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What's the future for Sligo?

BenBulben18

I'm a new poster here, but not new to Sligo (although not from Sligo). I was hoping to get people's opinions on what they think the future is for the town. Was pretty shocked to read recently that there's been no actual population growth in the town itself since 2001, and that made me wonder where it would be in 20 years time, what with everything being Leinster focussed now.

The town seems to have great schools and a vibrant teenage population, and offers a fair amount of culture. There's a huge lack of private sector companies though, and that's one of the things that has to change as I see it. Also, I think a full motorway to Dublin would make a difference in terms of attracting people to the town.

Retail-wise, I don't really get it. In the last 3 to 5 years alone, there's been so many shops that opened and closed, not to mention older businesses closing, which is always a bad thing. But you have to ask, are people doing long-term feasibility studies before they open a shoe shop, sweet shop etc? Surely it's obvious the long-term business just isn't there?

I've always felt property was expensive here relative to the employment opps on offer, and to be honest, I think we can forget further property development in the town if there isn't an increase in population.

One of the areas of great potential imo is Sligo's natural resources. You think about everything on offer (trails, wild atlantic way, water sports, potential greenways etc.) and how that could be exploited to transform the area, but nobody (coco, chamber of commerce etc.) seems to be running with it...

It all makes me wonder what the future is here and how it can be sustained as a town.
Any views?

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"Eddie Rockets style diner" coming next door to the cinema

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/new-restaurant-for-wine-st-36998880.html

[Deleted User]

_feedback_ wrote: »

"Eddie Rockets style dinner" coming next door to the cinema

https://m.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/new-restaurant-for-wine-st-36998880.html

Great another restaurant *sarcasm*:rolleyes:

mano79

Vlove wrote: »

Great another restaurant *sarcasm*:rolleyes:

I would have thought this would be good for town. A diner beside the cinema you would think it would do well. Its probably one of the things thats missing in town - an affordable hang out spot for young people and couples heading out to cinema etc. Supermacs and McDonalds are based out of town and the 4Lanterns is not exactly the cool hang out spot so the options are limited at the min

red sean

When units lie idle people post sarcastic remarks on here, and when a unit is being re-opened the exact same happens.
A classic no-win situation.
If the opening of this unit leads to just 2 jobs, then it's great news.
But sure why give up the opportunity for a bit of negativity!

Andy From Sligo

red sean wrote: »

When units lie idle people post sarcastic remarks on here, and when a unit is being re-opened the exact same happens.
A classic no-win situation.
If the opening of this unit leads to just 2 jobs, then it's great news.
But sure why give up the opportunity for a bit of negativity!

lest us not forget that everyone should be able to have an opinion on something or anything, even if it doesnt set well with others who have different views and people are not setting out to upset other peoples views or bring the town down by having different views, especially on something that is happening in the town where we live and for a lot of people havent got the luxury to drive or travel to another town if they are not happy how their town is turning out.

I personally think the poster has a point yes there IS too many eating establishments in the town (thats where most probably the sarcasm point comes from) - I dont like empty units, but on the other hand I dont like empty units taken up by cafes/restaurants and other units because that could (granted it couldnt as well) be a unit that could have been taken up by another business / retailer that could even be there longer than an eating establishment could be and pull more shoppers into the town - (because there are only so many eating establishments a town can hold for the footfall that comes to the town and hungry visitors and some will do well... but some will be there for a while and find out they have got so much competition in the way of restaurants and cafes etc )

but saying that I think an Eddie Rockets style eating place will indeed (or should do) do very well there because its in the right location, right next to the cinema , and it seem an ideal place for one (hope its not too costly because it is already costly to buy a cinema ticket and food, and then if you come out and fancy popping next door for a bite to eat then it will end up quite an expensive night out)

In the UK before I left in the 90's cinemas where already expanding and they were no longer just a place to go to watch a movie they realised their was a market for people to have a full experience . in fact the cinema that was only half hours drive from where I lived had 10 screens, a Bar serving , a burger place (like eddie rockets) and a niteclub and a bowling alley all built into the same building of the cinema.

sligoblue

Ah, I don't think there is a shortage of units available for other retailers to choose from. Variety in any sector is good, I think ER's will be a good alternative to McD's/4lights etc and the location next to the cinema, in the town centre is excellent. Must admit, bedrudgers get up my nose, this restaurant will no doubt employ a lot of full time/part time staff, so here's my opinion, if you don't want it, don't go there.

