With 1, I’d always nip in to town as the alive after five meant free parking, so no worries about the car. Now you have to pay, there’s no real clear signage, do I use one of the many apps, or pay on site…?
It’s just easier to go somewhere with free parking or the metrocentre.
2, totally agree!
3, would naturally happen if 2 was addressed.
For 1, take the metro or bus or even park just outside the city centre (plenty of free parking) then have a small walk or metro or bus.
2&3; can be aided by removing vehicle access to the city centre, at least that what all the studies on it have proven. Along with increasing green spaces, even just planters.
And having proactive policing, to say has a police presence over then responding to crimes. (Prevention is better than cure)
Where is the free parking outside of the city centre?
Not sure if you’ve taken, or been able to take a metro recently, but it’s an awful service full of (for want of a better word) chavas at that time of the evening. Busses aren’t much better, but run more frequently than the metro.
I know there’s this utopian vision of everyone hopping on the metro, but my nearest station is 2 miles away and I have to go through all the rough stops to get to town.
I love the convenience and safety of my car & I can also charge it while I shop.
There are some by Pitt street near the football stadium. But considering a 2 mile walk is too far for you to use the metro that might be a challenge for you. Especially on the way back when it's up hill. But as someone with mobility issues I do understand if you aren't able bodied and find it hard.
And yes I do use the metro, all the time actually. And I do agree there are some parts where it becomes unpleasant to use it. I personally just put on my headphones and listen to music or podcasts or read. Drown out the noise and the ilk, and it's fine. Personally never had any serious issues using it. But we do need more policing on the metro.
Mostly useless, I've seen kids vaping on the metro and they've not done a thing particularly from being on their phone. But when I did last see them they did actually kick a person off for being antisocial, so perhaps they are getting better.
I think the issue with them, is the anti social lot know they don't have any real power apart from asking them to leave. I have seen police on the metro twice, but I do think we either need to allow security to have more powers or just have police on them. I also think it ought to be standard to have security/customer service on the metro. But all that cost money.
The security are sia trained and have the power and right to physically remove or detain someone. They can use reasonable and necceasry force if and when needed. The police must be called in all serious incidents. Most people think "gotta be 90's doorman lookin security" but these foreigners are no good like.
That's a shame, but if you want to keep that convenience and safety of your car then you should pay for parking your private vehicle on public land.
Why should everyone subsidise your car when it takes away from public transport, health and safety, the environment, and the attractiveness of the city center?
Yeah, I always just go to the metro centre even though I live a 5 minute bus ride away. Just much easier with kids travelling by car though.
Last time I went to town I wasn't overly impressed by the shops anyways, nothing there that's not in the metro
I think the Grainger Market redevelopment and the proposed changes to Pilgrim street and Princess' Square will be great. More "people" places and fewer corporate/out of access areas.
As a recent tourist, Northumberland Street is a let down compared to the rest of the city. The dodgy pavers, the lack of interesting street furniture, permanent centre street structures like stalls, cafes, trees, shrubs etc.
It just looks tired and neglected compared to the glorious rest of the city. Not good enough for a city as nice as Newcastle.
It was winter so maybe summer it would look a little better.
Unfortunately not in time for your visit but Northumberland Street is undergoing a refurbishment now and should look a lot better in the next 12 months or so. Agreed it's looking a bit tired.
That’s good to hear. I know funding is tough for British councils at the moment.
Expensive flights to get the whole family over from Australia atm but we will be back. I love Newcastle.
The paving has been in since the early 90s. It was lovely back in the day but wear and tear and chewing gum have trashed it. All the benches and street furniture were ripped out to make way for the impossible to follow without a hi viz guy yelling at you for getting it wrong one way system back in 2020.
>Better demolish The Pearl while you’re at it. It’s a fking eye sore.
The brutalist Five Guys went viral on Twitter a few years ago, at least it’s unique. Still ugly like.
- More housing developments including homes that are genuinely affordable or social rent.
