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What Galway needs?

franj

Think I've seen a thread like this before but what do ye guys reckon Galway needs, be it entertainment, shop wise etc? Or something thats there thats not done well enough?

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aido179

Wouldn't it be amazing if we managed to convert the docks into a prime leisure location?
Infrastructure and public transport are the main things.

I dont get people arguing that we have too many roundabouts, when, at the same time, they argue that the moneen roundabout was much better. I dont mind the balance here, the fact is, roundabouts are self governing systems and keep traffic moving, whereas traffic lights, in any situation cause delays and much less fluid traffic flow.

we already have a few stupid traffic lights around galway. take newcastle road by the AIB for example. there are two sets of lights less than 50 meters away from each other, both working out of the proper sync to keep traffic moving.

PS...WTF is going on in the little canal there by the samon wier bridge? looks like they are trying to drown a digger.

swe_fi

Like most of Zzippys ideas. A few more ideas
* Right-hand traffic (Think about it when you drive around, it would work)
* Karaoke-taxis
* Tuktuks (not needed if I get right hand traffic)
* A pirate-ship restaurant down in the docks & more sea-front restaurant in general
* High speed train to cork/dublin/belfast
* A proper garden in the city
* IKEA
* Proper clothes shop for men (someone else said it also)
* A bridge from Oranmore to salthill or a ferry will do if no to bridge
* Fix the old run down hotels & buildings in Salthill it could be a world-class place

I managed not to rant. I actually really like the place. Ok 1 thing, who on earth is responsible for the new crossing outside huntsman? I would actually like to meet that dude, sit down with him and get it explained to me (over a pint, on a napkin). It has to be a great story.

schween

There are plans for most of the above. It's just a matter of building them.

*The Galway Shopping Centre wan't to demolish the existing one and build one quadruple the size. Including a new Tesco.
*CIE want to redevelop the Ceannt Station area including a shopping centre. I'm sure H&M or Zara would take some space in one of the above two.
*Will they ever complete the €400 million Crown Plaza shopping centre in Mervue? (Although it's probably not worth €400m now)
*The City Council has a bus strategy. This includes buses on all routes every 15 mins on all routes from a new bus area at the Cathedral (or something like that)
*The Harbour Company want to spent a billion redeveloping the docks with more apartments, shops, plazas, cruise ship berths etc
*NUIG have plans (or had plans) to develop a large Opera House style entertainment venue on Earls Island
*Our bypass almost made it. All we need now is to somehow either get rid of the bog or build around it.
*GLUAS, 2 light rail lines across the city.

How many of the above will see the light of day? The local papers were buzzing about the above for a while. It all seems to have gone quiet.

KevR

Deleted User wrote: »

I would like to see people urged out of their cars - higher parking charges, more BIK on parking spaces, taking road lanes away from private traffic, more enforcement of traffic laws, more traffic lights.

This isn't directed at you personally, but more the attitude on Boards in general. The us against them attitude when it comes to non-motorists and motorists is getting a bit boring.

What is wrong with driving a car in a sprawled city with bad weather?

Galway is a car dependent city, people need to realise and accept that this will not change any time soon.

Ideally we would have a more compact city with some medium rise buildings, great public transport and good weather. We might be able to improve our public transport somewhat but we can't really change the other two so Galway is always going to car dependent (the highest we can aim for is to reduce the dependency).
The fact that we pay higher parking charges than people in Dublin and, from what I have seen, we pay more for petrol/diesel; and Galway people still choose to drive should be an indication that we won't ever be forced out of our cars.

I'm not anti-public transport, anti-walking/cycling or anti-fighting climate change but it seems it's fine for people to have digs at anyone who drives and suggest ways in which people can be forced from their cars (as if there's something wrong with driving). It seems that it's also cool for people to bash motorists all the time but a motorist shouldn't ever dare say anything (even politely) about pedestrians or cyclists.

swe_fi wrote: »

* Right-hand traffic (Think about it when you drive around, it would work)

How would that work in just Galway City? It would have to be nationwide, maybe even including Northern Ireland. It might suit Galway but it might not suit other towns, cities or places very well. There would be carnage on the roads for years after the switch. It would cost billions. Studies have shown that driving on the left is actually slightly safer (something to do with people behinf predominately right handed).

