Littlestone wrote:
I’d agree with most of that but not with, “As far as the high street goes, it's dead.” It depends on the town or the city.
That's why I said there'll always be exceptions ;) Also, I wouldn't apply the same logic to cities, where the dynamics are very different and the situation more complex.
Littlestone wrote:
There’s been one consistent and apparently successful trend however all the time I’ve lived here (more than thirty years) and that’s the increase in restaurants (both the indoor and the pavement ones), coffee shops and the larger pub chains.
Which only works for large towns, or towns that serve as hubs for an area, where there's the demographic to support large numbers of cafes and restaurants.
In a nutshell, people now go into town principally to enjoy themselves not to shop (though they might do a bit of that while they're there as well). The main household shopping for most is done at one of the supermarkets where parking is free, close to the store, and where you can get everything (except a decent sit-down meal) you’ll need for the week ahead. Struggling town centres have to ask themselves what the punters want. It’s not principally goods anymore it’s a place where they can enjoy themselves.
No offence, but this is the logic of an older generation who are out of touch with the massive shift that's headed our way from the changing patterns of how younger people interact with each other and entertain themselves. I know a whole lot of 20yr olds who socialise via X-box live. Instead of going out at night or meeting up with each other, they talk via online multiplayer gaming. Or sit at home on Facebook chat.
Again, yes, there will be exceptions, and some high streets will successfully reinvent themselves where there's a market to tap, but for the majority of smaller towns, that won't be an option.
You can see the changes caused by previous shifts in social patterns if you look at most high streets. You will generally see side streets that used to contain shops, which are now all housing. The use of the high street has contracted before, and it was never reversed.
I'm a great believer in high streets and local shops, but all I venture onto the high street for now is a bit of shopping from the health food shop. There is simply nothing else there for me. Even the banks are irrelevant, because of on-line banking and a lack of branch managers. I know this isn't the case for everyone, but you only have to look around at British high streets to see where the trend is headed. Or head out to Wales, where it's even worse. I've seen Welsh towns which have lost a third of their shops in the last few years.
I believe it's possible to slow the decline, but the long term trends are powerful. I'd start by axing business rates for high street traders, axe parking fees, pedestrianise high streets.... lots that can be done, but I doubt any of it will be enough. Unless governments can be persuaded to ban supermarkets ;)
