Dun Laoghaire Traffic & Commuting Chat

Fratton Fred · 13-09-2013 9:10am #1

To avoid derailing other SCD threads, I thought I'd add a Dun Laoghaire thread.

My main query, is does anyone know what is going on outside the train station? It looks like they are putting a crossing in twenty metres from the crossroads. Surely not?

coylemj · 13-09-2013 3:30pm

Anything that wastes money and fcuks up the flow of traffic is a good spend as far as DLR co. co. is concerned. Just look at the way they widened the footpath at the bottom of Mount Merrion Ave. which blocked off the left-turn lane, thereby ensuring even greater tailbacks at busy times of the day. Previously anyone coming down Mt. Merrion Ave intending to turn left to go into town could do so via a left-turning lane with IIRC an amber flashing left arrow. Most of the time it was easy to yield and then merge with the city-bound trafffic coming off the bypass. With the footpath widened it's now a bottleneck because there's no 'yield and merge' for left-turning traffic meaning that everyone has to wait for the lights to go green so there's usually a much longer queue of traffic coming off Mt. Merrion Ave.

the groutch · 13-09-2013 10:39pm

Fratton Fred wrote: »

It looks like they are putting a crossing in twenty metres from the crossroads. Surely not?

you think that's bad, they're putting one on Kill Avenue between the IADT entrance and the church exit, pure stupidity

frash · 13-09-2013 11:59pm

the groutch wrote: »

you think that's bad, they're putting one on Kill Avenue between the IADT entrance and the church exit, pure stupidity

Probably for the crowds that get off the bus across the road from the college.

MurdyWurdy · 14-09-2013 10:07am

They're putting a pavement in the middle of the road across from the 40 foot and there's the most ridiculous stop/go system - it's only just past the crossroads with the dart station (or at least it was the other day) and it was causing big traffic problems. Avoid!

Cookie_Monster · 14-09-2013 10:37am

towards the end of the year, time to waste the remaining budget on stupid stuff to ensure it's all spent

Mick Murdock · 14-09-2013 11:16am

Good idea for a thread.

Here's my question: If you were given a retail space on Georges Street or anywhere in the centre (away from the Pavillion), what kind of business do you think Dún Laoghaire needs or could do with more of?

Here's my not very inventive idea. I'm sure others will be more creative.

While there isn't a shortage of places to eat, a lot of them I find are very samey - there isn't a great variety of cafes etc., at least not in my experience. I'd start with a Mexican burrito bar something like Pablo Picanté in town. Cheap and cheerful, not the healthiest thing in the world but a damn sight better than the muck that most cafes are dishing up.

Anyone else?

ted1 · 14-09-2013 11:49am

A needle exchange...,

Larbre34 · 14-09-2013 12:18pm

Nandos, Starbucks and Wetherspoons all coming. What more could an ailing town want to restore its soul.

We could do with another barbers, 19 of them is not nearly enough choice.

By the way i understand the crossing point outside the DART station, the amount of jay walking and walking out behind buses that goes on there is madness. Also car drivers behave appallingly at the main crossroads, more lights broken than an old christmas tree. Ive no problem with private drivers being pushed down the pecking order on road priority, and as ive said before on these threads, that is the adopted national policy

Lu Tze · 14-09-2013 12:29pm

Mick Murdock wrote: »

Good idea for a thread.

Here's my question: If you were given a retail space on Georges Street or anywhere in the centre (away from the Pavillion), what kind of business do you think Dún Laoghaire needs or could do with more of?

Here's my not very inventive idea. I'm sure others will be more creative.

While there isn't a shortage of places to eat, a lot of them I find are very samey - there isn't a great variety of cafes etc., at least not in my experience. I'd start with a Mexican burrito bar something like Pablo Picanté in town. Cheap and cheerful, not the healthiest thing in the world but a damn sight better than the muck that most cafes are dishing up.

Anyone else?

I think Georges Street could do with yet another charity shop

Mick Murdock · 14-09-2013 12:40pm

That's the spirit!

coylemj · 14-09-2013 1:03pm

A few more pubs with no back yards so the customers who smoke have to stand outside blowing tobacco fumes into the faces of passing pedestrians.

