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Wake up Southampton city!


Pilchards

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Do you have the feeling that our very own city is starting to live in the past?

We had a great football team and a Superb stadium with the history of the titanic and the boat show too.

I'm afraid thats all folks as the rest of it is dead!

The night life is dead, The shopping centre is cack.

 

This city is in the shadows of Portsmouth IMHO.

 

We have one thing that could turn the whole thing around and thats Ocean Village, Rebuild it and bring the very best people around the world to our city.

What do you think?

 

Do you feel the same about our proud city too?

What could you suggest to get it moving again or are you really happy the way it's going?

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Do you have the feeling that our very own city is starting to live in the past?

We had a great football team and a Superb stadium with the history of the titanic and the boat show too.

I'm afraid thats all folks as the rest of it is dead!

The night life is dead, The shopping centre is cack.

 

This city is in the shadows of Portsmouth IMHO.

 

We have one thing that could turn the whole thing around and thats Ocean Village, Rebuild it and bring the very best people around the world to our city.

What do you think?

 

Do you feel the same about our proud city too?

What could you suggest to get it moving again or are you really happy the way it's going?

 

TBF a lot of those council estates are quite tall.

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and we have a f**Kin awesome music scene

 

Seconded, I am always amazed by other cities lack of decent turns and venues. Any day of the week we have a pretty good choice.

 

Oxfrod, Pompey, Winchester, Basingstoke, Bournemouth, Reading and Salisbury are rubbish by comparison.

 

None of these places could have put on show the quality and range of acts that Saints Aid did, and that was a small sample.

 

Southampton Rocks.

 

And we have free swimming for kids in the holidays, what joy!

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i know im probably one of only a few on here that likes metal or that sort of music but the bands around here is insane my girlfriend lives in new york and cant believe how many amazing bands come from southampton

bury tomorrow (one of th biggest metal bands in england)

heart in hand,we stare at mirrors,the taming and burn the fleet to name just a few

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Do you have the feeling that our very own city is starting to live in the past?

We had a great football team and a Superb stadium with the history of the titanic and the boat show too.

I'm afraid thats all folks as the rest of it is dead!

The night life is dead, The shopping centre is cack.

 

This city is in the shadows of Portsmouth IMHO.

 

We have one thing that could turn the whole thing around and thats Ocean Village, Rebuild it and bring the very best people around the world to our city.

What do you think?

 

Do you feel the same about our proud city too?

What could you suggest to get it moving again or are you really happy the way it's going?

 

no you're so wrong. Southamptons night life is fantastic in comparison to many other UK cities, certainly offering more than Portsmouth. It's got so much choice and variety, from superclubs to the smaller venues. The shopping centre is cack? Do you mean West quay? Cack? Are you sure?

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no you're so wrong. Southamptons night life is fantastic in comparison to many other UK cities, certainly offering more than Portsmouth. It's got so much choice and variety, from superclubs to the smaller venues. The shopping centre is cack? Do you mean West quay? Cack? Are you sure?

 

Compared to gun wharf then yes I think it lacks culture.

 

If the city could take advantage of ocean village with a figure above the skies so that people all over the world would come and visit then I really believe it would be us attracting that billionaire Pompey have got because it's seen as the centre point of the south regarding the world cup stadium etc...

 

I totally agree about the music scene so why not make it stronger by building a concert place like the O2 arena?

 

Please don't tell me to live in Pompey if I'm not happy as I'm Southampton through and through.

I just feel like we lack some culture and ambition thats all.

Edited by Pilchards
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Compared to gun wharf then yes I think it lacks culture.

 

If the city could take advantage of ocean village with a figure above the skies so that people all over the world would come and visit then I really believe it would be us attracting that billionaire Pompey have got because it's seen as the centre point of the south regarding the world cup stadium etc...

 

I totally agree about the music scene so why not make it stronger by building a concert place like the O2 arena?

 

Please don't tell me to live in Pompey if I'm not happy as I'm Southampton through and through.

I just feel like we lack some culture and ambition thats all.

 

 

If Gunwharf Quay is your example of "culture" (err - it's a factory outlet village, much like you get in Swindon and Bicester) then god elp us all. Hardly the Louvre, is it?

 

Portsmouth have got more culture, with the Navy shipyard, but its hardly a new development. HMS Victory has been there a while.

