Thinking outside the box - a better use for our High Streets, housing, cafes, bars

some good ideas here,something has to be done.In my town,the old BHS is still empty,and now we have a Beales too,that is a huge building.I don't however agree with the idea that we all have cars.I haven't,and a lot of others have to use buses too.It's easier for us to go into town than to out of town shopping.I think we need shops in a town centre,but incorporate other ideas too,large empty buildings are so depressing.

My nearest town centre has already been converting upper floors of retail units into living accommodation. Even some pubs upper floors are now flats.
One building, that for many years was a building society and has stood empty since the building society was taken over by a bank. It has now been converted into accommodation, including a central hub for homeless people of the town.
They are then either given somewhere to sleep in that building , or found a more permanent place in one of the several hostels or bedsits and flats around the town.
The main problem is with an empty Marks and Spencers, Beales and possibly Debenhams, big retail shops are now empty, hopefully sleeping to be in use at some point in the future.
It is quite surprising that one of the big stores that has refused to have an online presence beyond a website just for information is still going great guns on the High Street - a case of if you want it, you have to go and get it !

Well gillybob, I live in the North West and worked for the civil service for the last part of my working life I really get fed up with people thinking public sector workers get guaranteed income and pensions. I can say that people at the top grades do get great pensions but not the ordinary Joe Bloggs working under them. My pension is a pittance, it would pay for a special meal out for hubbie and me and thats it. I also paid monthly into my pension, you dont get it for nothing As for guaranteed income, I didnt have any increase in pay for 6 years whilst private sector workers got 1 or 2% . Please don't lump us in the same boat as MP's , trust me, its very different.

Actually our town has done this with several buildings already. Think it’s a great idea

Basically, it seems a good idea.
Certainly all these empty shops will have to be used for something. Turning them into accommodation seems the obvious choice. Much better than destroying more of the countryside for new houses.

Any town planners on GN, I wonder?

Yes I agree sounds like an excellent idea Peardrop needs to be adapted to the needs of different areas but something needs to happen. Space for small independent shops would be good as well.

I think these suggestions are good. One town I know that had an empty shop in a shopping mall set it up with table tennis, that seemed to go down quite well.

What about having cooking workshops sponsored by supermarkets donating and promoting produce and if they were to take off, maybe other workshops where sought after skills could be honed.

Bartering shops, take a leaf out of the way trade is done in the Middle East, where retailers could offload stock that they were having trouble shifting and members of the public could haggle the price down. I wonder how much stock from any area of retail is never sold?

Going back to the OP, I agree, I think there has to be other ways to revitalise the high street and any strategy would need to be tailored to suit local communities.

They’ve always had flats above shops haven’t they? I lived above a launderette some 40 odd years ago. Very warm and noisy.

I've thought this for years. It would also give tradesman needed jobs. Another thing needed would be a good library!

Rather like the way that general hospitals have been built on the outskirts of towns making them difficult to access for those without transport.

When the local hospital committee discussed moving the women and children’s services 15 miles away, the committee were surprised to learn that not everybody had their own transport and the bus service was limited and went via a circuitous route through numerous housing estate.

Its the norm for flats above shops here we had tenements with shops under them where I was born in Glasgow Our town council has moved its offices into the town centre to encourage staff to use local shops,cafes etc in their break.Sadly they also moved a care home OUT of the centre .Where its situated now at the top of a steep hill doesn't encourage the occupants to get out at all .Where they were before they could walk the half mile into town or hop on a busfrom outside their door.Councils sometimes appear to be run by people without sense .

I hope that something is done with town centres, as otherwise we will all end up as isolated as we have been in lockdown.

If more people continue to work from home as predicted, and if leisure activities continue to be curtailed, town and city centres will become ghost towns. Retail is on the way out, other than for convenience items and perishables - growing numbers of people do most of their shopping online.

I think we need to see what happens with the virus. If we reach a point where it is possible to socialise again, then I think having offices converted to living space is a good idea, and shops can become spaces for leisure- eateries, arts venues, sport centres etc. As long as we have to keep distant from one another though, nobody is going to invest.

I think we need to move away from the idea that anything is built around the expectation that people will use cars though. We need to discourage single use of cars and invest in safe, cheap and clean public transport, and this would be a good opportunity to do so.

Living above a shop (or rather an empty boarded up premises) in my town would be worse than scary . The place is like a ghost town .

I live above a shop in the middle of town, with tall trees behind my flat. My neighbours, all living above shops, range from students to retired people like me. It's a lovely, vibrant way to live and it's utilising the otherwise vacant spaces above shop premises. Because we back on to a hill we all have outside spaces at the rear, some have patios or decking, others have gardens. I'm one minute away from buses so I've been able to give up my car, saving valuable money. Previously I lived among my own age group and hated it. I love the variety of ages here.

Our shopping centre has many empty units planned to be let as independent shops, craft and community spaces. Not a bad plan and I can see sense in yours peardrop. A plea to include lifts inside and a balcony plus some green open space outside, flat dwellers need some air from time to time. Car parking is essential too. Also please think twice before converting old high rise office blocks into tiny apartments, no outside space tiny, square rooms, poor sound insulation. There are three such in the town we moved from. Dire.

Good idea in theory and for some.
As far as I’m concerned, living in the middle of a town or city with everyone buzzing around outside would be my idea of hell.

Here in the North East we have the highest unemployment in the U.K. and sadly soon to get so much higher .

The only people with any money in these parts are the public sector workers with their guaranteed income and pensions . The shops in the “high street” (it’s almost a joke even calling it that) are almost all gone now .

I love your ideas Peardrop and they may just work in the more affluent areas of the country but they are not for the forgotten areas of the U.K.

Excellent idea Peardrop. The high street will never be the same so local councils will have to come up with something otherwise they will be even more desolate. There is a housing shortage so why not have houses/apartments in the town centres.

DH has been saying the same thing as Peardrop for years now.We need a new lease of life and some innovative and imaginative town planning.

Maybe I'd be with them MaizieD. Can always lie in in the morning when they've gone off to work or uni.

For those not familiar with London, click on these two links. The first is The Royal Arcade in Mayfair and the second is Leadenhall Market in the financial area.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Arcade,_London#:~:text=The%20Royal%20Arcade%2C%20in%20the,to%2028%20Old%20Bond%20Street.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadenhall_Market
A lot of City Centres have the faceless, bland and same old, same old feel. But The Victorians did shopping in style and their shopping centres have stood the test of time. Just see for yourselves.

In my nearest city they’ve built two centres that pivot at 90 degrees to the old shopping area. People flock to the new malls that are under cover, have modern shops, toilets, inside waiting areas for public transport etc while tumble weed rolls down what was the premier shopping street.

They’ll never tempt people that scurrying along in the wind and rain and wrestling with prams or mobility issues in old fashioned premises is a better proposition. The rates for these so-called premises are sky high, and no one can afford to start a business.

They need to cut their losses and do as the OP suggests - make the area liveable again, something I’ve long thought a sensible solution.

Peardrop50

I like the idea of mixing young people with us olds in a pleasant social situation to create a better understanding between the generations.

I'm not sure if you'd like it when they're shouting and screaming at 2 a.m in the street beneath your flat after a great evening's drinking...

I've thought for years that town centres should revert to residential areas

Good to hear that there are already moves towards this idea so come on, lets perfect it, thinking caps on.