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Post by rift on May 12, 2022 12:56:24 GMT
Lewisham will recover eventually, with or without the Bakerloo line, it’ll still be a draw, plus it is a major transportation hub. Bexleyheath I haven’t been to in a while, but last time I went (late 2000s/early 2010s) its best days did seem to be behind it, I largely suspect Bluewater took a lot of shoppers away from Bexleyheath from the late 1990s onwards. Bromley now seems to be declining, though not as much as Croydon town centre has. Not sure I’d agree with Bromley declining - I went there before Christmas last year and it was still doing well unlike Croydon which is a shadow of its former self with the Whigift like a morgue at times - Croydon used to be one of our shopping haunts but we haven’t done a proper shopping trip there in ages, normally we do one of Brixton, Streatham, Wandsworth, Bromley or Old Kent Road depending on what we’re after Bromley has some high-end shops as well, and many people from across South London, especially Lewisham, Greenwich, and Croydon will make the trip there. Croydon was supposed to have a new Westfield which would’ve radically changed its fortunes, but that’s pretty much gone now. Woolwich seems to have nothing these day. It seems like they want to redevelop everything except the shops, which mostly consist of low-end outlets that close after a few months. Powis Street could do with doing up, but it’s owned by a private company who so far have been all bark and no bite. |
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2022 13:02:01 GMT
Lewisham will recover eventually, with or without the Bakerloo line, it’ll still be a draw, plus it is a major transportation hub. Bexleyheath I haven’t been to in a while, but last time I went (late 2000s/early 2010s) its best days did seem to be behind it, I largely suspect Bluewater took a lot of shoppers away from Bexleyheath from the late 1990s onwards. Bromley now seems to be declining, though not as much as Croydon town centre has. Not sure I’d agree with Bromley declining - I went there before Christmas last year and it was still doing well unlike Croydon which is a shadow of its former self with the Whigift like a morgue at times - Croydon used to be one of our shopping haunts but we haven’t done a proper shopping trip there in ages, normally we do one of Brixton, Streatham, Wandsworth, Bromley or Old Kent Road depending on what we’re after Bromley’s always packed still. I used to love shopping trips to Croydon when I was a kid in the early 2000s, we’d get the train from Swanley to Beckenham Junction (before they started going straight through) and have a ride on the new trams which were a novelty at the time. It’s not been the same since HMV went around the time streaming took over, and the likes of Virgin Megastores and Alders went out of business years before that. Me and my mum go there now and again together when we are bored of Bromley and Bluewater trips, but it’s just not the same. You have all the gangs hanging around and dodgy people coming over to you asking you for money there as well. |
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2022 13:07:33 GMT
Not sure I’d agree with Bromley declining - I went there before Christmas last year and it was still doing well unlike Croydon which is a shadow of its former self with the Whigift like a morgue at times - Croydon used to be one of our shopping haunts but we haven’t done a proper shopping trip there in ages, normally we do one of Brixton, Streatham, Wandsworth, Bromley or Old Kent Road depending on what we’re after Bromley has some high-end shops as well, and many people from across South London, especially Lewisham, Greenwich, and Croydon will make the trip there. Croydon was supposed to have a new Westfield which would’ve radically changed its fortunes, but that’s pretty much gone now. Woolwich seems to have nothing these day. It seems like they want to redevelop everything except the shops, which mostly consist of low-end outlets that close after a few months. Powis Street could do with doing up, but it’s owned by a private company who so far have been all bark and no bite. Woolwich is just Tesco, McDonalds and Morleys type chicken shops. Along with it’s reputation of being a dive that you need a bullet proof vest on to walk through. |
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Post by vjaska on May 12, 2022 13:17:34 GMT
Bromley has some high-end shops as well, and many people from across South London, especially Lewisham, Greenwich, and Croydon will make the trip there. Croydon was supposed to have a new Westfield which would’ve radically changed its fortunes, but that’s pretty much gone now. Woolwich seems to have nothing these day. It seems like they want to redevelop everything except the shops, which mostly consist of low-end outlets that close after a few months. Powis Street could do with doing up, but it’s owned by a private company who so far have been all bark and no bite. Woolwich is just Tesco, McDonalds and Morleys type chicken shops. Along with it’s reputation of being a dive that you need a bullet proof vest on to walk through. When you lived in Brixton most of your life, that seems a step up in all honesty  |
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Post by DE20106 on May 12, 2022 19:31:35 GMT