Andy From Sligo

sligoblue wrote: »

Ah, I don't think there is a shortage of units available for other retailers to choose from. Variety in any sector is good, I think ER's will be a good alternative to McD's/4lights etc and the location next to the cinema, in the town centre is excellent. Must admit, bedrudgers get up my nose, this restaurant will no doubt employ a lot of full time/part time staff, so here's my opinion, if you don't want it, don't go there.

is it going to be an eddie rockets though .... or an eddie rockets 'type' restaurant place? - there could be a big difference between the 2

Andy From Sligo

sligoblue wrote: »

.... Must admit, bedrudgers get up my nose,...

really? - cant say begrudgers get up my nose tbh. when i hear others say that other towns have better selection of shops , better parking, cheaper parking, pedestrianised main streets, modernised main streets and street furniture and mentioning that sligo has too many restaurants, cafe's , shoe shops barbers and little else i dont think they are begrudgers i just think they are disappointed that Sligo has been stuck in the past and not moved on like other towns have - thankfully with me I love Sligo town as a whole , the scenery the views the (not overly congested) and generally the whole area of Sligo because its beautiful - but if I get fed up with the shopping (or lack of shops) i can whiz in the car to Ballina , carrick on shannon , Galway, Castlebar and even enniskillen and get my retail fixes there - but feel sorry for the poor old 'begrudgers' that do not have the facility to travel and are just stuck with Sligo Town centre for the shopping .

Ah well if this long awaited revamp of o'connell street ever goes ahead (end of this year isnt it?) that might improve Sligo town greatly. - But if all the empty units are taken up with cafes or un-imaginative shops (when someone goes out shopping who says "oooh I love that town it has lots of cafes and restaurants" - no, they normally say oooh it has a marks and spencers or a big penney's or a Tesco superstore" or any other chains shops (sorry to mention chain stores and I know people should be supporting local businesses and shops but lets be honest, shoppers these day are veering towards all the chain shops thats where the shoppers are going to and supporting these days - if thats what it is veering to (and it is) and Sligo Town centre hasnt got a pull of well known chain shops ... then a lot of people (if they got cars and can travel) are simply going to shop and spend their money at a town which has a lot of well known chain shops.

dingding

One of the things I hate is that in many towns are exactly the same. You have a high street with the types of shops that you mention. I think what Sligo has in its retail offerings is a uniqueness that other towns have and rather than been a negative I think it is a strength.

You have lovely and unique and restaurants like cafe Fleur, sweet beets etc....

Much nicer than a the standard town centers that you meet in a lot of places.

Enniskillen is indistinguishable from a typical UK highstreet with the multitude of charity shops and rebranded weatherspoons. Although the lower part has some nice shops.

Controversial I know but give me Sligo anyday.

Andy From Sligo

dingding wrote: »

One of the things I hate is that in many towns are exactly the same. You have a high street with the types of shops that you mention. I think what Sligo has in its retail offerings is a uniqueness that other towns have and rather than been a negative I think it is a strength.

You have lovely and unique and restaurants like cafe Fleur, sweet beets etc....

Much nicer than a the standard town centers that you meet in a lot of places.

Enniskillen is indistinguishable from a typical UK highstreet with the multitude of charity shops and rebranded weatherspoons. Although the lower part has some nice shops.

Controversial I know but give me Sligo anyday.