Fratton Fred · 14-09-2013 1:04pm

If I were the council, I would purchase a few empty shops and give them to top shop/next or h&m rent and rate free for three years, on the condition they stayed for five years.

Then I would create a borough bus, with three routes in to the town. €1 each way for adults, free for kids and pensioners.

I would then create a market. Not an arty farty artisan market, one that sells fruit and veg, cheeses, bread etc.

Frosty McSnowballs · 14-09-2013 1:07pm

Fratton Fred wrote: »

If I were the council, I would purchase a few empty shops and give them to top shop/next or h&m rent and rate free for three years, on the condition they stayed for five years.

Then I would create a borough bus, with three routes in to the town. €1 each way for adults, free for kids and pensioners.

I would then create a market. Not an arty farty artisan market, one that sells fruit and veg, cheeses, bread etc.

Not a bad idea.

There's a serious lack of "good" men's clothes shops. Motion Picture and that overpriced posh one near the Miami Cafe...Frewen & alwryn or something like that....are brutal

Larbre34 · 14-09-2013 2:31pm

Fratton Fred wrote: »

If I were the council, I would purchase a few empty shops and give them to top shop/next or h&m rent and rate free for three years, on the condition they stayed for five years.

Then I would create a borough bus, with three routes in to the town. €1 each way for adults, free for kids and pensioners.

I would then create a market. Not an arty farty artisan market, one that sells fruit and veg, cheeses, bread etc.

Pop-up shops have been tried. No need to offer shops to the big chains, theyre the ones that can actually afford them, if they saw a viable market in DL they'd be there anyway. Even if the Council were legally able to and able to afford to buy up real estate like that, theres no guarantee the units would be sold to them or anyone else by the freeholders, who are mostly large pension funds who can afford to play the long game and wait for demand and rent levels to recover to make a return on them over the very long term.

One thing DL does not suffer from is lack of public transport. High frequency DART and no fewer than 6 bus routes which are already free to pensioners and very cheap to kids and which pick up a significant amount of the wider catchment

And arent there two farmers markets operating during the week already, at the Church and in the Peoples Park? Theyre not necessarily artisan, just homemade micro businesses, the big stores cater fine for mass produced stuff, and theres no way a permanent market cut undercut those prices.

Frosty McSnowballs · 14-09-2013 2:36pm

DL is a lost cause as far as I'm concerned. It was great 10-12 years ago.

The only things that have brought me there in the last few months are Burger King, Teddies and the cinema ......that's it.

Fratton Fred · 14-09-2013 4:31pm

Larbre34 wrote: »

Pop-up shops have been tried. No need to offer shops to the big chains, theyre the ones that can actually afford them, if they saw a viable market in DL they'd be there anyway. Even if the Council were legally able to and able to afford to buy up real estate like that, theres no guarantee the units would be sold to them or anyone else by the freeholders, who are mostly large pension funds who can afford to play the long game and wait for demand and rent levels to recover to make a return on them over the very long term.

One thing DL does not suffer from is lack of public transport. High frequency DART and no fewer than 6 bus routes which are already free to pensioners and very cheap to kids and which pick up a significant amount of the wider catchment

And arent there two farmers markets operating during the week already, at the Church and in the Peoples Park? Theyre not necessarily artisan, just homemade micro businesses, the big stores cater fine for mass produced stuff, and theres no way a permanent market cut undercut those prices.

I'm not talking about pop up shops, I'm talking about pro actively attracting big retailers to Dun Laoghaire. Attract big retailers, you attract people. Footfall is the name of the game in retail. More foot fall, more business.

Or we could just abandon the place.

patrickbrophy18 · 14-09-2013 4:58pm

Larbre34 wrote: »

Nandos, Starbucks and Wetherspoons all coming. What more could an ailing town want to restore its soul.

Agreed. While I miss Starbucks in Dalkey, it would do much better in Dun Laoghaire given it's status as a hub and all.

