The Piccadilly Gardens Problem - new development proposal (P32)

The walk to and from Picc Station is usually an ordeal , must be one of the busiest in the country and half of it is blocked by sandwich boards, phone card sellers and homeless people begging or sleeping. Anyone arriving by rail on a first visit must get a very negative impression.
 
City centres in England tend to be pretty shocking, though Piccadilly Gardens takes the biscuit. Central European & Eastern European cities should be the template. Might as well pave over Piccadilly as its a dump. Best case make it a park, green area - this won't happen of course as it costs money to maintain & council taxes won't support it. Secondly pedestrianise the roads around our Town Hall & make that the focal point with decent cafes & bars, this amazing building could be the centre of our Marienplatz with some investment. Again won't happen until Manchester has more autonomy to do this without relying on Central government/private investment
 
What is the deal with security at shambles ? do the bars all chuck in for the security at the front ?
Do that at picc, the cafe bars would be heaving so they would earn enough to pay for decent security.
 
foxy said:
I remember walking through Picaddilly Gardens on a night out and seeing the fat woman squatting down taking a piss in the middle of Piccadilly Gardens.
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That would have been my grandma
 
TCIB said:
What is the deal with security at shambles ? do the bars all chuck in for the security at the front ?
Do that at picc, the cafe bars would be heaving so they would earn enough to pay for decent security.
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Yes, the Wellie and Sinclairs share the cost ...
 
I used to love the gardens, when they flattened it out it was ruined, couldn't hide a spliff or skate anymore. Now it's a mess, they could at least turf it right and that monstrosity (not the wall, but that too) that faces Portland St should be demolished. For such a prime location, it's a shithole.
 
I think the town hall area should be the focal point of Manchester, theyll need to close off all the roads around it though which wont happen. It could look amazing with a bit of work.
Piccadilly gardens though..shithole. I often imagine what people must think stepping out of Piccadilly train station, from there down to Piccadilly gardens is horrible. I think its stupid that all the shit bars like Wave Bar, Yates' are on Portland street too, as thats the first major street visitors will come too when leaving the train station. If those are peoples first experiences of Manchester boozers then i doubt theyll ever come back.
 
I haven't been to town for years. I used to be there all the time for work and pleasure. To say I was shocked would be a massive understatement.
I needed to visit some time last year, so decided to try the Metrolink for the first time. On arrival, I nearly didn't get off. I thought I had somehow gotten on the wrong tram. I'm not joking, I thought I had arrived in a eastern block city. Words cannot describe my emotions of shock and anger. How could anybody have approved the plans for that mess. I mean, somebody should be hauled into the courts for destroying a public space.
Somebody must have been paid a large backhander for that huge office block in the middle, and as for that wall...what the actual fuck?

I cannot see the gardens being put back, but the space needs to be opened up again and more greenery added. Maybe a massive fountain in the middle?
 
The place is a tip and is full of absolute pond life. In the last 3 months I’ve seen some chav throw a glass bottle which narrowly missed this woman’s head and this fat bird squat and take a slash right in this middle of the place in front of everybody.


It’s just an angry pit for the dregs of society to congregate.
 
foxy said:
The place is a tip and is full of absolute pond life. In the last 3 months I’ve seen some chav throw a glass bottle which narrowly missed this woman’s head and this fat bird squat and take a slash right in this middle of the place in front of everybody.


It’s just an angry pit for the dregs of society to congregate.
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Thanks I go their weekly
 
The gardens suffer from it being a bus terrminal, as for that plan to remove the wall and wood pannel the cafe nero area then fair enough, but the gardens and fountain need digging up and completely redesigning
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...-news/new-images-show-how-piccadilly-11056289

This is what the ' gardens' could look like in the future. The wall is finally coming down to be replaced potentially by another wall like structure. I want to see trees, flowers and green space, move all the drug dealers away swell
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It is still far too much concrete expanse .... The real problem is though, they could turn it into exactly as it used to be, flower beds, grassed lawns, benches etc, but it wouldn't last long, as they will never pay for the upkeep and maintenance it must have had in it's heyday. In addition it would also need nowadays security to keep the dickheads/vandals from destroying it, again no way will they stump up for that either.
 
I try to avoid the area if I can. As already mentioned, it is not only an ugly area but it attracts some right shithouses. I feel more comfortable walking down an alleyway at night that's unlit than in Picc gardens. I feel sorry for the people who have to commute by bus late at night from there, that 24 hour arcade thing has a lot to answer for as well.

Is it the cynic in me that believes the reason why the bus terminus is no longer a covered building and is a collection of "shelters" is to deter the homeless getting their heads down rather than some ' Contemporary, open-plan, aesthetic' bollocks?

Granted it's been that way for as long as I can remember but have you waited for a bus at night in Piccadilly when you're tired and it's pissing it down with the good old Manchester wind blasting you too? it isn't pleasant..
 
The walk from Piccadilly station down to the Arndale is pretty fucking tragic to be fair. Anybody arriving off the train for the first time could be forgiven for thinking they'd travelled back in time. It gets better of course but you'd think the council would try harder to make people's first impression a little more positive.
 
Originally posted by legolamb on the Piccadilly Gardens & Wall thread, Skyscrapercity - Manchester

Welcome to the heart of Manchester city centre - a wide open patch of land struggling to sort itself out. Piccadilly Gardens is not a city square, but it's certainly not a gardens. You can't sit here and enjoy some peace and quiet from the hectic city around you. You can't gather here in any decent number for celebrations, parades, protests or public speaking. It's hard to flow through on foot, and it doesn't invite you to sit down. It's surrounded by buses, tramlines and derelict retail units. And a fence. And it has a concrete wall. And it's never really been much better in the past either - from slurry pits to lunatic asylums, from ducking stools to suicide.

Please note, this video started as a simple 'history of' video until I started filming it. It's now a long moan with some sarcastic music thrown over the top. Enjoy!


 
Phil1 said:
The walk from Piccadilly station down to the Arndale is pretty fucking tragic to be fair. Anybody arriving off the train for the first time could be forgiven for thinking they'd travelled back in time. It gets better of course but you'd think the council would try harder to make people's first impression a little more positive.
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It's a dump. Some junkie two weeks ago decided it was a good idea to grab a chocolate bar out of my sons hand, He laughed and said "Can I have a bite?"...
I had a pop at him and gave him a slight push and the weasel fell over. Not safe at all people walking from the station into town.
 
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