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Post by Beloved Monkfish on Dec 22, 2015 12:05:46 GMT
Anybody been to the new part of the Potteries Centre since it opened? I have to say I'm incredibly impressed. The terrace area where the restaurants are is fantastic. It felt as far away from Hanley as you could possibly be. About time we had a classy area with decent restaurants.
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Post by greenhoff74 on Dec 22, 2015 12:56:46 GMT
Yes I have to agree with that wholeheartedly, I also went to Cineworld to see Star Wars on opening day was very impressive place to watch.
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Post by SamB_SCFC on Dec 22, 2015 14:42:22 GMT
Is the new cinema an IMAX? If not seems a missed opportunity to me.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2015 15:04:08 GMT
Anybody been to the new part of the Potteries Centre since it opened? I have to say I'm incredibly impressed. The terrace area where the restaurants are is fantastic. It felt as far away from Hanley as you could possibly be. About time we had a classy area with decent restaurants. Decent restaurants? Chiquitos, Nandos, GBK and Pizza Express? |
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Post by Beloved Monkfish on Dec 22, 2015 15:08:04 GMT
Anybody been to the new part of the Potteries Centre since it opened? I have to say I'm incredibly impressed. The terrace area where the restaurants are is fantastic. It felt as far away from Hanley as you could possibly be. About time we had a classy area with decent restaurants. Decent restaurants? Chiquitos, Nandos, GBK and Pizza Express? Yep. Nothing wrong with those places at all. |
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Post by boskampsflaps on Dec 22, 2015 17:27:11 GMT
Nah, probably never will.
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Post by SamB_SCFC on Dec 22, 2015 17:42:45 GMT
This is what Stoke-on-Trent has needed for a long time. A new development with a bit of ambition to bring a bit of competition and break the complacency of places like Festival Park. The Odeon hasn't really changed much since it opened in the 80s, now I read that in reaction to Cineworld opening its having a huge refurb with IMAX screens installed and the old place being basically gutted. With new restaurants arriving in Festival Park and the surrounding area too.
While some people may scoff at the chain restaurants and call them glorified McDonald's etc the reality is that they're popular and bring footfall. Many of the better off in the area have been travelling out of the city to places like Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool etc to visit these very places for years and we need to keep that money in the city and also attract people in from surrounding areas. This is one of the reasons why for years Hanley has looked a shit hole full of cheap pound shops, pound bakery and B&M and been full of chavs because anyone with a bit of money gives Hanley a wide berth and only visits there when it's absolutely necessary and unavoidable. Anything that can make Hanley and Stoke-on-Trent a nicer place to visit and spend an evening out has to be a good thing. The place and many of the people are in desperate need of some modernising.
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Post by iancransonsknees on Dec 22, 2015 17:54:07 GMT
It still won't make me set foot in Hanley. It's a city centre developed to pander to the lowest common denominator.
The cities you mention wipe the floor with it and I'd rather travel and spend my money there or the likes of Chester and Shrewsbury.
Fucking Nandos 'decent', I suppose at least it's not a descent into the chicken Hut or some such fucking kebab shop which dominate the roads into Hanley.
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Post by Beloved Monkfish on Dec 22, 2015 18:05:20 GMT
It still won't make me set foot in Hanley. It's a city centre developed to pander to the lowest common denominator. The cities you mention wipe the floor with it and I'd rather travel and spend my money there or the likes of Chester and Shrewsbury. Fucking Nandos 'decent', I suppose at least it's not a descent into the chicken Hut or some such fucking kebab shop which dominate the roads into Hanley. Just out of interest, what would make you set foot in the city centre? |
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Post by iancransonsknees on Dec 22, 2015 19:16:44 GMT
Inspecting the aftermath of a planned demolition, it couldn't make it worse.
I've had the pleasure of seeing some of the plans people have made for the city as a whole and they're wonderful but purely pie in the sky as Hanley sucks away the regeneration money and attention of successive administrations. It's had more than its fair share and has enough advantage to stand on its own two feet.
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Post by boothenboy75 on Dec 22, 2015 19:50:07 GMT
Took the youngest to the cinema earlier today. It is a tidy facility and is inline with what other cities similar in size to our own have had for a decade. The biggest flaw with it, is the view from that terrace with all of the restaurants, which is hardly the fault of the developers. A view of wasteland, hoarding and half falling down buildings shows that as a city centre, Hanley is still miles behind comparable city centres, with little if any chance of catching up any time soon.
