| Comment | Two hugely consequential fires affecting two entire city blocks and the wider issue of the ongoing decline of traditional on-street retail in the face of online retail is what's driven this. Sauchiehall Street is a problem area but it's not representative of the wider city centre. It's also consistently busy, even in its current rough looking state.
In the face of prevailing winds of online commerce, the only way to improve things in these specific problem areas is to massively repopulate the city centre.
Thankfully the city council has has this as a central pillar of its city centre strategy for around four or five years now.
We're on the brink of several thousand new households moving into developments in and around Sauchiehall Street. Massive, seemingly permanent, conspicuous gap sites like at Candleriggs are being developed, with others coming down the pipeline.
It's easy to be dismissive and think things aren't improving, but in reality, the city is on the right track. Things could be moving faster, but in a few years, the centre will be in even better shape. |
|---|