Larbre34 wrote: »

We could do with another barbers, 19 of them is not nearly enough choice.

We could have a place called "Make Your Own Hairdo"!;)

With sarcasm acknowledged, I also think that there are too many duplicate business types. A prime example being "Super Euro", "Euro Giant", "Deals" and "The Euro Store". All of these stores are well within 200 meters of each other. I wouldn't really include "Tesco" and "Super Valu" in this category as they are proper super markets. Having said that, other duplicate business types such as "o2", "Meteor", "Vodafone" and "3" each have a massive client base in Dun Laoghaire and further afield.

I've often thought that a "Leisure Plex" would do well in the vicinity. Between Bray and Stillorgan, there is a huge gap in the market for this type of facility. Then again, I could be wrong as I don't know how good or bad "Leisure Plex" and clones their of are doing in the current economic climate. Nevertheless, I would be a frequent visitor.

Larbre34 wrote: »

By the way i understand the crossing point outside the DART station, the amount of jay walking and walking out behind buses that goes on there is madness.

Walking behind buses wouldn't be that big of a problem as the bus is traveling away from you. Having said that, the bus itself acts as a blind spot to road users coming the other way. As such, the pedestrian wouldn't be alerting others of their presence.

I don't think that jay walking is an official term in this country given that there is no law against it. However, I too, often see people crossing at red pedestrian lights without looking both ways. If pedestrians are going to cross the road at a red pedestrian light or a non designated crossing point, all they need to do is take a second to look both ways and cross when the coast is clear.

Larbre34 wrote: »

Also car drivers behave appallingly at the main crossroads, more lights broken than an old christmas tree.

That analogy made me laugh!:D

Anyway, I've often though to myself that the Garda Traffic Corps would make a fortune in fines for people braking red lights among other offenses. Stream line this nationwide and you've got one hell of a revenue stream. We'd be out of a recession in no time!:)

Larbre34 wrote: »

Ive no problem with private drivers being pushed down the pecking order on road priority, and as ive said before on these threads, that is the adopted national policy

I take it that you don't drive then. One question. Would you be against cars even if they weren't powered by pollutants (i.e. core contributors of climate change)?

After all, isn't national policy pertaining to cars mainly aimed at tackling climate change?

ted1 · 14-09-2013 5:44pm

Patrick, your the only person I have ever heard say that they miss Starbucks in Dalkey. Everyone else is glad there gone. You should try Mugs, the tram yard or Idle wild for coffee. Each one is mikes better than Starbucks and each one is supporting an Iocal buisness with the profits remaining in the vicinity

patrickbrophy18 · 14-09-2013 6:01pm

ted1 wrote: »

You should try Mugs, the tram yard or Idle wild for coffee. Each one is mikes better than Starbucks and each one is supporting an Iocal buisness with the profits remaining in the vicinity

As a matter of fact, I am a very loyal customer of Mugs because they make the best lattes in Dublin plus their Philly Bacon Bagel is delicious. I also detect a hint of xenophobia when you say "profits remaining in the vicinity". Either way, I respect both local and multinational businesses.

ted1 · 14-09-2013 6:18pm

patrickbrophy18 wrote: »

As a matter of fact, I am a very loyal customer of Mugs because they make the best lattes in Dublin plus their Philly Bacon Bagel is delicious. I also detect a hint of xenophobia when you say "profits remaining in the vicinity". Either way, I respect both local and multinational businesses.

Xenophobia, are you for f**king real. It's called supporting a local economy.

Aard · 14-09-2013 6:21pm

Having a main street full of barbers, discount shops, and charity shops is symptomatic of a wider problem. Namely that there aren't enough customers to demand higher retail. Half of DL's catchment area is in the sea, so it will always have to work harder than its inland neighbours. These days people on the fringes who might have shopped and socialised in DL in the past now have more convenient options like Dundrum or Carrickmines. The new Park Pointe retail development won't do it any favours either. This is not an argument against neighbouring development per we, but that DL reds constant investment if it is to stay viable. The retail-to-resident ratio is clearly unbalanced, so perhaps encouraging denser residential use would inject competition back into the commercial property market.