 

The suggestion that Southampton is broke is an interesting one, but your suggestion it gets fixed by redeveloping Ocean Village (what, again) is a bit odd and leaves me baffled by what you mean by culture.

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Along Southsea there was a fair bit of new development which had the aim of displacing the traditional people of that area and gentrifying it with middle class folk from London.

 

The displaced pikeys ended up in the flower garden estates of Swaythling and such like, drive down there, they have tracksuits, necklaces and every other hallmark of a pikey.

 

The gentrification of Southsea then brought in further investment as the local population were not viewed as parasitic workshy scum, but as valued members of society.

 

We need to displace a sizable chunk of Southampton and gentrify it. That in turn will bring in more commercial investment, increasing the attraction of the football club to potential investors.

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If Gunwharf Quay is your example of "culture" (err - it's a factory outlet village, much like you get in Swindon and Bicester) then god elp us all. Hardly the Louvre, is it?

 

Portsmouth have got more culture, with the Navy shipyard, but its hardly a new development. HMS Victory has been there a while.

 

The suggestion that Southampton is broke is an interesting one, but your suggestion it gets fixed by redeveloping Ocean Village (what, again) is a bit odd and leaves me baffled by what you mean by culture.

 

Okay change the word culture and mix it with historic.

 

You are right they have the Mary rose and whatever ships blah blah...

But still that Spinaker tower is one piece of ****ing junk and yet people across the world want to see it.

Strange one that, however when you see an ariel view from a helicopter of the tower with the shops, ships then it does look quite special.

 

Rebuild ocean village, Stick a thing overlooking our seas and don't overprice it as a sailors place, build a speedway track and ice rink and then we are on a winner.

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Okay change the word culture and mix it with historic.

 

You are right they have the Mary rose and whatever ships blah blah...

But still that Spinaker tower is one piece of ****ing junk and yet people across the world want to see it.

Strange one that, however when you see an ariel view from a helicopter of the tower with the shops, ships then it does look quite special.

 

Rebuild ocean village, Stick a thing overlooking our seas and don't overprice it as a sailors place, build a speedway/DOG track and ice rink and then we are on a winner.

 

I think the VT development is a key piece in the future of Southampton... we must get that right. A guy I work with, who is from Chesterfield, was recently in our great city and said that he thought it was just carparks and shops with no real centre. It was interesting to get the view on the place from someone who isn't from the town and had n't been to the city before. There are some really great bits to see in Southampton but it does need sorting out. I don't htink we can ever compete with Portsmouth Geographical location, 'The Sydney of the North' I like to call it. Western Shore needs to be sorted out and Mayflower park/The Pier. I went to the IOW recently, first time in years, and actually though Southampton look quite good from the sea approach, which is a contradiction to what I have written before..... but it COULD BE SO MUCH BETTER. We need something to challenge the Spinneker Tower. A real focal feature. Also our planners need shooting for allowing 'industrial' type buildings like leisure world. A great big Clad Steel framed building. Surely we can raise our game to make Southampton the heart of the South?

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Bring back the balloon fest

 

That should do it! :)

 

One day this city will realise it's little gem it's had all along, that great big river flowing through the middle of it.

 

Eventually it will get developed for recreational use and become a massive asset and focal point for this city...but then again............

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Wake up its a beautiful morning,

Feel the sun shining for your eyes.

Wake up its so beautiful,

For what could be the very last time.

 

Wake up (x eight)

 

But you can't blame me now for the death of someone,

But you can't blame me now for the death of someone.

But you've gonna say, what you wanna say,

You have to put the death in everything.

 

Wake up its a beautiful morning,

Feel the sun shining for your eyes.

Wake up its so beautiful,

For what could be the very last time.

 

Wake up its a beautiful morning,

Feel the sun shining for your eyes.

Wake up its so beautiful,

For what could be the very last time.

 

Ahhhh

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I think the city is slacking a bit in many ways but you mentioned the shopping and the nightlife, which we are in top 5 locations in the UK for BOTH!!

 

Well I find that staggering if true but I guess facts paint a better picture.

 

I do agree entirely with some comments above that we need to sort Weston shore out and move some of the (whatever you want to call it) away from the city.

 

I do recall some great ariel photos of the QE2 farewell and the tallships leaving our city with thousands of little boats around them. We are a major seaport so let's get the place rocking with better attractions along the shores.

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Wht the f**k have you moved this to the f**king lounge ffs!!!! The moving of this thread is another reason why the city has f**king gone to the sh*tter!! ffs!!

