Bradford

It'd be nice to see Jacobs Well & The Lord Clyde get some of the spillover custom.

 

Might start looking at available units...

 

Those first two and City Hall + the pool can provide a backdrop to match most provincial cities, they should make and images (day and night) and trade Bradford on them.

But.........even once open the Odeon is not going to provide the many 10's of 1000's of jobs needed to provide the daily footfall Bradford needs to function like a Bradford sized city should Mon-Fri.

 

its definitely a start though, if they can work ut what do with darleey street now the broadways turned it into a ghost town we'll have halfway cracked it.

 

I also see that the old Mecca nightclub has got the go ahead as a wedding venue. Partly a positive as it will bring folk into Bradford but the downside will be parking around VP will be limited even more than it already is.

 

I understand it'll be a wedding venue primarily for a certain section of Bradford's population. As such the parking issue won't change much as they tend to use the nearest available pavement anyway!

 

The potential with the Odeon is huge. That whole central bit of Bradford could be very attractive with the pool lit up and the Alhambra.

I wish central government would realise how much Bradford is struggling and do something to encourage LOTS more businesses to relocate here.

If something dramatic doesn't happen our home city is just going to turn into an Asian city that white people visit to go to the football and the theater, and for everything else we head into Leeds. Far better if we can create a dynamic modern multiethnic city where we all work AND play together.

 

Having Channel 4's "second HQ" (branch office, then) here would have been a good start.

Wishful thinking though, frustratingly.

The BID (business improvement district) vote could be interesting.

Yes it means local businesses delving into their own pockets but it could mean a pot of money with people who seemingly know what they're doing in charge of it.

On another note it doesn't appear the North Parade Street Party is going ahead this year unless i've missed summat.

 

Usually June / July time ? Let’s hope it does

 

I think it's usually been promoted by now...

 

But it's not central/government/public money that will re-generate Bradford, that'll only come through private money that can create an environment where people want to work and live, like what happened on small scale at Saltaire, a perfect example of an artistic/cultural environment with an eclectic population, result? Thriving private enterprises, things to see and do, high housing demand, all protecting and enhancing it's value. I could live in Hull centre easy, not in Bradford thanks.

Your second point is interesting, it's a totally bi-cultural city where the 2 communities don't appear to have any common interests that leads them to socialise in meaningful numbers. I really wish it was different but it's not so I'd have preferred a biggest/best asian something instead of the crap mall, bringing in people from along the M62 corridor and the midlands. Because, Bradford has been under one or another named "regeneration scheme" since I was a teenager and the result? It's far worse now and tbh I think it's never going to be what we dream of, ever, so an an asian city, a busy one, with the superb architecture actually occupied, that'd do for me, things/times change.

 

Its a city born from the industrial revolution, that industry has been in decline in this city for well over half a century. Problem is it leaves behind an infrastructure from over half a century as well, some of more than double that. That infrastructure is not fit for the 21st century. And lets face it never will be. Anybody looking at locating business to Bradford in the 21st century must be wrong in their heads. The world has changes dramatically in the last 100 years and you have to move with the times. Bradford just doesn’t have that ability, it has served its purpose.

 

Excellent points well made.

Maybe making it into the best 'Asian' city outside of Pakistan/India is a way to go, but is that really in the countries best interests. If it worked, was done in a positive way, and built integration, but if we are just going to end up with West Pakistan then alas, I think will have as much success as East Pakistan had.

 

I was just thinking of possibilities, the centre floor space is what, 80%+ empty? It's a very big dismal area, if you could move City Hall, the Alhambra, the Wool Exchange, a couple of banks and the Odeon up against Little Germany and demolished the rest, would we miss much?

I don't believe the centre will be a harmonious bi-cultural melting pot ever, that horse bolted in the late 70's. I believe the monied won't set foot in the place, not with Leeds next door and the footfall is at a desperate level compared with the 1980's. The centre is like a dog chasing it's tail. Without jobs in there, paying professional salaries to people who want to work there, everything else is inconsequential because the outer suburb folks, the ones with more cash will continue to go to Leeds for shopping, eating and leisure. I am Bradfordian, I so wish things were different, but it is what it is.

Great recent article, but not pretty reading for those who can't see what is plainly in front of them.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/may/03/could-bradford-be-the-shoreditch-of-yorkshire-or-is-it-the-next-detroit-

 

Integration will never happen, we tolerate. Once that toleration ends thats when we get trouble. There are too many things that culturally and religiously divide us. I was in Bradford city centre last night, had a drink in Sunbridge Wells. Nice place, well done out, but dead as a dodo. Until the Odeon gets done it has no footfall, certainly not from within the city centre. Abbomf gets it, you need footfall through the day and night eating and drinking to keep these businesses afloat.

 

Nice to hear someone else speaking pragmatically without some liberal bleeding hear pulling out the race card or a right wing fascist seeing it as a call to arms.

It is what it is .

Your point about the buildings worth saving and the rest being worthy of demolition is so true. How on earth did this total demise happen so fast?