up the road

dardevle

hi guys....being a slow night tonight an all got me thinking, and
i began to wonder with all the changes to the town in the 'tiger era'
and all the changes that are 'planned'(i use the term loosely)and seeing that by and large the majority of posters on here seem to be well
informed and fair knowledgable;),just where do ye see the town/city in
5 or 10 years time.....wine street car park??eastern river crossing???
o'connell street pedestrianisation/regeneration??retail park????
lissadell house:eek:etc etc....what are your predictions for the future of this
fair borough? and maybe more importantly what would you like to see happen(or not) in the future.

gino85

id like to see o connell street opened again, sligo town isnt big enough in my opinion to have a main street closed off like that, it also makes any emergancy trips to the hospital that little bit longer from the south side of the town and takes longer for fire brigade longer to get to the north side, with the emergancy services im sure every second counts in those situation, might also ease traffic up abit as there is multiple choices to get around the town, the one way sistem around the glass house works well though

Big_Mac

O Connell St should stay padestrianised. The footpaths are too narrow to manage the number of people walking. Now, what the SHOULD do is have automated bollards like shop st in Galway where the close at a certain time etc... Also they could be lowered remotely if emergency services needed access rather than fiddling with locks. Still, that's only a good idea

Realistically, with the way things are going I envisage Sligo ending up like a ghost town after the gold has dried up. Shops everywhere closed and tumbleweeds blowing all over the place

starbelgrade

Big_Mac wrote: »

O Connell St should stay padestrianised. The footpaths are too narrow to manage the number of people walking. Now, what the SHOULD do is have automated bollards like shop st in Galway where the close at a certain time etc... Also they could be lowered remotely if emergency services needed access rather than fiddling with locks. Still, that's only a good idea

I agree with that.

jimmmy

dardevle wrote: »

hi guys....being a slow night tonight an all got me thinking, and
i began to wonder with all the changes to the town in the 'tiger era'
and all the changes that are 'planned'(i use the term loosely)and seeing that by and large the majority of posters on here seem to be well
informed and fair knowledgable;),just where do ye see the town/city in
5 or 10 years time.....wine street car park??eastern river crossing???
o'connell street pedestrianisation/regeneration??retail park????
lissadell house:eek:etc etc....what are your predictions for the future of this
fair borough? and maybe more importantly what would you like to see happen(or not) in the future.

Hopefuuly the town centre redevelopment which planning permission finally came through for a few months ago will go ahead, esp. now that building costs are coming down bigtime. Tesco, Dunnes, Penneys are anchor tenants , and with a huge new multistorey car park will attract visitors from out of town.

The eastern river crossing will not happen.

A retail park is needed close to the town centre ( but will probably not happen, as the planners have allowed parks in different obscure locations without critical mass populations eg Duncans island, Carraroe , Cleveragh, Collooney.....does the average shopper from surrounding counties ,for example, know about them, go to them ? ) I heard there was talk of building one where the Brooks timber yard was, close to the town centre + inner relief road. Much more accessable than Carraroe or Cleveragh for most people. I can see oil / petrol becoming expensive in 10 / 20 / 30 years time, and towns / cities need to have ammenities / facilities not too far spaced apart. I can see public transport becoming more common, as economic times tighten. Just my guess for the future.

zonEEE

Summer Hill College ?

NEVER

starbelgrade

I'd like to see Sligo town mostly pedestianised with lots of vibrant & cosmopolitan bars, shops, cafes & tapas bars.. a more bohemian look than a "shanty" look... decent retail "out of town" shopping & entertainment and lots of investment & development in local communities.

But that'll nver happen. And do you know who's to blame for this "global economic downturn" ("what recession" says Africa!)..... YES - it was caused by a pop star. A very famous pop star... David Bowie nonetheless...


Back in 1997 Bowie came up with the idea of selling his projected royalties income in the form of ‘Bowie Bonds'.


In other words, Bowie realised he would have a steady stream of money coming in from the sale of his music but rather than wait for it to accrue, he sold the rights to the future earnings so he could withdraw a large cash sum there and then. This became known as ‘securitisation'.


Towards the end of the 1990s, the banks began to adopt a similar model but on a much much larger scale.


But instead of selling royalties in the case of Bowie, they began to sell on mortgages that they had loaned to their customers.


