Cov city centre (10 Viewers)

[Ashdown]

I’m afraid we will see a lot more of this in the UK. To go out regularly here you need to be earning a pretty good wage and even then you might be hindered by exorbitant mortgage or rent costs. The cost of living for those on smaller wages or pensions is crushing disposable income. Government taxation in turn crushes the hospitality sector and they then make prices unaffordable, so it’s a vicious circle.
On the flip side people can still get reasonable deals at supermarkets for food and drinks and so the majority now just opt to stay home night after
Night. I personally don’t think its good for society or people’s mental health, many of these are staying in on their own

 

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[chiefdave]

Is it us or do people just don’t drink like they used to?

Birmingham has clocked on and has shit loads of places, in the daytime there some places are like nightclubs at 3PM.

There's definitely a lot of city centres that are shit but for a city the size of Coventry we are especially poor.

Birmingham is obviously a much bigger place but as Nick says if you go there they have adapted and there's something for everyone.

In terms of similar sized cities I go to both Bristol and Nottingham semi-regularly and they are both buzzing at night. Again they've worked out you need a variety of different options to attract different demographics into the city.

The weird thing with Cov is we have a shit ton of students in the city centre but not a whole lot for them to do. And there's even less for non-students. The only reason I ever go into the city centre is for the Empire and even then its such a shit experience given the state of the car park, number of homeless people around and general run down appearance of everything.

 

[LastGarrison]

Supposedly Cov Uni have sold the land where the City of Culture stuff was opposite the Council House and this is going to now be a load of new shops and bars but I’ll believe it when I see it.

As a few have mentioned Brum really has embraced it with the likes of Be At One and bottomless brunches and then things like Flight Club, Clays, Sixes, baseball etc.

I’ve been over a few times with either mates and our Missus’ or on a Stag Do and these sorts of things just make it a good day.

It really is a shame as Cov was Improving but seems to have hit the doldrums again.

 

[AOM]

Shame if we were to lose the Botanist. Another chain, but one of the nicer places to drink in town.
Only go like twice a year though so I'm probably part of the problem!

 

[Nick]

Supposedly Cov Uni have sold the land where the City of Culture stuff was opposite the Council House and this is going to now be a load of new shops and bars but I’ll believe it when I see it.

As a few have mentioned Brum really has embraced it with the likes of Be At One and bottomless brunches and then things like Flight Club, Clays, Sixes, baseball etc.

I’ve been over a few times with either mates and our Missus’ or on a Stag Do and these sorts of things just make it a good day.

It really is a shame as Cov was Improving but seems to have hit the doldrums again.

Yeah, Be at One is literally a nightclub in the daytime. Can be back on the train and home.

I know there's the new golf place opened in the lower precinct, but it's miles away from ghetto golf, it's more aimed at kids. You aren't going to get people going on a day out there.

I do think that it's changing to more days out and activities doing things. There's toca social in Birmingham, too, and there are loads of different activities.

I think in Cov, there's Boom Battle Bar, the crazy golf and the new bowling place in West Orchards.

 

[shmmeee]

Yeah, Be at One is literally a nightclub in the daytime. Can be back on the train and home.

I know there's the new golf place opened in the lower precinct, but it's miles away from ghetto golf, it's more aimed at kids. You aren't going to get people going on a day out there.

I do think that it's changing to more days out and activities doing things. There's toca social in Birmingham, too, and there are loads of different activities.

I think in Cov, there's Boom Battle Bar, the crazy golf and the new bowling place in West Orchards.

They’re all shit though aren’t they? I went to Boom for my birthday a couple of years back and it was awful. We came away wishing we’d spent the money at B&Q on axes and bought a crate from the offy.

The crazy golf places all look dull. Been to Teezers and it’s hugely overpriced but still looks better than the new place in the precinct.

My mate did the VR thing in Brum and loved it, they’ve got loads of different stuff but they are the second city so maybe it’s just we need to go to Birmingham now?

 

[Nick]

My mate did the VR thing in Brum and loved it, they’ve got loads of different stuff but they are the second city so maybe it’s just we need to go to Birmingham now?

I think that's what people are doing. On the train there for the day and then on the train home.

For the actual activity of mini golf, that new place is terrible when you compare it to decent crazy golf places.

 

[ccfctommy]

I liked Boom Battle Bar. It was about two years ago since I went though so maybe not that much. The darts was probably the best bit.

I don't think I have ever been to the Botanist

 

[chiefdave]

maybe it’s just we need to go to Birmingham now?

that's an attitude that's existed here since I was a kid in the 80s and I find it pretty frustrating. Obviously being next to a city as big as Brum is going to impact things but it just seems to be a get out for having any ambition.

how often do you see major touring bands playing places like Wolverhampton (which makes Cov city centre look good) or touring theatre productions that will regularly play similar sized cities to Cov miss us because the Belgrade isn't capable of staging them and there's no other venue.

