George Street Plans

[Pretty Boy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-56188057

What are people's thoughts on this? Personally I think it looks brilliant and is hopefully the start of a transformation of Edinburgh City centre. The high street as we knew it is gone so it's time to make the city centre a place people have a reason to visit again.

I daresay the usual NIMBYS will be out in force on social media but both this and the planned extension of the tram network to provide an integrated mass transit system is essential as Edinburgh grows into Scotlands biggest city in the next couple of decades.

[SteveHFC]

They could make Princess Street the same.

[Pretty Boy]

They could make Princess Street the same.

I've always said Princes Street is a prime location for a range of different bars, cafes, restaurants and so on with outside seating in summer. It's already starting with the new Diageo site at Frasers and one of the proposed plans for Jenners. Add in a few community arts hubs and cultural attractions and it's a winner. Big wide pavements and a view unrivalled almost anywhere.

Retail still has it's place in the new St James development and the like but a city centre should be a space for people, locals and tourists alike, to live, socialise and relax.

[.Sean.]

I think it looks great. Reminds me of the main thoroughfare bit in Prague

Hopefully do the same with Princes Street which is awash with phone shops and tatty tartan garbage outlets. Plenty room for the likes of River island, primark etc at the Gyle, Fort, Straiton. Imagine a few summer pints or a nice meal al fresco in the shadow of the castle

[Hibbyradge]

Add me to the thumbs up list.

[Glory Lurker]

Not against but as it runs east-west it doesn't get loads of sun.

[speedy_gonzales]

I like the plans and hope they're delivered in their entirety.

A few years back the street was closed to traffic on a temporary basis and there was pop up bars & restaurants (most affiliated with the established premises already on the street. I had some great evening out in the late summer when Edinburgh gets a modicum of decent weather.

Unfortunately, the reality is, a vocal minority will have a tantrum and the plans will be watered down or done on the cheap.

[CropleyWasGod]

Add me to the thumbs up list.

Me an aw. I was one of the small minority that voted for the congestion charge, so I should get my way 😁

[lord bunberry]

I’d prefer them to do something like that on Princes Street.

[RyeSloan]

I’d prefer them to do something like that on Princes Street.

What with a muckle big tram line running down the middle and a million buses?

George street is the natural choice as it’s simply not required as a thoroughfare...should have happened years ago and I’ve no idea why it’s taken them so long to get around to doing something as bloomin’ obvious.

[danhibees1875]

Agree with everything mentioned so far in terms of George st, princes street (now's the time to do it, when things move to new st James), and tram extensions!

What's a NIMBYS though? Not In My Back Yard, Son?

[gbhibby]

Poorly thought out like everything that the council do. The council seems to want to ban cars from anywhere in the city centre. The streets around the area of George St once we get back to normal after covid will be so busy. I have not gone into the city centre to shop for ages,can't be bothered trying to find a parking space.I know people will say use public transport but I prefer to use the car.
You will drive a lot of shops away from the city centre to out of town sites. It seems Edinburghs transport strategy is get on yir bike or Tram.

[wookie70]

Looks brilliant for tourists.

[Hibbyradge]

Me an aw. I was one of the small minority that voted for the congestion charge, so I should get my way 😁

As did I.

Slowly slowly catchy monkey. :wink:

[Hibbyradge]

Agree with everything mentioned so far in terms of George st, princes street (now's the time to do it, when things move to new st James), and tram extensions!

What's a NIMBYS though? Not In My Back Yard, Son?

One moany face is a NIMBY. 2 moany faces or more are NIMBYs. 😃

[lapsedhibee]

One moany face is a NIMBY. 2 moany faces or more are NIMBYs.

But Rees Mogg's Rules state that Organisations are Singular. So if those 2 or more moany faces formally join together, you'd have to say "Nimbys is" instead of "Nimbys are". Which sounds odd.

I have written to Jake and, asked whether the plural of Nimby shouldn't in any case be Nimbies.

Anyone else bored with lockdown? :dunno:

[danhibees1875]

One moany face is a NIMBY. 2 moany faces or more are NIMBYs. 😃

You completely lost me so I googled.

Turns out my guess was actually right, apart from the S, and now I understand what's going on. :greengrin

[Smartie]

Poorly thought out like everything that the council do. The council seems to want to ban cars from anywhere in the city centre. The streets around the area of George St once we get back to normal after covid will be so busy. I have not gone into the city centre to shop for ages,can't be bothered trying to find a parking space.I know people will say use public transport but I prefer to use the car.
You will drive a lot of shops away from the city centre to out of town sites. It seems Edinburghs transport strategy is get on yir bike or Tram.

I own a business not far from the West end of George Street and tbh, rather than nimby I like this idea. Without something fairly radical the city centre is going to wither and die.

Interesting what you say about parking though, as there are plans to remove much more parking on Randolph Place and Melville Street to continue the cycle route through the city centre. The parking is well used, although the council claim to have stats to say that it is not.

They’ve been trying to get people to ditch taking the car to the city centre for a while. I’ve seen a big shift in the demographic of the customers of my business over the 10 years of having it from being older people driving in some distances to being younger people who live and work nearby who find it handy. I reckon extortionate parking charges and the city centre being an unpleasant and difficult place to drive have a lot to do with it (although other businesses similar to mine have popped up around the country too, and folk will have reasonably been asking themselves why they drive past 5 or 6 similar businesses to come to us).

[Hibbyradge]

But Rees Mogg's Rules state that Organisations are Singular. So if those 2 or more moany faces formally join together, you'd have to say "Nimbys is" instead of "Nimbys are". Which sounds odd.

I have written to Jake and, asked whether the plural of Nimby shouldn't in any case be Nimbies.

Anyone else bored with lockdown? :dunno:

A NIMBY can be an individual.

Rees Mogg is a TWAT

[Keith_M]

It might be possible on George St but there's no way this will work on Princes St, as around half of every LRT bus routes travel along there, plus the fact the tram takes up nearly half the street.

[ronaldo7]

Great idea. George street lends itself to the makeover, princes Street, not so much with the new Tram lines

[SideBurns]

Hopefully the benefit to Princes St will be that almost everyone arriving by public transport to shop in the city centre will have to travel through it (and generally get off there), and so it will retain decent footfall. One thing about Edinburgh is that it has great public transport links, and is a relatively small city which is easy to get around anyway. Agree that the images of a George Street boulevard look great.

[Sylar]

Love the idea - it would create such an open and vibrant part of the city, and a great opportunity to fully utilise the space. I personally never drive into the city centre anyway, so have no problem with more areas becoming pedestrianised if they're then utilised in a beneficial manner.

[Lendo]

I really like it and would love to see it happen, but unfortunately there are enough residents on George Street to oppose any development. They'll never give up their parking spaces.

[Pretty Boy]

Am I right in thinking the new St James development will have over 1000 parking spaces? Obviously not ideal for the west end but still a significant number of spaces in the city centre.

Re Princes Street I'd agree it doesn't lend itself to something identical to George Street but the pavement on the North side is substantial. You could easily have some outside tables and the like there whilst retaining pavement space and traffic.

When it comes to transport the state vandalism that saw the closure of the suburban railway is a huge gripe of mine. A rail line that linked various schemes to each other and the city centre would have been a huge asset moving forward.

[BroxburnHibee]

Am I right in thinking the new St James development will have over 1000 parking spaces? Obviously not ideal for the west end but still a significant number of spaces in the city centre.

Re Princes Street I'd agree it doesn't lend itself to something identical to George Street but the pavement on the North side is substantial. You could easily have some outside tables and the like there whilst retaining pavement space and traffic.

When it comes to transport the state vandalism that saw the closure of the suburban railway is a huge gripe of mine. A rail line that linked various schemes to each other and the city centre would have been a huge asset moving forward.

I think once the North/South tram line is done or at least given the go ahead then putting a tram line on the suburban route would be a logical next step but is it possible?

Or perhaps trams on the old 32/52 route?

Look it up kids :greengrin

[Keith_M]

...

When it comes to transport the state vandalism that saw the closure of the suburban railway is a huge gripe of mine. A rail line that linked various schemes to each other and the city centre would have been a huge asset moving forward.


Totally agree.

When you've lived somewhere that actually has suburban railways lines and see the difference it makes, then not having something similar in Edinburgh seems even more stupid.

Even Glasgow has a fairly decent rail network, while in Edinburgh you're pretty much reliant on buses as an alternative... which can take an age to get anywhere.

[lapsedhibee]

Great idea. George street lends itself to the makeover, princes Street, not so much with the new Tram lines

Would there be anything to stop the council taking up the tram lines on Princes St and relaying them on George St? Can't see that causing too much disruption. :offski:

[JeMeSouviens]

Am I right in thinking the new St James development will have over 1000 parking spaces? Obviously not ideal for the west end but still a significant number of spaces in the city centre.

Re Princes Street I'd agree it doesn't lend itself to something identical to George Street but the pavement on the North side is substantial. You could easily have some outside tables and the like there whilst retaining pavement space and traffic.

When it comes to transport the state vandalism that saw the closure of the suburban railway is a huge gripe of mine. A rail line that linked various schemes to each other and the city centre would have been a huge asset moving forward.

Particularly when the track is all still there. It seems such a no-brainer to reopen and it's been talked about practically since it closed!

[lapsedhibee]

Particularly when the track is all still there. It seems such a no-brainer to reopen and it's been talked about practically since it closed!
Do you mean actual railway lines, or just routes? If it's the same suburban railway I'm thinking about, isn't a whole lot of it cyclepath now?

[JeMeSouviens]

Do you mean actual railway lines, or just routes? If it's the same suburban railway I'm thinking about, isn't a whole lot of it cyclepath now?

I meant the loop going south Duddingston-Craigmillar-Morningside-Gorgie-Haymarket. It's still used for goods traffic.

[gbhibby]

Do you mean actual railway lines, or just routes? If it's the same suburban railway I'm thinking about, isn't a whole lot of it cyclepath now?
Could be changed back to railway line. Can you imagine the demonstrations that will take place. Also some of the railway lines land now has houses built on it. The tram project I think will be using some of the old railway lines in future plans. There is still a freight line in Edinburgh which is used. It was a no brainer to use what we already have rather than embark on a vanity project (tram).

[lapsedhibee]

I meant the loop going south Duddingston-Craigmillar-Morningside-Gorgie-Haymarket. It's still used for goods traffic.

:aok: Never travelled that far south. Newhaven - Granton - Craigleith - Roseburn is all bikes and dogwalkers now.

[gbhibby]

I own a business not far from the West end of George Street and tbh, rather than nimby I like this idea. Without something fairly radical the city centre is going to wither and die.

Interesting what you say about parking though, as there are plans to remove much more parking on Randolph Place and Melville Street to continue the cycle route through the city centre. The parking is well used, although the council claim to have stats to say that it is not.

They’ve been trying to get people to ditch taking the car to the city centre for a while. I’ve seen a big shift in the demographic of the customers of my business over the 10 years of having it from being older people driving in some distances to being younger people who live and work nearby who find it handy. I reckon extortionate parking charges and the city centre being an unpleasant and difficult place to drive have a lot to do with it (although other businesses similar to mine have popped up around the country too, and folk will have reasonably been asking themselves why they drive past 5 or 6 similar businesses to come to us).
Would you not like to have both sets of consumers. There is now a shift change in how people shop since covid more online shopping. The cost of rates for city centre shops is far too high. The new St James will create more shopping space but will it be all be filled?

I have been driving around the city centre for fifteen years and the number of people on Princes Street and George Street has diminished over these years. Making George St a pedestrian only area is not the answer but a proper business strategy to encourage businesses to locate into the city centre would be more effective.

[Lendo]

I believe the council have/had some lofty plans for the old railways line that ran from the now gone waste depot at Powderhall, past Easter Road and out to Meadow Bank. Talk is a New York high-line style path (obviously not elevated) with community gardens and art installations, etc.

[Lendo]

I meant the loop going south Duddingston-Craigmillar-Morningside-Gorgie-Haymarket. It's still used for goods traffic.

I think Scotrail run one train a day or week along that line just for training purposes too.

[gbhibby]

I think Scotrail run one train a day or week along that line just for training purposes too.
There is a steam train that goes on the line for train enthusiasts.

[Smartie]

Would you not like to have both sets of consumers. There is now a shift change in how people shop since covid more online shopping. The cost of rates for city centre shops is far too high. The new St James will create more shopping space but will it be all be filled?

I have been driving around the city centre for fifteen years and the number of people on Princes Street and George Street has diminished over these years. Making George St a pedestrian only area is not the answer but a proper business strategy to encourage businesses to locate into the city centre would be more effective.

Yeah, I would love both sets.

But I've grown to accept that the council are hell bent on driving one set away so have tailored our offering accordingly. If we hadn't we were going to go extinct.

The council should be a friend to business but they're not. They've been a threat from day one, several of their cack-handed schemes have harmed us and they're far from finished.

Funnily enough I saw someone kicking off on Facebook about them recently. They're not from Edinburgh, are new to the area and stand to be fairly seriously competitors to us. I had a wee chuckle and mumbled a quiet "welcome to Edinburgh" under my breath when I saw it.

They'll learn.

[gbhibby]

Yeah, I would love both sets.

But I've grown to accept that the council are hell bent on driving one set away so have tailored our offering accordingly. If we hadn't we were going to go extinct.

The council should be a friend to business but they're not. They've been a threat from day one, several of their cack-handed schemes have harmed us and they're far from finished.

Funnily enough I saw someone kicking off on Facebook about them recently. They're not from Edinburgh, are new to the area and stand to be fairly seriously competitors to us. I had a wee chuckle and mumbled a quiet "welcome to Edinburgh" under my breath when I saw it.

They'll learn.
But, but the tourists will love it!

[RyeSloan]

But, but the tourists will love it!

And plenty of people from Edinburgh as well I expect!