Its got to beg the question why? - why do all town look nearly Identical these days with the same old popular shops and loads of well known chains (mostly british , granted) well I am not into marketing but if I am going out on a limb I will say because this model must work ! - and thats why towns have looked at other towns and have welcomed and try to get these big names to come to their towns and set up, and the powers that be have even offered incentives and pulled out all the stops to get these big names that shoppers want in their town ..... and then we have Sligo who in some ways look at other towns and say we want to be original, we dont want to look like other town and high streets .... and then theres the empty units as well and there doesnt seem any enthuisasm of having a piece of the cake/success that other towns have had ... and whats more they know that people are shopping out of town to other towns and they still dont want any of the success of other towns ... because they want to keep it original (some might say outdated in this day of shopping meccas) and even some shoppers and people live in the town dont want it to end up looking like other towns , and then in the past if big stores wanted to open up in sligo they havent been welcomed they have had to face conditiions of where they can set up / operate from then planning permissions turned down (sometimes from other shop owners in the town, looking after their own business and not welcoming competition) so then the shops that pull shoppers into a town have gone to the next town along who have welcomed them with open arms. Yes they may look a carbon copy of other towns and high streets but they have footfall and less empty units

I'd say - if it was done properly and run properly , Sligo could indeed still have its uniqueness and its quaint little local run shops ... but alongside modern shop businesses (and yes chains , why not? - they normally / hopefully employ local people - so although the shoppers money is going to chain stores and not as such to local businesses they are at least most of the time employing / giving employement to local people and the money helps to keep people in jobs still) -

as long as chain stores and big shops are viewed in Sligo as these big horrible monsters and that they are 'taking business away from local shops' and that they are shaping the town centres with their logo's and buildings to make all the towns identical and look all the same (is that really that much of a bad thing?- the chain stores look bright and cheery and clean and improve the look of the area) - well anyway as long as people (people that live in the area and powers that be that have the final say on what the town centre should be/end up like) are saying big stores are taking business away from smaller local stores and that they are making every town look identical ... well then , nothing much will change in Sligo town centre - yes that will please some people that uniqueness ... but what if its a uniqueness of empty units and run down units because the rents and rates are out of the league of local run business to make a long term go of a shop, but are in reach of larger stores / chain stores - then is that a good thing too? ... yes Sligo will not look like all the other 'identical towns' .. but shoppers who should be shopping in their own home town will continue to shop out of the town because Sligo will not have the shops they want to shop in, and get everything they want in one go but nearby towns might have those particular stores that people want (all conveniently grouped together and not one shop here and then another shop they want to get to up the other end of town, dotted all over the place)

I get mixed messages myself .... I get sometimes that sometimes there are people moaning (including officials) that people should shop local, and they dont like local people spending their money in other towns ... but then the other mixed signal I get is that people want Sligo town centre to stay the same and not look like other towns and dont like the chain stores. And then I think its time for Sligo Town Centre and its people to makeup their mind one way or another - does officials and some people living in Sligo want Sligo to stay quaint, unchanged , old fashioned and not modern with a high street that doesnt look like other high street shopping centres in Ireland? ... fine if they do nothing wrong with that ... or do they want Sligo town centre to be a metropolitan , one of the most fantastic shopping hub in the northwest so that people even outside Sligo Town centre want to travel to and shop because it has some fantastic well known shops that people want to shop at and spend money in, and visit not only for the shops but also because Sligo has some great scenery, great beaches mountains and lake and facilities - because I honestly think at this stage , and this is my view, that you cannot really have both I think - not these days. You have to say what you want Sligo Town Centre to be / end up like and then you have to stick to it.

If Sligo town centre ends up a faceless retail hub with a town centre that looks like any other town centre - I welcome it. - If Sligo Town centre ends up being mostly local owned shops and not the popular chains then I will still like it - I am not going to gloss over it, if the local shops are going to be overpriced though because they have high overheads to meet because they are not part of a large organisation , or if they cannot carry the selection because they have only a local shop and not enough floor space then me personally , and i know loyalty goes a long way, but money is still tight these days, I am more than likely going to shop out of town if I cannot get selection of what I want at the price I want it at - I , the same as other people most pobably look into the logics of it (ie spending petrol to hope in the car to the next further away town) I will just require the item at the best possible price and the selection I want in a nice bright clean welcoming environment that the larger shops can offer - obviously I will look locally first in Sligo to see if I can get the item and at the price I want to pay (as I have done for years) but if I dont find it in Sligo or overpriced because its being sold in a local family run business - then I will travel to a town with better shops (as I have done in years) - I know local businesses are suffering and they need all the business they can get or they will close (yes I have heard too many time the saying "use it or loose it" and "shop local, your money stays locally and not goes to a british chain store") yes I have heard those slogans/sayings and I respect them ... but at the end of the day , I like hundreds of other people have to keep an eye on outgoings and shop for the product at the best possible price ... unless you happen to be rich!

redarmyblues

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

really? - who says "oooh I love that town it has lots of cafes and restaurants" - no, they normally say oooh it has a marks and spencers or a big penney's or a Tesco superstore"

Practically everybody likes a town with lots of cafes and restaurants, if having M&S or Tesco in a town was a criteria for success then Sunderland would be the rival of Paris for tourists.

