55 Empty Units in Town (1 Viewer)

Ashdown

Well-Known Member
I love going into CV1, living in suburban Leics I find it interesting and I can't help admire all the old buildings, there are some cracking pubs and I'm a bit of a foodie so I like trying all the new restaurants. There is more to supporting Cov than just supporting Cov City FC ! If people spent their money in their own City, it would keep the money at home, especially if you support the independents ! Money makes money and footfall measurements will bring in other business's, you can't complain about CV1 if you don't try and use what is there !
 

Nick

Administrator
So, what is a hipster?

* I don't really want to know, I abandoned following popular culture a decade ago or more.

Somebody who pays silly money for a bowl of cereal!

moda-hipster-barba.jpg


There is another word for them, but it is still early!
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
Somebody who pays silly money for a bowl of cereal!

moda-hipster-barba.jpg


There is another word for them, but it is still early!

Remember when a beard was a sign of masculinity, now it's just the sign of a cu...........no, you're right, it's too early!
 

Otis

Well-Known Member
Somebody who pays silly money for a bowl of cereal!

moda-hipster-barba.jpg


There is another word for them, but it is still early!


Yep, people do go there and eat the cereal. I don't get it personally, but people will pay close to 4 quid for the box of cereal and then another quid for them to have it served up with a bowl of milk.

That's hipsters for you! :whistle:

I do get the milkshake thing. That makes so much more sense. Grab an American candy bar and have it turned into a milkshake. Much more of an art than just tipping a jug of milk over some Cheerios.
 

Nick

Administrator
Yep, people do go there and eat the cereal. I don't get it personally, but people will pay close to 4 quid for the box of cereal and then another quid for them to have it served up with a bowl of milk.

That's hipsters for you! :whistle:

I do get the milkshake thing. That makes so much more sense. Grab an American candy bar and have it turned into a milkshake. Much more of an art than just tipping a jug of milk over some Cheerios.

They do that in West Orchards though and lots of other places.

I can do it in my house :)

Maybe that is why pubs are closing, when I was 18 or 19 and if I ever text one of my mates saying "do you want to grab a coffee" or "do you want to go and get a candy milkshake" I would probably still be hearing about it now and for years to come.

It was always "fancy a cheeky beer?" and going to the pub for a game of pool and a couple of beers.

Nowadays it is unheard of.
 

Otis

Well-Known Member
They do that in West Orchards though and lots of other places.

I can do it in my house :)

Maybe that is why pubs are closing, when I was 18 or 19 and if I ever text one of my mates saying "do you want to grab a coffee" or "do you want to go and get a candy milkshake" I would probably still be hearing about it now and for years to come.

It was always "fancy a cheeky beer?" and going to the pub for a game of pool and a couple of beers.

Nowadays it is unheard of.

Yep, now it's 'do you fancy a cheeky wholegrain, wheatgrass and acai smoothie! '
 

Covstu

Well-Known Member
Back in my uni days, it was sitting there in the union for one beer, then still being there eight hours later after pint 15! Great pubs like the cross which are always dead everytime I walk past.

Cov centre always has that 'atmosphere' like something is about to go off, you just don't get that in Birmingham, Leicester etc even though there are probably more issues out there!!
 

Otis

Well-Known Member
Back in my uni days, it was sitting there in the union for one beer, then still being there eight hours later after pint 15! Great pubs like the cross which are always dead everytime I walk past.

Cov centre always has that 'atmosphere' like something is about to go off, you just don't get that in Birmingham, Leicester etc even though there are probably more issues out there!!

I reckon I am either invisible or smell like a skunk.
 

Nick

Administrator
Back in my uni days, it was sitting there in the union for one beer, then still being there eight hours later after pint 15! Great pubs like the cross which are always dead everytime I walk past.

Cov centre always has that 'atmosphere' like something is about to go off, you just don't get that in Birmingham, Leicester etc even though there are probably more issues out there!!
It's quiet because they are eating cereal, having their moustache styled and paying over the odds for snes games.
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
I was amazed one Sunday I went in how desolate the centre was. Not only was there the issue of boarded up shops but how many were closed on Sunday.

