skybluetony176
Well-Known Member
Does it sound more exotic if I said I got approached by one in Lisbon last week.
Not when I tell you I was approached by one in Khao Lak today. With a dog of course. Same the world over
Coventry city centre (43 Viewers)
- Thread starter sylus
- Start date
Not when I tell you I was approached by one in Khao Lak today. With a dog of course. Same the world over
skybluetony176
Well-Known Member
That's one of the good things about Elliott's field in Rugby. You're certainly not going to die from caffeine deficiency there's that many coffee shops, there's a Nandos and unless it's closed again an Eds Diner. Also on the doorstep a Hungry Horse, Harvester, Frankie and Bennies, Maccy D's and KFC. Hardly high dining but convenient.
Otis
Well-Known Member
Which is what you want sometimes. Just a quick fix.
hill83
Well-Known Member
Drugs are bad Otis.
Otis
Well-Known Member
Yeah, but at the moment I am only sniffing Domestos bottles and Febreeze. Is that still a path to the hard stuff?
Grendel
Well-Known Member
I'm sure you could get that from the centre to be fair.
Hobo
Well-Known Member
It's a well known fact places like Wolverhampton, Coventry, Sandwell and Walsall have lost funding and development potential due to Birmingham being prioritised within the West Midlands. Hopefully the balance is now starting to be addressed because the main projects in Birmingham have finished.
I think you will find Leicester and Nottingham aren't part of the West Midlands so would have been funded from a different pot.
Samo
Well-Known Member
I think it's much improved and I love the diversity. Those who slag us as a student city should maybe think about what state we'd be in if not for the Uni's. There's fuck all else here! We are now a University City and I'm grateful for it.
Otis
Well-Known Member
Yeah. Shame I can't get the same near the centres of Leicester, Bedworth, Nuneaton, Leamington, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, London, Reading, Northampton, Sheffield, Notingham, Bedford, Luton, Oxford, Bristol, Cardiff etc.etc.etc.
You can surely get drugs from any town or city in the whole of England can't you?
Samo
Well-Known Member
Yeah but morish. :woot:
Grendel
Well-Known Member
The city centres biggest problem is it's never made any attempt at all to attract high end buyers into the city.
If anything it's actively discouraged them.
If you look at the top high street stores by demographic choice there are none in covebtry. If you look at the bottom end (primary, smiths, pound whatever) they are all represented.
Centres like Nottingham and Leicester have benefited by attracting a big John Lewis store in the centre. Instead we got primark a deterrent for many.
Not only that but even medium level stores are severely downgraded here such as Next and M and S.
Most of the centre is a decaying mess. All the way from that square by the photo shop round to the place where the ABC cinema was is a wasteland of pawn brokers, betting shops and empty stores.
Pret e mange? No thanks we will have about 4 greggs instead.
It's a wasteland. The only city I've seen like it was Wolverhampton. Like Coventry it was full of vagrants and strange looking people with ill fitting track suits and trainers wandering around in a zombie like trance. Many with the standard Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
Unlike Coventry they seem to be doing something about it. A £50 million redevelopment in the centre. We spend £100 million on friarsgate which improves the appearance but not really has a commercial benefit and a pool complex which will deliver no extra benefit at all
It's annoying as the council in its wisdom is ruining most of the green belt to build high end estates. None of these people will even consider the centre as an option so what's the point.
It's disjointed thinking and I suspect too late now to do a thing about it. In the end more stores will close never to be replaced and it really will be a ghost town.
If anything it's actively discouraged them.
If you look at the top high street stores by demographic choice there are none in covebtry. If you look at the bottom end (primary, smiths, pound whatever) they are all represented.
Centres like Nottingham and Leicester have benefited by attracting a big John Lewis store in the centre. Instead we got primark a deterrent for many.
Not only that but even medium level stores are severely downgraded here such as Next and M and S.
Most of the centre is a decaying mess. All the way from that square by the photo shop round to the place where the ABC cinema was is a wasteland of pawn brokers, betting shops and empty stores.
Pret e mange? No thanks we will have about 4 greggs instead.
It's a wasteland. The only city I've seen like it was Wolverhampton. Like Coventry it was full of vagrants and strange looking people with ill fitting track suits and trainers wandering around in a zombie like trance. Many with the standard Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
Unlike Coventry they seem to be doing something about it. A £50 million redevelopment in the centre. We spend £100 million on friarsgate which improves the appearance but not really has a commercial benefit and a pool complex which will deliver no extra benefit at all
It's annoying as the council in its wisdom is ruining most of the green belt to build high end estates. None of these people will even consider the centre as an option so what's the point.
It's disjointed thinking and I suspect too late now to do a thing about it. In the end more stores will close never to be replaced and it really will be a ghost town.
