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Post by vjaska on Sept 10, 2024 15:01:19 GMT
Southside isn’t the best example - whilst the downstairs area is thriving, the restaurant area upstairs is a shadow of its former self and your options to eat at Wandsworth are rather limited in comparison There are some decent options around. Nando’s, McDonald’s, there are a few in the Ram development as well. The options are there if you want a quick meal and these appeal to families. The McDonalds there now is subpar to the one that was upstairs. Nandos is still there but KFC, Frankies, Ed's, etc have all departed and the Chinese restuarant along with the Smokehouse seem to be always lightly used. Throw in that Cineworld have also removed Starbucks and all isn't well with the upstairs section. |
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Post by TB123 on Sept 10, 2024 15:04:47 GMT
Stratford incidentally is a great example, it has a great transport network and fares in London are relatively cheap. The Westfield Centre seems to be high end shops, with the old shopping centre seems not to be, with shops like Lidl, the old shopping centre is also packed when I have been there. Bexleyheath shopping centre near me is like a ghost town now, the Glades in Bromley the same, Oxford Street is just American Candy Stores (for money laundering purposes.) Bluewater near me isn’t as busy as it was and I would say it has poor and expensive transport links now, which doesn’t help with footfall. The best way Bluewater imo could boost their footfall would be to build blocks of flats on those vast open-air car parks that adorn the site, maintaining the parking by either sticking it underground, in consolidated multi-storey blocks or in an undercroft form below new homes. Being in a old quarry you could probably build taller blocks, too. You'd naturally bring more footfall to the adjoining shops from the thousands of new residents and you could use the S106/CIL funds to improve public transport, such as improved frequencies on the TfL and local services as well as more bus lanes/busways and EV buses. |
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Post by ronnie on Sept 10, 2024 20:52:54 GMT
Stratford incidentally is a great example, it has a great transport network and fares in London are relatively cheap. The Westfield Centre seems to be high end shops, with the old shopping centre seems not to be, with shops like Lidl, the old shopping centre is also packed when I have been there. Bexleyheath shopping centre near me is like a ghost town now, the Glades in Bromley the same, Oxford Street is just American Candy Stores (for money laundering purposes.) Bluewater near me isn’t as busy as it was and I would say it has poor and expensive transport links now, which doesn’t help with footfall. I now prefer Bluewater any day over Westfield. Only takes 20 min to get from Blackheath without cross river shenanigans; and it’s less crowded than Westfield which makes shopping so much more pleasant |
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Post by southlondonbus on Sept 10, 2024 21:32:16 GMT
Stratford incidentally is a great example, it has a great transport network and fares in London are relatively cheap. The Westfield Centre seems to be high end shops, with the old shopping centre seems not to be, with shops like Lidl, the old shopping centre is also packed when I have been there. Bexleyheath shopping centre near me is like a ghost town now, the Glades in Bromley the same, Oxford Street is just American Candy Stores (for money laundering purposes.) Bluewater near me isn’t as busy as it was and I would say it has poor and expensive transport links now, which doesn’t help with footfall. I now prefer Bluewater any day over Westfield. Only takes 20 min to get from Blackheath without cross river shenanigans; and it’s less crowded than Westfield which makes shopping so much more pleasant I went to Bluewater years ago and there was so much there we couldn't get round it all. |
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Post by buspete on Sept 11, 2024 18:16:46 GMT
Last time I was in Bluewater there was a few empty units, this being very car friendly - public transport less so.
I think Westfield City parking is not free?
Westfield were due to build another by shopping centre in Croydon, this has since been scrapped.
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Post by WH241 on Sept 11, 2024 19:10:09 GMT
Last time I was in Bluewater there was a few empty units, this being very car friendly - public transport less so. I think Westfield City parking is not free? Westfield were due to build another by shopping centre in Croydon, this has since been scrapped. Westfield is £3 per hour at Stratford which I personally think is a rip off and only reduces to £8 after 2- 3 hours. Its cheaper to use public transport for short visits. I much prefer Lakeside with free parking and a much more pleasant experience, I can't believe how dirty outside Stratford station is and the stairs up to Westfield are now! Newham council spends hardly anymore on keeping the borough clean and frankly its embarrassing. |
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Sept 11, 2024 20:54:47 GMT
Last time I was in Bluewater there was a few empty units, this being very car friendly - public transport less so. I think Westfield City parking is not free? Westfield were due to build another by shopping centre in Croydon, this has since been scrapped. Westfield is £3 per hour at Stratford which I personally think is a rip off and only reduces to £8 after 2- 3 hours. It's cheaper to use public transport for short visits. I much prefer Lakeside with free parking and a much more pleasant experience, I can't believe how dirty outside Stratford station is and the stairs up to Westfield are now! Newham council spends hardly anymore on keeping the borough clean and frankly it's embarrassing. Most people I know drive to Westfield as the parking fees are quite reasonable, £3 an hour is probably roughly what people expect from the area. Considering public transport from somewhere like Barking anyway will cost you more than £3 both ways, petrol prices are going to also be negligible. Not to mention the drive is only around 10-15 minutes when the bus can be around 40-60 minutes. Assuming your car has a terrible petrol consumption, you will probably be spending an extra couple of pounds on petrol compared to the time taken on public transport. If you're visiting for less than an hour which is why it's a £3 charge, then you've probably gone into Primark, Waitrose, Uniqlo etc knowing what you want. You don't need to carry the products home as you can put it in your boot, and you are likely to be back before the bus you'd have got even manages to leave that very congested bus station. Very quickly you can see why every single car park at Westfield gets used. The only problem faced is occasionally they get far too crowded and the exit time can be around an hour, but in such instances the payment window is adjusted accordingly. If you stay up to 8 hours, which many people will do if they're spending the day there, then £8 could potentially even be a bargain to some people. Especially if after a day of shopping you don't want to slog it home on public transport. |
