Very simply, how would you change Leeds? And what would you like Leeds to be at the end of
these changes? For me, I'd like Leeds to be a city renowned for high living quality, and an
internationally-recognised intellectual, artistic and cultural hub of Britain.

Transport

-Leeds S-Bahn (as detailed on that thread)

-Supertram, running on lines:
1) Bodington P&R, Holt Park & Horsforth Interchange via Albion Street & Otley Road
2) Alwoodley Gates P&R via North Street & Scott Hall Road
3) Mansion via Eastgate, Roseville Road & Roundhay Road
4) Shadwell P&R via York Street, St James', Harehills Rd & Easterly Rd
5) Seacroft Centre via York Street & York Rd
6) Century Way P&R, Temple Newsam via York Street, York Rd, & Selby Rd
7) Rothwell via York st, Black Bull St, Hunslet Rd, Pontefract Rd, Leeds Rd & Oulton
8) Middleton Circus via York St, Black Bull St, Hunslet Rd, Church Street & Balm Rd
9) White Rose Centre via Southside, Dewsbury Rd
10) Morley via Hunslet Hall Rd, Beeston Rd, Elland Rd
11) Bradford via Wellington St, Canal Rd, Stanningley Rd, Bradford Rd, Leeds Rd
12) Horsforth, Airport via Burley Rd, Kirkstall Rd, Abbey Rd, Tramway
13) Birstall via Sweet Street, Viaduct, Gelderd Road & Gildersome

-City station-arcaded entrance on New station st, tram interchange under bridge, coach
interchange on Sovereign St

-Reintegration of all buses with single livery & ticketing structure

Culture

-Move library out of municipal buildings to new site at International Pool
-Expand HMI within Municipal Buildings
-New city art gallery on southside for leeds born, educated & worked artists & leeds-owned
work
-National Gallery North-on Southside
-Guggenheim gallery-on Whitehall Road
-Opera House at Quarry Hill to be proper home for ON & Northern Base of ENO
-Bigger marketing of classic cinema at Hyde Park & Cottage Rd, bring in to city centre
-Open Air shakespeare every summer at Kirkstall Abbey
-Thackrays to be National Media Museum
-Leeds Industrial & Science Museum in Braime Building, branches at Armley Mills &
Middleton Railway
-Temple Works used as Flexible arts space

Economy

-Special Economic Zone for Retail banking, Building Socs, Mutuals etc. to HQ in Leeds
-Trinity & Eastgate both built
-Selfridges, Harrods, John Lewis & Fortnum & Mason all to have stores in Leeds
-refurb Trinity East
-Conference & Exhibition Centre at Brewery, connected into Brewery Wharf (to rival GMex)
-Expanded White Rose Centre inc. Cinema, railway station & anchor department store
(John Lewis?)
-Branches of Bem Brazil, Vom Fass & Taps
-full occupancy in Corn Exchange with gourmets & boutiques
-Revamp of Kirkgate to make it nice, filled with Indie shops

Education

-LTU to take over the almost-vacant Headingley Office park as their Headingley campus
-New Met Building in front of Rose Bowl
-Redevelopment of Met City Campus
-Development of UoL western campus
-Priestley college to get University status
-Collegitation of LTU, LMU, UoL & JPU into 'Leeds University'

Southside

-Complete redevelopment of Road Layout
1) Closing Neville Street to private cars
2) Reroute CC loop away from city square
3) Remove Meadow Lane/Victoria Road roundabout
4) Meadow Lane single carriageway

-Leisure Complex (set back from river) on ASDA House site
-Demolish Crown Point retail park, replaced with public Park, surrounding area residential
& commercial development
-Expand Clarence Dock Developemnts east to South Accomodation Rd
-Continue development of HUV with demolition of industrial eastates & replacement with
mostly low-rise development
-Encourage new high-rise developments here.
-Additional student accomodation/facilities to support CD residences

I wish some people would be more proactive about these types of things (I'm not suggesting you personally are not), rather than forever coming up with ideas that simply fall on deaf ears (basically other forumers). Why not channel some of these ideas to the powers that be.

