SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

On BBC 1's Inside out programme tonight at 7.30 architect Maxwell Hutchinson returns to Leeds to see if his predictions of a property disaster in the city have come true. In a previous programme he stated that all the new"city living" flats being built were the slums of the future!

Lilysmum wrote: On BBC 1's Inside out programme tonight at 7.30 architect Maxwell Hutchinson returns to Leeds to see if his predictions of a property disaster in the city have come true. In a previous programme he stated that all the new"city living" flats being built were the slums of the future! We might not have the repute of Mr Hutchinson but I think that is a sentiment prophered by many when these apartments had got no further than Langton's Wharf.But then who knows what will come after that? I visited someone in the city centre Glasgow tenaments in the late 70's not too prety then but know, revamped and revitalised in some areas and costapacket jobs.

Mr Hutchinson got slagged off big style and therefore hes come back to sound off how right he was.Well he was to a certain extent,because we could all see that the rush to build crappy little apartments at exhorbatant prices would one day come down around the necks of the property developers.What he,and we,didnt see was how quickly this would happen.This (the current economic climate)isnt unique to Leeds,its happened all over,but i feel his comments on Clarence Dock are valid,and despite being an optimistic supporter of such an enterprise ive found that frequent successive visits to CD have left me with the feeling that the development is lacking ,both in atmosphere and atraction.What a shame,loved the idea but the post crunch pessimism has laid wate to the optimism i had.Lets go to the PALACE!!

cnosni wrote: Mr Hutchinson got slagged off big style and therefore hes come back to sound off how right he was.Well he was to a certain extent,because we could all see that the rush to build crappy little apartments at exhorbatant prices would one day come down around the necks of the property developers.What he,and we,didnt see was how quickly this would happen.This (the current economic climate)isnt unique to Leeds,its happened all over,but i feel his comments on Clarence Dock are valid,and despite being an optimistic supporter of such an enterprise ive found that frequent successive visits to CD have left me with the feeling that the development is lacking ,both in atmosphere and atraction.What a shame,loved the idea but the post crunch pessimism has laid wate to the optimism i had.Lets go to the PALACE!! I agree with what you said there about CD been a souless ghost town at the moment.It's quite funny really, my mate was telling me on Sunday, that when he lived in London, Canary Wharf was just the same. A total ghost town he said. Nothing was open-just empty offices. It was always on the news about how it was one massive flop e.t.c.He says now just look at the place.. It's the no1 spot to be.Maybe there's time for CD if this recession doesn't bite too hard.            

In the blurb about this programme they gave us the 'shocking' stat that " one in ten City Centre flats is unoccupied. Look it at the other way - 90per cent are occupied - that sounds pretty good to me!

drapesy wrote: In the blurb about this programme they gave us the 'shocking' stat that " one in ten City Centre flats is unoccupied. Look it at the other way - 90per cent are occupied - that sounds pretty good to me! Agreed Steve,its a pretty good occupancey rate.Id like these places to work,i really would,but CD,River Island,are cut off from not only the city centre but also any other concentrated population,im not sure its what the developers had in mind.Im not interested in living in such a place myself,though i can see the attraction for some people,namely those at the younger single/couple end.

One of the big problems of this city centre living is the lack of car parking.If you know someone who lives in one of these apartements, such as the one at the Lower Calls, almost on the bridge, you'll know that you get one parking spot.This makes it very difficult for anyone to visit you, and that's during the day, overnight stays are out of the question if you arrive by car and the flat owner already has a car - which most have.This means that instead of bringing in visitors and money into Leeds, the reality is that the apartment dwellers end up doing all the visiting, away from the centre.This lifestyle soon palls, folk try to move out - if they can sell up, and its not really a great place for young couples and children.So who would want to live in such a place?

electricaldave wrote: One of the big problems of this city centre living is the lack of car parking.If you know someone who lives in one of these apartements, such as the one at the Lower Calls, almost on the bridge, you'll know that you get one parking spot.This makes it very difficult for anyone to visit you, and that's during the day, overnight stays are out of the question if you arrive by car and the flat owner already has a car - which most have.This means that instead of bringing in visitors and money into Leeds, the reality is that the apartment dwellers end up doing all the visiting, away from the centre.This lifestyle soon palls, folk try to move out - if they can sell up, and its not really a great place for young couples and children.So who would want to live in such a place? A hermit lol

electricaldave wrote: One of the big problems of this city centre living is the lack of car parking.If you know someone who lives in one of these apartements, such as the one at the Lower Calls, almost on the bridge, you'll know that you get one parking spot.This makes it very difficult for anyone to visit you, and that's during the day, overnight stays are out of the question if you arrive by car and the flat owner already has a car - which most have.This means that instead of bringing in visitors and money into Leeds, the reality is that the apartment dwellers end up doing all the visiting, away from the centre.This lifestyle soon palls, folk try to move out - if they can sell up, and its not really a great place for young couples and children.So who would want to live in such a place? Totally agree. So The Armouries is free but the car park costs money, hence it is not on our rota of weekend attractions for the kids. CD is and will remaina Ghost town with temporary businesses for the medium term. There are a lot of transient renters and students living there too but quite who pays the inflated rents is beyond me. I've long said that you could replicate the whole City living thing much cheaper by getting a much bigger 60's flat up Burmantofts and spemnd some money on decoration.

Are there signs of a building revival? A crane has gone back up on the Indigo site at the junction of Crown Point Road and Great Wilson Street/Hunslet Road. Too early to say whether it purpose is to recommence building or to even more mothball (deep 7?) the site.This in a week that saw a 4th Yorkshire City have it plans for a massive retail development put into mothballs. Leeds is lucky that the Harewood/Eastgate Quarter was put on hold before a massive demolition/excavation programme commenced. Bradford looks to be forever stuck with the infamous "hole in the ground" which is its forever on hold Westfield development. Wakefield could go the same way with a skeleton (meccano) structure standing near the middle of a massive excavation for "Trinity Walk" to the East of the City Centre, this on top of the ongoing "Improvements to the public realm" which are the excavations in and around the Bull Ring.