: Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:00 pm  

I'm amazed they managed to get 2 stars. The very final death knell for Bradford was once the powers that be decided Bradford was no longer a city in its own right for regeneration and funding purposes and is in fact part of "Leeds City Region". Groups like Yorkshire Forward have little interest in improving things in Bradford, their track record shows this, i.e. we can't have the Odeon building being used for something useful like a mid-range concert venue - that scuppers plans for a similar one down the road in Leeds, so we'll (plan) another generic office block instead.

I'm amazed they managed to get 2 stars. The very final death knell for Bradford was once the powers that be decided Bradford was no longer a city in its own right for regeneration and funding purposes and is in fact part of "Leeds City Region". Groups like Yorkshire Forward have little interest in improving things in Bradford, their track record shows this, i.e. we can't have the Odeon building being used for something useful like a mid-range concert venue - that scuppers plans for a similar one down the road in Leeds, so we'll (plan) another generic office block instead.

: Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:52 pm  

I'm busy spending Yorkshire Forward's millions like there's no tomorrow in Leeds right now. We couldn't get a bean in Bradford.

: Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:37 pm  

Bulldozer wrote:

This is SO depressing.

I left Bradford in 1980 to get work.

Since that time I've seen from a distance Bradford's decline and Leeds rise as the dominant city in the region.

For the past 12 years I've lived near Liverpool. It's renaissance culminating in the "Capital of Culture" year last year has been incredible and something that Bradford's Council should note.

The "Liverpool One" retail development could so easily have been a similar hole in the ground but as it is it has been an outstanding success - attracting many visitors/shoppers back to Liverpool city centre... what did Liverpool do right and Bradford do SO wrong??

Indeed. I left Bradford in 1998, and it has declined considerably since. The centre of Liverpool by contrast has been transformed in the last year or so (although I note several shops in the new development have started closing ). Even the metropolis that is Exeter has had a relatively large facelift and new shopping area in the last few years.

It seems that as Bradford has missed the boat for regeneration on the back of the last economic boom - it may be some time before further large scale regeneration happens.

: Thu Mar 05, 2009 5:46 pm  

Trimalchio wrote:

The centre of Liverpool by contrast has been transformed in the last year or so

The little matter of the funding freed up (and other interest) by its being designated European Capital of Culture had more than a bit to do with that.

Maybe those Bradfordians on here who derided their Council's bid for that status as a waste of money or a joke may care to reflect on that? The whole point of the Bradford bid was precisely to get hands on more funding.

Leeds' rise and eclipsing of the rest of West Yorkshire started with it being designated a Development Area in the 1980s. The current scandal of treating the rest of West Yorkshire as mere outlying areas of Leeds has merely been yet more nails in the coffin.

: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:14 pm  

Interesting thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=246487

Interesting thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=246487

: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:22 pm  

In fact that whole forum is a mine of information: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=447

In fact that whole forum is a mine of information: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=447

: Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:02 am  

5 years today since the work started. Happy birthday.

: Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:58 am  

tigertot wrote:

5 years today since the work started. Happy birthday.

And another 5 years before it opens, in the current climate.

And that's optimistic.

[Bullseye]

: Wed Mar 18, 2009 9:03 am  

aj cougar wrote:

And another 5 years before it opens, in the current climate.

And that's optimistic.

Sadly yes!

Bradford as a city centre is at the moment as dead as a dodo. I had the dubious pleasure of a night out in the town centre a few weeks back. Most of the pubs up near the west end were half full to empty, nobody seems to go out in town anymore. Barring the Pictureville and the odd curry house there is nothing there. I was struck with how dead the place was, why anyone would buy an apartment or stay in a hotel there is beyond me.

: Wed Mar 18, 2009 1:14 pm  

Pick your favourite.

Pick your favourite.