r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	eenbiertje
Comment	I think I'd push back against this (gently! as it used to be close to my own view). I don't see it necessarily as a shame that the city core followed industry west along the Clyde - this after all was the reason for the city's growth from sizable town to urban metropolis in the late 19th century. It's part of the story of the city itself that this westward growth happened. I wouldn't say that High Street and Trongate area were abandoned by city planners either - at least not initially. [Thomas Annan's photographs from the late 1860s](https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/thomas-annan) show the squalor, overcrowding and disrepair that much of the area had fallen into - particularly the wynds and closes coming off the main streets, which contained housing &warehousing which had not been improved upon since the early modern period of the city's first spurt of growth. These photos themselves were commissioned by a city leadership that wanted to make improvements to the old core of Glasgow, through what was the Glasgow City Improvement Trust. The establishment of this trust and its support from city leaders is the reason for the (still relatively grand) tenement buildings that line Saltmarket, High Street, Trongate, and many of the offshooting streets that line the Merchant City and Gallowgate. So, it's not completely fair to say that this corner of the city was always abandoned by planners. Of course, the 20th century is a different matter. In some ways absolute disaster was avoided (with the cancellation of the east flank of the ring road motorway, which would've torn through, above, and below this old city core. On the other hand, vast blocks of GCIT tenements were cleared around Gallowgate to make way for this motorway which never came: https://twitter.com/pastglasgow/status/1333882116023742470 So, it's not an absolute that this area was overlooked. The 19th Century planners took great care to upgrade the housing and frontages that lined the main streets. Delegations even went on architectural fact-finding trips across Europe, to Paris and Budapest and other cities, to take inspiration from tenement design and street layout. They cared a great deal about how this corner of the city looked. Some of it has been lost, but a lot of it still remains.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/khjdca/glasgow_in_1773/ggoo0h8/
Created	Tue 22nd Dec 2020 12:04pm
Status	normal ()

I think I'd push back against this (gently! as it used to be close to my own view).

I don't see it necessarily as a shame that the city core followed industry west along the Clyde - this after all was the reason for the city's growth from sizable town to urban metropolis in the late 19th century. It's part of the story of the city itself that this westward growth happened.

I wouldn't say that High Street and Trongate area were abandoned by city planners either - at least not initially.

[Thomas Annan's photographs from the late 1860s](https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/thomas-annan) show the squalor, overcrowding and disrepair that much of the area had fallen into - particularly the wynds and closes coming off the main streets, which contained housing &warehousing which had not been improved upon since the early modern period of the city's first spurt of growth.

These photos themselves were commissioned by a city leadership that wanted to make improvements to the old core of Glasgow, through what was the Glasgow City Improvement Trust. The establishment of this trust and its support from city leaders is the reason for the (still relatively grand) tenement buildings that line Saltmarket, High Street, Trongate, and many of the offshooting streets that line the Merchant City and Gallowgate. So, it's not completely fair to say that this corner of the city was always abandoned by planners.

Of course, the 20th century is a different matter. In some ways absolute disaster was avoided (with the cancellation of the east flank of the ring road motorway, which would've torn through, above, and below this old city core. On the other hand, vast blocks of GCIT tenements *were* cleared around Gallowgate to make way for this motorway which never came: https://twitter.com/pastglasgow/status/1333882116023742470

So, it's not an absolute that this area was overlooked. The 19th Century planners took great care to upgrade the housing and frontages that lined the main streets. Delegations even went on architectural fact-finding trips across Europe, to Paris and Budapest and other cities, to take inspiration from tenement design and street layout. They cared a great deal about how this corner of the city looked. Some of it has been lost, but a lot of it still remains.