Larbre34 · 14-09-2013 11:57pm

Im not against cars at all, dont care if they are fuelled by pollutants or not. I love driving my own car and I drive it in spite of public transport alternatives. However i understand that the consequence of me having my personal bubble on the road is that i will be pushed down the priority order in favour of mass transport and pedestrians and i have no problem with that

Lostnfound · 15-09-2013 12:22am

Larbre34 wrote: »

Pop-up shops have been tried. No need to offer shops to the big chains, theyre the ones that can actually afford them, if they saw a viable market in DL they'd be there anyway. Even if the Council were legally able to and able to afford to buy up real estate like that, theres no guarantee the units would be sold to them or anyone else by the freeholders, who are mostly large pension funds who can afford to play the long game and wait for demand and rent levels to recover to make a return on them over the very long term.

One thing DL does not suffer from is lack of public transport. High frequency DART and no fewer than 6 bus routes which are already free to pensioners and very cheap to kids and which pick up a significant amount of the wider catchment

And arent there two farmers markets operating during the week already, at the Church and in the Peoples Park? Theyre not necessarily artisan, just homemade micro businesses, the big stores cater fine for mass produced stuff, and theres no way a permanent market cut undercut those prices.

Freeholders who are pension funds - that's a bit fanciful, they gave up on Upper & Lower George's Street many moons ago. Shops and the shopping centre are owned by private individuals and thankfully I and no one I know owns any part of it.

patrickbrophy18 · 15-09-2013 2:16am

Larbre34 wrote: »

Im not against cars at all, dont care if they are fuelled by pollutants or not. I love driving my own car and I drive it in spite of public transport alternatives. However i understand that the consequence of me having my personal bubble on the road is that i will be pushed down the priority order in favour of mass transport and pedestrians and i have no problem with that

Okay! Recently, I have copped on to the fact that pedestrians and cyclists have been marginalized in light of poor facilities, paths and all. While I am not a cyclist, I am primarily a driver and a pedestrian which gives me more of a balanced point of view from both perspectives. As a pedestrian, I have frequently seen drivers on mobiles or worse still, driving in the middle of the road even though there is ample room to their left. Don't get me started on some of the crap drivers on the M50 who think the 100KM/H sections don't apply to them. I've even had some drivers flash me on the outside lane as if to say that I'm in the wrong despite the fact that I am obeying the speed limit. This goes without saying. As a driver, I take my responsibility of other road users very seriously. Those that don't can &*&% right off. Hopefully, they'll get their comeuppance with the law.

Way off topic! Anyway, the CGI pictures of Park Pointe are incredibly impressive and I look forward to when it is finished. The extra "e" at the end of the title is a tad pretentious. However, I'll be going there a lot when it's operational.

ted1 · 15-09-2013 8:27am

Pointe means tip if the toes. I'd not call it pretentious, its a play in words saying its the tip of the park.

As regards getting flashed at for driving 100 on the outside lane. That's an over taking lane and your not meant to drive in it. So you may be obeying the limit but not the rules of the road.

DLRCoCo havn't a notion about transport, there very anti car but bu their own admission ( renting extra car spaces for staff) the public transport isn't sufficient. Also they have very few bike racks available.

Larbre34 · 15-09-2013 8:45am

That was probably me flashing you Patrick, if you like the motorway regulations you should stick to all of them.

patrickbrophy18 · 15-09-2013 11:01am

While this has nothing to do with the topic at hand, I am well aware that the outside lane of the M50 is an overtaking lane. I use it to overtake lines of traffic going below 80 KM/H on 100 KM/H. These lines can be very long and are mostly caused by traffic taking an upcoming exit. Once I've passed them out, I return to the inside lane (s). Despite this, I still get flashed. Correct me if I' m wrong but, the speed limit applies to all lanes. Yes, I've seen roads where a different speed limit applies to certain lanes and only where signage specifically points this out.