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Post by capitalomnibus on Sept 13, 2024 21:59:31 GMT
Westfield is £3 per hour at Stratford which I personally think is a rip off and only reduces to £8 after 2- 3 hours. It's cheaper to use public transport for short visits. I much prefer Lakeside with free parking and a much more pleasant experience, I can't believe how dirty outside Stratford station is and the stairs up to Westfield are now! Newham council spends hardly anymore on keeping the borough clean and frankly it's embarrassing. Most people I know drive to Westfield as the parking fees are quite reasonable, £3 an hour is probably roughly what people expect from the area. Considering public transport from somewhere like Barking anyway will cost you more than £3 both ways, petrol prices are going to also be negligible. Not to mention the drive is only around 10-15 minutes when the bus can be around 40-60 minutes. Assuming your car has a terrible petrol consumption, you will probably be spending an extra couple of pounds on petrol compared to the time taken on public transport. If you're visiting for less than an hour which is why it's a £3 charge, then you've probably gone into Primark, Waitrose, Uniqlo etc knowing what you want. You don't need to carry the products home as you can put it in your boot, and you are likely to be back before the bus you'd have got even manages to leave that very congested bus station. Very quickly you can see why every single car park at Westfield gets used. The only problem faced is occasionally they get far too crowded and the exit time can be around an hour, but in such instances the payment window is adjusted accordingly. If you stay up to 8 hours, which many people will do if they're spending the day there, then £8 could potentially even be a bargain to some people. Especially if after a day of shopping you don't want to slog it home on public transport. I find it a rip off. I cannot tell the last time I drove and parked there, years now. Maybe because I remember the cheap parking Westfield had when it first opened up. |
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Post by buspete on Sept 14, 2024 1:19:38 GMT
Westfield is £3 per hour at Stratford which I personally think is a rip off and only reduces to £8 after 2- 3 hours. It's cheaper to use public transport for short visits. I much prefer Lakeside with free parking and a much more pleasant experience, I can't believe how dirty outside Stratford station is and the stairs up to Westfield are now! Newham council spends hardly anymore on keeping the borough clean and frankly it's embarrassing. Most people I know drive to Westfield as the parking fees are quite reasonable, £3 an hour is probably roughly what people expect from the area. Considering public transport from somewhere like Barking anyway will cost you more than £3 both ways, petrol prices are going to also be negligible. Not to mention the drive is only around 10-15 minutes when the bus can be around 40-60 minutes. Assuming your car has a terrible petrol consumption, you will probably be spending an extra couple of pounds on petrol compared to the time taken on public transport. If you're visiting for less than an hour which is why it's a £3 charge, then you've probably gone into Primark, Waitrose, Uniqlo etc knowing what you want. You don't need to carry the products home as you can put it in your boot, and you are likely to be back before the bus you'd have got even manages to leave that very congested bus station. Very quickly you can see why every single car park at Westfield gets used. The only problem faced is occasionally they get far too crowded and the exit time can be around an hour, but in such instances the payment window is adjusted accordingly. If you stay up to 8 hours, which many people will do if they're spending the day there, then £8 could potentially even be a bargain to some people. Especially if after a day of shopping you don't want to slog it home on public transport. You make a reasonable argument that car is quicker and convenient, then you destroy your argument by saying it takes to get out of the car park. |
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Post by greenboy on Sept 14, 2024 4:44:13 GMT
Most people I know drive to Westfield as the parking fees are quite reasonable, £3 an hour is probably roughly what people expect from the area. Considering public transport from somewhere like Barking anyway will cost you more than £3 both ways, petrol prices are going to also be negligible. Not to mention the drive is only around 10-15 minutes when the bus can be around 40-60 minutes. Assuming your car has a terrible petrol consumption, you will probably be spending an extra couple of pounds on petrol compared to the time taken on public transport. If you're visiting for less than an hour which is why it's a £3 charge, then you've probably gone into Primark, Waitrose, Uniqlo etc knowing what you want. You don't need to carry the products home as you can put it in your boot, and you are likely to be back before the bus you'd have got even manages to leave that very congested bus station. Very quickly you can see why every single car park at Westfield gets used. The only problem faced is occasionally they get far too crowded and the exit time can be around an hour, but in such instances the payment window is adjusted accordingly. If you stay up to 8 hours, which many people will do if they're spending the day there, then £8 could potentially even be a bargain to some people. Especially if after a day of shopping you don't want to slog it home on public transport. I find it a rip off. I cannot tell the last time I drove and parked there, years now. Maybe because I remember the cheap parking Westfield had when it first opened up. I agree that it's a rip off, I'd rather go to Lakeside or Bluewater where there's unlimited free parking. |
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