The premise was that the buyer of the loans would have a guaranteed income from the interest on the repayments and the banks would take an upfront cash sum in return.


Banks were lending out huge bundles of loans in the guise of contracts, giving the buyer the rights to the future repayments on those loans.


The problems began when loans were given to people who were then unable to pay them back. This caused many of these contracts to be rendered worthless and a lot of this bad debt had to be written off, causing the financial system to lose billions of pounds.



Did Bowie cause the credit crunch? Yes!

takola

How does a thread on where you see Sligo in 5/10 years derail into how David Bowie caused the recession?

Only in the Sligo forum. Seriously!

Big_Mac

starbelgrade wrote: »

I'd like to see Sligo town mostly pedestianised with lots of vibrant & cosmopolitan bars, shops, cafes & tapas bars.. a more bohemian look than a "shanty" look... decent retail "out of town" shopping & entertainment and lots of investment & development in local communities.

But that'll nver happen. And do you know who's to blame for this "global economic downturn" ("what recession" says Africa!)..... YES - it was caused by a pop star. A very famous pop star... David Bowie nonetheless...


Back in 1997 Bowie came up with the idea of selling his projected royalties income in the form of ‘Bowie Bonds'.


In other words, Bowie realised he would have a steady stream of money coming in from the sale of his music but rather than wait for it to accrue, he sold the rights to the future earnings so he could withdraw a large cash sum there and then. This became known as ‘securitisation'.


Towards the end of the 1990s, the banks began to adopt a similar model but on a much much larger scale.


But instead of selling royalties in the case of Bowie, they began to sell on mortgages that they had loaned to their customers.


The premise was that the buyer of the loans would have a guaranteed income from the interest on the repayments and the banks would take an upfront cash sum in return.


Banks were lending out huge bundles of loans in the guise of contracts, giving the buyer the rights to the future repayments on those loans.


The problems began when loans were given to people who were then unable to pay them back. This caused many of these contracts to be rendered worthless and a lot of this bad debt had to be written off, causing the financial system to lose billions of pounds.



Did Bowie cause the credit crunch? Yes!

Sub prime Mortgages. People in the US loved it. They took out mortgages they knew they couldn't afford, and the guys selling them knew it too. They got a free house for 6 months before the eviction proceedigns would start, and another few months before they get kicked out, so they got a free house for a year or so.

Who wouldn't do that?

I'll be back on topic from now on, I promise.

Oh by the way, this post is jinxed. Its my 666th post.

starbelgrade

takola wrote: »

How does a thread on where you see Sligo in 5/10 years derail into how David Bowie caused the recession?

Only in the Sligo forum. Seriously!

I'd a few beers last night - that'll explain that!

CR7

dardevle wrote: »

..what would you like to see happen(or not) in the future.

Cork recently went through a revamp before playing host as the capital city of culture, they made a great job of their traffic ways. Oliver Plunket St. is an example of how we could bring life back to O Connell St, allowing a single lane of cars down after 6pm.

dardevle

CR7 wrote: »

Cork recently went through a revamp before playing host as the capital city of culture, they made a great job of their traffic ways. Oliver Plunket St. is an example of how we could bring life back to O Connell St, allowing a single lane of cars down after 6pm.

rather like that idea or some sort of variation on it like big mac
suggested in an earlier post...think for the o'connell street area to succeed some kind of vehicle/pedestrian compromise would suit it.

Big_Mac

dardevle wrote: »

rather like that idea or some sort of variation on it like big mac
suggested in an earlier post...think for the o'connell street area to succeed some kind of vehicle/pedestrian compromise would suit it.

I disagree. If The street was opened up to traffic again it would cause problems for the current traffic flow. Before the one way systems were in place before it was a night mare and you were guaranteed to be stuck in traffic for ages when its busy. Its a bit better now, and putting traffic down o connel st again would cause congestion. That plus it'll give the boy racers their lap back again

tuppence

I think it would be a real shame if they were to roll back on O Connell street pedestrinisation. Was the first step to put people before cars and inject a bit of life into the centre. Been great for people with kids, more accessible for disabled people etc I hope it continues and they build on making it vibrant, do more gigs lke the save the cancer services ones etc.