Aard · 15-09-2013 12:45pm

ted1 wrote: »

Pointe means tip if the toes. I'd not call it pretentious, its a play in words saying its the tip of the park.

So should it be pronounced Park Pwante then? If not, then it shouldn't have an 'e'. Either way, it's pretentious.

ted1 · 15-09-2013 12:53pm

Aard wrote: »

So should it be pronounced Park Pwante then? If not, then it shouldn't have an 'e'. Either way, it's pretentious.

Why point and not pointe using the definition of both.

patrickbrophy18 · 15-09-2013 1:17pm

What do y'all think of the huge library and cultural center that's being built on the old bowls court adjacent to The Royal Marine Hotel?

Will it be good for Dun Laoghaire?

Personally and given the rapid emergence of tablet based reading (iPad, Kindle etc.), I think it will be a huge waste of money. While books will not be completely obsolete for a few decades, I think a building on the magnitude of the upcoming Dun Laoghaire Library is excessive for housing a depleting medium. I rarely fail to get a seat in Dun Laoghaire or Dalkey Libraries whenever I'm in them. As such, over crowding isn't an issue.

The two or three retail units beside the Dunnes Stores clothes shop have been vacant for years at this stage. I've always thought that they would make a perfect extension for a new grocery section. The old grocery section on Northumberland Avenue was doomed to failure for two reasons:

It was situated off the main street making it isolated which would minimize exposure and awareness of its presence.
The building itself became grubby and tired looking.

ted1 · 15-09-2013 1:49pm

There was a few parking spaces at the old shop, where as there is none in front of the clothes shop. So it'd be very poor for grocery shopping.

DL is unfortunate in that its to big to be a village like Dalkey, Terenure , rathfarnham, cabintealy etc that can survive on foot fall from the pubs, cages and restaurants.
It's also then got to compete with larger areas such as town, dundrum etc which has better selection on shops based on the larger population.

They should convert the old shopping centre into a hub that will draw a large multinational that will draw people to the area and provide a larger base

Aard · 15-09-2013 3:41pm

Perhaps a business improvement district scheme would work well, like in the city centre. Then the separately owned shops could work together, so as to better compete with the regional shopping centres.

patrickbrophy18 · 15-09-2013 6:32pm

ted1 wrote: »

They should convert the old shopping centre into a hub that will draw a large multinational that will draw people to the area and provide a larger base

Now we're on the same wave length. In order for Dun Laoghaire to compete with the likes of Dundrum or Carrickmines, they would need to do so on a like-for-like basis. The thing is that the retail units in Dundrum and Carrickmines are far superior to most seen in Dun Laoghaire in terms of size allowing more stock to be sold. With the advent of shopping centers like Dundrum or Blanchardstown and retail parks such as Carrickmines came altered and higher expectations of shopping environments. This is a good thing as it paints a more ambitious and dynamic picture of our country.

Unfortunately, there are a few factors which block Dun Laoghaire from regenerating itself properly. Firstly, there is the high abundance of NIMBY-ism in the area which often results in watering down even mildly ambitious re-invigoration plans. Next, the local council keep on adopting policies such as architectural conservation areas (ACAs). From an overall perspective, I agree with ACAs as they seek to protect the character of towns and village. However, they often over prioritize trivial architectural aspects at the expense of urban vitality. If you want to make an omelet, you have to crack a few eggs. In others words, if a town like Dun Laoghaire should be resuscitated, some sacrifices will need to be made. Finally, the last 10-15 years of development and particularly, the development of The Pavilion, Pavilion 2 and now The Huge Library have become obstacles to what could have been a massive commercial hub development.

