Edinburgh - Princes Street - Rant!

colino

If you stand with your back to the gardens and look, really look at the buildings on Princes Street you will see some of the ugliest, badly maintained hot-potches of dumps that exist in any major city. Now, with the incredibly invasive and costly tram introduction (Princes Street will get ONE tram stop), the city is grinding to an expensive halt. Don't go there and let it fester. Glasgow is far, far better.

Kmac_Edin

I agree, I hate walkling along princes street for the very reason its so tacky!! I work on George Street and I'm lucky enough to have a gorgeous view of the castle from my window and I live in the Old town which I adore..

Ok so the Royal Mile is a bit tacky.. but not to the extent that Princes Street is.

loadsacash

You wont get me to set foot down Princes street at the moment because of all the roadworks

MsChazzer

How about the Scottish Parliamen's e-petitions?

I agree that Princes Street is a mess, I try to avoid it as much as possible, I find the main shopping streets in Glasgow a bit easier to deal with as they are wider due to being pedestrianised. The Royal Mile may have tartan tat but at least the buildings are beautiful.

Angua2

Hiyas. Another tick in the agree box! Like so many of you, when in Edinburgh, I avoid Princes St like the plague. When taking visitors around, I steer them away from it, in fact....

competitionscafe

I agree and the frustrating thing is it could have been (and still could be) one of the most stunningly beautiful streets in Europe with the backdrop of the gardens, castle and Old Town on one side.

I would also prefer it if it was pedestrianised but that's probably not practical as George street and Queen Street would be even more congested.

That horrible bandstand thing in the gardens is an embaressment too - with the backdrop of the castle and castle rock it could be a stunning venue for concerts, theatre, free performances during the festival etc if they built something decent but unobtrusive which fitted in. The current thing looks like a poorly maintained municipal toilet building ! (Which part of it is of course)

As for the shops with the tartan tat and canned music blaring - if I had to work in one of them for more than an hour I would go doolally, surely there must be an employee (mental) health and safety at work law against having to listen to a very poorly produced version of 'Scotland the brave' on repeat through tinny speakers for 8 hours a day! :eek:

It still is a beautiful city though especially on a day like today (clear blue skies and sunshine) - it could be so much more spectacular though without the carbuncles and tat.

nesssie1702

Used to live in Edinburgh and avoided Princes St like the plague. The shops there weren't really my scene. Know what folk mean about the tacky shops, not nice at all.

It's a shame as it is a lovely city and I love going back for old times sake

Joyful

Maybe we need to come up with alternatives like no tatty shops only good quality ones but to attract them perhaps the rates should be lowered for long term commitment. That way the Council can start to make improvements knowing they have support from the right type of Businesses in the long term. I definitely think you should be able to walk along Princes Street and just enjoy rather than be bombarded with tacky music.

The Businesses also need to be open for longer to compete with the shopping areas that are open later.

Angua2

Joyful wrote: »

Maybe we need to come up with alternatives like no tatty shops only good quality ones but to attract them perhaps the rates should be lowered for long term commitment. That way the Council can start to make improvements knowing they have support from the right type of Businesses in the long term. I definitely think you should be able to walk along Princes Street and just enjoy rather than be bombarded with tacky music.

The Businesses also need to be open for longer to compete with the shopping areas that are open later.

My slant on it, for what it's worth, is that there is no vision from the council about Princes St - nothing other than a piecemeal wreck of stop-gaps and sticking plasters to "solve" transport issues - as if blinking fossil fuel engines are the be all and end all. To borrow from I M Banks - they are 'Fearsome Engines' of doom - Edinburgh the Inspired Capital, aye right, in a porcine eye :mad:

mini rant over, thank you!

davmail

Me and my wife go to Edinburgh a lot,we love it,it's a beautiful city,but Princess Street has gone downhill,not much there anymore,noisy shops or just HMV or Gamestation,Rose street is better although that is looking a bit tacky also,I tell you its far better than the sh*thole of Slough we live in.Been 3 times this year,going back in January.:rotfl: