Southend's Property Boom

[Napster]

It's gone downhill massively in recent years, and after a short stint there a few years back, I'm glad I don't live there anymore. Crime is bad, shops are awful, schools apart from grammar schools are poor.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

It's gone downhill massively in recent years, and after a short stint there a few years back, I'm glad I don't live there anymore. Crime is bad, shops are awful, schools apart from grammar schools are poor.

The Thoreau school of thought would dispute this and suggest that criminal civil disobedience can actually be a good thing and may even be a duty....

Shops are awful, awful things. Won't get any disagreement from me there.


Oh well, at least the residents of Southend can console themselves that they don't live in Kent.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

It's gone downhill massively in recent years, and after a short stint there a few years back, I'm glad I don't live there anymore. Crime is bad, shops are awful, schools apart from grammar schools are poor.

Bit harsh on the other schools. Of course the Southend Grammar schools are going to have excellent results as they only take in the top 5% of students from all over Essex. There are a couple of poor schools but even they have seen improved results, the rest of the secondary schools I would class as good rather than poor.

If every town in Essex had a Grammar School like for example in Kent, there is no way the Southend Grammar Schools would score such high results.

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

Hopefully the Grand renovation will start soon and Leigh wil be even better. The trouble with Southend is it just doesn't have the same catchment as Leigh. Too many old houses knocked down, too many high rises full of people with no money. Leigh could have been like that if the 60s planners had had their way. Luckily it came to nothing. They basically wanted to drive a new road through Leigh to link Leigh Road where Louis whatever is and join with Marine Parade. Complete madness.
Final plans (hopefully) for the Grand can be found here. Go to associated documents, view associated documents and go to Proposed elevations

http://planning.southend.gov.uk/Pub...lication_detailview.aspx?caseno=MCUU1CPA5Q000

 

[Chaucer]

Agree with most on here re the High Street - it is depressing these days. However the lure of Southend has always been the Seafront and to be honest compared to other seaside towns I have been to - it is almost upmarket (Golden Mile aside). I went to Blackpool in the summer for the Open and that is an absolute dump compared to Southend - tatty, pound shops on the seafront (at least ours are in the High Street!) and every stereotype there you could imagine. Only saving grace was the beach itself which was nice. Made me appreciate where I live for sure.

Whenever visitors come down they are always pleasantly surprised - keep em away from the High Street and concentrate either side of it (Chalkwell, Leigh, Thorpe Bay) and you are ok! And as someone else has mentioned I know quite a few people who have moved down here and like it immensly.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I actually think that the top and bottom of the High Street aren't too bad! The Vic Circus revamp has improved that part hugely, it's actually quite nice to wander through and the addition of a coffee lounge area is also welcome. From M&S down it's not too bad either, and the shops near and inside the Royals are ok. The fact H&M have taken the old Woolworths building on means that we may now start to encourage people to shop in Southend more.

The problem with Southend, as with many towns, is that the streets that people have to pass to get there are what let it down. Victoria Avenue is an abomination now and the sooner something is done with that, the better. Likewise the Golden Lion by the ground - get it razed, it's never going to function as a pub again. And then you have the delights of York Road and the other streets just off the High Street, that often have very poorly presented and kept houses, with all sorts of debris in the front garden. In my opinion, it should be illegal to use your front garden as a dumping ground, that would be a start to making homes more pleasing to look at!

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

And then you have the delights of York Road and the other streets just off the High Street, that often have very poorly presented and kept houses, with all sorts of debris in the front garden.

I thought that particular scene had moved down to the Minerva pub on the seafront.If not, then I'm glad to hear that-ahem-old traditions have been maintained.:winking:

 

[OldBlueLady]

I thought that particular scene had moved down to the Minerva pub on the seafront.If not, then I'm glad to hear that-ahem-old traditions have been maintained.:winking:

Not sure on that to be honest Barna!

 

[Firestorm]

I thought that particular scene had moved down to the Minerva pub on the seafront.If not, then I'm glad to hear that-ahem-old traditions have been maintained.:winking:

The Minerva has been Tiffins Indian restaurant for some years now
I think you might mean Smithys further along Eastern Esplanade

 

[Mad Cyril]

Hopefully the Grand renovation will start soon and Leigh wil be even better. The trouble with Southend is it just doesn't have the same catchment as Leigh. Too many old houses knocked down, too many high rises full of people with no money. Leigh could have been like that if the 60s planners had had their way. Luckily it came to nothing. They basically wanted to drive a new road through Leigh to link Leigh Road where Louis whatever is and join with Marine Parade. Complete madness.
Final plans (hopefully) for the Grand can be found here. Go to associated documents, view associated documents and go to Proposed elevations

http://planning.southend.gov.uk/Pub...lication_detailview.aspx?caseno=MCUU1CPA5Q000

I fail to see how attracting even more people with fake tans and **** tattoos into the area is going to make Leigh a better place.

If you ask me the place started going downhill when the mobility scooter shop closed down.

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

the new spa at the Grand has a "spray tanning room". You don't get more classy than that.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

the new spa at the Grand has a "spray tanning room". You don't get more classy than that.

If it ever gets planning permission that is.

 

[Smudger]

the new spa at the Grand has a "spray tanning room". You don't get more classy than that.

Quite a change from Napper Swan making the sign of the cross and playing the theme from the Omen on his guitar every time a gothic walked through the back bar......