The "Lets Move to Section" of the Guardian is a weekly property porn piece which iterates through desirable places to live in, on that other island across from us and while it positively oohs and aahs over places with a large selection of independently owned bars, cafes, restaurants I have yet to see it enthusing about a proliferation of chains stores and anyways the large British High Street chains are engaged in large scale retrenchment as shopping habits change, bricks and mortar retail is mainly for the high road and town centres are becoming places of leisure, where sipping coffee, eating tapas and browsing antique and vintage shops and that quirky little boutique, "you know the one that only sells black and white clothes" is the norm.

That people come on here and complain when a new catering establishment opens in a previously empty unit beggars belief it really does.

Andy From Sligo

redarmyblues wrote: »

Practically everybody likes a town with lots of cafes and restaurants, if having M&S or Tesco in a town was a criteria for success then Sunderland would be the rival of Paris for tourists.

The "Lets Move to Section" of the Guardian is a weekly property porn piece which iterates through desirable places to live in, on that other island across from us and while it positively oohs and aahs over places with a large selection of independently owned bars, cafes, restaurants I have yet to see it enthusing about a proliferation of chains stores and anyways the large British High Street chains are engaged in large scale retrenchment as shopping habits change, bricks and mortar retail is mainly for the high road and town centres are becoming places of leisure, where sipping coffee, eating tapas and browsing antique and vintage shops and that quirky little boutique, "you know the one that only sells black and white clothes" is the norm.

That people come on here and complain when a new catering establishment opens in a previously empty unit beggars belief it really does.

no reason why the quaint cafe's and eating places cannot stay in town and the shops like M&S and other chains still come ... but be situated in the right places - i personally believe the right places for the cafes and restaurants is down in the Italian quarter and Rockwood parade .. and leave the high street units for the high street stores

Andy From Sligo

muffler wrote: »

@ redarmyblues and And From Sligo - you know what this thread is about so if you wish to continue your debate on other matters please start another thread as I advised earlier.

Muffler - there is a thread under Sligo called "What's the future for Sligo?" - could you move the ones your not happy with to that thread?

muffler

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

Muffler - there is a thread under Sligo called "What's the future for Sligo?" - could you move the ones your not happy with to that thread?

....and done

Andy From Sligo

muffler wrote: »

....and done

thanks muffler thats better

dingding

JupiterKid wrote: »

Unless Sligo attracts a major industry/employer or cluster of inter-related industries then the future for Sligo town is very bleak. Sligo is no longer the biggest population Centre in the Northwest - it lost that rank to Letterkenny years ago.

Something is badly wrong with the way Sligo is managed and marketed. The relevant agencies or people involved need to seriously up their game or Sligo will slowly stagnate into a very peripheral tourist town with the scenery and being on the Wild Atlantic Way and a few shops selling trinkets to visitors and precious little else. For Sligo to thrive and develop, it needs enterprise and a reason for people to move there. That clearly isn’t happening at the moment.

This is starting to happen over the past month or so. Abtran with 350 Jobs, Livetiles and E3 are setting up software houses here specialising on AI and Cloud technologies. This links in with what Overstock and other companies are doing.

Todays announcement of 150 Jobs means that over 600 jobs have been announced in the past month or so.

The begrudgers will say that some of these projections are up to five years out.

The support for enterprise with the Embankment and The Building Block will slso support and does support some tech workers doing some very interesting work.

While some people here want Sligo to be a clone of Letterkenny and I have my own views on the commercialising of the high street using a UK business model. The jobs that are announced will have more disposable income in Sligo and the great thing is that many of the jobs announced are quality high paying jobs.