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Post by SamB_SCFC on Dec 22, 2015 21:26:54 GMT
It still won't make me set foot in Hanley. It's a city centre developed to pander to the lowest common denominator. The cities you mention wipe the floor with it and I'd rather travel and spend my money there or the likes of Chester and Shrewsbury. Fucking Nandos 'decent', I suppose at least it's not a descent into the chicken Hut or some such fucking kebab shop which dominate the roads into Hanley. I couldn't agree with you more but it is a step in the right direction at least, if a decade late. We're now where most similar sized cities were 10-15 years ago so still a long way behind. But if the effect the development has had on the Odeon and Festival Park is anything to go by there's encouraging signs that the competition that this will bring to the established 'entertainment' areas in the city could draw in further investment which will provide benefits both to Hanley and the city as a whole. Everything has to start somewhere, Hanley is such a shit hole that it's impossible to transform it and shovel out the pond life overnight. Link to the Odeon story www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Odeon-strikes-cinema-wars/story-28391727-detail/story.html |
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Post by mtrstudent on Dec 23, 2015 21:32:16 GMT
It still won't make me set foot in Hanley. It's a city centre developed to pander to the lowest common denominator. The cities you mention wipe the floor with it and I'd rather travel and spend my money there or the likes of Chester and Shrewsbury. Fucking Nandos 'decent', I suppose at least it's not a descent into the chicken Hut or some such fucking kebab shop which dominate the roads into Hanley. Just out of interest, what would make you set foot in the city centre? More than one place where a bearded youth in a fitted lumberjack shirt judges me for not using an iPhone as he swirls a fucking forest into the bubbly bit on top of a chai spiced pumpkin latte ordered by the bescarfed customer in front of me who's just waiting for the mic to be free so they can go do their poetry slam. |
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Post by elystokie on Dec 23, 2015 21:46:00 GMT
Just out of interest, what would make you set foot in the city centre? More than one place where a bearded youth in a fitted lumberjack shirt judges me for not using an iPhone as he swirls a fucking forest into the bubbly bit on top of a chai spiced pumpkin latte ordered by the bescarfed customer in front of me who's just waiting for the mic to be free so they can go do their poetry slam. Exactly what I was thinking, I'd imagine everyone else is too.. |
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Post by santy on Dec 23, 2015 22:18:36 GMT
There's pretty much only 1 thing that makes anyone step into any city centre anywhere for any reason. You need some thing, or some things, and that place happens to have the shops or buildings that offer those products/services/facilities.
I've never particularly fancied having my bollocks waxed, so I've never been into the places that provide that. I do sometimes fancy a new game so I'll pop into CEX. I've thought about getting smashed and having karaoke at 10am once or twice, but its good to know Burton Stores is there in case that need ever becomes more urgent.
I can just imagine it
Mrs CransonsKnees: Ian love, we need a few things can we just pop into Hanley and grab them, it's only 5 minutes away?
IanCransonsKnees: Hanley? Hanley? You dare mention that place!
Mrs C: We just need a light shop, it'll only be £30, we can be there and back within 30 minutes.
IanC: Alright love, alright. We'll go to Chester, we can be there and back within two to three hours. It makes more sense.
In some ways its working out better than planned, I don't think they really want to be making Hanley one-side heavy as they seemed to initially plan with so much happening at the end where the old bewise shop is. That area fell into disuse more because its a more difficult part of town to get to in general in terms of parking and such so I think they need to look at something different there. I think more focus probably should be on that stretch between Hanley and Festival park. There is still quite a large chunk of land unused down there, the smithfield buildings up by Tesco and the old car place that has that mound of debris that is sprouting plants now.
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Post by thevoid on Dec 24, 2015 1:50:33 GMT
It's a start, hopefully not too long before they knock down the pig pen now.