The whole of the arcade was closed and the decay was incredible really.

I spoke to a landlord of a pub (one id never been to which was actually pleasant enough) and he said that high rates are driving people out of the city and most pubs are struggling.

It's dire and I can see no recovery. It's a relatively small city centre compared to the likes of Nottingham and Leicester but those cities are packed with people.
 

ajsccfc

Well-Known Member
You're in hipster territory when your food or drink are served in novelty items, like a little frying net or on a skateboard.

IMPORTANT NOTE - cocktails served in a fishbowl do not count, you're in student pub territory there.
 

Otis

Well-Known Member
You're in hipster territory when your food or drink are served in novelty items, like a little frying net or on a skateboard.

IMPORTANT NOTE - cocktails served in a fishbowl do not count, you're in student pub territory there.


At Urban Coffee Company at Fargo, the condiments table has a bicycle seat coming out the middle of it and then there are bike wheels hanging down from the ceiling.

Is that hipster enough for you?
 

ccfcway

Well-Known Member
We need an outlet retail park between Birmingham, Coventry and Leamington. Driving all the way to Bicester or Cheshire is a ball ache

I've been to Resort World twice and don't even live in England. I'm amazed at the amount of people in Coventry that don't even know its there.
 

Terry Gibson's perm

Well-Known Member
I've been to Resort World twice and don't even live in England. I'm amazed at the amount of people in Coventry that don't even know its there.

Thanks for this was going to take the boss lady to Meadowhall and MacArthur Glen but will go there instead as I had forgotten about it and never been there.
 

martcov

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I would say 'hipster' is quite a good description

As I say, me and my family love it and have been on several occasions. We mainly go for the events though (most weekends).

Needs more Coventry folk to support it to be honest and that will make it more vibrant all the time.

I only had a quick look in. Was looking for the brewery....found it :) Bought bottles and barrels to sell at the Kiel Week in Germany in the summer ( Kiel being the twin city of Coventry ). Sampled the products of course. Some good beers.
 

Ashdown

Well-Known Member
I only had a quick look in. Was looking for the brewery....found it :) Bought bottles and barrels to sell at the Kiel Week in Germany in the summer ( Kiel being the twin city of Coventry ). Sampled the products of course. Some good beers.

Love Germany, been lots of times but not quite that far North. Most North would be Hannover or Berlin I guess !
 

martcov

Well-Known Member
Love Germany, been lots of times but not quite that far North. Most North would be Hannover or Berlin I guess !

Here is nearly Denmark. Prefer Hamburg to Hannover ( and like Berlin a lot ). We're on the coast ( Fijord ), great when the sun shines - but Kiel is more known for sailing - lots of wind.
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
I was amazed one Sunday I went in how desolate the centre was. Not only was there the issue of boarded up shops but how many were closed on Sunday.

The whole of the arcade was closed and the decay was incredible really.

I spoke to a landlord of a pub (one id never been to which was actually pleasant enough) and he said that high rates are driving people out of the city and most pubs are struggling.

It's dire and I can see no recovery. It's a relatively small city centre compared to the likes of Nottingham and Leicester but those cities are packed with people.

Can't see how they can justify charging high rates, the place is desperate for custom, they should be paying people to get in there.

It's a few things isn't it?

- Reduction in an already pretty small nightlife
- Loss of decent jobs mean fewer affluent customers to support retail businesses
- Being half an hour from the Bull Ring
- Leamington and the like having naturally prettier surroundings and aforementioned affluent people
- The vicious cycle of customers not going to Cov because it's not got the shops and shops not coming to Cov in sufficient amounts to form a critical mass because the customers don't go there (this is the biggie IMO)

Personally I don't see a future for City Centres. High Streets fill the niche market as well as the few restaurants and pubs that people still want, retail parks fill the need for big name stores, the Internet hoovers up everything else. Every major reason for them existing as they were is either gone, on it's way to being replaced, or done better locally.