We have something unique in Sligo the river and how the town has been reorientated around it. I know I will be attacked about this but having some of the larger retail operations on the outskirts allows the growth of the town centre with the sorts of artisan restrurants and coffee shops.

There is plenty of car parking around Sligo if everyone was prepared to walk 5 - 10 minutes.

The facilities near Sligo are amazing, with the walks, the lakes and sea, with the WAW. Sligo also has many more quality hotels than many other towns.

When you are doing comparisons, you should look at Longford, No hotels of note and a dead town centre. But they probably have a larger Tesco and probably has better shopping for groceries.

Andy From Sligo

dingding wrote: »

This is starting to happen over the past month or so. Abtran with 350 Jobs, Livetiles and E3 are setting up software houses here specialising on AI and Cloud technologies. This links in with what Overstock and other companies are doing.

Todays announcement of 150 Jobs means that over 600 jobs have been announced in the past month or so.

The begrudgers will say that some of these projections are up to five years out.

The support for enterprise with the Embankment and The Building Block will slso support and does support some tech workers doing some very interesting work.

While some people here want Sligo to be a clone of Letterkenny and I have my own views on the commercialising of the high street using a UK business model. The jobs that are announced will have more disposable income in Sligo and the great thing is that many of the jobs announced are quality high paying jobs.

We have something unique in Sligo the river and how the town has been reorientated around it. I know I will be attacked about this but having some of the larger retail operations on the outskirts allows the growth of the town centre with the sorts of artisan restrurants and coffee shops.

There is plenty of car parking around Sligo if everyone was prepared to walk 5 - 10 minutes.

The facilities near Sligo are amazing, with the walks, the lakes and sea, with the WAW. Sligo also has many more quality hotels than many other towns.

When you are doing comparisons, you should look at Longford, No hotels of note and a dead town centre. But they probably have a larger Tesco and probably has better shopping for groceries.

these people on high income wages , will they want to shop in a town centre that hasnt got the shops that they might want to shop in? - and they will have cars (nice cars cause they will be on a decent wage) and money for petrol ... wont they travel to LK and galway and the like to get their retail fix?

of course I suppose the other way of looking at it is that if there is more footfall in sligo then maybe the big retailers might want to open up shops then in Sligo (if they are not turned away again or made difficult for them to set up and sell what they want like previously / currently)

AlmightyCushion

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

these people on high income wages , will they want to shop in a town centre that hasnt got the shops that they might want to shop in? - and they will have cars (nice cars cause they will be on a decent wage) and money for petrol ... wont they travel to LK and galway and the like to get their retail fix?

of course I suppose the other way of looking at it is that if there is more footfall in sligo then maybe the big retailers might want to open up shops then in Sligo (if they are not turned away again or made difficult for them to set up and sell what they want like previously / currently)

They might drive to Galway or Letterkenny the odd time alright just like a lot of other people in Sligo do but they won't be doing a 3-4 hour round trip every time they want to do a bit of shopping. They will still spend plenty of money in Sligo.

redarmyblues

No harm to Letterkenny but it is the worst planned and ugliest town in Ireland, bits of farms and derelict oil refineries in the centre of the town. The main street has a hill full of chip shops at one end and a hollow full of knocking shops at the other and it's dying a death at the expense of a retail park made up of brutalist concrete boxes tenanted by UK chain stores, if you think that buying your smalls in a failing mid range retailer like M&S is the height of sophisticated living then move to lively Letterkenny and enjoy it's wonderful Saturday night chip bag throwing and street fighting scene .

If you want to see a plausible and sustainable model for Sligo then take a trip south to Killarney, they have really got their act together down there.

Anybody wishing for John Lewis etc to open round here better Google "crisis on the high street " the UK chain model is fecked.

rizzodun

rizzodun wrote: »

Jobs - There's no point having 40k people here if there's no-where for them to work.

We have seen major employers in the town and surrounds either close down or reduce staff since 2008 pretty much.
Bowling alleys, Shopping centres, M&S that people keep whingeing about won't set up here if there isn't people to spend money in them.

We need a few more major multinationals to set up in the north west to give people a reason to live here.