 

[shmmeee]

that's an attitude that's existed here since I was a kid in the 80s and I find it pretty frustrating. Obviously being next to a city as big as Brum is going to impact things but it just seems to be a get out for having any ambition.

how often do you see major touring bands playing places like Wolverhampton (which makes Cov city centre look good) or touring theatre productions that will regularly play similar sized cities to Cov miss us because the Belgrade isn't capable of staging them and there's no other venue.

It was more whether we’re making fair comparisons, I mean we’ve got way less than London too and there’s good reason for it.

If it’s easy to get to and has a bigger market I can see why we’d struggle to get things similar sized places get too.

 

[David O'Day]

There's definitely a lot of city centres that are shit but for a city the size of Coventry we are especially poor.

Birmingham is obviously a much bigger place but as Nick says if you go there they have adapted and there's something for everyone.

In terms of similar sized cities I go to both Bristol and Nottingham semi-regularly and they are both buzzing at night. Again they've worked out you need a variety of different options to attract different demographics into the city.

The weird thing with Cov is we have a shit ton of students in the city centre but not a whole lot for them to do. And there's even less for non-students. The only reason I ever go into the city centre is for the Empire and even then its such a shit experience given the state of the car park, number of homeless people around and general run down appearance of everything.

City Centre South and the projects that will follow that should help a lot. CCS will bring people into the parts of the city that are dead after 5pm as they are currently retail only. It's an interesting mix of retail/bars/cafes/living.

Cov went far too down the retail only route and paid for it when bricks and mortar retail collapsed so to speak.

 

[MalcSB]

I don’t know how genuine this is. But apparently this was on Rightmove. “Staff unaware”
View attachment 40614

Oops

 

[MalcSB]

They’re all shit though aren’t they? I went to Boom for my birthday a couple of years back and it was awful. We came away wishing we’d spent the money at B&Q on axes and bought a crate from the offy.

The crazy golf places all look dull. Been to Teezers and it’s hugely overpriced but still looks better than the new place in the precinct.

My mate did the VR thing in Brum and loved it, they’ve got loads of different stuff but they are the second city so maybe it’s just we need to go to Birmingham now?

Who defines which city is the second city?

 

[shmmeee]

Who defines which city is the second city?

ONS population counts IMO. Culturally it’s probably Manchester. Point remains its three times the size of Cov tho.

 

[MalcSB]

ONS population counts IMO. Culturally it’s probably Manchester. Point remains its three times the size of Cov tho.

wasnt Southend recently declared a city. Not even one cathedral.

 

[MalcSB]

ONS population counts IMO. Culturally it’s probably Manchester. Point remains its three times the size of Cov tho.

Sort of never mind the quality, feel the width?

 

[Ashdown]

People have to have more pride in their own City, sometimes this means changing some plans and ideas and utilising what we do have local . There is niche stuff to do in CV1 and it really isn’t all dire. There is a big enough population to make a real difference but if folk continue to keep feeding the Brummies your money then nothing will ever succeed.
There is nowt like a Coventrian to down its own Town but many who visit from outside find it a lot nicer than the locals.

 

[Nick]

People have to have more pride in their own City, sometimes this means changing some plans and ideas and utilising what we do have local . There is niche stuff to do in CV1 and it really isn’t all dire. There is a big enough population to make a real difference but if folk continue to keep feeding the Brummies your money then nothing will ever succeed.
There is nowt like a Coventrian to down its own Town but many who visit from outside find it a lot nicer than the locals.

What's the stuff to do there?

 

[MalcSB]

What's the stuff to do there?

It’s always fun listening to Brummie accents And trying to work out exactly how thick they really are.

 

[LastGarrison]

They’re all shit though aren’t they? I went to Boom for my birthday a couple of years back and it was awful. We came away wishing we’d spent the money at B&Q on axes and bought a crate from the offy.

The crazy golf places all look dull. Been to Teezers and it’s hugely overpriced but still looks better than the new place in the precinct.

My mate did the VR thing in Brum and loved it, they’ve got loads of different stuff but they are the second city so maybe it’s just we need to go to Birmingham now?

I hear Teezers is even easier on the eyes nowadays.

Although not sure I’d recommend taking the kids.

 

[shmmeee]

Don’t even get me started on the low quality of Heat.

 

[Gynnsthetonic]

There's definitely a lot of city centres that are shit but for a city the size of Coventry we are especially poor.

Birmingham is obviously a much bigger place but as Nick says if you go there they have adapted and there's something for everyone.