Grendel
Well-Known Member
Wolverhampton are having a £50 million makeover. We've spent nearly £100 million on a building near the train station and a swimming pool
Samo
Well-Known Member
A typically bleak assessment of the situation in keeping with the poster's views on almost everything. If a positive thought passed through his head it would surely cause a fit.
Grendel
Well-Known Member
I'm positive about our recent signing - I'm just honest.
Samo
Well-Known Member
I see hope, youth, regeneration, energy, business, culture, diversity, collaboration, optimism and even beauty. You see track suites and dogs. You write a good train wreck but it's not what I see.
Astute
Well-Known Member
Too old for clubbing? Don't be silly. You are still a puppy. Saying that not been out clubbing for nearly a week now.
Nick
Administrator
Try going in Jumpin JAx, you will have yewtree kicking your door in.
Samo
Well-Known Member
Did they press charges Nick?
Nick
Administrator
Astute
Well-Known Member
Will be clubbing in Coventry with the wife the weekend of the Yeovil game. We have a combined age of 100 :woot: Never feel old. It is all in the head. Well as long as my body holds out at least.
Moff
Well-Known Member
Astute
Well-Known Member
No. I still have all my hairAstute, its not you is it?
Captain Dart
Well-Known Member
So do I, most of it I keep in a drawer.No. I still have all my hair
Hobo
Well-Known Member
Yes now the Birmingham projects have finished....keep up with events. Coventry is on the up having been held back for years. At least I returned to live here and invest in the local economy where as you live outside the borders don't you?
Westendlad
Well-Known Member
What baffles me is that students do not pay council tax..........So why do the council encourage students to the city so much....?
Otis
Well-Known Member
Must produce a lot of rubbish for the bin collections and then there is all the sick and bounced cheques to pick up from the pavements too.
Nick
Administrator
Grendel
Well-Known Member
To be fair at least your username is synonymous with Coventry. Was it meant as a tribute?
LastGarrison
Well-Known Member
Ok where to start..............
Firstly, this old stereotype of students being skint does not equate to the modern day student population and certainly not to Cov Uni's student population.
All international students at Cov, and Cov is the third biggest recruiter of international students in the U.K. have to pay, as a bare minimum, roughly 75k to study a three year bachelor degree and probably throw another 15k on top of that if they are studying at Warwick, yet some think they will fret over an £11 Wagamamas???
Course fees are roughly 13.5k a year and they HAVE to (bar some low risk countries) show to the UKVI that they have a minimum of just over 9k in their bank account to sustain themselves for the first year just to get their visa (Tier 4). Some students actually come over on a Tier 2 (I think) which means they will be investing over a million into business in the U.K. This is before we get started on the Qatari ruling family members, Malaysian film stars and Saudi Princes that come over.
In terms of disposable income, these lot have shit loads and there is a reason why the designer clothing shop Tessuti opened up, Chameleon have opened a massive store and Hannigans have moved to a bigger shop.
Then we obviously have the aforementioned Wagamamas, the Cosy Club, Las Iguanas, two large Turkish restaurants (Antalya and Sultan), Middle Eastern restaurants, Nigerian restaurants etc. etc. that have all opened up as well as a couple of shisha bars.
Cov Council have done a lot of things wrong with this city but it finally seems like it is turning around and we the local population have to share some of the blame. We portray our own city in a negative light and we seem to have a chip on our shoulder and still come out with the usual rhetoric of "If it wasn't for the Germans...." whilst continuing not to shop, eat or drink in the city centre and then moan that nothing opens there. This isn't The Field of Dreams and no business is going to open under the proviso that "they will come".
In terms of nightclubs we now have Scholars, Jacks, Daddy Cools, Club M, The Empire and the Kasbah but times have changed and many people don't feel the need to go to a club due to the late drinking hours and we've seen a number of improvements to them recently with Samoan Joes, The Golden Cross undergoing a refurb, Catch 22 opening, The Yard opening, The Establishment being turned into a Slug and Lettuce, The Ivy house, Drapers and loads using the Cosy Club and Las Iguanas for a drink as well. It is far from the in place to be but it is certainly improving!
We also have things like the Ruins events, the Digbeth Dining Club and the outdoor cinema pulling people into the cathedral and city centre, as well as the Godiva Festival!
The council has let the Uni expand and very quickly but it had to, to match its success and I've had it from the horses mouth that bar the planned expansion to the council house and the other buildings there then that is pretty much it in terms of growth which is why the uni is investing heavily in both distance learning and TNE.
There is some great history to be seen here in Cov and it is almost the British way to slag off where they live without seeing the positives and sometimes it takes being away from the city for a while to come back and see it with a fresh eye.
Firstly, this old stereotype of students being skint does not equate to the modern day student population and certainly not to Cov Uni's student population.