Also would like to see the market in Rockwood parade more regularly there with local craftspeople and veg/ fruit and cheese stalls etc May tempt people to get in and around Sligo and make it more attractive for visitors.

jimmmy

tuppence wrote: »

Also would like to see the market in Rockwood parade more regularly there with local craftspeople and veg/ fruit and cheese stalls etc

Moore street type stall are not the way forward. Besides, it would not be fair to the shopkeepers who try to sell fruit + veg, and who pay rates + rent 365 days a year, to have traders on Rockwood parade selling fruit + veg.

tuppence

jimmmy wrote: »

Moore street type stall are not the way forward. Besides, it would not be fair to the shopkeepers who try to sell fruit + veg, and who pay rates + rent 365 days a year, to have traders on Rockwood parade selling fruit + veg.

Just spotted in todays Champion there is already some proposals afoot to have a market on Stephen street car park! (Hurrah!)
It would be the organic market et al thats currently at the IT? Certainly woudlnt be keen on shopkeepers going out of business but there isnt too many that I can see selling good local food stuff apart from the little veg place in Wine street car park. Cerainly not too many selling organic I would have thought. Otherwise its off to the giant retailers that import in veg. (carbon footprint and all that marlarky) Any trader would have to pay for a stall and if you make Sligo an attractive place visually to browse in etc I am sure it would have postive reverberations for alot of local resident businesses too. :)

jimmmy

Car parks are for cars. Decreasing car parking space in Sligo is not what its about and definitely not the way forward. There are plenty of empty shops in Sligo for those who wish to start selling there. Its not the third world - yet.

tuppence

jimmmy wrote: »

Car parks are for cars. Decreasing car parking space in Sligo is not what its about and definitely not the way forward. There are plenty of empty shops in Sligo for those who wish to start selling there. Its not the third world - yet.

I was thinking more Bruges myself!
Yes car parks are for cars but once a month or so wouldnt hurt. I still think rockwood parade a better bet anyway.
The reasons why theres loads of empty shops in Sligo are numerous and political too eg bad planning, bad market research, reliance perhaps on external retailers with no loyalty to the area.....High rental may be one of those reasons too. Anyway, Theres a whole tread about it. Suppose the time could be ripe for looking beyond the conventional and looking toward trying to support local producers in more flexible way while trying to make Sligo a nicer place to visit and repond to what the public appear to wish. (he french market has been very popular the last couple of years).

jimmmy

tuppence wrote: »

Yes car parks are for cars but once a month or so wouldnt hurt.

Once a month would do nothing for the local economy or for local car parking. The I.T. car park is where it belongs. Car parks in Sligo are for cars. Pavements and parhways are for people. Shops pay rates, taxes and rent.

tuppence

jimmmy wrote: »

Once a month would do nothing for the local economy or for local car parking. The I.T. car park is where it belongs. Car parks in Sligo are for cars. Pavements and parhways are for people. Shops pay rates, taxes and rent.

Okay you twisted my arm lets let have it twice a month since you ask! Market traders will be paying charges,which will feed back into the tax system. Re the car parks; Is the I.T car park not for cars then?! I am losing the rules here!
And as for pavements I am in agreement they are for people. Didnt think pavements were mentioned here though. Unless you mean Rockwood parade: (I thought Rockwood parade pedestrian only until I've almost been run down a few times! )
I think we will agree to differ about the type of place we want Sligo to be. However, I would have thought that Sligo chamber of commerce would have wanted dancing bears and giraffes on tightropes over the garavogue at the moment if it were to bring the buying public in.

jimmmy

tuppence wrote: »

Okay you twisted my arm lets let have it twice a month since you ask! Market traders will be paying charges,which will feed back into the tax system.

Very little charges, it would generate as much revenue as ash on the ashtray of a motorbikey

tuppence wrote: »

Re the car parks; Is the I.T car park not for cars then?! I am losing the rules here!

Much of the I.T. car park is otherwise empty on Saturdays. The opposite is true in Sligo ; Saturday is a busy shopping day, where the nearby shops need car parking spaces for shoppers...thats what they pay rates etc for

tuppence wrote: »

(I thought Rockwood parade pedestrian only until I've almost been run down a few times! )

I agree Rockwood parade is too narrow / not meant for Moore st stalls.