I think you've got to move it towards being just another part of the City. More residential stuff, what is left moved into tighter areas like Friargate will be (if it actually comes off). We all know things like City Centre South, Bishopsgate and the Burges will probably be a failure due to lack of interest. May as well give Cov Uni a quarter down where they are, put business/admin around the station and make the rest a bit more compact, maybe just around the precinct. Basically half the existing strategy but without the over optimistic projects like City Centre South. Then what's left over turn into proper residential or student areas, or (my choice) a big fuck off park, can't have enough big fuck off parks IMHO.
 

martcov

Well-Known Member
I was amazed one Sunday I went in how desolate the centre was. Not only was there the issue of boarded up shops but how many were closed on Sunday.

The whole of the arcade was closed and the decay was incredible really.

I spoke to a landlord of a pub (one id never been to which was actually pleasant enough) and he said that high rates are driving people out of the city and most pubs are struggling.

It's dire and I can see no recovery. It's a relatively small city centre compared to the likes of Nottingham and Leicester but those cities are packed with people.

Agrre wholeheartedly about the Arcade. Nottingham city centre is also much better than Cov. The arcade won a design prize at the time ( if my memory serves me right ). But now it is completely outdated and due either for a complete rethink or demolition. There used to be the Thistle and the Climax pubs which were both well visited - and Mr Nello's restaurant ( with a bistro at one time ) in the arcade. Pete Waterman helped preparing for the upstairs disco/ bistro as Nello tried his luck as a disco.
 

martcov

Well-Known Member
Can't see how they can justify charging high rates, the place is desperate for custom, they should be paying people to get in there.

It's a few things isn't it?

- Reduction in an already pretty small nightlife
- Loss of decent jobs mean fewer affluent customers to support retail businesses
- Being half an hour from the Bull Ring
- Leamington and the like having naturally prettier surroundings and aforementioned affluent people
- The vicious cycle of customers not going to Cov because it's not got the shops and shops not coming to Cov in sufficient amounts to form a critical mass because the customers don't go there (this is the biggie IMO)

Personally I don't see a future for City Centres. High Streets fill the niche market as well as the few restaurants and pubs that people still want, retail parks fill the need for big name stores, the Internet hoovers up everything else. Every major reason for them existing as they were is either gone, on it's way to being replaced, or done better locally.

I think you've got to move it towards being just another part of the City. More residential stuff, what is left moved into tighter areas like Friargate will be (if it actually comes off). We all know things like City Centre South, Bishopsgate and the Burges will probably be a failure due to lack of interest. May as well give Cov Uni a quarter down where they are, put business/admin around the station and make the rest a bit more compact, maybe just around the precinct. Basically half the existing strategy but without the over optimistic projects like City Centre South. Then what's left over turn into proper residential or student areas, or (my choice) a big fuck off park, can't have enough big fuck off parks IMHO.

Not having living areas planned in was always a complaint. Nowadays there are students living in the centre, but it should be more diverse. Reducing shop-units rather than having empty units and replacing them with housing and parks may be the future. ( or - dreaming - a multi-purpose stadium with underground parking and a "U Bahn" or tramline to the station and bus station ).
 

oldfiver

Well-Known Member
I was amazed one Sunday I went in how desolate the centre was. Not only was there the issue of boarded up shops but how many were closed on Sunday.

The whole of the arcade was closed and the decay was incredible really.

I spoke to a landlord of a pub (one id never been to which was actually pleasant enough) and he said that high rates are driving people out of the city and most pubs are struggling.

It's dire and I can see no recovery. It's a relatively small city centre compared to the likes of Nottingham and Leicester but those cities are packed with people.

Was it because WASPs played on the Saturday and filled the city centre then with shoppers?
 

shmmeee

Well-Known Member
Not having living areas planned in was always a complaint. Nowadays there are students living in the centre, but it should be more diverse. Reducing shop-units rather than having empty units and replacing them with housing and parks may be the future. ( or - dreaming - a multi-purpose stadium with underground parking and a "U Bahn" or tramline to the station and bus station ).

Ironically, a football stadium is just the sort of large, mass appeal site that would help.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top