All international students at Cov, and Cov is the third biggest recruiter of international students in the U.K. have to pay, as a bare minimum, roughly 75k to study a three year bachelor degree and probably throw another 15k on top of that if they are studying at Warwick, yet some think they will fret over an £11 Wagamamas???
Course fees are roughly 13.5k a year and they HAVE to (bar some low risk countries) show to the UKVI that they have a minimum of just over 9k in their bank account to sustain themselves for the first year just to get their visa (Tier 4). Some students actually come over on a Tier 2 (I think) which means they will be investing over a million into business in the U.K. This is before we get started on the Qatari ruling family members, Malaysian film stars and Saudi Princes that come over.
In terms of disposable income, these lot have shit loads and there is a reason why the designer clothing shop Tessuti opened up, Chameleon have opened a massive store and Hannigans have moved to a bigger shop.
Then we obviously have the aforementioned Wagamamas, the Cosy Club, Las Iguanas, two large Turkish restaurants (Antalya and Sultan), Middle Eastern restaurants, Nigerian restaurants etc. etc. that have all opened up as well as a couple of shisha bars.
Cov Council have done a lot of things wrong with this city but it finally seems like it is turning around and we the local population have to share some of the blame. We portray our own city in a negative light and we seem to have a chip on our shoulder and still come out with the usual rhetoric of "If it wasn't for the Germans...." whilst continuing not to shop, eat or drink in the city centre and then moan that nothing opens there. This isn't The Field of Dreams and no business is going to open under the proviso that "they will come".
In terms of nightclubs we now have Scholars, Jacks, Daddy Cools, Club M, The Empire and the Kasbah but times have changed and many people don't feel the need to go to a club due to the late drinking hours and we've seen a number of improvements to them recently with Samoan Joes, The Golden Cross undergoing a refurb, Catch 22 opening, The Yard opening, The Establishment being turned into a Slug and Lettuce, The Ivy house, Drapers and loads using the Cosy Club and Las Iguanas for a drink as well. It is far from the in place to be but it is certainly improving!
We also have things like the Ruins events, the Digbeth Dining Club and the outdoor cinema pulling people into the cathedral and city centre, as well as the Godiva Festival!
The council has let the Uni expand and very quickly but it had to, to match its success and I've had it from the horses mouth that bar the planned expansion to the council house and the other buildings there then that is pretty much it in terms of growth which is why the uni is investing heavily in both distance learning and TNE.
There is some great history to be seen here in Cov and it is almost the British way to slag off where they live without seeing the positives and sometimes it takes being away from the city for a while to come back and see it with a fresh eye.
Captain Dart
Well-Known Member
fernandopartridge
Well-Known Member
I was there in January. What's the weather like? I stayed at a fantastic place called the Sarojin. Probably the best hotel I've ever stayed in.Not when I tell you I was approached by one in Khao Lak today. With a dog of course. Same the world over
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skybluetony176
Well-Known Member
It was wet last week, but it is the rainy season. It's been getting dryer and hotter as this week has gone on though so overall considering the time of year it's been really good. We're at the Sands which is great for families and really nice. Has a pool right on the beach which is great for watching the sunset from. Only five days left before we have to come home
but then again I'm itching to watch some football
Otis
Well-Known Member
Astute
Well-Known Member
Hey less of that. I am 84 and wife is 16 :smuggrin:Didn't know you were 90
Some of us oldies still have it. We still party hard. We are normally amongst the last standing. It is our aim to join the pensioners behaving badly in about 10 years when our youngest 2 are old enough.
You have the choice. Sit in your favourite corner cabaging out or keep going. I know what I prefer. A couple of years ago I got back in the ring. At first I was blowing out my @rse after a couple of minutes. But I soon got my fitness back. The younger lads were queuing up to get in with the old flat footed fat b@stard. Best training a few of them ever had. Got rid of their cockyness.
That is the problem with life. When young you have everything but have a lack of experience. When older you have the experience but you can't do everything that your head thinks it can. At least I am a bit older in the head now. My head feels about 25. It felt like a teenager until I reached my 40's
Back on subject.
Coventry has it's problems. But show me a place that doesn't. Manchester and Liverpool are good places to visit. But I would never want to live there. If you think Coventry has problems you should look into the problems they have. Having nicer shopping centres doesn't make up for the rest of it.
We all have the choice of living where we want. I love it where I am. We leave our windows open all night and day in summer. We even forget to lock the doors sometimes when we go away. We don't lock our cars a lot of the time. Our kids can go out to play without us worrying. But the shopping centre is crap. If the wife wants a serious days shopping we travel a couple of hours to Manchester. Does that make where we live a bad place to be?
Yes Coventry could be much better. But it could also be much worse.