The Piccadilly Gardens Problem

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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...
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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