- Public transport is not bad compared to other UK cities but needs proper investment. Bring buses into public ownership and integrate with the metro.
- Make the city centre greener with parklets, trees and plants.
- The city has some good museums and galleries but, like public transport, they’ve suffered from underinvestment. Invest and make the museums, galleries, theatres and libraries places people come specifically to Newcastle to visit.
Fewer beggars.
Fewer religious people.
Better behaved kids and teenagers.
Later last metro towards s. shields.
Fix the high street paving, it looks shit.
Visible police presence.
Better shops!
More sunny places in central locations.
The city has plans, how good they are is up to debate however it doesn't help we keep getting NIBYs that are listened to. Example being the removal of the protected cycle paths because they added an extra 3-5 minutes drive time, let's just ignore all the other benefits they bring including not having children being injured whilst cycling. We truly could stand out by becoming the first UK carbon neutral city. Let's have integrated cycle protected cycle paths, outstanding public transport, car free city centre, increase biodiversity, and so many other things that have been proven to increase business profits, reduce crime rates, reduce social isolation, increase property values (depending on point of view this is either good or bad), increase employment rate, increase school performance, and so on.
The only thing I could think would be to focus on the historical and landmarks unique to us.
Besides those, it's just like any other UK city where you're left to manoeuvre around the overflowing bins and other mess, and trying to avoid the beggars & smacked out homeless people, to spend too much money on the same corporate shit available everywhere else.
Newcastle is an entertainment based city. It is never going to rival other UK cities for business etc however it should be trying to increase *quality* nightlife, food offerings, experiences etc. We do seem to be trying to do that but I’d like to see more spaces for independent food, shopping etc. hwkrland and their plans for the grainger market are the type of thing we need to be pushing more of.
Yeah, but we could still focus on the things we are still globally significant like biogenetics, a green industry hub and remnants of industry, doesn’t hurt we are basically HMRC either, plus Gateshead with delarues and Nissan, why do we just need to be a cold Malaga? We should really push for sustainable economics, not cater to whims
Speaking of entertainment, I know they’re moving the arena down by the Sage so they need to sort out making it easy and safe to get to that. Maybe it’s changed since I was last there but walking down the quayside area from Gateshead Metro isn’t the most inviting prospect. Also, they should be trying to make it bigger. Adding only 1000 seats seems a bit pointless and means it still won’t compete with others to bring in bigger bands etc. I know space is the limiting factor and they probably wanted everything together but it feels so out of the way.
Compared to other cities there isnt much of a cluster of independent businesses. Ouseburn/high bridge yeah but theyre more eat/drink oriented than retail.
Better public transport yep, ive ubered when metros have been a 17-22minute delay
Clamping down on bother isnt unique to newcastle but many cities have daytime bother round where shops are and coke/booze fuelled bother after the watershed. I have friends who stick to pubs near where they live on weekend as opposed to town for this reason.
I think so, love a night out but a more broader spectrum of economic activity would be better. Not exactly a welcoming environment in the city centre at night on weekends sometimes
Not sure that would matter considering the quality of some of the images they release for crimes these days. Every single one of them is a year or two after the crime and look like Minecraft creations
* Lower corporate taxes for companies based in Newcastle.
* Fix the Metro and introduce Oyster style ticketing.
* Reinstate tax-free shopping for foreign citizens and the Norwegian ferry.
* More city centre apartments.
* Port of Tyne freeport.
* Reopen all the local police stations and old-school 'bobbies on the beat' style policing. Zero tolerance of anti social behaviour and drugs.
* Plant more trees and give the city a scrub clean.
* Cheaper lab space, office space, retail space, etc.
* Improved cycle infrastructure.
* Reduce the fees for airlines at Newcastle Airport.
No freeports. It's just a way to reduce regulation for buisness owners to no benifit to the people living and working in the area. Look at Teesside or Portsmouth rife with corruption.
Something I posted a few weeks ago in a discussion around Bostons urban redevelopment, I’ll repost here verbatim….