In terms of similar sized cities I go to both Bristol and Nottingham semi-regularly and they are both buzzing at night. Again they've worked out you need a variety of different options to attract different demographics into the city.

The weird thing with Cov is we have a shit ton of students in the city centre but not a whole lot for them to do. And there's even less for non-students. The only reason I ever go into the city centre is for the Empire and even then its such a shit experience given the state of the car park, number of homeless people around and general run down appearance of everything.

Nottingham is a lovely City Centre, decent shops, good pubs, restaurants and bars and all walkable. Coventry centre is all over the place, Spon St, Broadgate, Corporation St. The design is awful

 

[shmmeee]

Nottingham is a lovely City Centre, decent shops, good pubs, restaurants and bars and all walkable. Coventry centre is all over the place, Spon St, Broadwater, Corporation St. The design is awful

Bloody hills everywhere though.

 

[Gynnsthetonic]

Bloody hills everywhere though.

Yes but in my younger days the appeal was 3 women to 1 bloke in Nottingham. Still never had any luck

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Was in Germany at new year
Meals out similar cost but snacks and supermarkets much cheaper
Medicine much more expensive
Was really interesting Aldi and Lidl especially cheap unlike here where they’ve gone for just a little cheaper than their competitor

 

[shmmeee]

Yes but in my younger days the appeal was 3 women to 1 bloke in Nottingham. Still never had any luck

Same mate. I didn’t go to Trent for the education

 

[hill83]

Bloody hills everywhere though.

 

[hill83]

Yes but in my younger days the appeal was 3 women to 1 bloke in Nottingham. Still never had any luck

Exactly the same I went. Only downside was I had a mrs before I went and until I left.

 

[shmmeee]

Exactly the same I went. Only downside was I had a mrs before I went and until I left.

Rookie mistake.

 

[hill83]

Rookie mistake.

All worked out though. She fucked me off 2 weeks after I got back to Cov.

 

[pusbccfc]

City Centre South will be the game changer. Coventry is in desperate need of a higher city centre population. With expensive parking and extremely expensive public transport, you cannot rely on people living in the suburbs to travel into town.

Putting such effort into students is great, but they don't spend 12 months in Coventry and are often willing to travel and explore wider regions.

If you have young professionals living in Coventry City centre, many may not drive and will use the bars/pubs/shops/amenities within a 15 minute walk. It will ensure Coventry is busy into the evening.

Unfortunately CCS will take an awful long time and things could quickly decline.

I'm surprised no one has eyed up land around Friargate for high rise apartments. If you lived there, you could be in an office in Birmingham within 25 minutes, or the centre of London in 55. People struggle to get into central London from the suburbs in that time.

 

[nicksar]

I'm surprised no one has eyed up land around Friargate for high rise apartments. If you lived there, you could be in an office in Birmingham within 25 minutes, or the centre of London in 55. People struggle to get into central London from the suburbs in that time.

A very good friend of mine worked as a copy writer for a big Advertising agency in central London for many years,he bought a house in Earlsdon and commuted from Cov station daily...he always said he got to the office quicker than most who lived in the greater London area.

 

[shmmeee]

City Centre South will be the game changer. Coventry is in desperate need of a higher city centre population. With expensive parking and extremely expensive public transport, you cannot rely on people living in the suburbs to travel into town.

Putting such effort into students is great, but they don't spend 12 months in Coventry and are often willing to travel and explore wider regions.

If you have young professionals living in Coventry City centre, many may not drive and will use the bars/pubs/shops/amenities within a 15 minute walk. It will ensure Coventry is busy into the evening.

Unfortunately CCS will take an awful long time and things could quickly decline.

I'm surprised no one has eyed up land around Friargate for high rise apartments. If you lived there, you could be in an office in Birmingham within 25 minutes, or the centre of London in 55. People struggle to get into central London from the suburbs in that time.

All the land the other side of the road to the Butts was supposed to be residential in the plan IIRC, madness it’s not gone ahead as you say the connectivity is excellent. You can literally be in central London quicker than living on the outskirts using public transport.

 

[andy86]

All the land the other side of the road to the Butts was supposed to be residential in the plan IIRC, madness it’s not gone ahead as you say the connectivity is excellent. You can literally be in central London quicker than living on the outskirts using public transport.

They need to flatten Central Six, move those shops into the city centre, and build apartments attractive to young professionals on the site.

 

[shmmeee]

They need to flatten Central Six, move those shops into the city centre, and build apartments attractive to young professionals on the site.

Frankly we should be doing that to 90% of retail parks. It’s a joke half this stuff isn’t in Town. But then council rent demands in city centre are a joke.