Author Topic: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?  (Read 8026 times)

JudithM

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #22 on: May 21, 2018, 01:11:10 PM »
Hi Phil.


I like the pedestrianisation of New Street and High Street. I like the dismantling of the inner ring road and making it more people friendly without the subways. It also increases the size of the city centre. I would have liked the observation tower built at Millennium Point. It's a real pity it didn't. Most cities now have that feature and our green suburbs would be great to see. Perhaps they can convert the now defunct post office tower into an observation platform?


My friends who visit Birmingham like the city centre but complain you don't have to walk far to see tat. Little by little though I think they're improving it.

Yes, the pedestrianisation has been great.  It's nice to be able to cross over roads now rather than be funnelled underneath.  My one granddad would constantly moan about the City Centre of the 60's & 70's saying it was nothing but a rabbit warren  ;D  He hated the priority that cars were given over people, so he'd like it better now.  And he'd like that the trams are back.

As you say, it's getting better bit by bit.  Just wish they'd get a hurry on with all the road works.

One thing I would like to see a change back to is more grassed areas. I see from old photos that there were a few more green spaces in the past that have since been paved (like Victoria & Centenary Squares).  Not only would they look nice, but the act as a kind of buffer to noise & city heat.
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Phil

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #23 on: May 21, 2018, 01:32:35 PM »
Judith


You obviously don't drive, or you are not in your 70's or disabled or just find walking hard going or else you would want your car to get you as close as possible to the city. To be honest if it were not for the local trains I would not go near the city now. For me to use Birmingham buses there would have to be a major shake up in the service. I realise that I might be doing Birmingham buses a disservice but I can only go by what I still hear and read about them because I admit my experience of them in recent times is not first hand.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Abt

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #24 on: May 21, 2018, 02:53:43 PM »
Phil ,in your first post you say 'the whole of Birmingham'.


I don't get in to the City centre very often but visit quite a few of the suburbs.
My view is that it is so scruffy.(not on its own many places are)


If I was travelling to the city after a flight here I would be appalled at the journey down Coventry road from the Airport.
Whatever happened to Keep Britain Tidy.
When I was young when shopkeepers closed for the night they swept the pavement outside their shops.


Litter and scruffiness appear to be something that we as a society have to grin and bear.


I can tell you  that when you visit the local takeaway you can eat a  Big mac and drink your cola and dispose of your empty 'fag' packet at the exact  time you get to my house.

Phil

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #25 on: May 21, 2018, 03:05:37 PM »
Hi Alberta,


It's as I said previously, until those in the suburbs are paying the same grossly inflated commercial rate as those in the highly valued commercial areas such as the city centre they will never get the same attention bestowed on them. It also helps that these commercial enterprises that take over so much of our city centre often do deals with the Council that relieves it of some of it's responsibilities such as security, cleaning and parking.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Edmund Fifield

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #26 on: May 21, 2018, 03:48:35 PM »
It's the people that live in the areas that make it scruffy,nothing to do with the councils.They don't employ workers to clean the streets any more.
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Spud

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #27 on: May 21, 2018, 03:58:03 PM »
It is not always the people that live in a particular area that make a mess drop litter often it is people passing through . Street cleaners are still employed by the Council but there probably there is just not enough of them to cope.
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Phil

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #28 on: May 21, 2018, 04:07:17 PM »
Spud


I know that Birmingham still employs a direct street cleaning labour force and that they also employ a considerable contracted in labour force doing the same job. Though as I say it seems to me that certain areas of Birmingham get more attention than others.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Edmund Fifield

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #29 on: May 21, 2018, 04:07:49 PM »
Spud,that's what I tried to say,every council as cut down on the people who used to keep the cities lovely and tidy
Make every day a day to remember
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frederick

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #30 on: May 22, 2018, 12:05:39 PM »
We are lucky we have litter pickers and a mechanical road sweeper but that can only clean the kerb if no cars parked. You also find that in Holiday areas there is regular litter picking to keep the place attractive for holiday makers.
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townie

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #31 on: May 22, 2018, 01:10:36 PM »
Birmingham plain and simple.
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JudithM

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Re: Birmingham as it is now, what do you like or dislike?
« Reply #32 on: May 22, 2018, 01:29:49 PM »
Judith


You obviously don't drive, or you are not in your 70's or disabled or just find walking hard going or else you would want your car to get you as close as possible to the city. To be honest if it were not for the local trains I would not go near the city now. For me to use Birmingham buses there would have to be a major shake up in the service. I realise that I might be doing Birmingham buses a disservice but I can only go by what I still hear and read about them because I admit my experience of them in recent times is not first hand.

Actually, I do have mobility issues.  Walking long distances can be very painful.

I don't drive, but find public transport perfectly adequate.  Most bus services service the City Centre.  Many stop on Colmore Row, others on Smallbrook Queensway, Moor Street Queensway, Carrs Lane or near Old Square.  They stop by the Markets too.  You will only have to walk a short distance from any given bus stop to the shops - in fact, most of the bus stops are a lot closer to the main areas than car parks are.

If you were going to Town from Solihull on the 6 or 37 bus for instance, you can get off by the Bull Ring, or stay on & get off outside Boots on the High Street - a few yards from M&S.  The closest you'd be able to park to that is Dale End, and the closest station is Moor Street.

The buses no longer go down Corporation Street, but the trams do, so getting about without walking far is relatively easy.
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