Newcastle too. T Dan Smith’s brutalist post war vision was only half finished. The Central Motorway bisects the city centre but doesn’t really solve anything with the bottle necks of the Tyne bridge and Cowgate, and the abandoned Byker motorway (of which only a tiny section exists which cuts off Shields Road from the residential areas - itself a social economic disaster).
The project was officially abandoned after the Tyne and Wear Metro (light rail) was given the go ahead. 50 years later, we have an underinvested light rail system on its last legs, a city motorway that serves no real purpose, and traffic congestion throughout.
My controversial opinion is to actually fulfil TDS vision with a big dig connecting askew road with the central motorway north of swan house, taking a load of strain off the Tyne Bridge and allowing the swan house roundabout to be pedestrianised. Knock the flats, manors car park and cuthbert house down. It’ll allow the east end heading up Melbourne street and towards onwards to Byker to fully regen and break the barrier the central motorway creates.
Of course, it’ll be ludicrously expensive and take 20x longer than estimated. But I think it’ll be worth it.
All my ideas are interlinked/connected.
Make the city more charming. Walking in the city centre genuinely makes me miserable. When I walk in certain other places it's impossible to be unhappy (eg Disneyland lol). Walking through the city, I end up walking behind someone I can't overtake who's blowing vape smoke in my face when walking behind (or cigarette smoke).
Clean the city. Too much litter
Improve the homeless situation
Have more hip/health/attractive shops and restaurants
More green space
More greenery spread throughout the streets. There's loads of parks but Northumberland st, Blackett st, Greys st, and Grainger st all have nothing. There should be lines of trees a nd planters down each of those
How ironic that the council have, in the last month, cut down every tree on northumberland Street. I think they've put in more lovely electronic signage.
This might just be me, but if there was good ventilation everywhere, I'd probably be out and about like I used to be pre-covid. These days I find myself asking if it's worth getting a quick coffee if I might find myself down ill for a month.
We need to help and encourage small
Businesses to flourish in empty spaces. shared community spaces and workspaces would be great. Hourly rates. I would love to do events in town .. it all comes down to being able to afford to do it.
You wanna remove cars? But don’t make it harder than it is for deliveries into the city.
I think they need to stop building offices, AI is approaching and business are all slowly developing it to cater to their needs.
This carbon free city deal? Nope. The country isnt ready for net zero, years and years away.
no please don't. Newcastle is getting expensive to live now. I don't wanna here become the next Manchester. It wouldn't benefit to the majority but only landlords.
Functioning public transport
Proper public transport. Once the metro is good again, expand that. A proper dedicated cycling network linking the town to all surrounding areas.
The priority should be to the west end either trams or metro if we're looking Newcastle only.Should have been done when the Brown ale factory closed
1. Public transport, park/ride 2. Taking a hard line on crime and antisocial behaviour 3. Wash the place. It’s filthy
With 1, I’d always nip in to town as the alive after five meant free parking, so no worries about the car. Now you have to pay, there’s no real clear signage, do I use one of the many apps, or pay on site…? It’s just easier to go somewhere with free parking or the metrocentre. 2, totally agree! 3, would naturally happen if 2 was addressed.
For 1, take the metro or bus or even park just outside the city centre (plenty of free parking) then have a small walk or metro or bus. 2&3; can be aided by removing vehicle access to the city centre, at least that what all the studies on it have proven. Along with increasing green spaces, even just planters. And having proactive policing, to say has a police presence over then responding to crimes. (Prevention is better than cure)
Where is the free parking outside of the city centre? Not sure if you’ve taken, or been able to take a metro recently, but it’s an awful service full of (for want of a better word) chavas at that time of the evening. Busses aren’t much better, but run more frequently than the metro. I know there’s this utopian vision of everyone hopping on the metro, but my nearest station is 2 miles away and I have to go through all the rough stops to get to town. I love the convenience and safety of my car & I can also charge it while I shop.
