brassserie, Robbie Johnsons, Saville Row Cafe Bar, about another 6 independent cafe's along the Quayside, then there is Cafe Mocha next to BHS, BHS has it's own cafe, as does M&S, then there is the chains of 2 Costa's, 2 Nero's, 2 Starbucks.... even then I haven't named all of the ones in the centre, how many places for a coffee do you think Hull needs? As for a market, I agree Hull should have a dedicated central market to compliment the indoor market, but I know someone who looked at adding to their business with a stall at York market, they went quite often to see what trade was like, they soon realised there was plenty of people about, but most of them just seemed to be tourists that only seemed to browse at items and move on. I don't think Hull's problem has anything to do with how 'stretched' it is, plenty of centre's are stretched, it just needs to look at new uses for the areas that have been left behind by not moving with the times.... It needs to look at attracting more tourists to add to the numbers in the centre (which means more money in locals pockets for additional jobs in hotels and cafes), as well as finding a new purpose for the likes of Whitefriargate. There needs to be something to encourage non-tourists to use both ends of the city centre too, either an anchor tenant or a looped shuttle 'bus'. I suggested a land train to the council, one that runs on electricity and is repowered via solar panels when in use, adds to Hull's green credentials and sorts out a problem of people only bothering with one end of the city centre. It's not like they couldn't get a green energy company to sponsor it to fund it. The old town would also organically find a new use with the likes of a Hockney gallery and Cruise terminal, as the old town is the area the tourists would first meet when walking back into the city centre. It's a case of build it and they will come - I was in Hull City Centre on Sunday - St.Stephen's was the only place that was anywhere near busy, as well as Jameson street. But I went to the Da Vinci exhibition at Ferens Art Gallery.... there was a queue going back to the 'York Smokers Kiosk' from Feren's door waiting to get in! Once the doors were opened, and we'd viewed the exhibition, it wasn't until we came back out that we realised the staff had, had to stop people going in, because it was too busy, so there was a long line of people the length of the gallery waiting to get in to the exhibition. Imagine a city full of these attractions! Hull has the history for it, just not the facilities.
As said above there are loads of cafes and places to eat such as Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Mcdonalds, Subway x2, Nandos x2, Prezzo, then there are the chinese food places, greggs and cooplands which can be taken away plus many more! Rent needs to be lowered and shops fronts done up, whether this just be some new paintwork, new windows or modernising the full thing, but shops do like character buildings. I think the most offputting thing is in town are the derelict buildings especially that thing behind BHS, yet another one of 'Manors' building sites which NOTHING has ever come from, it's just left to rot and looks foul!
Xmas Eve town was dead, down Whitefriargate the only people waiting in the shops were the people behind the counter waiting for customers to serve. It was about 4pm and they didn't even have the bloody Xmas lights turned on despite it getting quite dark at that point. What's the point of them if they're not turned on at that stage of the season?
