Food for thought

[Phill_dvsn]

They've even got a facebook campaign group to get the brickman built in Manchester.http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52306906355And a website that says... The story begins 21 years ago when Leeds did a stupid thing. They turned down Antony Gormley's Brick Man. Forget Gateshead and the Angel of the North, this babe was 180ft high (according to Leeds Art Gallery) and a better piece of work. Article herehttp://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Cultur ... eeds...PAH!        

[jan8]

Whilst I agree with everything that has been said about the city - at the end of the day I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. We have the best folk in the country. End of.

[Phill_dvsn]

jan8 wrote: Whilst I agree with everything that has been said about the city - at the end of the day I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. We have the best folk in the country. End of. Absolutely well said Jan. No one is more proud to be a Leeds loiner than me. Which is why i'm probably so mad at watching Leeds fall behind everyone else. It's about time the powers that be in our city started to make things work like other's do. Good things too, things to make the city a vibrant, great place to live, work and visit.War of the roses and great rivalry put aside with Manchester. As much as i hate to say it.... But Leeds really has to aspire to start doing what they started 20 years ago. People will visit Manchester for a weekend break, they only come here if they have to with work, or some relatives funeral perhaps.        

[The Doggers]

Makes me mad too folks. I love my city and absolutely hate the fact that we get turned over on everything. We desperately need something done with transport. Clarence Dock will be derelict soon because you just don't think to go there when you are in town, and it is well out of the way. If, however, we got something like the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) like they have in London, or perhaps a Monorail type setup, with stops dotted around the city centre, people would go to places like Clarence Dock as it would be a matter of a simple 2 minute journey. With something like this, the city could even expand, as the actual layout and placement of things/distance from other areas would no longer matter as it would be that easy to get about.As for the Brick Man, well I first saw him at the Art Gallery as a kid, taken by school, and was in awe. I thought it was awesome and really wanted to see them build the big one! If Manchester get that built it will be yet another nail in the coffin. I hate to admit it, but Manchester is a fantastic city. And it's because things are constantly being done to keep it that way. In Leeds the powers that be just plod along. It's like two people buying the exact same car, and one of them maintains his religiously, knowing that it is important to look after it and keep on top of things. The other guy never does anything with his, believing it should be good enough to last as he has paid a lot of money for it. Ten years later one man wonders why his car is rusting away and dropping to bits, while his friend's car still looks fresh and new, and works as it should.So much money is wasted on pointless, stupid projects. How much money will have been spent by the time the money spent on Supertram and the money spent ont he Trolley Bus scheme is all totted up? Why couldn't we have a smaller scale tram system built to start with? Once the initial work is done, more branches could have been added to it as time went on.Why did nobody think this way?Why will nobody step up and try to make something happen, with regards creating something truly iconic in Leeds? Does nobody in power give a damn?

[Spackler]

I went to Old Trafford (cricket) to watch England vs Australia in the Twenty20 last year. The ground was an absolute disgrace and to think that with all the history that they were deemed not fit enough to hold an Ashes Test. So they dont get everything right.Also I'm not sure with the incredible influx of students into Leeds we can consider that people dont want to visit. Clearly its a big draw for them

[String o' beads]

Spackler wrote: I went to Old Trafford (cricket) to watch England vs Australia in the Twenty20 last year. The ground was an absolute disgrace and to think that with all the history that they were deemed not fit enough to hold an Ashes Test. So they dont get everything right.Also I'm not sure with the incredible influx of students into Leeds we can consider that people dont want to visit. Clearly its a big draw for them If you re-read my first post I did point out that Leeds IS actually on the most visited list. I was more concerned about the contestant's *perception* that there's nothing to visit the city for, and that seems to be a widely held view. The Angel of the North is a great example of how a go-ahead Council can be visionary, and indeed it was voted the most recognised landmark in the country not so long ago. And people do come especially to see it. I've never passed it without there's someone at its feet, having their photo taken. Similarly, people journey to other places around the UK to see Gormley's permanent installations. I do think the Brick Man or something similar would have been great for Leeds. That was a good point well made about the Town Hall. I bet you could go around anywhere in the country apart from Yorkshire with a photo of it and people would recognise it because they've seen it in the background on the news, but they wouldn't know it was in Leeds.     