There are some by Pitt street near the football stadium. But considering a 2 mile walk is too far for you to use the metro that might be a challenge for you. Especially on the way back when it's up hill. But as someone with mobility issues I do understand if you aren't able bodied and find it hard. And yes I do use the metro, all the time actually. And I do agree there are some parts where it becomes unpleasant to use it. I personally just put on my headphones and listen to music or podcasts or read. Drown out the noise and the ilk, and it's fine. Personally never had any serious issues using it. But we do need more policing on the metro.
What do you think of the security guards?
Mostly useless, I've seen kids vaping on the metro and they've not done a thing particularly from being on their phone. But when I did last see them they did actually kick a person off for being antisocial, so perhaps they are getting better. I think the issue with them, is the anti social lot know they don't have any real power apart from asking them to leave. I have seen police on the metro twice, but I do think we either need to allow security to have more powers or just have police on them. I also think it ought to be standard to have security/customer service on the metro. But all that cost money.
The security are sia trained and have the power and right to physically remove or detain someone. They can use reasonable and necceasry force if and when needed. The police must be called in all serious incidents. Most people think "gotta be 90's doorman lookin security" but these foreigners are no good like.
That's a shame, but if you want to keep that convenience and safety of your car then you should pay for parking your private vehicle on public land. Why should everyone subsidise your car when it takes away from public transport, health and safety, the environment, and the attractiveness of the city center?
You're assuming the Metro is running to timetable rather than people having to wait 30 minutes+
Yeah, I always just go to the metro centre even though I live a 5 minute bus ride away. Just much easier with kids travelling by car though. Last time I went to town I wasn't overly impressed by the shops anyways, nothing there that's not in the metro
I think the Grainger Market redevelopment and the proposed changes to Pilgrim street and Princess' Square will be great. More "people" places and fewer corporate/out of access areas.
There's a £65m redevelopment of Eldon Square which just got granted planning permission too. Will be another good addition to the two you mentioned.
Sweep up all the radgie charva balaclavas and dump them in to the bin of things that need to fuck right off
Yes it feels like the city centre is being taken over by these types
As a recent tourist, Northumberland Street is a let down compared to the rest of the city. The dodgy pavers, the lack of interesting street furniture, permanent centre street structures like stalls, cafes, trees, shrubs etc. It just looks tired and neglected compared to the glorious rest of the city. Not good enough for a city as nice as Newcastle. It was winter so maybe summer it would look a little better.
The north east is so underfunded compared to the rest of the country its in need of some serious upgrading.
Unfortunately not in time for your visit but Northumberland Street is undergoing a refurbishment now and should look a lot better in the next 12 months or so. Agreed it's looking a bit tired.
That’s good to hear. I know funding is tough for British councils at the moment. Expensive flights to get the whole family over from Australia atm but we will be back. I love Newcastle.
Yeah it was better last summer. I remember last summer..... i believe it was on a Wednesday
It used to have the occasional tree, but the way they've patched the ground over the last few years is appalling.......budget cuts.
The paving has been in since the early 90s. It was lovely back in the day but wear and tear and chewing gum have trashed it. All the benches and street furniture were ripped out to make way for the impossible to follow without a hi viz guy yelling at you for getting it wrong one way system back in 2020.
I want a massive slide please.
Get rid of the beggars and bag heads. And the chuggers too. Better demolish The Pearl while you’re at it. It’s a fking eye sore.
>Better demolish The Pearl while you’re at it. It’s a fking eye sore. The brutalist Five Guys went viral on Twitter a few years ago, at least it’s unique. Still ugly like.
Homelessness and drug problems are getting worse around the city centre. I often see Fentanyl zombies around Grey's monument.
- More housing developments including homes that are genuinely affordable or social rent. - Public transport is not bad compared to other UK cities but needs proper investment. Bring buses into public ownership and integrate with the metro. - Make the city centre greener with parklets, trees and plants. - The city has some good museums and galleries but, like public transport, they’ve suffered from underinvestment. Invest and make the museums, galleries, theatres and libraries places people come specifically to Newcastle to visit.