Right now we're heavily reliant on tourism, we have some of the best tourism orientated companies in the country here, like Northwest Adventure Tours, Seatrails, Sligo Kayak tours, Strandhill surf school etc etc, and we're lucky to have what we have on our doorstep, but they'll not anchor a few hundred full time employees and all the supporting business at large companies bring.

We have to convince these large companies that 2.5hrs from both major ports and airports is not that much of an issue, and we have the infrastructure to support them.

Can't remember which Councillor said something to the tune of broadband not being and important prerequisite for FDI in Sligo, but to me it showed their complete lack of knowledge of how modern companies work. Where I work, all our systems are managed direct from Germany, if the connection goes down, we cannot work.

Saying that, I'd hate for any large multinational to come in at the detriment of the tourism industry in Sligo, we are so fortunate to have what we have, no M&S store and double population would make up for that being wiped out.

rizzodun wrote: »

Companies set up based on infrastructure, quality of workforce, cost of labour and other costs, and tax breaks for the most part.
Some of the particularly self conscious companies will also consider quality of life for their workforce, but this means cost of living & safety, availability of housing and education for their young so that they build a life here and stay with the company for the long haul.

No company will come to Sligo because we have a bowling alley.

Bring the multi nationals, then build the town around that.

There's no catch-22 situation here, if it doesn't make sense for companies to set up here then no amount of chain stores or public amenities will change that.

I know this, because I have visited large manufacturing plants in France and Germany, some of which were in towns where there isn't even a supermarket never mind a cinema or bowling alley.

They had a main motorway and rail line close by, cheap enough rates and a well trained workforce in place.

The workforce commuted from towns close by, which had grown due to the increase in population coming to work nearby.

Honestly, I've been critical of the chamber in the past for a lot of things, and the CoCo too, but to think a M&S and bowling alley are our saviors is ridiculous.

rizzodun wrote: »

They've built a 2900 sq mtr Manufacturing facilty in Finisklin, with (two I think) more greenfield sites available in the business park, and are actively looking for someone to fill the now-vacant Elanco manufacturing facility.

I also believe Sligo CoCo drafted and sent Simon Coveney a document outlining what Sligo has to offer to FDI earlier this year.

Seeing this discussion coming back up I remembered I had given my opinion back in October 2017 so thought it was worth adding here again.

Regarding the bit in bold, I know there was a comment that probably expressed cynicism that sending anything to Coveney would make a difference, but certainly when you hear of the jobs secured over the last few months, perhaps it has made a difference.

Andy From Sligo

redarmyblues wrote: »

No harm to Letterkenny but it is the worst planned and ugliest town in Ireland, bits of farms and derelict oil refineries in the centre of the town. The main street has a hill full of chip shops at one end and a hollow full of knocking shops at the other and it's dying a death at the expense of a retail park made up of brutalist concrete boxes tenanted by UK chain stores, if you think that buying your smalls in a failing mid range retailer like M&S is the height of sophisticated living then move to lively Letterkenny and enjoy it's wonderful Saturday night chip bag throwing and street fighting scene .

If you want to see a plausible and sustainable model for Sligo then take a trip south to Killarney, they have really got their act together down there.

I have to say personally I am a lover of retail parks and retail park shopping and also big large shopping centres - great modern invention , great road access in and out, plenty of parking lovely big shops with plenty of space to shop inside, nice and bright buildings with high ceilings and choice not long to walk from the car park before you are in a shop... got something big to pick up? then just park up , go in shop come out and load your items straight into the boot - so convenient . - now, I know they are killing the town centres and local owned buisiness ... I am truly sorry about that

- I dunno what the solution is how to make sure a town centre becomes a ghost town when some good out of town retail shopping parks open up - maybe there is a solution to have good retail parks without the 'old town centre' dying like that... maybe there isnt and thats just modern life but as a shopper I shouldnt have to worry about that should I ? - if a town centre has 'had its day' and is no longer fit for purpose (say if it just hasnt got the room to house large warehouse type shops for a start and is just laid out awfully with narrow streets etc..) and that retail parks are the future then what am I to say / do ? - cut off my nose to spite my face and shun retail parks because they are killing the old existing town centre businesses? - I dont think I can do that , I as a shopper want to move with the times, I want large big brightly stores with high ceilings, plenty of choice, competitive prices , a good amount of staff, car park right next to the shops (2 steps out of the car and your there inside your shop lol) and easy to get into and out of the car park and then straight onto a main road / ring road to your destination bish bash bosh no holdups.