 

Totally agree mate.

 

This thread can make our MP's take note that our football team is dying just like our city.

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Strap-line for the Council :-Yet More Shops and Hotels! Who Needs Anything Else!?

 

We used to have an Ice Rink (Skating, Southampton Vikings Ice Hockey), Bannister Court (Southampton Speedway, Greyhound Racing, Stock Car Racing etc), The Lido (outdoor swimming pool), Cricket (County Ground) amonst other things. What does the City have now. I see that plan have now been approved for the City`s tallest building. Guess what - another hotel and appartments.

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Strap-line for the Council :-Yet More Shops and Hotels! Who Needs Anything Else!?

 

We used to have an Ice Rink (Skating, Southampton Vikings Ice Hockey), Bannister Court (Southampton Speedway, Greyhound Racing, Stock Car Racing etc), The Lido (outdoor swimming pool), Cricket (County Ground) amonst other things. What does the City have now. I see that plan have now been approved for the City`s tallest building. Guess what - another hotel and appartments.

 

yippee, let's get some

more immigrants in!

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The City Centre is tatty and grey, the former Tyrell & Green units continue to fester and collect moss, the post-war prefabs look shabby and spoil the parks. Knock down the lot and rebuild facing the parks, not obscuring them and open the centre up. Inward investment is badly needed, we need bigger employers in the area, not just Skandia Life. Ocean Village is a sham now, ruined by greed in the same way the football club has been.

 

There is still a lot of potential - Greater Southampton is a large catchment area, 2 Universities and good FE provision, just need to attract the inward investment to stop the outflux of skilled young professionals. All the city's economy offers is burger jobs, service sector/retail and financial services (although the skilled stuff is based in Salisbury or Basingstoke) and this has to change. The transport infrastructure is a killer - when I was in Sydney earlier this year the ferry system from Circular Quay was so effective and could run from Town Quay. Imagine how much easier it would be to commute from Waterside without having to squeeze onto the Hythe Ferry? Restore Thomas Lewis Way to being a 70mph M27 direct link as it was originally intended.

 

The shopping is good and highly-rated but lets try and make sure people can actually access it! Ocean Village needs more places to have relaxation time and needs some high profile buildings to restore the good times. As for the Spinnaker, it is a landmark and from a distance looks awesome although close-up it looks like Lego but it gives Portsmouth Harbour a much bigger profile so we shouldn't copy it but a cluster of genuinely tall buildings with some big names attracted would give profile and provide the skilled jobs needed. We should make more of the medieval quarter and our city's rich heritage and restore it to being the home of ocean sailing.

Edited by saint1977
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The City Centre is tatty and grey, the former Tyrell & Green units continue to fester and collect moss, the post-war prefabs look shabby and spoil the parks. Knock down the lot and rebuild facing the parks, not obscuring them and open the centre up. Inward investment is badly needed, we need bigger employers in the area, not just Skandia Life. Ocean Village is a sham now, ruined by greed in the same way the football club has been.

 

There is still a lot of potential - Greater Southampton is a large catchment area, 2 Universities and good FE provision, just need to attract the inward investment to stop the outflux of skilled young professionals. All the city's economy offers is burger jobs, service sector/retail and financial services (although the skilled stuff is based in Salisbury or Basingstoke) and this has to change. The transport infrastructure is a killer - when I was in Sydney earlier this year the ferry system from Circular Quay was so effective and could run from Town Quay. Imagine how much easier it would be to commute from Waterside without having to squeeze onto the Hythe Ferry? Restore Thomas Lewis Way to being a 70mph M27 direct link as it was originally intended.

 

The shopping is good and highly-rated but lets try and make sure people can actually access it! Ocean Village needs more places to have relaxation time and needs some high profile buildings to restore the good times. As for the Spinnaker, it is a landmark and from a distance looks awesome although close-up it looks like Lego but it gives Portsmouth Harbour a much bigger profile. We should make more of the medieval quarter and our city's rich heritage and restore it to being the home of ocean sailing.

 

Erm - Carnival?

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Southampton has a very rich and varied history but Councils over the years have not done anything to capitalize on it. Titanic, Henry V (Agincourt, The Southampton Plot, The Red Lion etc), The French ransacking, D Day, The Spitfire, to name a few areas of interest. There are no museums of any consequence (Maritime Museum - and we are an important maritime city - the size of a postage stamp) and nothing to bring tourists into the City. The only reason for tourists to stay in Southampton is to use it as a base to visit the surrounding area.

