How to improve Leeds as a Tourist destination

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by MattN

Red brick!

I was going to say the arcades, or at least a series of attractive internal spaces closely linked to pedestrianised areas - Corn Exchange, Kirkgate Markets, the Light, Trinity Quarter. OK, Cardiff and Birmingham have arcades, but they aren't utilised as effectively as they are in Leeds.

[Leeds No.1]

Yeah I'd go with arcades. Or a fantastic pedestrianised area. I take it for granted in Leeds, but you notice how disjointed other cities' pedestrian areas are when you visit. I admit Leeds is helped by having a loose grid, but it's interesting to question why other cities have not developed City Loops and PTBs to keep both public and private transport restricted in the City.

Red brick can be seen in other northern cities, notably Manchester. More importantly perhaps, there isn't really much red brick in the centre of Leeds- most of it is in the inner city.

[MattN]

Yes fair enough guys, though I was comparing it literally with Edinburgh, London and Bath, and maybe being a tad flippant with it.

[Mister City]

.........

[Mister City]

I was speaking to a mate this morning who told me about the Central Village development in Liverpool. I went on the internet to have a look and it FU*KING AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://centralvillageliverpool.com/

As Keith Lemon would say ''it's bang tidy''!!! Hahaha!!

Why oh why can't something like this be built in Leeds?!!!

Why couldn't Clarence Dock be redeveloped like this instead of a flipping office park?!!

A development like this would be perfect on the South Bank but knowing LCC, South Bank will be an office park and a patch of grass which will be refered to as a 'park'.

Why does LCC lack so much vision when it comes to developing our city? Makes me so angry!!!

[oyster]

It's down to the private sector, not LCC.

[lazygamer]

Originally Posted by oyster

It's down to the private sector, not LCC.

Exactly - and besides Central Village is slap bang in the centre of the city and is attached to the busiest Merseyrail station - instantly giving it the location and transport links a development like Clarence Dock could only dream of.

[larven]

I wouldn't say LCC lack vision in developing Leeds.

During the boom they had a very pro active approach and it just unfortunate that much of the crap got built whilst the best stuff (like Criterion and Lumiere) got canned. There's much to be positive about though such as Granary Wharf, Broadcasting Place and even Trinity.

The centre of Liverpool is probably the finest urban experience to be had in the UK outside London, and I would say central Glasgow too. I didn't even know about this Central Village development, looks like another substantial investment in the centre following on from Liverpool 1.

[Leedsfella]

The general area around Granary Wharf is somewhat like Central Village. Once the new southern entrance attached to city station is opened that place will see a phenomenal increase in footfall.

We also have Trinity (which is looking brilliant) to look forward to, so its not like Leeds is just sitting behind loosing ground.

[larven]

On this note John Thorp - Civic Architect for Leeds City Council since 1996 - is giving a talk at the Rose Bowl tonight as part of the 4x4 Making Places series of events.

Open to all and free to attend if anyones fancies it.

http://www.makingplaces.com/Index.html

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by larven

The centre of Liverpool is probably the finest urban experience to be had in the UK outside London.

Is it? Completely subjective of course.

Central Village looks good, but it's one thing to mock up renders, it's quite another to get the thing built. Eastgate Leeds looks amazing but isn't close to happening yet.

[Leedsfella]

Originally Posted by larven

On this note John Thorp - Civic Architect for Leeds City Council since 1996 - is giving a talk at the Rose Bowl tonight as part of the 4x4 Making Places series of events.

Open to all and free to attend if anyones fancies it.

http://www.makingplaces.com/Index.html

Did anybody attend this ?

Any good ?

[Lad 2011]

Originally Posted by larven

I

The centre of Liverpool is probably the finest urban experience to be had in the UK outside London

Is it bollocks.. have you ever been?

[larven]

Originally Posted by Lad 2011

Is it bollocks.. have you ever been?

Yeah loads of times.

Liverpool city centre has a grandeur that is disproportionate to the size of the city itself. It has impressive civic buildings, public squares and fine examples of numerous types of architectural styles by the bucketload. Recent additions like Liverpool One and Mann Island have only added to the mix.

All subjective of course but for my money its the finest major city centre in the North.

Back to Leeds and I found the lecture by John Thorp reasonably interesting but he just focused on the arena and I was hoping he'd talk more about Leeds as a whole.

[this_city]

Originally Posted by larven

Yeah loads of times.