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

If it ever gets planning permission that is.

Barna, he's got the planning permission for the whole lot, spa and hotel extension. It will be wonderful so long as it happens. Hopefully the boarding and scaffolding will get put up in the new year. If he pulls out then that's the Grands lot I'm afraid.

 

[Bielzibubz]

Southend High Street is ****hole. Has been for many years now and successive local councils have merely papered over cracks that have been ever widening since the mid seventies. What's made it a whole lot worse these past few years is the fact that you can't stroll down there now at any busy time and fail to notice the complete and utter lack of the use of the English language. While it and the surrounding areas continue to have a large immigrant population that think nothing of spending their last £60.00 on a Sol Cal jacket or the latest pair of Voi jeans then it will continue to be the pig sty it's turned into.

I do ALL my high street shopping in Rayleigh now. It's basically a scaled down version of Southend HS but it's a hell of a lot more tolerable and you can actually overhear conversations in English as you go about your wanderings.

Q red rep for being intolerant & racist :winking:

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Southend High Street is ****hole. Has been for many years now and successive local councils have merely papered over cracks that have been ever widening since the mid seventies. What's made it a whole lot worse these past few years is the fact that you can't stroll down there now at any busy time and fail to notice the complete and utter lack of the use of the English language. While it and the surrounding areas continue to have a large immigrant population that think nothing of spending their last £60.00 on a Sol Cal jacket or the latest pair of Voi jeans then it will continue to be the pig sty it's turned into.

I do ALL my high street shopping in Rayleigh now. It's basically a scaled down version of Southend HS but it's a hell of a lot more tolerable and you can actually overhear conversations in English as you go about your wanderings.

Q red rep for being intolerant & racist :winking:

The Southend High Street you describe sounds a lot like multi-racial London these days.

Do you seriously think immigrants won't discover that they can hop on a Liverpool Street train from Southend Victoria and get off at Rayleigh?

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

Mick Norcross quoted in todays Leigh Times saying the Grand rebuild/refurbishment will start second week Jan. Hopefully it will. I'll keep exiles posted if they are interested. The reason I'm so passionate about the Grand apart from it being one of the few great Victorian buildings still standing in Southend is I can see it from my house and pass it every single day. It's in a sorry mess and has been for years. The plans are wonderful. Hopefully it will happen.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Southend High Street is ****hole. Has been for many years now and successive local councils have merely papered over cracks that have been ever widening since the mid seventies. What's made it a whole lot worse these past few years is the fact that you can't stroll down there now at any busy time and fail to notice the complete and utter lack of the use of the English language. While it and the surrounding areas continue to have a large immigrant population that think nothing of spending their last £60.00 on a Sol Cal jacket or the latest pair of Voi jeans then it will continue to be the pig sty it's turned into.

I do ALL my high street shopping in Rayleigh now. It's basically a scaled down version of Southend HS but it's a hell of a lot more tolerable and you can actually overhear conversations in English as you go about your wanderings.

Q red rep for being intolerant & racist :winking:

Must admit I notice this every time I walk up it match day.

If it's not Italian Market people speaking Italian it's Chavs speaking Chav.

Mick Norcross quoted in todays Leigh Times saying the Grand rebuild/refurbishment will start second week Jan. Hopefully it will. I'll keep exiles posted if they are interested. The reason I'm so passionate about the Grand apart from it being one of the few great Victorian buildings still standing in Southend is I can see it from my house and pass it every single day. It's in a sorry mess and has been for years. The plans are wonderful. Hopefully it will happen.

Yes please.

 

[MrB]

The worst thing about UK High Streets is that they all seem identical as they all have the same chains. What the High Street needs is independent retailers providing some individuality, uniqueness. Tomassi's is more or less the only independent place I can think of on the High Street whilst there are something like 4 branches of Santander.

I'd love to see some fashion start-ups, new restaurants, cafes and independent bars given dirt cheap rent to see if they can establish themselves. If they do a fashion course at Southend Uni, get some link-up with the Uni to start their own shops to sell the products they make. Get that independent side of it going and you can then up the rent on the big retailers who want a slice of their footfall. A high street full of JD Sports, H&M, Accessorise, River Island, Boots, Greggs, Slug & Lettuce, HMV type chain places is just going to struggle as it offers nothing different from any other town centre in the country and people can just as easily go to a Bluewater/Lakeside/Westfield Stratford/Chelmsford/Basildon or whatever other hell hole they want. You need stores that make Southend different.

I liked this story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/28/totnes-costa-coffee-high-street

As you say all major town high streets are horribly generic now, I haven't set foot in Southend High Street during the day for years now other than the odd visit for a sight test or contact lense check and I only live a couple of miles away. It's just not a pleasant place to be.

During my walk last year I passed through a lot small coastal towns and the smaller high streets packed with independent retailers were so much nicer. Can't see major towns ever getting that back now.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Mick Norcross quoted in todays Leigh Times saying the Grand rebuild/refurbishment will start second week Jan. Hopefully it will. I'll keep exiles posted if they are interested. The reason I'm so passionate about the Grand apart from it being one of the few great Victorian buildings still standing in Southend is I can see it from my house and pass it every single day. It's in a sorry mess and has been for years. The plans are wonderful. Hopefully it will happen.

This scheme is going to drag Leigh further into the gutter.