One of the things I was hoping for the most from the olympics was an upgrade for the pretty tired and drab streets in many areas near olympic sites. I havn't been around the area for a while so I was wondering what is proposed, or has been finished?

I know of 2 schemes. One is 'high street 2012' to completely improve the road from Aldgate East to Stratford.
http://www.highstreet2012.com/HighStreet2012.pdf

Another is the Woolwich squares redevelopment. Not explicitly linked to the Olympics but having events in Woolwich and the area being really quite ugly must have helped the case
http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/YourEnvironment/Regeneration/DevelopmentAreas/Woolwich/WoolwichTownCentre.htm

Anyone know of any other schemes nearby, or how those 2 schemes are coming along?

^^ there are some olympic upgrades going on right outside my window right now, new lights new pavement. and i have to say they are shit. as a planning student it was not worth it, hey have taken down very functional concrete lamppost and replaced them with the same metal lamppost . just don't see the point. two roads down they have only put lights down one side of the road and so the other side is always dark at night, and the residents have complained about it. can get photos with if you want.
i just think the money could have gone to make a real difference and not just a slight improvement on aesthetics

^^ there are some olympic upgrades going on right outside my window right now, new lights new pavement. and i have to say they are shit. as a planning student it was not worth it, hey have taken down very functional concrete lamppost and replaced them with the same metal lamppost . just don't see the point. two roads down they have only put lights down one side of the road and so the other side is always dark at night, and the residents have complained about it. can get photos with if you want.
i just think the money could have gone to make a real difference and not just a slight improvement on aesthetics

Which road is this? The Bow Road/Mile End Road?

this is in leyton... a couple of roads by leyton station and near the asda. i may have a plan somewhere but can't find where it is at the moment

So much could be improved, visually, just by having stricter (but also simpler and clearer) guidelines on retail/business fronts and displays, not to mention maintaining the exterior of properties (living abroad these are things I noticed which I hadn't before)

The High Street 2012 is a great idea, wish we had about half a dozen of these across London. However, looking at that also worries me a bit. There are 8 different stakeholders involved in the project; 2 boroughs, 3 sections of GLA/Mayor and 3 QUANGOS/lobby groups. Having worked in coalitions for organisations (on a much smaller scale) I know that costs and efficiencies occur when you start getting loads of different groups and individuals. I mean, do we need 3 different bodies under the Mayor involved?

startford high street.... anyone know how thats going???

A picture from twitter, this IS NOT NEAR Stratford, but in North London, but also shows needless changing of beautiful old lampposts with newer lights, and may I say of lesser aesthetics:

via @mattleys
http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/231043842.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1296051537&Signature=Tqo03iSCFZtLQA0paa%2FgrhFjaks%3D

^^ this is what i don't like... its needless.... if you where to change them to a LED lighting system them that would be great, but what they are doing now is, if you don't spend it you'll lose the money.