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Along Southsea there was a fair bit of new development which had the aim of displacing the traditional people of that area and gentrifying it with middle class folk from London.

 

The displaced pikeys ended up in the flower garden estates of Swaythling and such like, drive down there, they have tracksuits, necklaces and every other hallmark of a pikey.

 

The gentrification of Southsea then brought in further investment as the local population were not viewed as parasitic workshy scum, but as valued members of society.

 

We need to displace a sizable chunk of Southampton and gentrify it. That in turn will bring in more commercial investment, increasing the attraction of the football club to potential investors.

 

F'ck it, just bulldoze the lot and build a big palace with 12 levels of underground bunkers and some nice boulevards. Worked for Ceausescu, right ?

 

How did all these pikeys manage to miss Leigh Park and the whole of Portsmouth anyway ?

 

As someone who's been to the vast majority of cities and towns in Southern England and Wales during a national software rollout (and a fair bit of footy travelling), I can assure you that relatively speaking, Southampton kicks ass. That's why I moved here. It does need a midsized multipurpose venue though.

Edited by The9
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Do you have the feeling that our very own city is starting to live in the past?

We had a great football team and a Superb stadium with the history of the titanic and the boat show too.

I'm afraid thats all folks as the rest of it is dead!

The night life is dead, The shopping centre is cack.

 

This city is in the shadows of Portsmouth IMHO.

 

We have one thing that could turn the whole thing around and thats Ocean Village, Rebuild it and bring the very best people around the world to our city.

What do you think?

 

Do you feel the same about our proud city too?

What could you suggest to get it moving again or are you really happy the way it's going?

 

You point at several issues within both cities and I doubt whether there is much between them. 10 years ago, certainly 20 years ago, Pompey was a very dull and drab place. But it has tarted itself up, and now, sad to say, Southampton looks like the city that has lost its way, from particular views.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I sailed across from Wootton Creek into Portsmouth Harbour for the first time in about 15 years. I've never really enjoyed going there by sailboat, for various reasons. But the place now looks great from the sea approaches.

I sail up Southampton Water about 20 times a year, in different conditions, and even with the Sun on it, Southampton just looks a bit dowdy and drab unless it has a few cruise liners alongside the key. It's a real shame.

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Erm - Carnival?

 

True but the city needs to smarten up one heck of a lot as a stop-off/arrival/departure on cruises. Yes, there's a plush new lounge at the dock but visitors would have little clue about the rich maritime and social history, stretching back to the time of Hamwic. Given a number of those visitors are likely to be American, this is an appalling omission. Hopefully the HLF-funded 2012 project for Titanic will liven up that side of things.

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Southampton has many advantages over Portsmouth. When considering Portsmouth, that is a bit of a ****hole, whose only saving grace is Southsea and some interest around the harbour and docks, like Gunwharf Quay.

 

We have a proper University and a glorified Tech College. Portsmouth has only the glorified Tech College turned into a Uni and the other Tech College that has remained as such. We have a better shopping centre and High Street, with lovely parks adjacent to it. Our common is vastly superior to theirs, being an area of natural habitat, woodlands, open spaces, lakes, etc. They have just the open grassed space and that it at Southsea anyway. We are the number one passenger liner port in Britain; they are a little ferry port. Their port is in decline because so is the Navy, so we are feeding them the surplus business from the liners, as crumbs from our table. We have one of the best preserved medieval walls in the country. We have the Internationally renowned boat show. We have an international airport. We had Ocean Village and Hythe marina long before they had anything comparable and admittedly ours need updating, but have the potential to be better than theirs, especially as we have land to be developed at Woolston and along the river towards Northam bridge, whereas they little else they can develop. On our doorstep, we have the New Forest, the yachting havens of the Hamble, Beaulieu, Lymington. We got the Ikea, not them.

 

Agreed that there is considerable additional potential for improvements to Ocean Village and other waterside areas, an Ice rink and other projects, but we are better placed geographically than they are and ought to be able to take advantage of that to have a brighter future. Their Spinnaker Tower is titchy. I've been up the CN Tower, the Niagara Tower and the Space Needle, so The Spinnaker isn't that impressive apart from its position with nothing too tall around it. Perhaps we ought to have one that dwarfs theirs, or maybe an arch spanning Southampton Water.