Besides it's nice being a little different from most of Europe, the US and most of the rest of the world.

I would hate to see us switch to the other side of the road.

TheCosmicFrog

- KFC
- Starbucks
- A shop that sells Root Beer
- A good public transportation service (if I miss a bus I don't want to wait an hour for the next one)
- A marina in place of the docks
- Salthill to be a decent place where I'm not embarrassed to bring non-locals

Zzippy

aido179 wrote: »

Wouldn't it be amazing if we managed to convert the docks into a prime leisure location?
Infrastructure and public transport are the main things.

I dont get people arguing that we have too many roundabouts, when, at the same time, they argue that the moneen roundabout was much better. I dont mind the balance here, the fact is, roundabouts are self governing systems and keep traffic moving, whereas traffic lights, in any situation cause delays and much less fluid traffic flow.

we already have a few stupid traffic lights around galway. take newcastle road by the AIB for example. there are two sets of lights less than 50 meters away from each other, both working out of the proper sync to keep traffic moving.

+1!

aido179 wrote: »

PS...WTF is going on in the little canal there by the samon wier bridge? looks like they are trying to drown a digger.

OPW are replacing the footbridge and fish screens that were there - they had become dilapidated and unsafe.

BTW, work has already started on the circular walk along the Eglinton canal and back down through Fisheries Field, the walkway through the field is well underway. Think the new bridge over the canal is to be started next year.

moonflower

siltirocker wrote: »

There are two independent in the city centre (i think one is off Docks/Merchant's Road near House hotel) and a yammaori opened years ago and closed after a month on upper dominic st.

There are dozens of places like that in Galway, Lynch's, McCambridges, Upstairs in Java, An Tobar Nua, Antons, Mocha's on Edward Sq., Nimmo's, DeBurgo's (now), insomnia is good too (which people on this thread have been calling for even though there is one:rolleyes:).

The two Japanese places in town are nice, but the don't have a good sushi selection. It gets a little boring only having 4 choices.

Where's there an Imsomnia? I know there used to be one, but it closed down. Is there another one somewhere?

galvianlord wrote: »

it looks like a roughly equal division between people who want galway to stay as is, with more indepdendent touchy feely shops...and people who want more 'evil' national or UK chains to come and offer more choice.

I wonder if the divisions are reflected in whether people are native galwegians (born here etc) or blow-ins who have settled in the city due to its bohemian nature and general lank of 'chic-ness'? Would be interesting to gauge.....I find most people who grew up in Galway are the ones who would welcome more the chains, while those who settle here like it as is, if with some of the changes to infrastructure etc that are mentioned above.

Most of the serial objectors are blow-ins with no roots in the town...just a theory....do with it what you will!

I'm from Galway and I'd welcome a few new chains. I would like to keep them away from shop st though, maybe put them in Knocknacarra or something.

JustMary wrote: »

Lynch's on Shop St, above Zhivago, is like that. All that needs to change is the opening hours.

Lynch's don't like people staying there for too long at all. And the atmosphere and coffee in there is terrible tbh.

Kora Nutty Semicircle wrote: »

I have to disagree. I think tesco is an awful place(in general not just in galway) Dunnes is better but I prefer to shop in supervalue. They are usually smaller and easier to get around yet have everything I look for. They also have meat counter which Dunnes or Tesco do not have in a lot of places(like in Cork for instance).

I know my mother has the same opinion on Tesco she wouldn't go in the door of the place she says they have very little in there and what they have is not great.

Do you not find that Supervalu is a complete rip off though? And I really have to disagree that they have very little in Tesco, they have the biggest selection by far in there.

m.anna

- decent public transport with reliable schedules. Each bus stop should be marked with hours that bus will stop there (it works in other countries, why not in Irleand?), and detailed route. Now you take 5E and it can go via Dublin Road or via some local streets and you're lost.
- Zara, H&M, Bearshka, Stradivarius
- High speed train (that was already mentioned) to Dublin / Cork / Sligo / NI

[Deleted User]

KevR wrote: »

This isn't directed at you personally, but more the attitude on Boards in general. The us against them attitude when it comes to non-motorists and motorists is getting a bit boring.