Bromley has some high-end shops as well, and many people from across South London, especially Lewisham, Greenwich, and Croydon will make the trip there. Croydon was supposed to have a new Westfield which would’ve radically changed its fortunes, but that’s pretty much gone now. Woolwich seems to have nothing these day. It seems like they want to redevelop everything except the shops, which mostly consist of low-end outlets that close after a few months. Powis Street could do with doing up, but it’s owned by a private company who so far have been all bark and no bite. Woolwich is just Tesco, McDonalds and Morleys type chicken shops. Along with it’s reputation of being a dive that you need a bullet proof vest on to walk through. Hopefully the Lizzie will bring Woolwich a bit of a boost. I don’t think Woolwich is entirely deserving of that reputation. Part of the town centre high street(s) could definitely do with some TLC, but the main centre with the huge Tesco and the bus interchanges is quite modern. I’ve definitely been to worse places in London when I’ve been doing my bus adventures that I didn’t feel safe in and just wanted to get out of ASAP. |
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Post by cl54 on May 12, 2022 19:50:01 GMT
Indeed, which is why buses in my view are key to solving Thamesmead’s isolation issue, including express routes. The Lizzie Line definitely helps improve accessibility for Thamesmead, but it needs a river crossing nearby and a DLR service. Until then, it will always be clockwork orange land. I once read that there wasn’t a single cash point in Thamesmead. Not sure if the situation has changed, but there are other fundamental issues other than transport that the area has to contend with. There are three cash machines at the Morrisons. |
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Post by cl54 on May 12, 2022 20:01:50 GMT
Woolwich is just Tesco, McDonalds and Morleys type chicken shops. Along with it’s reputation of being a dive that you need a bullet proof vest on to walk through. Hopefully the Lizzie will bring Woolwich a bit of a boost. I don’t think Woolwich is entirely deserving of that reputation. Part of the town centre high street(s) could definitely do with some TLC, but the main centre with the huge Tesco and the bus interchanges is quite modern. I’ve definitely been to worse places in London when I’ve been doing my bus adventures that I didn’t feel safe in and just wanted to get out of ASAP. Shopping in Woolwich was wrecked by Greenwich Council occupying 2 former department stores as offices for many years. The council then got a new civic centre in return for granting permission for the large Tesco which caused many of the shops in Powis Street to close. It has to be one of a few towns where a Starbucks has closed. One of the former department stores is now a Travelodge. The other is still empty with the upper floors converted to luxury apartments. Good news today is that two empty shops in Powis Street are to be combined into a Footlocker store. |
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Post by danorak on May 12, 2022 20:15:08 GMT
Hopefully the Lizzie will bring Woolwich a bit of a boost. I don’t think Woolwich is entirely deserving of that reputation. Part of the town centre high street(s) could definitely do with some TLC, but the main centre with the huge Tesco and the bus interchanges is quite modern. I’ve definitely been to worse places in London when I’ve been doing my bus adventures that I didn’t feel safe in and just wanted to get out of ASAP. Shopping in Woolwich was wrecked by Greenwich Council occupying 2 former department stores as offices for many years. The council then got a new civic centre in return for granting permission for the large Tesco which caused many of the shops in Powis Street to close. It has to be one of a few towns where a Starbucks has closed. One of the former department is now a Travelodge. The other is still empty with the upper floors converted to luxury apartments. Good news today is that two empty shops in Powis Street are to be combined into a Footlocker store. The Arsenal closing and Thames Polytechnic (University of Greenwich) moving out both did long term structural damage to the viability of Woolwich. General Gordon Square often feels unsafe, there are a lot of street drinkers who congregate there and it has a reputation for knife crime. Moving the bus stops even further away from Powis Street didn't help. The Tesco has the world's flakiest escalators and nowhere near enough functioning checkouts. The only way is up... |
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2022 20:33:23 GMT
Hopefully the Lizzie will bring Woolwich a bit of a boost. I don’t think Woolwich is entirely deserving of that reputation. Part of the town centre high street(s) could definitely do with some TLC, but the main centre with the huge Tesco and the bus interchanges is quite modern. I’ve definitely been to worse places in London when I’ve been doing my bus adventures that I didn’t feel safe in and just wanted to get out of ASAP. Shopping in Woolwich was wrecked by Greenwich Council occupying 2 former department stores as offices for many years. The council then got a new civic centre in return for granting permission for the large Tesco which caused many of the shops in Powis Street to close. It has to be one of a few towns where a Starbucks has closed. One of the former department is now a Travelodge. The other is still empty with the upper floors converted to luxury apartments. Good news today is that two empty shops in Powis Street are to be combined into a Footlocker store. I met a woman from a dating app in East Ham. *That* was ghetto. |
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Post by ronnie on May 12, 2022 22:12:54 GMT