Here's a start. New council boss, Tom Riordan, is taking online questions (and also suggestions, I'm sure) from members of the public through the Guardian Leeds website - http://www.guardian.co.uk/leeds/2010/sep/15/leeds-city-council-tom-riordan-questions

Could be worth firing some ideas and getting some answers from him.

Don't you mean Thackerays to be National Medical Museum, not media?!

Great thread!

Before I can answer though, I need to have a good think...

So far have to agree with the Thackray Museum Guggenheim & Library ideas. :yes:

Oh and the Leeds "What If" website is ideal for these musings too... if it hadn't gone down - http://www.guardian.co.uk/leeds/2010/sep/16/technical-problems-what-if-leeds-website

http://whatifleeds.org/

Very simply, how would you change Leeds?

Introduce special chav-free zones where citizens can enjoy the city centre uncorrupted by anti-social behaviour. :)


Actually, something I was thinking of this week was a possible re-orientation of the retail core to include Vicar Lane, Eastgate, the Headrow or Boar Lane while reducing the prominence of Albion Street.


Education

-LTU to take over the almost-vacant Headingley Office park as their Headingley campus
-New Met Building in front of Rose Bowl
-Redevelopment of Met City Campus
-Development of UoL western campus
-Priestley college to get University status
-Collegitation of LTU, LMU, UoL & JPU into 'Leeds University'
[B][U]

Interesting.
Somehow, I can't see Priestley College getting University status, though I think the combination of FE colleges into Leeds City College was a good move and that has happened.

I've always daydreamed about Leeds expanding its campus to include the current infirmary, but your idea about taking over the office space in Headingley is a brilliant idea.

Here's a start. New council boss, Tom Riordan, is taking online questions


I think this woman speaks for a lot of people in Leeds right now.


Hi Tom

I am weighing up my options about staying in Leeds or moving to a city with more job opportunities in the next couple of years. In the 8 years I've lived here, Leeds has gone from a prosperous and exciting city to a landscape of abandoned constructions sites and little in the way of opportunity.

Let's say I represent all young professional couples who are thinking about their future. What would you say to convince me to stay in Leeds?

Annie

Very simply, how would you change Leeds? ...

Lots of good stuff there. Will have a proper look but for now:

One idea would be that, given the timescales required for your transport list, the impact of High Speed Rail needs to be included. I would like to see a new through City Centre station and associated new approaches. One possible location could be in Holbeck centred roughly around where Sweet Street crosses the existing railway. The existing line through city station could become a high frequency central core line for the S-Bahn proposal.

How about covering some of the Inner Ring Road cuttings to create public open space? Between the Uni and the Met would be a good start.

Knock down Woodhouse Lane Car Park. Create a very large public square. Or failing that just knock it down anyway.

The new airport by the M1 as recently discussed on the LBIA thread.

Priority put on the quality of the public realm as opposed to individual developments.

Convention Centre.

Extend the M606 to meet the Ring Road at Pudsey.

Childrens Hospital.

Greatly enhance and strengthen the City Region approach.

Though this has changed for the better in recent years I still think the City Centre is too tightly defined for strategic planning purposes. It should at least cover the high density inner city areas surrounding the area presently defined.

I would like the Sheepscar interchange made fit for humans.

Relocation of some government department/ministries - not the back offices, the decision makers.

Extend the Ring Road from Cross Gates to M62 J30, then round the east of Wakefield to M1 J39.

Mine are...


The Thackray Museum to relocate to the city centre & become the National
Medical Museum


A Guggenheim Museum


A permanent Damien Hirst exhibition (like the henry moore institute but better)


The expansion of the Leeds Art Gallery or a new smaller contemporary gallery to showcase the work of local artists, designers & students etc


A Trocadero style entertainment hub located close to the main shopping area


A permanent scare/haunted attraction preferably situated in the caverns under Leeds station


More public art (scultures & murals etc)


The Library to relocate to a new contemporary venue


The Corn Exchange & Kirkgate to be transformed into a independant shopping quarter to rival Manchesters Northern Quarter


More city centre green space


Thanks for listening ;-)

Yes, good thread, although could equally be called the 'magic wand' thread. Nice to dream, in the mean time we await the next new corner shop or bus shelter with great excitement.