[raveydavey]

I thought there was an every 10 minutes bus service to Clarence (the one eyed) Dock?Problem is, the type of shoppers they are aiming for don't take the bus and while they might think nothing of throwing £100+ at a pair of jeans, they'll not go back once they've found it costs £10 or more to park the Mini Cooper for a few hours. And even if they did, it's too far from their natural habitat of Briggate / VQ for them to wander down there.Location, location, location - and they are in the wrong place.I agree with much of what has been said above - the people actually running Leeds are borderline incompetent in many respects and have been for years. It's not just the current Lib-Con alliance, or indeed the Labour lot before them. The main problem is where the decisions really get made, with the council officials. Many of them are simply not worth the wages or super-annuated pensions (example - the recent pigs ear of planning authority that has landed up in court with the council losing).Leeds needs someone with vision, flair and the drive to get things done. Goodness me how we're crying our for an elected Mayor to grab the council by the scruff of it's neck and shake it into action. Imagine what a BoJo could do for us?Then we have the Leeds MPs who are more akin to the Invisible Man than anything (Greg Mulholland excepted). Where were they when lobbying for investment in the city? Sitting quietly in Westminster filling in expenses forms no doubt. They certainly weren't rattling the doors of power ensuring that we got the best deal possible.

[Cardiarms]

We do seem to have lots of japanese visitors and foreign students, what do they tell their friends and family when they get home? "Nice enough, good some good buildings, good art and shopping, but don't go out of your way." perhaps? Leeds needs something, I can't put my finger on what, but it needs to be a cohesive, coordinated plan with the will and finances to deliver it.

[cnosni]

Cardiarms wrote: We do seem to have lots of japanese visitors and foreign students, what do they tell their friends and family when they get home? "Nice enough, good some good buildings, good art and shopping, but don't go out of your way." perhaps? Leeds needs something, I can't put my finger on what, but it needs to be a cohesive, coordinated plan with the will and finances to deliver it. Your right aboutvthe Japanese,saw some at Miggy Railway on sunday,to say they looked unimpressed is an understatement.A coordinated plan with money is required on all levels.Funding in Yorkshire is almost half as less per head than in Greater London,we wont get any decent transport infrastructure unless this is addresed.The Brick man i believe was meant to be hollow,and visitors could walk in and stand inside at the bottom (feet that is,not rear end) and lok up inside.That would have been fantastic.Wikipedia quote on the Brick Man,naming a "foresighted councillor"Brick Man was an Antony Gormley sculpture proposed for the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.A male human figure standing over 100 feet (30 m) high, it would have stood on a triangle of land bounded by railway lines in the Holbeck area of the city, greeting travellers arriving at Leeds railway station. It would have cost £600,000 and been the largest sculpture in the UK at the time.The sculpture was one of twenty designs produced in response to a competition to find an artwork for the site, but the proposal was ultimately rejected by Leeds City Council in 1988. Conservative councillor Richard Hughes-Rowlands said at the time: "If Mr Gormley is talking about it [Brick Man] going somewhere else, my eyes won't exactly be weeping tears." [1]Gormley has blamed "lack of nerve" for the rejection of his idea, adding: "I think of it still as my best attempt to allude to the collective body." [2] The idea of an iconic landmark sculpture of the human form later saw the light of day in Gormley's Angel of the NorthWonder where he is these days.You can just imagine him in 1988 with his small minded provincial pettiness sat in the council chamber waiting for the tea lady and her trolley,drooling over a the thought of a cup of Typhoo and a bourbon cream.

[Phill_dvsn]

Spackler wrote: I went to Old Trafford (cricket) to watch England vs Australia in the Twenty20 last year. The ground was an absolute disgrace and to think that with all the history that they were deemed not fit enough to hold an Ashes Test. So they dont get everything right.Also I'm not sure with the incredible influx of students into Leeds we can consider that people dont want to visit. Clearly its a big draw for them I think the statement about the Students in Leeds doesn't really say that people want to visit Leeds because it's great.It's merely the fact that the University is here in Leeds (Leeds is just one amongst many other big cities to have a University). Move that University anywhere else, and the students will follow. It could be Thorner, Bardsey or even Barnsley. The students will be there for the campus.Thousands of people visit Auschwitz every year, But it doesn't mean it's a nice place.