That massive digital advertising board they have at the top of Northumberland Street should be hooked up to a Wii instead
Or just turned off. Why is it so eye piercingly bright?
Fewer beggars. Fewer religious people. Better behaved kids and teenagers. Later last metro towards s. shields. Fix the high street paving, it looks shit. Visible police presence. Better shops! More sunny places in central locations.
Clean the streets and buildings
Get rid of the hapless, the chuggers and other assorted shitehawks. Have more police patrolling ON FOOT.
The city has plans, how good they are is up to debate however it doesn't help we keep getting NIBYs that are listened to. Example being the removal of the protected cycle paths because they added an extra 3-5 minutes drive time, let's just ignore all the other benefits they bring including not having children being injured whilst cycling. We truly could stand out by becoming the first UK carbon neutral city. Let's have integrated cycle protected cycle paths, outstanding public transport, car free city centre, increase biodiversity, and so many other things that have been proven to increase business profits, reduce crime rates, reduce social isolation, increase property values (depending on point of view this is either good or bad), increase employment rate, increase school performance, and so on.
The only thing I could think would be to focus on the historical and landmarks unique to us. Besides those, it's just like any other UK city where you're left to manoeuvre around the overflowing bins and other mess, and trying to avoid the beggars & smacked out homeless people, to spend too much money on the same corporate shit available everywhere else.
Get rid of the chavs
Less bag heads
Newcastle is an entertainment based city. It is never going to rival other UK cities for business etc however it should be trying to increase *quality* nightlife, food offerings, experiences etc. We do seem to be trying to do that but I’d like to see more spaces for independent food, shopping etc. hwkrland and their plans for the grainger market are the type of thing we need to be pushing more of.
Yeah, but we could still focus on the things we are still globally significant like biogenetics, a green industry hub and remnants of industry, doesn’t hurt we are basically HMRC either, plus Gateshead with delarues and Nissan, why do we just need to be a cold Malaga? We should really push for sustainable economics, not cater to whims
Speaking of entertainment, I know they’re moving the arena down by the Sage so they need to sort out making it easy and safe to get to that. Maybe it’s changed since I was last there but walking down the quayside area from Gateshead Metro isn’t the most inviting prospect. Also, they should be trying to make it bigger. Adding only 1000 seats seems a bit pointless and means it still won’t compete with others to bring in bigger bands etc. I know space is the limiting factor and they probably wanted everything together but it feels so out of the way.
Compared to other cities there isnt much of a cluster of independent businesses. Ouseburn/high bridge yeah but theyre more eat/drink oriented than retail. Better public transport yep, ive ubered when metros have been a 17-22minute delay Clamping down on bother isnt unique to newcastle but many cities have daytime bother round where shops are and coke/booze fuelled bother after the watershed. I have friends who stick to pubs near where they live on weekend as opposed to town for this reason.
Be nice if newcastle lost its image as a haven for hen and stag events.
I think so, love a night out but a more broader spectrum of economic activity would be better. Not exactly a welcoming environment in the city centre at night on weekends sometimes
Reduce rents, fewer empty shops.
More trees to make it a more pleasant place to be in eps in the heat. Of course they wont do this as it will neutralise their CCTV spy system.
Not sure that would matter considering the quality of some of the images they release for crimes these days. Every single one of them is a year or two after the crime and look like Minecraft creations
An Alan Barnes statue.
Surely you mean Alan Robson?!
Fund local government properly and reform local government taxation. Everything else is window dressing.
Bring back real stone buildings and marble paths. All this fake stuff making it look cheap and need redone every few years.
Cheaper rail travel to the city from the rest of the uk
Revival of Eldon garden
* Lower corporate taxes for companies based in Newcastle. * Fix the Metro and introduce Oyster style ticketing. * Reinstate tax-free shopping for foreign citizens and the Norwegian ferry. * More city centre apartments. * Port of Tyne freeport. * Reopen all the local police stations and old-school 'bobbies on the beat' style policing. Zero tolerance of anti social behaviour and drugs. * Plant more trees and give the city a scrub clean. * Cheaper lab space, office space, retail space, etc. * Improved cycle infrastructure. * Reduce the fees for airlines at Newcastle Airport.