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Post by iancransonsknees on Dec 24, 2015 2:33:21 GMT
There's pretty much only 1 thing that makes anyone step into any city centre anywhere for any reason. You need some thing, or some things, and that place happens to have the shops or buildings that offer those products/services/facilities. I've never particularly fancied having my bollocks waxed, so I've never been into the places that provide that. I do sometimes fancy a new game so I'll pop into CEX. I've thought about getting smashed and having karaoke at 10am once or twice, but its good to know Burton Stores is there in case that need ever becomes more urgent. I can just imagine it Mrs CransonsKnees: Ian love, we need a few things can we just pop into Hanley and grab them, it's only 5 minutes away? IanCransonsKnees: Hanley? Hanley? You dare mention that place! Mrs C: We just need a light shop, it'll only be £30, we can be there and back within 30 minutes. IanC: Alright love, alright. We'll go to Chester, we can be there and back within two to three hours. It makes more sense. In some ways its working out better than planned, I don't think they really want to be making Hanley one-side heavy as they seemed to initially plan with so much happening at the end where the old bewise shop is. That area fell into disuse more because its a more difficult part of town to get to in general in terms of parking and such so I think they need to look at something different there. I think more focus probably should be on that stretch between Hanley and Festival park. There is still quite a large chunk of land unused down there, the smithfield buildings up by Tesco and the old car place that has that mound of debris that is sprouting plants now. To Hanley's detriment there's nothing there that I can't get from the Internet, or any of the other towns in North Staffordshire (and that's where I'll go if I need to nip out for anything). Thats the difference for me between a decent place to bother to visit and a generic shop by numbers experience. If it can't stand out against its local competition it's already on the back foot. The places mentioned, and even some of those other towns in North Staffordshire, offer far more in terms of environment to bother to make the effort to get to. And I can spend my money in places where the people running a local business benefit. Hanley just doesn't do that for me but then again neither does somewhere like the Trafford Centre. I want to see at least a little something unique, not the same old high Street stores that deign to grace Stoke with their presence and people seem to fawn over because of this. I make no apology for wanting to see a little difference and ingenuity. Let's see what happens with the unique Webberleys now it sadly shuts, I won't be shocked to read In The Sentinel about it being turned into a Subway/JD Sports/Toni & Guy/Tesco Extra. It's so much easier as a consumer to make choices nowadays, so much so that I don't have to use our city centre when barely 15-20 years ago technology (or lack of) and the general sluggish Northern regeneration offered no real alternative and almost forced you to. That's what all city centres and towns are up against and in my opinion ours has missed the boat and what is being provided and developed just will not draw in the external visitors who will make it any more than just a place to 'nip to'. Sell it to me as that and I'll accept it for what it is. Sadly it literally is a place to get into, out of and not linger any longer than necessary. If it's wrong of me to expect any more than that then pardon me I've misunderstood what they're trying to achieve and will lower my expectation. You have to earn the consumers pound nowadays and perhaps their time spent spending it. The more time someone is willing to spend in a place should subsequently equate to the amount of money they're likely to spend in that place. The blame lies with the politicians and planners of successive administrations that show complete lack of nous and administration. The sad thing is with a developer like St Modwen showing them what can be done with a derelict site, creating a retail and entertainment experience outsiders want to visit and spend their time and money at, they don't seem to want to learn any lessons which is to all our detriment. Believe me I'm no fanboy of St Modwen (they want fucking for the Victoria Ground debacle), but they've created and managed the only significant retail development in the area in recent years. Besides all of this if Mrs ICK needed to nip out for a few things she could bloody well do it on her own rather than drag me around the shops. |
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Post by bathstoke on Dec 24, 2015 7:59:49 GMT
Just out of interest, what would make you set foot in the city centre? More than one place where a bearded youth in a fitted lumberjack shirt judges me for not using an iPhone as he swirls a fucking forest into the bubbly bit on top of a chai spiced pumpkin latte ordered by the bescarfed customer in front of me who's just waiting for the mic to be free so they can go do their poetry slam. Sorry, but I can't tell whether you're saying that this is a good thing or not!?! |
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Post by Northy on Dec 24, 2015 16:18:26 GMT
It still won't make me set foot in Hanley. It's a city centre developed to pander to the lowest common denominator. The cities you mention wipe the floor with it and I'd rather travel and spend my money there or the likes of Chester and Shrewsbury. Fucking Nandos 'decent', I suppose at least it's not a descent into the chicken Hut or some such fucking kebab shop which dominate the roads into Hanley. Just out of interest, what would make you set foot in the city centre? Some individual places not chain restaurants |
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Post by misterj on Dec 24, 2015 16:21:53 GMT
ICK needs to go and live in one of the following : Sandbach, Nantwich, Alderley Edge, Wilmslow etc etc
Bland towns, bland people and f....ing amazingly snobbish on top of that !!!
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Post by elystokie on Dec 24, 2015 17:22:42 GMT
Just out of interest, what would make you set foot in the city centre? Some individual places not chain restaurants I'd like to see Stoke town centre go the way of small independent shops and restaurants, already a couple of each and a few good pubs, hopefully it will kick on from here, you never know. Then folk could choose between the two :) |
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Post by iancransonsknees on Dec 24, 2015 18:01:19 GMT
Some individual places not chain restaurants I'd like to see Stoke town centre go the way of small independent shops and restaurants, already a couple of each and a few good pubs, hopefully it will kick on from here, you never know. Then folk could choose between the two  Absolutely bang on. Hopefully they manage to redevelop the Spode site as planned and build the additional housing that's been mooted to run from the police station (once demolished), across Booth Street along Yeamen Street to Corporation Street and fronting that side of London Road. A bit of life will be breathed into it then and maybe get the ball rolling on further development. |
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Post by iancransonsknees on Dec 24, 2015 18:12:50 GMT
ICK needs to go and live in one of the following : Sandbach, Nantwich, Alderley Edge, Wilmslow etc etc Bland towns, bland people and f....ing amazingly snobbish on top of that !!! I enjoy living in Stoke, surprisingly, and just feel that the people planning it out for us owe us a bit more imagination than more of what we've already got. Fair play to Intu for pulling it off with little or no political support, the wrong horse was backed and the City Sentral debacle will remain a blight on the town as a result. I remain unconvinced that Realis will pull off their scaled down plans even now. Hopefully the release of more 'Pound Houses'off Portland Street will bolster Intu's decision to invest and grow a community on their doorstep. Having experienced the delightful Renew and their fantastical and ill thought out plans it's no wonder progress is slow in the city centre. The bastards left it ham strung and on life support. |
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Post by misterj on Dec 24, 2015 19:24:58 GMT
Apologies if I mis-read you as someone who doesn't like S-O-T or it's people ?