Lots of good stuff there. Will have a proper look but for now:

Extend the M606 to meet the Ring Road at Pudsey.

I'd rather it was extended to Bradford city centre first! ...Not gonna happen though.

also, forgot some stuff on Sport

-Elland Road extended like the East Stand round all sides & quadrants, as follows:
West Stand: 2 tier seating (like east)
East Stand: upper tier seats, lower tier terrace (rake reduced to give boxes a clear view)
South Stand: Upper tier seats, lower tier terrace
Gelderd: Single tier terrace
Quadrants: upper tier seats, lower tier terrace.

-Headingley rugby ground redeveloped (see ST brochure)
-Cricket ground with new West Stand & replaced pavilion stand
-Yorkshire Champions
-Rhinos Champions
-United top 6
-Tykes top 4

in response to other stuff above, I totally agree with knocking down WLCP and covering the ringroad, preferably with new LMU buildings to really build up the idea of the 'Civic Quarter' with the Town Hall in the south & the University in the North.

I think the independent quarter needs to be built around Kirkgate Markets & where the bus station currently is (which would go when the coach interchange was built at Sovereign Street)

Looking at stuff outside the centre of town:

-bypass Headingley (on Tbus alignment) & let trams run through centre of town, part pedestrianised

-revamp Bramley Centre to get rid of the horrible 60s development there now.

The airport near the M1 is a good idea-one in the five towns area could serve Leeds, Wakefield, 5 towns, York, Hull & Doncaster-really giving it the catchment area LBIA doesn't have atm.

Knock down Woodhouse Lane Car Park. Create a very large public square. Or failing that just knock it down anyway.


It would at least benefit from a re-clad. There are far too many grey concrete buildings and other objects in that part of town.

There is quite a substantial area of unused land along Woodhouse Lane which could be better utilized by re-routing traffic (if possible).

It would at least benefit from a re-clad. There are far too many grey concrete buildings and other objects in that part of town.

There is quite a substantial area of unused land along Woodhouse Lane which could be better utilized by re-routing traffic (if possible).

I'd really like to see traffic rerouted past the Student medical practice, with Blenheim terrace part-pedestrianised, paved over with a 15mph speed limit and no through access except for trams & buses.

One thing we do know that is happening fairly soon is the demolition of the old Leeds Polytechnic buildings on Woodhouse Lane/Clarendon Way. That's quite a decent improvement for the area imo.

One thing we do know that is happening fairly soon is the demolition of the old Leeds Polytechnic buildings on Woodhouse Lane/Clarendon Way. That's quite a decent improvement for the area imo.

i wouldn't get too excited. of the three old poly buildings at the end of the site nearest the IRR, only one is definitely being pulled down (the low rise). one is definitely staying and the jury is out on the third.

what would be nice is for something to be done with the derelict site where the old A Building of the Poly used to stand, next to the rose bowl/ civic hall. prime spot that!! :)

One thing we do know that is happening fairly soon is the demolition of the old Leeds Polytechnic buildings on Woodhouse Lane/Clarendon Way. That's quite a decent improvement for the area imo.

But could just that plot of land be left as an empty bit of wasteland / surface car park for the next half century? :ohno: Can't see anything wrong with them personally (although of course I believe they are structurally unsound).

what would be nice is for something to be done with the derelict site where the old A Building of the Poly used to stand, next to the rose bowl/ civic hall. prime spot that!!

It's got "For Sale" for commercial development. There was a Grant Mitchell Centre for Conflict Resolution (sorry: George Mitchell ;)) proposed for that site which I presume was covertley axed when the university presumably went into financial difficulty. http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/international/754DAC6EAAE94420B396FA6018BB1930.htm

As for my wishes for Leeds I wish that it went out of this recession and actually showed some signs of a happening city as things are certainly lacking in Leeds in recent times (although of course everywhere bar London has been suffering of course).