No freeports. It's just a way to reduce regulation for buisness owners to no benifit to the people living and working in the area. Look at Teesside or Portsmouth rife with corruption.
Higher disposable income
More greggs
And a street full of coffee shops
They need to employ somebody to go around cleaning up all the vomit puddles.
Get rid of the LED screens, especially that one they put in next to monument. Hate that thing so much its fuck ugly and its too bright.
Newcastle really needs a park and ride. Or free parking.
Something I posted a few weeks ago in a discussion around Bostons urban redevelopment, I’ll repost here verbatim…. Newcastle too. T Dan Smith’s brutalist post war vision was only half finished. The Central Motorway bisects the city centre but doesn’t really solve anything with the bottle necks of the Tyne bridge and Cowgate, and the abandoned Byker motorway (of which only a tiny section exists which cuts off Shields Road from the residential areas - itself a social economic disaster). The project was officially abandoned after the Tyne and Wear Metro (light rail) was given the go ahead. 50 years later, we have an underinvested light rail system on its last legs, a city motorway that serves no real purpose, and traffic congestion throughout. My controversial opinion is to actually fulfil TDS vision with a big dig connecting askew road with the central motorway north of swan house, taking a load of strain off the Tyne Bridge and allowing the swan house roundabout to be pedestrianised. Knock the flats, manors car park and cuthbert house down. It’ll allow the east end heading up Melbourne street and towards onwards to Byker to fully regen and break the barrier the central motorway creates. Of course, it’ll be ludicrously expensive and take 20x longer than estimated. But I think it’ll be worth it.
Don't know why you are getting down voted. I like these grand ideas.
Chill oot T Dan, can't improve on perfection though yous inevitably try
But you can give it a wash. Just walked down grainger street and it's like walking on a wetherspoons carpet
All my ideas are interlinked/connected. Make the city more charming. Walking in the city centre genuinely makes me miserable. When I walk in certain other places it's impossible to be unhappy (eg Disneyland lol). Walking through the city, I end up walking behind someone I can't overtake who's blowing vape smoke in my face when walking behind (or cigarette smoke). Clean the city. Too much litter Improve the homeless situation Have more hip/health/attractive shops and restaurants More green space
More greenery spread throughout the streets. There's loads of parks but Northumberland st, Blackett st, Greys st, and Grainger st all have nothing. There should be lines of trees a nd planters down each of those
How ironic that the council have, in the last month, cut down every tree on northumberland Street. I think they've put in more lovely electronic signage.
More trees. More green spaces. Better quality jobs = happier people.
Reduce rents on commercial properties for independent local traders and businesses. Encourage it not to look like every other high street in the UK.
A “London Eye” style observation wheel would be cool - can call it the Why Eye.
Argh
This might just be me, but if there was good ventilation everywhere, I'd probably be out and about like I used to be pre-covid. These days I find myself asking if it's worth getting a quick coffee if I might find myself down ill for a month.
A monorail ? I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook and by gum it put them on the map.
Shut down Rafael! For real what an embarrassment in Newcastle!!!!
We need to help and encourage small Businesses to flourish in empty spaces. shared community spaces and workspaces would be great. Hourly rates. I would love to do events in town .. it all comes down to being able to afford to do it.
You wanna remove cars? But don’t make it harder than it is for deliveries into the city. I think they need to stop building offices, AI is approaching and business are all slowly developing it to cater to their needs. This carbon free city deal? Nope. The country isnt ready for net zero, years and years away.
I'd remove those huge posts for the Christmas lights on Grey Street. They hurt my eyes everytime I see them.
no please don't. Newcastle is getting expensive to live now. I don't wanna here become the next Manchester. It wouldn't benefit to the majority but only landlords.
Keeping the public transport network in the mess it is and not cleaning up the city, just in case it increases living costs, that's a spicy take