Liverpool city centre has a grandeur that is disproportionate to the size of the city itself. It has impressive civic buildings, public squares and fine examples of numerous types of architectural styles by the bucketload. Recent additions like Liverpool One and Mann Island have only added to the mix.

there's an old photos thread on the Liverpool forum which shows how it was so disproportionate back in the day. I'd say the Liverpool losses during the 60s may be worse than Leeds

[mike okane]

Originally Posted by this_city

there's an old photos thread on the Liverpool forum which shows how it was so disproportionate back in the day. I'd say the Liverpool losses during the 60s may be worse than Leeds

Of course the Port of Liverpool (and Hull) got badly bombed during the last world war whereas Leeds escaped much of it due to aircraft range and centrality of location.The massive forges and foundries in Hunslet and on Kirkstall road were obvious targets along with the Armaments Factory in Crossgates (which employed 16000). On march 14 1941, the old city museum on Park Row got a direct hit: Leeds Town Hall was more fortunate with only minor damage.Still, 65 people died and 57 were seriously injured. Over 4600 houses were damaged during this, the worst of 9 luftwaffe raids on the city from August 1940. Have'nt been to Liverpool for over a decade, but i remember that there's a Leeds Street there.Maybe we should reciprocate that and have a Liverpool Lane or something near the canal! We have another link to Liverpool apart from the canal, both places got their first royal charter back in 1207.The thought may not appeal initially to some folks but on the positive side it would really p*** off the mancs!

[this_city]

We could have Leeds Liverpool Street Station for HS2

[Pavlvs Maximvs]

New to this folks although I have been following the threads for some time.
Purely an opinion.

Leeds is an interesting place. It's very different to its closest neighbours. York is historic, Bradford is very diverse and has a fantastic industrial heritage and Sheffield is 'green'. Leeds is 'supposed' to be cosmopolitan with a European feel and you can't help but feel that the council has lost that vision as the years have gone by. The new developments to regenerate and gentrify should have created communities and I'm not sure that many developments benefit from that. I lived in Paris for three years and the arrondissements (quarters or boroughs) are defined not only by a clear indication on a street sign, but all the amenities and idiosyncratic peculiarities that you'd expect to find not only as a resident but also ultimately as a tourist. It's an internationally recognised appeal for a character and dyamic that Is lacking in so many British cities.

Scratch beneath the surface of New York, Hong Kong, LA etc and look beyond any landmarks and you've got cities with character



The easy solution is to continue building on international cuisine, high-end retail, squares and parks, outdoor leisure, maximising the river front, culture etc.

[aviator]

Originally Posted by Pavlvs Maximvs

New to this folks although I have been following the threads for some time.
Purely an opinion.

Leeds is an interesting place. It's very different to its closest neighbours. York is historic, Bradford is very diverse and has a fantastic industrial heritage and Sheffield is 'green'. Leeds is 'supposed' to be cosmopolitan with a European feel and you can't help but feel that the council has lost that vision as the years have gone by. The new developments to regenerate and gentrify should have created communities and I'm not sure that many developments benefit from that. I lived in Paris for three years and the arrondissements (quarters or boroughs) are defined not only by a clear indication on a street sign, but all the amenities and idiosyncratic peculiarities that you'd expect to find not only as a resident but also ultimately as a tourist. It's an internationally recognised appeal for a character and dyamic that Is lacking in so many British cities.

Scratch beneath the surface of New York, Hong Kong, LA etc and look beyond any landmarks and you've got cities with character

The easy solution is to continue building on international cuisine, high-end retail, squares and parks, outdoor leisure, maximising the river front, culture etc.

Welcome to the forum. I think what you say about the council setting its bar fairly low, and getting results accordingly, is a fair one.

I'm interesting in what you say about Leeds City Council having lost its vision. When I first knew Leeds, John Trickett was the leader of the council and I believe that he had a very clear vision of what he wanted to seen happening to the city centre. I think it was on his watch that the controversial (for some) city centre pedestrianisation happened, along with the conversion of the Corn Exchange to retail, and the development of the Victoria Quarter.

The last decade has seen a more low-profile (or colourless, depending on how polite you want to be) leadership style in the city. Compare that with the up-front and media-savvy leadership we've seen from Sir Howard Bernstein and Bob Kerslake in Manchester and Sheffield, and what has happened in their cities during their stewardship.

Obviously, I'm comparing the leader of the council with local authority chief executives, and that isn't a level playing field. But I have this suspicion that a city can cope with a strong leader of the council or a high-profile chief executive but rarely both at the same time. But to have neither in place can leave a city rudderless.

[Leeds No.1]

I think Tom Riordan has the right vision, but Keith Wakefield seems to have weak leadership. The problem is, neither seem to be driving forward the practical things that are actually going to get this vision into reality.