Nice People 13: Nice Save

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

LydiaJ wrote: »

Why is that all of us understand this, but councils seem oblivious? My local council is full of plans to "regenerate" the high street, making more of it pedestrianised and sinking loads of money into various ways of tarting it up. They think this will bring shoppers back. It won't make any difference. People don't decide where to shop based on whether or not the place has a fountain and some trees etc. They shop where they can conveniently park. End of.

Confirmation bias.

Most local government authorities are full of left leaning staff, many of whom are prone to a bit of a nanny-state mentality (thinking it's their job to change people's behaviour for the greater good in this case), and they place far too much priority on politically correct social issues like environmentalism, cycling, buses, etc.

While paying not nearly enough attention to commercial realities or the taxpayers/businesses/consumers that are forced to pay for these often unrealistic and unworkable ideals.

They don't really understand business or that most consumers (and certainly the ones with money and a job) want convenience and ease of access to retailers above all else.

They are also surrounded by similarly minded people at work, and the small minority of the public they deal with tend to be the most dependent on the state, so they develop a mentality that these views are normal and everyone thinks like that.

Which is how they end up with goals and targets to reduce vehicle traffic into town, or reduce average speeds, or increase public transport usage, or whatever, that they can only really implement by making it difficult, expensive and inconvenient for people to come into city centres via car.

Then they wonder why all the shops close...

lostinrates

Someone close to me was one of the retailers 'consulted' the congestion charge zone. I remember a lot of frustration over the situation at the time.

silvercar

I have been to see the poppies - a bit late as the weeping window has gone - quite interesting to see how they dismantle them.

zagubov

PasturesNew wrote: »

If they put me in charge I'd have shops opening until 7pm, creating part-time after school jobs opportunities for young people - and I'd have free parking after 4pm. That'd give a balance between raking in the parking, jobs opps and encouraging people into the High Street. For those who work full-time, the local shops are closed as you're driving past/home.

Councils just don't think sensibly. In Glasgow they pedestrianised the biggest shopping streets, including the main one, Sauchiehall Street, and that sucked the life out of it. Everybody shops further into the centre, Buchanan and Argyle Street, where the train, bus and underground stations are handy.

London's resisting this, thank goodness. This site's useful for planning a shopping visit if you're coming from out of town.
http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/

zagubov

lostinrates wrote: »

Someone close to me was one of the retailers 'consulted' the congestion charge zone. I remember a lot of frustration over the situation at the time.

That gave me the incentive to switch jobs. When I worked in the expanded zone I sometimes had to run upstairs to log on at 2 minutes to midnight to pay for the day's travels before the price doubled at midnight. If you paid in advance and your car wouldn't start you had to pay again to use your other car as the system didn't do refunds!:mad::wall:

lostinrates

One of my quirks is because of fear I might not get back to the car in case I 'lose' a limb or my back, I would never simply put the twenty minute or hour parking charge in at a pre pay car park. I prefer carparks I can pay for on exit really. At the pre pay ones I prefer to lob on an extra hour to estimated time. Should be less than an hour? Bung in two. This is of course a silly waste of money, but other wise I thing I'd be more fearful about going out because I'd get stressed about making it back to the car . I can always GET bACK. Just in what time frame is the question. Better to pay more for the peace of mind for the few times I use car parks I think. ( I also do that very wicked thing of passing my ticket on......I hate that that's not allowed, I think its horrific that its not allowed.....you are allowed to buy guest parking permits as a resident and give them to a neighbour's guest...what's the difference here?)


This is my sock haul from today, ( they were on special offer) the branch of this shop is closing down but there are I think three others and a website. I used to shop at another branch of this shop, but the socks are a more recent 'thing' . The shop sells cotton quilts ( which wash really surprisingly well and are so beautiful) and white Cotton night dresses. Some table linens.



Btw that background really is peach not filthy white or something . Fir and I are the last remaining people in the world to have a set of peach sheets I think.

vivatifosi

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Most local government authorities are full of left leaning staff, many of whom are prone to a bit of a nanny-state mentality (thinking it's their job to change people's behaviour for the greater good in this case), and they place far too much priority on politically correct social issues like environmentalism, cycling, buses, etc.

My aim is to buck that trend, though I'd describe myself as centrist, rather than left- or right-leaning. I think it also depends on the department.

I think also that you can see, particular in senior positions, career civil servants or local government officers who have spent their entire career in the public sector and have no understanding of the private sector or its needs. We criticise politicians for this reason, but many of those who work for them are cast from the same mould.

Nikkster

I dislike car parks where you pay in advance too. How do I know whether I'll be one hour or three?

silvercar

lir wrote:

This is my sock haul from today, ( they were on special offer) the branch of this shop is closing down but there are I think three others and a website. I used to shop at another branch of this shop, but the socks are a more recent 'thing' .

I only possess black socks for general wear and white socks for the rare occasions when I wear trainers. No other colours at all!

michaels

Not defending but there are EU targets around air quality which in many cases can only be met by sharply reducing traffic. I don't thionk rent increases will drive out shops - surely rents are set at the level the shops can support, an empty shop is not much good to a landlord. Locally there are few empty units despite horrible parking charges that also penalise local workers but the shops cater either for those with no car (pound shops etc) or those who are not price sensitive...middle income families are not made welcome.