Woolwich is just Tesco, McDonalds and Morleys type chicken shops. Along with it’s reputation of being a dive that you need a bullet proof vest on to walk through. Hopefully the Lizzie will bring Woolwich a bit of a boost. I don’t think Woolwich is entirely deserving of that reputation. Part of the town centre high street(s) could definitely do with some TLC, but the main centre with the huge Tesco and the bus interchanges is quite modern. I’ve definitely been to worse places in London when I’ve been doing my bus adventures that I didn’t feel safe in and just wanted to get out of ASAP. Out of curiosity which areas would you say have been the dodgiest? I did a bunch in 2019 when I had a month to myself - including changing buses at 1am in Peckham for example. Didn’t feel particularly safe or unsafe but this was august |
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Post by rift on May 12, 2022 22:49:02 GMT
Hopefully the Lizzie will bring Woolwich a bit of a boost. I don’t think Woolwich is entirely deserving of that reputation. Part of the town centre high street(s) could definitely do with some TLC, but the main centre with the huge Tesco and the bus interchanges is quite modern. I’ve definitely been to worse places in London when I’ve been doing my bus adventures that I didn’t feel safe in and just wanted to get out of ASAP. Out of curiosity which areas would you say have been the dodgiest? I did a bunch in 2019 when I had a month to myself - including changing buses at 1am in Peckham for example. Didn’t feel particularly safe or unsafe but this was august I would say Croydon, especially West Croydon, the only place I have ever had a group attempt to rob me |
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Post by YX10FFN on May 12, 2022 23:48:40 GMT
Hopefully the Lizzie will bring Woolwich a bit of a boost. I don’t think Woolwich is entirely deserving of that reputation. Part of the town centre high street(s) could definitely do with some TLC, but the main centre with the huge Tesco and the bus interchanges is quite modern. I’ve definitely been to worse places in London when I’ve been doing my bus adventures that I didn’t feel safe in and just wanted to get out of ASAP. Out of curiosity which areas would you say have been the dodgiest? I did a bunch in 2019 when I had a month to myself - including changing buses at 1am in Peckham for example. Didn’t feel particularly safe or unsafe but this was august I went through Harlesden on the 260 once, unaware of its generally poor rep, and felt uneasy even at the top deck of a bus with the kinds of people walking around there, especially Church End. That's the only time I've ever felt truly unsafe travelling through an area |
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Post by ronnie on May 13, 2022 0:18:28 GMT
Out of curiosity which areas would you say have been the dodgiest? I did a bunch in 2019 when I had a month to myself - including changing buses at 1am in Peckham for example. Didn’t feel particularly safe or unsafe but this was august I went through Harlesden on the 260 once, unaware of its generally poor rep, and felt uneasy even at the top deck of a bus with the kinds of people walking around there, especially Church End. That's the only time I've ever felt truly unsafe travelling through an area I did the 260 late at night (post 22:30 at least!). Remember then taking the 148 post midnight to camberwell green! Also did 297 at 1am plus and waited at Willesden bus garage at 2am for a 6 to do it end to end. This was on a Friday night though. Probably won’t do it again Also waiting at bexleyheath shopping centre at 1am+ for 422 (which got truncated to Blackheath royal standard!) forcing me to take the 53 to new cross for the then all night overground on Saturday night |
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Post by vjaska on May 13, 2022 1:03:28 GMT
Hopefully the Lizzie will bring Woolwich a bit of a boost. I don’t think Woolwich is entirely deserving of that reputation. Part of the town centre high street(s) could definitely do with some TLC, but the main centre with the huge Tesco and the bus interchanges is quite modern. I’ve definitely been to worse places in London when I’ve been doing my bus adventures that I didn’t feel safe in and just wanted to get out of ASAP. Out of curiosity which areas would you say have been the dodgiest? I did a bunch in 2019 when I had a month to myself - including changing buses at 1am in Peckham for example. Didn’t feel particularly safe or unsafe but this was august Harlesden & Peckham - once upon a time, Peckham was a no go area for someone from Brixton (and vice versa) due to the long standing beef between the areas. Most other areas I've no issue with |
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Post by WH241 on May 13, 2022 7:46:04 GMT
Hopefully the Lizzie will bring Woolwich a bit of a boost. I don’t think Woolwich is entirely deserving of that reputation. Part of the town centre high street(s) could definitely do with some TLC, but the main centre with the huge Tesco and the bus interchanges is quite modern. I’ve definitely been to worse places in London when I’ve been doing my bus adventures that I didn’t feel safe in and just wanted to get out of ASAP. Out of curiosity which areas would you say have been the dodgiest? I did a bunch in 2019 when I had a month to myself - including changing buses at 1am in Peckham for example. Didn’t feel particularly safe or unsafe but this was august Custom House in particular the Prince Regent Lane area was a no go area after dark in the early 90s. There was a big gang problem where you would have them on every street corner. Canning Town also had its fair share of problems and is still pretty much a no go area for the police. |
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