Why Aren’t More High Streets Like Liverpool?
These pictures were taken early on a sunny morning in Liverpool’s main shopping street.
No buses, cars and taxis, only a few deliveries and little street clutter.
Imagine Oxford Street like this. Except you can’t as it’s not wide enough!
Both my local High Streets; Angel and Dalston are even main routes for trucks.
The Anonymous Widower 
The answer is in the photos. It is a sunny morning about 10 – 10:30 and this is the centre of one of the UK’s most important cities, but is it bustling? – not really. What about the shops? Blank shop fronts, empty units, to let signs proliferate.
In central Liverpool at least people can get there by public transport, but if you do this in the suburbs the results are worse. Edgeley in Stockport was pedestrianised several years ago and most of its parking became chargeable. Despite Stockport being relatively prosperous people stayed away. Vacancy rates rocketed to 30% – sixth worst in the country and values slumped. Big stores pulled out, small ones just closed.
So the simple answer is people don’t want it and vote with their feet (or cars).
Comment by Mark Clayton | March 27, 2017 |