Now saying that as much as I love retail parks I wouldnt move out of sligo to be near to one - or anywhere come to think of it . a town centre of shops or a retail park would not prompt me to up sticks and move , just because it has a good retail park personally.

yep, I suppose along with modernisation , more population etc there are gonna be chip fights in the streets ..... dont sligo have chip fights ever in the wee hours of the nights??

- I see lots of broken windows on monday morning in sligo town of premises , is that not a result of chip fights (or worse) in the wee hours of the moning of the night before?

redarmyblues

The most important thing in attracting investment that creates long term prosperity is livability, Galway had lived off that for years, it was the place that people wanted to live because it offered or sold an attractive lifestyle, though that may be wearing a bit thin now with soaring rent and property prices and extended commute times, there is a reason Steve Earle didn't write.

Well, I took a stroll down Chip Shop Hill
Of a day-I-ay-I-ay
I met a wee boy and he offered to kill
Me of a fine soft day-I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do ?
Then my face was black and my eyes were blue

Andy From Sligo

redarmyblues wrote: »

The most important thing in attracting investment that creates long term prosperity is livability, Galway had lived off that for years, it was the place that people wanted to live because it offered or sold an attractive lifestyle, though that may be wearing a bit thin now with soaring rent and property prices and extended commute times, there is a reason Steve Earle didn't write.

Well, I took a stroll down Chip Shop Hill
Of a day-I-ay-I-ay
I met a wee boy and he offered to kill
Me of a fine soft day-I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do ?
Then my face was black and my eyes were blue

My wife' gran lived right on the Headford Road in galway . and my wife years ago used to visit when she were younger and likens Galway to what Sligo town is now (well obviously in them days Galway never had the retail parks that are there now .... tell a lie maybe the Headford Road retail park might have been there I'm not sure and then there was this terryland whatever that was.. I think a large Dunnes stores was there - but now look at Galway today. I think its OK what they have done with the retail parks and shop street and the like and corrib centre ahs not become ghost town - yep I know know its mad full of population these days and congestion with vehicles but i suppose thats what comes with modern day retail situations

redarmyblues

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

say if it just hasnt got the room to house large warehouse type shops for a start and is just laid out awfully with narrow streets etc.

I think that you will find that some of the most successful cities in Europe like Barcelona have narrow medieval streetscapes some people find it charming I believe. If you think convenient shopping is the central organising principle of society then you get Letterkenny, where the big employers are having huge problems in hiring because they cannot get EU citizens to move there and source most of their talent from the Indian sub continent. If you want to live in a pleasant environment that attracts high quality jobs and leaves open the possibility that your children might actually get decent jobs when they leave education then look to somewhere like Westport. Cambridge has boomed ( despite the narrow streets) when Huddersfield has slumped and that isn't because Cambridge has a better Asda believe you me.

Andy From Sligo

redarmyblues wrote: »

I think that you will find that some of the most successful cities in Europe like Barcelona have narrow medieval streetscapes some people find it charming I believe. If you think convenient shopping is the central organising principle of society then you get Letterkenny, where the big employers are having huge problems in hiring because they cannot get EU citizens to move there and source most of their talent from the Indian sub continent. If you want to live in a pleasant environment that attracts high quality jobs and leaves open the possibility that your children might actually get decent jobs when they leave education then look to somewhere like Westport. Cambridge has boomed ( despite the narrow streets) when Huddersfield has slumped and that isn't because Cambridge has a better Asda believe you me.

re the narrow streets -thats a nightmare in itself , large delivery trucks and that getting down these narrow streets to do their deliveries is a right pain you got to admit that .... also narrow streets mean no facility of stores having their own car parks most of the time and also have to rely on small parking bays outsinde their shop that narrow the streets even more than they are - so the people who work in the shops , if the shop hasnt got its own staff car park round the back, this means the staf and owners that run the shop may have to park in a public car park or on street parking ... and lets face it the public car parks and on street parking should be kept free for shoppers themselves .