What is wrong with driving a car in a sprawled city with bad weather?

Galway is a car dependent city, people need to realise and accept that this will not change any time soon.

Ideally we would have a more compact city with some medium rise buildings, great public transport and good weather. We might be able to improve our public transport somewhat but we can't really change the other two so Galway is always going to car dependent (the highest we can aim for is to reduce the dependency).
The fact that we pay higher parking charges than people in Dublin and, from what I have seen, we pay more for petrol/diesel; and Galway people still choose to drive should be an indication that we won't ever be forced out of our cars.

I'm not anti-public transport, anti-walking/cycling or anti-fighting climate change but it seems it's fine for people to have digs at anyone who drives and suggest ways in which people can be forced from their cars (as if there's something wrong with driving). It seems that it's also cool for people to bash motorists all the time but a motorist shouldn't ever dare say anything (even politely) about pedestrians or cyclists.

I am all in favour of the bypass and taking cars out of the center of town. I accept that not much can change until that is built.

I accept that for many people there is no option but to drive but I also think there is a big element of laziness - people dismiss non driving options out of hand if there is a car parked in the drive.

I walk to work (admittedly only about 250 meters) and in the last year or so only remember getting uncomfortably wet maybe 7 days - a good jacket, shoes and umbrella helps alot. I also know some people here who drive similar distances on their own and then complain about the traffic.

Xiney

Galway needs more things to do in the evenings besides sit in a pub so noisy with music that you can't hold a proper conversation. There are a few pubs that are generally quieter and those are great, but it gets very samey.

more pool/snooker tables
laser tag would be awesome
glow in the dark mini golf
a book store/cafe that stays open until at least midnight so you can sit and drink coffee and read or talk quietly to friends instead of attempting to yell over that evening's third instance of "Galway Girl"
a ban on playing Galway Girl in general. FFS.

I love the idea of extending the prom to silverstrand - the prom is really quite short, not any kind of a walk at all really.

ciotog

KevR wrote: »

This isn't directed at you personally, but more the attitude on Boards in general. The us against them attitude when it comes to non-motorists and motorists is getting a bit boring.

What is wrong with driving a car in a sprawled city with bad weather?

Galway is a car dependent city, people need to realise and accept that this will not change any time soon.

Ideally we would have a more compact city with some medium rise buildings, great public transport and good weather. We might be able to improve our public transport somewhat but we can't really change the other two so Galway is always going to car dependent (the highest we can aim for is to reduce the dependency).
The fact that we pay higher parking charges than people in Dublin and, from what I have seen, we pay more for petrol/diesel; and Galway people still choose to drive should be an indication that we won't ever be forced out of our cars.

I'm not anti-public transport, anti-walking/cycling or anti-fighting climate change but it seems it's fine for people to have digs at anyone who drives and suggest ways in which people can be forced from their cars (as if there's something wrong with driving). It seems that it's also cool for people to bash motorists all the time but a motorist shouldn't ever dare say anything (even politely) about pedestrians or cyclists.

How would that work in just Galway City? It would have to be nationwide, maybe even including Northern Ireland. It might suit Galway but it might not suit other towns, cities or places very well. There would be carnage on the roads for years after the switch. It would cost billions. Studies have shown that driving on the left is actually slightly safer (something to do with people behinf predominately right handed).

Besides it's nice being a little different from most of Europe, the US and most of the rest of the world.

I would hate to see us switch to the other side of the road.

Fair points, I'm very much in the get people out of their cars camp (disclaimer out of the way) but I understand that it's not alway practical. Unfortunately the reality of Galway being a small town seems lost on many people - there isn't room for all the vehicles. Where is the car pooling? I struggle to believe that the volume of singly occupied cars crawling along in the mornings is necessary. Public transport is poor but can be used to an extent - will be interesting to find out how the Carna-Galway 1 week experiment went. There has to be a transport strategy developed around the major business parks, commuter belts and commercial areas that demonstrates a clear advantage over taking the car.

