No council in their right mind would invest money in a Town centre revamp of the magnitude you're proposing at this juncture with traditional retail in crisis. Tavern Street itself is fantastic as it is. The stretch with the Co-op is and the old precinct where / Bejams / Iceland / Blockbusters used to be / are could do with a revamp but the Town planners know what they're doing and I can see why they wouldn't want to go near it at the moment. There are plenty of wonderful old buildings in and around the town centre and far more than that it's an incredibly friendly and warm atmosphere. When my band played Ipswich we always spent time in the Town centre pubs like the Swan and McGinty's and they were blown away by the place.
I must add by the way, I haven't been to the Town centre at all for a couple of years so maybe it's declined if you're saying there are tacky shops, but it's the same everywhere, even in Leeds where there are a million people.
Problem is SD anyone could write anything on twitter and people would cause a fuss about it as it gives people the chance to belittle people in public life. Yes I think alot of people need to be more responsible on twitter especially footballers. I think Twitter is a great way of people in the public eye communicating with the public and if people were too careful about what they say it would be boring and IMO would take away what is good about twitter but like I said it should be done responsibly like these angry over the top unproffesional tweets you see from footballers criticising certain people and likewise fans just being plain rude toward footballers!! I don't see really what McLean has said wrong tbh, it was harmless, like I said he didn't say "Ipswich is a ****hole"!!
Lancs, IMO Ipswich has never been great but certainly since the financial crash I think it has suffered worse than most particularly over the past couple of years!! I think you're right, it would take alot in this climate for the council to invest money into the Town centre but we really need them to be innovative and think of ways to do so otherwise I really do see it going into irreversiable decline (it's that bad)!! Tavern street is one of the main problems IMO, it could be so much nicer than it is!! I've lived in a few places the past few years and I've often thought "this place is a bit of a sh*t hole" and then when I've really thought about it I think "it's still much nicer than Ipswich!!". The atmosphere is also not great. I know Suffolk people are reknowned for being a bit more reserved than other areas which is fair enough but the atmosphere in the evening in the Town centre is horrible, it really is!! Like you said though this is a common theme with cheap and tacky shops accross towns in the UK but I just think it's hit Ipswich worse because there were less options in the first place!! To be fair though there are far more places to eat and cafe's than there used to be but again I think this is common accross the country!!
I have been fortunate enough to have been living in the Centre of Cambridge over the past 25 years up until recently and I have to say that it's a beautiful place. Yes it helps when you have a world class university and all the old colleges etc but Cambridge knocks spots off every other place in East Anglia. The only time I go to Ipswich now is to watch the football and I never wander into the Town Centre before of after the game. It really is that depressing and I shudder to think what it will be like in a decades time if no serious redevelopment takes place!
I'm not really a fan of Cambridge it doesn't have much soul, so it's a case of whatever floats your boat I guess.
I'm no doubt showing my age when I say this but I really don't see the point of social media like Twitter or Facebook.Hundreds of "Followers" or "Friends" who mean absolutely dos all to you.What do they say-"Many a twitter makes a twat" and vice versa!
Facebook, generally speaking, is a good way of keeping in touch with real friends although by trying to monetise it they've made it pretty unusable. Twitter I agree I don't really see the attraction, except that they are both very useful marketing tools and I can bet if we set up an Ipswichnot606 twitter account we'd double the activity here almost instantly.
The lad has obviously been brought up in the correct mannor.....taught not to lie ? I'd say he's made a fair assesment !
Macca is into 'da banta', if you get worked up about him tweeting about your town centre, god knows what will happen when he starts talking to his ho's(and he will).
Very good idea. I agree I don't use twitter very often but it can be useful dependant on your line of work and interests to keep you uptodate with certain things!!
Just to get back to the OT, his apology said 'clubwise it's brilliant and I'm buzzing to come here.' Not really an apology at all, he meant what he said, which is actually fair enough and better than backtracking, but then expect to lose a portion of the terraces. We've had 3 players insulting the town and the fans in less than six months and I would quite happily see all three of them pack their bags because clearly none of them have any clue what the club is about. This never would've happened before the Evans era and this sort of disregard and disrespect is a symptom of the rot that's set in.
JWM what is it you've been on the past few days?? whatever it is I'm liking it, I'd never had imagined you telling someone to calm down because they were being OTT and me agreeing with you!! Lancs I don't see how him saying 'clubwise it's brilliant and I'm buzzing to come here' isn't having a clue about what the club is all about!! He obviously has known what the town is like yet he still came here, at least he's come to club not because he likes (or his wife likes) the shops!!
If that gets to you all just wait and see what is in store for you. Mclean twitters more than a 15 year old girl.