No, i am afraid you cannot convince me that these original narrow streets that were built centuries ago are really workable in this modern day age (they may work , but they are nowhere near ideal thee days) built back in the day where transport was very limited or with some old town, just had a few horse drawn carraiages - they are not fit for today's transport needs

you have prompted me to take a trip to Westport one of these days though - havent been there for years and i thoroughly enjoyed it last time I was there , lovely place (even if it doesnt have a retail park

)

redarmyblues

I have to agree with Rizzo the obsession with fancier Tesco's, bowling alleys, and the need for the validation that only tired UK retailers can bring is cringingly embarrassing. A software company can set up anywhere there is decent internet and a building, the question the people making the investment decision is can I get people to work and live here? would I like to work and live here? They certainly won't be checking out how old the tiles are in Dunne's. Tech workers are very much lifestyle driven and I know for a fact that one of our imminent arrivals was sold on Sligo by a trip to Strandhill on a sunny way when the waves were working and not on discovering that our Penny's was better than Ballinas.

Andy From Sligo

The title of this thread "what is the future for Sligo" ... well the more I think about it , its not viable for O'connell street and grattan st and Castle street to be all flattened and rebuilt all again modernly with larger modern buildings and wide streets and wide pedestrian area ... so the more I think of it, in Sligo's case , the future is build onto the out of town retail park their up at carraroe - move Tesco, penneys out of O'connell street , Dunnes out of where that is a , allow them all to move up to carraroe and anyone else who wants to (lift this environ plan if its still in place) and then (if as it seems) people want the town centre to be these cafes , restaurants and quirky eating establishments and small locally owned shops and not go down the line of other faceless high streets in other towns then do that then ... then the people who want to shop at Tesco, Dunnes, Penneys , and any other large chains stores let shopper get to them type stores easily and conveniently at the edge of town and then the people who love sligo town centre because of all the cafes and restaurants and locally owned small shops let them go to them establishments (even lay on a shuttle bus to and from the retail park?) - yes people will say that then the risk of retail park will kill off the town centre ... well it wont because if there is enough people who like sligo town for the cafes and the restaurants etc then they will still frequent them shops like they still do now. - if its the case that they (the cafe's/restaurants/small locally owned businesses) wouldnt survive just on their own there if Tesco , Dunnes and penneys were moved out of that area - then I dunno what to suggest.

Can you imagine in terms of how much lighter the traffic would be in the narrow town centre streets would be like if this was to happen? - all the shoppers for tesco, dunnes, penneys looking for car parking will park up at the retail park .. and all the delivery trucks will easily manouver and deliver up there and wont have to drive through the town centre and staf that work at Tesco and Dunnes and Penneys will all have staff car parking spaces easily up there . - There is loads of space up there going to waste. Just needs to be built and allow anyone to sell anything up there and then the benefits (good access to the ring road etc among other thisngs like plenty of space for the large stores) promoted to the companies to move up there once the ban on stuff is lifted

Andy From Sligo

redarmyblues wrote: »

.... one of our imminent arrivals was sold on Sligo by a trip to Strandhill on a sunny way when the waves were working and not on discovering that our Penny's was better than Ballinas.

different courses for different horses - he may have well been well impressed with Strandhill ... but (could be age dependant here) some young wan's with a future ahead of them might be more impressed that Ballina has a bigger Penneys store than what Strandhill has to offer

of course, organised properly and put in the right location, there is no reason why sligo could not indeed have a 2 storey penneys store alongside a massive tesco superstore and just up the road from beutiful strandhill and many other beautiful attractions sligo has to offer.

El Weirdo

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

...but (could be age dependant here) some young wan's with a future ahead of them might be more impressed that Ballina has a bigger Penneys store than what Strandhill has to offer ...

I don't think many businesses are looking to attract 12 year old girls into their workforce.

redarmyblues

El Weirdo wrote: »

I don't think many businesses are looking to attract 12 year old girls into their workforce.

Only the ones in Knocking Shop Hollow in Letterkenny.