KevR

I agree that people really need to consider car pooling more and that some people are too lazy (they drive places which are within comfortable walking distance).

Euro_Kraut

Xiney wrote: »

I love the idea of extending the prom to silverstrand - the prom is really quite short, not any kind of a walk at all really.

Its the longest promanade in Ireland actually.

Still potential to build a whole walking and cycling path all around the bay from Maree to Barna. Would be a great facility.

bigeasyeah

sex and outrage

alibabba

Allot of the issues said above cud be eradicated or even stopped from happening in the first place if we didnt have the muppet show up there on Prospect Hill, the city council have allot to answer for, the way they sat over the development of our Great CITY is shocking.

Xiney

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

Its the longest promanade in Ireland actually.

well, that's kind of embarrassing for Ireland then.

TheCosmicFrog

- Flight training services out of Carnmore without having to join the flying club
- Convert the docks into a public-friendly place. I think we can all agree that the Volvo Ocean Race showed the full potential of the docks.

Madame Razz

Xiney wrote: »

well, that's kind of embarrassing for Ireland then.

Well we don't actually have many promenades full stop. but that's down to history.

Seaside Promenades originated in Britain, they are a very British idea. Taking into account Irish history it is quite easy to understand why promenades are not familiar structures here, and why so few were constructed in this country, for many reasons.

Besides, You could say that the prom pretty much starts in Claddagh and ends in Blackrock, not just the wee bit past the carpark. That's hardly short really???

Eitherway, it's a nice amenity and we're lucky to have it:)

Seaneh

siltirocker wrote: »

There are two independent in the city centre (i think one is off Docks/Merchant's Road near House hotel) and a yammaori opened years ago and closed after a month on upper dominic st.

The place off the docks doesn;t do proper sushi and I wasn;t very impressed by what it did do to be honest, but bad, just nothing special and I had been told it was "amazing" so was expecting a lot, maybe I;m being harsh. I haven't a clue where the other place is? I reckon if Yammaori opened a place liek their place on Lower Great Georges St, sushi and noodles, it would be a gold mine, great value for money.

siltirocker wrote: »

There are dozens of places like that in Galway, Lynch's, McCambridges, Upstairs in Java, An Tobar Nua, Antons, Mocha's on Edward Sq., Nimmo's, DeBurgo's (now), insomnia is good too (which people on this thread have been calling for even though there is one:rolleyes:).

Lynches is nice, McCambridges is not comfortable, their coffee is crap and over priced. Javas is ok, their coffee is, again, muck. I have no idea where antons is? Mocha's are OK on coffee and comfort. Didn;t know DeBurgos was open during the day, but then again if I wanted to drink on a bar stool/bench I'd just go to the kings head. insomnia's coffee is probably the best of a bad bunch here, but not exactly the cheapest.

As for an Tobar, I love the place, staff are mates of mine, most of them go the same church as me and I hang out with them, their coffee is OKAY, and probably the cheapest in town but it can be fierce noisy at times (espically at lunch with all the school kids) so it's not always ideal for a quiet coffee and a read, that said they do free refills on their drip brewed coffee which is, for drip brewed coffee, pretty good, but like everywhere else besides Javas on the list, they close at 5.30, so if I want a coffee and achta with a mate after 6pm I'm screwed unless I want to go to Javas and experience the slowest services on the planet and be lucky to get a seat that isn't ontop of somebody else.

I just want a nice, quiet coffee house that sells GOOD coffee at a reasonable price, is that too much to ask!?

galvianlord

alibabba wrote: »

Allot of the issues said above cud be eradicated or even stopped from happening in the first place if we didnt have the muppet show up there on Prospect Hill, the city council have allot to answer for, the way they sat over the development of our Great CITY is shocking.

being pedantic but its the muppet show on College Road that have responsibility for the city...

jkforde

jasus, what Galway needs....

young leaders with some visionary political balls

a long-term civil maintenance program managed by people who have true pride in the town; for example, the canal walkway (arguably the only truly unique feature of the town) is obviously shabby and run-down but it wouldn't take much to get it up to standard ("era, the tourists will always come here anyhow and sure, the locals don't care anyhow so why bother to maintain the place.... huh?")

