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GEaston · 04-05-2013, 03:56

I was in Accrington yesterday, looking at a couple of places I'm renovating on Warner St. Was my fifth visit to the town, and I had the following outsiders perspective:

1) First visit to Warner St, and I really liked it. Nice shops and shopkeepers. Real character place. Town asset for sure.

2) Free parking in the town is great, but I had to move the car every couple of hours because of some dumb rule, combining with active traffic wardens. If people want to drive into the town, let them do that and stay, instead of moving them on!

3) Accrington strikes me as a dangerous place to walk around. Seems to be a magnet for groups of aggressive down and outs/ substance abusers. I am 6ft 10ins so rarely if ever feel threatened by anyone. I'm uncomfortable wandering around this town though because you never know what people high on something may do - logic and reason play no part so in their decision making process which combines with desperation to make them dangerous. A very high percentage of people I see in Accrington centre are like this relative to other places.

4) re 3) god only knows what drifts around the streets at night.

5) Made my first visit to the Victorian arcade bottom of Warner. What a shambles. Great potential, but ruined by abandoned shops (littered with the debris of former tenants), and what business does exist such as the furniture store seems to have to put up with damp and other building issues due to lack of landlord investment. I can see why no one will ever be drawn to this arcade other than as a shortcut to get from one part of the town to another. Pity because if properly sorted that arcade could be great, and a focal point for the town.

6) Didn't see any police presence anywhere.

7) Saw that ugly building that Pugh auctions sold. Like Arndale it should be demolished and turned into a park. Still amazed someone looked at it and thought "yeah, great potential", or for that matter the town planners who 30 years ago thought "yes, beautiful, really like small windows and slate tile on the building walls, this is the future.....approved".

So I agree with the comments made on this thread about the responsibility for a good chunk of the towns problems being with the council. They've done some things right like the Tesco near the railway and upgrading the infrastructure around that, but there is so much more they could and should do in the town.

On a positive note I met one of my tenants on a building I renovated on St James street. She said she had never considered moving her business into Accrington until she saw the quality of my building and its rental price. She moved her startup business in and is very happy (nice street, great Tesco etc), and has expanded to 4 local people. This is a good example of how creating a quality environment draws people and jobs into the town. Council can and should do this on a far larger scale than I can.

04-05-2013, 03:56	#588
GEaston Full Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 198 Liked: 46 times Rep Power: 64	Town Centre Changes I was in Accrington yesterday, looking at a couple of places I'm renovating on Warner St. Was my fifth visit to the town, and I had the following outsiders perspective: 1) First visit to Warner St, and I really liked it. Nice shops and shopkeepers. Real character place. Town asset for sure. 2) Free parking in the town is great, but I had to move the car every couple of hours because of some dumb rule, combining with active traffic wardens. If people want to drive into the town, let them do that and stay, instead of moving them on! 3) Accrington strikes me as a dangerous place to walk around. Seems to be a magnet for groups of aggressive down and outs/ substance abusers. I am 6ft 10ins so rarely if ever feel threatened by anyone. I'm uncomfortable wandering around this town though because you never know what people high on something may do - logic and reason play no part so in their decision making process which combines with desperation to make them dangerous. A very high percentage of people I see in Accrington centre are like this relative to other places. 4) re 3) god only knows what drifts around the streets at night. 5) Made my first visit to the Victorian arcade bottom of Warner. What a shambles. Great potential, but ruined by abandoned shops (littered with the debris of former tenants), and what business does exist such as the furniture store seems to have to put up with damp and other building issues due to lack of landlord investment. I can see why no one will ever be drawn to this arcade other than as a shortcut to get from one part of the town to another. Pity because if properly sorted that arcade could be great, and a focal point for the town. 6) Didn't see any police presence anywhere. 7) Saw that ugly building that Pugh auctions sold. Like Arndale it should be demolished and turned into a park. Still amazed someone looked at it and thought "yeah, great potential", or for that matter the town planners who 30 years ago thought "yes, beautiful, really like small windows and slate tile on the building walls, this is the future.....approved". So I agree with the comments made on this thread about the responsibility for a good chunk of the towns problems being with the council. They've done some things right like the Tesco near the railway and upgrading the infrastructure around that, but there is so much more they could and should do in the town. On a positive note I met one of my tenants on a building I renovated on St James street. She said she had never considered moving her business into Accrington until she saw the quality of my building and its rental price. She moved her startup business in and is very happy (nice street, great Tesco etc), and has expanded to 4 local people. This is a good example of how creating a quality environment draws people and jobs into the town. Council can and should do this on a far larger scale than I can.