The following map shows one possibility of how the land could have been better used (it's a rough sketch but, you get the idea):

DunLaoghaireUrbanRejuvenation.jpg?w=AACKb7i2hM6-ugKdP3QSELA4Odj53KK87wxlRF3gm-dPFg

DunLaoghaireUrbanRejuvenation.jpg?w=AACKb7i2hM6-ugKdP3QSELA4Odj53KK87wxlRF3gm-dPFg

Blue: Overall area for urban rejuvenation.
Purple: New shopping center 3 times the size of the current one.
Green: Existing green area. Possible landscaping could include a water feature.
Grey: Retail park like Carrickmines on a smaller scale.

ted1 · 15-09-2013 6:44pm

patrickbrophy18 wrote: »

Now we're on the same wave length. In order for Dun Laoghaire to compete with the likes of Dundrum or Carrickmines, they would need to do so on a like-for-like basis. The thing is that the retail units in Dundrum and Carrickmines are far superior to most seen in Dun Laoghaire in terms of size allowing more stock to be sold. With the advent of shopping centers like Dundrum or Blanchardstown and retail parks such as Carrickmines came altered and higher expectations of shopping environments. This is a good thing as it paints a more ambitious and dynamic picture of our country.

Unfortunately, there are a few factors which block Dun Laoghaire from regenerating itself properly. Firstly, there is the high abundance of NIMBY-ism in the area which often results in watering down even mildly ambitious re-invigoration plans. Next, the local council keep on adopting policies such as architectural conservation areas (ACAs). From an overall perspective, I agree with ACAs as they seek to protect the character of towns and village. However, they often over prioritize trivial architectural aspects at the expense of urban vitality. If you want to make an omelet, you have to crack a few eggs. In others words, if a town like Dun Laoghaire should be resuscitated, some sacrifices will need to be made. Finally, the last 10-15 years of development and particularly, the development of The Pavilion, Pavilion 2 and now The Huge Library have become obstacles to what could have been a massive commercial hub development.

The following map shows one possibility of how the land could have been better used (it's a rough sketch but, you get the idea):

Blue: Overall area for urban rejuvenation.
Purple: New shopping center 3 times the size of the current one.
Green: Existing green area. Possible landscaping could include a water feature.
Grey: Retail park like Carrickmines on a smaller scale.

I didn't mean commercial hub, I mean if they can get a tech company in there and get 2000 office staff on there then the local shops will benefit from extra foot fall.
As a shopping centre its deemed to fail so change its use but keep the ground floor as relevant retail

Chinasea · 16-09-2013 6:36pm

ted1 wrote: »

I mean if they can get a tech company in there and get 2000 office staff on there then the local shops will benefit from extra foot fall.

I'm not having a go, but I really do wonder who "they" are?

ted1 · 16-09-2013 7:56pm

Them being the IDA, DLRCoCo, enterprise board, etc

Fratton Fred · 17-09-2013 7:25am

Are Ericsson still in Dun Laoghaire?

Chinasea · 17-09-2013 8:10am

ted1 wrote: »

Them being the IDA, DLRCoCo, enterprise board, etc

None of these group either collaboratively or individually have the clout, the money, the authority, incentive to open up and close businesses.

The 'they' should notion is a bottomless diversion that will yield nothing.

ted1 · 17-09-2013 9:10am

Chinasea wrote: »

None of these group either collaboratively or individually have the clout, the money, the authority, incentive to open up and close businesses.

The 'they' should notion is a bottomless diversion that will yield nothing.

Nonsense, they need to chase up big buisness just like other areas of the country do

MurdyWurdy · 17-09-2013 9:56am

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Are Ericsson still in Dun Laoghaire?

Nope - building is vacant now

Tabnabs · 18-09-2013 9:04am

ted1 wrote: »

Nonsense, they need to chase up big buisness just like other areas of the country do

Is the Shopping Centre privately owned or the property of the CoCo?

ted1 · 18-09-2013 1:12pm

Private I imagine, and I imagine if a proposal was put to them that would generate rent they would jump on it.

WhatNowForUs? · 18-09-2013 1:19pm

MurdyWurdy wrote: »

Nope - building is vacant now

6,000 sq meters of it.

Aard · 18-09-2013 1:25pm

ted1 wrote: »

Private I imagine, and I imagine if a proposal was put to them that would generate rent they would jump on it.

I'm sure that whoever owns it isn't underutilising it for the good of their health. Redevelopment takes a long time to coordinate, and in the short-term it doesnt always make sense to rent out vacant units for cheap.