I just thought your original post(s) suggested that not only is the place a tip but the people in it too !!
If that was / is the case then it resembles the views of all those tossers who clog up the A34 A50 and A500 on the way into the city each morning to make a good living off of our backs (whether public or private sector) and then escape to their suburbs / affluent rural abodes at night and then UN-FORGIVABLY take the piss out of the potteries !
If you are pro the potteries then good man !!
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Post by iancransonsknees on Dec 24, 2015 19:35:08 GMT
Apologies if I mis-read you as someone who doesn't like S-O-T or it's people ? I just thought your original post(s) suggested that not only is the place a tip but the people in it too !! If that was / is the case then it resembles the views of all those tossers who clog up the A34 A50 and A500 on the way into the city each morning to make a good living off of our backs (whether public or private sector) and then escape to their suburbs / affluent rural abodes at night and then UN-FORGIVABLY take the piss out of the potteries ! If you are pro the potteries then good man !! Unfortunately it has been let go and they are trying to appeal to a generic market, the people Of SOT are more creative, cleverer and savvier than they are given credit for. Unfortunately I think we don't challenge the decision makers perception much be they politicians or businessmen, and they're happy to make a quick short term buck. I've worked directly and indirectly with that type of person over the years. They make the decisions regarding the city and its occupants but to a man will fuck off back to exactly the places you describe. It's a case of money where your mouth is. I believe Hanley has enough going for it to stand on its own two feet if the residential development around it continues. The investment saved needs ploughing into the other towns, giving them the chnce to offer something different. Ely's description of Stoke is something that is heartening and I would love to see it turn around as its a place I use on a regular basis. |
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Post by Pretty Little Boother on Dec 24, 2015 21:44:21 GMT
What's the crack with City Sentral, has that been completely binned off?
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Post by iancransonsknees on Dec 24, 2015 22:11:31 GMT
It's been binned off for knocking the pig pen and neighbouring buildings down instead. The idea being to just redevelop that instead. Don't be surprised if there's a bunch of rubble, heras fencing and not much else.
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Post by santy on Dec 24, 2015 23:43:04 GMT
They should sack it all off from where that big bronze head is to the old bus station to be honest. Demolish & flatten it all, leave it grassy for a while and ensure when the time comes it can be built on by whoever wants it. I really don't think that end of Hanley serves much purpose though. There's no point in having it strewn out everywhere.
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Post by blurtonstokie on Dec 25, 2015 4:11:04 GMT
It still won't make me set foot in Hanley. It's a city centre developed to pander to the lowest common denominator. The cities you mention wipe the floor with it and I'd rather travel and spend my money there or the likes of Chester and Shrewsbury. Fucking Nandos 'decent', I suppose at least it's not a descent into the chicken Hut or some such fucking kebab shop which dominate the roads into Hanley. I went to Manchester in the summer. first time in a couple of years.I used to go at least once a month. I was prone to going "Life" (it's a shop). but jst stopped. First class city. Trendy, Great bars and good shopping. loved the place. Then when I went this summer fuck me what's hsppend. The Bars are still there its still good shopping, but the high street is a shit hole. The big open square (think Its piccadilly gardens. might be wrong) opposite spoons was like somewhere in Cairo or Damascus. It's the capital for what you call on holiday lucky lucky men. It was like San An Tonio Bay crossed with Lagos. There was a row of stalls selling food. Dnt know what it was but it definitely wasn't burgers, hot dogs or jacket spuds. It was like that sangat refugee camp in calais. It was so busy. Hey they have spent millions on Manchester and still are. It's still by far the best city out of the big cities, but good god it's gone rough and been taken over. |
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Post by iancransonsknees on Dec 25, 2015 7:01:19 GMT
I don't think you're far wrong but it's similar in most cities now. You're Bob on about that area in particular.
Have they finished off around the Corn Exchange yet? That looked smart from what I saw.
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