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Southampton is a **** city, the majority of residents said the same to me when I lived there. Portsmouth is crap also, but at least it makes the most of what it is.

 

I wouldn't particularly want to live in either and even as a Pompey fan prefer parts of Bournemouth or Brighton. That said, most parts of England are pretty ****ty nowdays which is why us English are leaving at a speed of knots.

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i know im probably one of only a few on here that likes metal or that sort of music but the bands around here is insane my girlfriend lives in new york and cant believe how many amazing bands come from southampton

bury tomorrow (one of th biggest metal bands in england)

heart in hand,we stare at mirrors,the taming and burn the fleet to name just a few

 

yea we have some ok bands..

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My opinion from someone that did not grow up in Southampton, or England either. This notion of Southampton 'waking' up really depends whether the city wishes to be able to compete on a regional, national or global scale. As a tourist, my verdict on the nightlife, music scene can only be gathered over a couple of weeks so my opinion could well be incorrect however that is part of being a tourist. I last came over 2 years ago, the first time where I have been the legal age and able to see the city with clear eyes. Considering I have always formed a picture in my mind of a beautiful city that was reflected by the football team, I was very disappointed. Yes it is the most attractive place to visit on the South Coast, possibly with the exception of Bournemouth. But that I feel is where the influence lies, within the region. On a national scale, and I'm talking purely as a tourist, for the music scene, nightlife and general culture, there are very little pull factors for Southampton. In particular, I found WestQuay to be plastic and boring, nothing in comparision to say the shopping centres we have in Sydney. I found there was nothing really unique, just a chain of generic shops. Certainly at the moment Southampton is not doing much on a global scale to the extent that many of my friends, albeit ignorant typical aussies, have no idea where Southampton is and those that do its because of the football team rather then the city. It does pain me to write down the honest truth but I just feel Southampton has to do more to attract the tourists such as myself, that if my friends go on a tour of the UK that Southampton is on their visit list which currently it is not. Portsmouth, at the moment, could also have more pull factor over the international tourist then Southampton

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Strap-line for the Council :-Yet More Shops and Hotels! Who Needs Anything Else!?

 

We used to have an Ice Rink (Skating, Southampton Vikings Ice Hockey), Bannister Court (Southampton Speedway, Greyhound Racing, Stock Car Racing etc), The Lido (outdoor swimming pool), Cricket (County Ground) amonst other things. What does the City have now. I see that plan have now been approved for the City`s tallest building. Guess what - another hotel and appartments.

 

You know they built another cricket ground? It's quite a good one.

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For me one of the biggest areas Southampton needs to be redevloped is the waterfront, a few months back I walked down to Mayflower park for the first time (apart from the QE2 night) and there was nothing there, I then also wanted to find out where the National Oceanographic Centre was (as I needed to be down there a few days later), as well as just explore the sea front. But there was nothing there the waterfront Mayflower is just a car park with a few benches (granted there is the grass area behind but I couldnt see anything that would attract people down) and as far as I could tell there was just a load of private land up until Ocean Village so made almost any trip away from the shops completely pointless.

 

IMO we need something to draw people down to the waterfront, there also needs to be more made of the old walls and church rather than them being locked away and inbetween some new building. I would suggest a pier and something to get peoples attention, the Spitfire could work but I have a feeling it will be a massive flop and waste of money unless there is a reason for people to go down and see it.

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Then I misunderstood you. And there was also a zoo. But that was terrible.

 

Compared to the likes of Longleat (yes I realise that is a Safari Park) yes it was but it amused a lot of people I know and myself for hours on a nice hot sunny afternoon. Visit to the zoo then over to the paddling pool, happy days. They also sold the best popcorn, the only downside was the Llama's spitting at everyone who walked past them!

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Strap-line for the Council :-Yet More Shops and Hotels! Who Needs Anything Else!?

 

But this is the same everywhere, isn't it?

 

As an example, where I live, Weston-super-Mare, a rough estimate tells me that about 20% of the shops are empty.

 

What does North Somerset Council do to solve the problem of the ailing town centre? It decides to knock down some buildings and build more shops.

 

It's all part of the consumerist nightmare we live in. If the powers that be repeatedly tell enough people they have to keep going out and shopping, they will think they need to. To allow them to do this they need shiny new shops, because the old ones quickly get boring.

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