Tabnabs · 18-09-2013 2:14pm

ted1 wrote: »

Private I imagine, and I imagine if a proposal was put to them that would generate rent they would jump on it.

Why would it be a good idea for "IDA, DLRCoCo, enterprise board, etc " to get involved in a private business asset and pump tax payers money into it, to allow another private company to come in and benefit from the publicly funded development?

Are there not enough empty office blocks in DL (never mind Dublin)?

Is the debacle of the Cherrywood Strategic Development Zone not enough of a bottomless money pit for you?

DL Shopping Centre is privately owned and must sink or swim by its own merit.

BTW, anyone else heard a very interesting rumour about the fortunes of Bloomfields?

frash · 18-09-2013 3:58pm

Tabnabs wrote: »

BTW, anyone else heard a very interesting rumour about the fortunes of Bloomfields?

no - care to share?

MurdyWurdy · 18-09-2013 4:04pm

WhatNowForUs? wrote: »

6,000 sq meters of it.

It is a pity. I worked there a few years ago and it was a lovely place to work - I have very fond memories of it

Tabnabs · 18-09-2013 4:10pm

frash wrote: »

no - care to share?

Unverified rumour, so not going to spill any beans.

patrickbrophy18 · 18-09-2013 9:28pm

ted1 wrote: »

I didn't mean commercial hub, I mean if they can get a tech company in there and get 2000 office staff on there then the local shops will benefit from extra foot fall

It may benefit the people that work there but not the greater public.

ted1 wrote: »

As a shopping centre its deemed to fail so change its use but keep the ground floor as relevant retail

The reason why the current shopping center is doing badly is that it is not keeping up to the higher standards set by the likes of Dundrum. To put it another way, when Dundrum opened it's doors back in 2005, consumer expectations changed in terms of shop size, environment and choice. In essence, people would begin to want bigger, better and more dynamic shopping environments. The recession certainly hasn't helped and in my opinion, it has been the icing on the cake for Dun Laoghaire Shopping Center's bleak fate. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it ends up closing completely even two years down the road. While the recent makeover to the concourse was a big improvement, it was a failed attempt at a strategic response. The car park leaves a lot to be desired with it's worn surface and tight parking spaces. Moreover, compared to it's bigger rivals, it has a scarcity of them. Many car parks today also provide buffers between parking spaces to allow extra room when opening doors.

As for the surrounding streets in the town of Dun Laoghaire. There are numerous ways in which to improve the shopping experience along them. Weather is still quite a big problem when going around Dun Laoghaire on foot. For example, I've gotten soaked when walking from Bloomfields to the main shopping center when I'm caught unaware by torrential rain. A series of glass arches spanning the width of the street could be constructed to make the street below feel more like the concourse of a shopping center. Georges Street Lower, Convent Road, Patrick's Street and Mulgrave Street come to mind. Pedestrianization might be needed as well where northbound bus routes would ultimately operate down Marine Road and then Crofton Road. Both roads have enough space to be reconfigured to QBC status. Alternatively, Crofton Road and Harbour Roads could be turned into a one-way system so that the pedestrian crossing can be retained. The slack or surplus space leftover could then be transformed into high quality cycle tracks. Anyway, the above is just a though. What do y'all think?

Chinasea · 21-09-2013 8:57am

But perhaps this whole emphasis on 'retail shopping' is part of the problem. Many towns as we know it are something of yester year. People are buying elsewhere now and via countless other channels, ie. online shopping, large drive in shopping areas like Carrickmines etc.

It is my belief that we need to rezone many of the front-line empty properties back to non- commercial properties, and let families start living on the high streets/towns again and in this case I am talking about Dun Laoghaire.

With the introduction of some more green spaces and badly needed robust planting in these built up dismal grim baron zones a definite hub could be achieved with some quality pubs/restaurants/coffee shops/fresh produce market and whatever shops the market dictated. People still need to use their towns for certain things, but just not shopping as we once knew it.

Dun Laoghaire Traffic & Commuting Chat

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