generally open up and invest (ya, i know, that's a mad notion) in the canals as a unique town asset and not to consider them as something that drains the public coffers

a Korean kimchi \ karaoke bar!

properly designed and maintained cycle lanes

a nuke hit on the whole of the headford rd., that MI5 HQ yoke in Salthill, ........

more tree planting

renovate the derelict Nun's Island mill\distillery

have a competition for ideas on what to do with the architecturally sad area of Merchants Rd.\Docks... only reason to go down there is Bar8 and Sheridan's

root and branch of city's public transport - check out the joke of a route map in CIE's city bus timetable booklet, a five year old could produce something more professional; GLUAS does seem uneconomic but at least someone is thinking about something other than 'lash down the tarmac lads'

paint the buildings down around Spanish Arch anything other than grey, esp. Jury's... jesus, grey, grey, grey!

oh, and get that grill yoke out of the Corrib at Spanish Arch

it's frustrating, this town has so much potential but there's generally no urban vision for the place, just 'era, sure' contentment to get the face in the trough and d'pint...

but phew, at long last the Picture Palace is starting!

pepsi1234

Seaneh wrote: »

insomnia's coffee is probably the best of a bad bunch here, but not exactly the cheapest.

Please tell me where this Insomnia is located, I've been looking all over for it. Their website doesn't mention a Galway chain.

mallett

Hughes and Hughes bookstore in Galway Shopping centre

Madame Razz

mallett wrote: »

Hughes and Hughes bookstore in Galway Shopping centre

That ain't Insomnia anymore. Or at least the name has changed, so I assume it's no longer Insomnia anymore.

pepsi1234

Madame Razz wrote: »

That ain't Insomnia anymore. Or at least the name has changed, so I assume it's no longer Insomnia anymore.

I was in there today. It's called something like 'Tiko' or 'Kito' Cafe. It was okay but no Insomnia, like.

What Galway needs is a Starbucks. I'm surprised Butler's Cafe beat them to it as there was a Starbucks popping up on every corner in Dublin a few years back.

It also needs decent clothes shops like H&M and Zara.
Limerick even has those, sake like.

Madame Razz

pepsi1234 wrote: »

I was in there today. It's called something like 'Tiko' or 'Kito' Cafe. It was okay but no Insomnia, like.

Glad I wasn't dreaming:)

aido179

Just had time to think for a while. one main idea i would love to see is a hydro turbine by the salmon wier. Just watching the last few days...theres huge potential there.

Mrs OBumble

pepsi1234 wrote: »

I was in there today. It's called something like 'Tiko' or 'Kito' Cafe. It was okay but no Insomnia, like.

What Galway needs is a Starbucks. I'm surprised Butler's Cafe beat them to it as there was a Starbucks popping up on every corner in Dublin a few years back.

It also needs decent clothes shops like H&M and Zara.
Limerick even has those, sake like.

It's called Tiki

Mrs OBumble

jkforde wrote: »

jasus, what Galway needs....
...
root and branch of city's public transport - check out the joke of a route map in CIE's city bus timetable booklet, a five year old could produce something more professional;

And a 40+ year old has ... see here

To be fair, the city council have had consultants design a new set of bus routes, and they do make sense (mostly) and consider the needs of both the city and county. There's a good map of the proposals in a document that's somewhere on the council web-site. But I'm not sure about progress in turning the proposal into actual changes, or even if the council thinks that all items in the proposal are a good idea (I'm not 100% convinced, personally).

jkforde

JustMary wrote: »

And a 40+ year old has ... see here

To be fair, the city council have had consultants design a new set of bus routes, and they do make sense (mostly) and consider the needs of both the city and county. There's a good map of the proposals in a document that's somewhere on the council web-site. But I'm not sure about progress in turning the proposal into actual changes, or even if the council thinks that all items in the proposal are a good idea (I'm not 100% convinced, personally).

Thanks JustMary, I checked out the site before, nice one. I mostly cycle and walk anyhow but well done on the initiative!. Keep at it!