What Does Galway Need???

moonflower

Better and cheaper public transport, especially on the west side of town. More bus and cycle lanes would be great and it would also be nice if they'd clear the grit from the existing cycle lanes. Night buses would be fantastic but I doubt they'll ever happen. If they'd just extend the bus service to midnight or 1am though I'd be super happy, it would mean people could go out for a drink or late cinema showing and not have to worry about paying for a taxi home and it wouldn't be so late there'd be a lot of drunk people getting them.

I know people are always giving out about chain stores opening in Galway but I'd love if we had an H&M or Stradivarius. Food-wise I'd like a Wagamama.

A few more lunch-time eating options would be great too. Somewhere that does Sushi and maybe a place doing proper Mexican, not the greasy stuff that La Salsa does. I'd love it if somewhere like New York pizza opened up again, Pizza Napoli is nice, but it's just not as good as Ed's was, and it doesn't stay open late. Oh and some more late opening cafes would be fantastic.

Getting the Airshow back would be a major plus.

Amhran Nua

afireinside wrote: »

An alcoholism clinic. This town is the Alcoholics capital of Ireland.

And a proper drugs clinic too, the celtic tiger brought with it a few nasty habits for some.

We badly need an outer bypass. Less multinational food and clothing franchises, they largely serve to shunt money out of the region and the country, and damage its local character. Before anyone starts shouting, tourism is a huge factor for Galway, and a McDonalds on every corner isn't helping that in any way.

One thing I'd love to see also is some serious development of both the bay and the Corrib in terms of recreational water facilities. We've one of the most scenic water areas in the world, storied and sung about, we need to take advantage of that. It would need to be west of Mutton Island, so probably somewhere like Blackrock. Swimming, boating, scuba and snorkelling, fishing, canoeing, rafting, and so on.

mrsweebri

i would love to see more in the way of museums and places to take children on a rainy day. Was in Glasgow over Christmas - I know it's not comparable - but there were SO many cool places to take young kids that didn't cost the earth, and all the museums were entry by donation. I think Galway is great for kids clubs and for outdoor walks but not for cool INDOOR places for families to go together.

I also would love a public walk-in sports centre on the east side of the city, with squash courts, swimming pool, badminton courts etc for hire that was open all week and didn't need a membership or the crazy in town booking system that the Renmore sports hall has.

ilovesleep

Poly wrote: »

A bridge

From Connemara to Boston.

Xiney

It needs a bulldozer. So many neglected buildings and houses that should have been maintained instead of building new ones that are now standing empty.

Also, a proper hospital - half of UCHG (or whatever the current acronym is) is pre-fab and sprawling in a single story labyrinth. The clinic space could be condensed into a much smaller footprint if a proper building with, say, five floors, existed. Not to mention the actual HSE... but that's country wide. Good luck with that one, guys.

Jobs, investment, and a dungeon in which to lock up Fahy.

confuseddotcom

A reasonable Gift Shop with Fancy-dress stuff and gifts for Anniversaries and similar events.

A lingerie shop - even though I know 1/2 lingerie stores have come to town in the last couple of years.

Was gonna say 1/2 more Bus companies maybe? But then again don't know if they'd be more of a hindrance than anything else, how many Bus companies have we at the moment like?! But basically a way of covering out-of-reach parts of the city that would still be classed as city but aren't included in the city centre service bus routes.

Oh and a few more holes in the roads won't go amiss. :rolleyes:;):D

drum!

We don't need a bloody art house cinema anyway! How's about a decent mid sized venue to replace the intended temporary structure that is The Black Box and the acoustically poor Radisson.

richymcdermott

More Women
Less a**holes
Better music shops

eggchaser

Galway needs to hold on to it's local shops like McCambridges on the main streets to stop it becoming more like every British or Irish City centre with exactly the same shops while having nothing unique.

As for the paintballing, I think I heard that Palllas go-karting in Tynagh has got permission for it recently

elefant

I've thought for a while that we could do with a shipload of wind farms off the coast. Not just in Galway, but all the West coast. Obviously, as today shows, we live in a pretty frickin windy place. I don't really see many disadvantages to it. In Germany more than 70,000 people are employed by wind industry. If something even close were to happen here we'd have a serious amount of renewable energy, and a serious amount of new jobs.

Just a thought. Maybe I'm missing something obvious.

drum!

eggchaser wrote: »

Galway needs to hold on to it's local shops like McCambridges on the main streets to stop it becoming more like every British or Irish City centre with exactly the same shops while having nothing unique.

Definitely, but the way businesses are dropping in Galway i'd be afraid places like Deacy's and McCambridges will be closed soon.

lookinbusy

a medical marijuana dispensary.

Wompa1

lookinbusy wrote: »

a medical marijuana dispensary.

I'd imagine it would be located down Dominic Street!! Galway is already known as the graveyard of ambition, I think if that were to happen it could seal it.

softmee

Galway does need a proper city park! Like this one :


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

-where people can sit on a bench, listen to the birds, eat their lunch.

Not a grass, or stony, windy beach - A PARK! With trees and flowers.
I cant belive there is no place like this here! Every city has at least one!

Carolanne..

We were at Dara to was excellent, hed be the kinda of person that would come to galway if there was a place for him! hes get a sell out no problem

tootired wrote: »

H&M

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

The Bypass built. Now.

Better public transport too. Build the bypass and then close off certain roads in the city to everything bar bikes, buses, taxis and essential services. With a bypass the majority of traffic will have no need to go down through the docks to get to Knocknacarra, Salthill or the West side of the city.

The entire docks area needs re-developing and Salthill/The Prom could do with a serious lick of paint in parts too. Why in Gods name has it not been done years ago? The tourism aspect of this alone would be worth 10's of millions a year to the City and surrounds not to mention the business/industry side of it too.

Bring back the Airshow.

An outdoor and maybe indoor karting track, paint balling and other such activities near to the city.

A decent arena/theatre for music, gigs, shows, drama etc again near the city centre. Something like the O2 but on a smaller scale. We had to travel to Castlebar last year to see Dara O'Briain and Bell X1 gigs.

snubbleste

softmee wrote: »

Galway does need a proper city park! Like this one :
-where people can sit on a bench, listen to the birds, eat their lunch.
Not a grass, or stony, windy beach - A PARK! With trees and flowers.
I cant belive there is no place like this here! Every city has at least one!

Terryland Park? Digital Park in Salthill?

Eyre Square felt like a park before they redesigned it

UnleashTheBeast

Nando's

lookinbusy

Wompa1 wrote: »

I'd imagine it would be located down Dominic Street!! Galway is already known as the graveyard of ambition, I think if that were to happen it could seal it.

It hasn't done California's reputation any harm.

softmee

snubbleste wrote: »

Terryland Park? Digital Park in Salthill?

Eyre Square felt like a park before they redesigned it

Terryland "park" ??? Are you serious? How you can call this untended ugly piece of bushes a park? :eek: Not to mention about salthill... eh.
No trees, no green in this town.

This is what i mean by city park :



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

?Cee?view

drum! wrote: »

Definitely, but the way businesses are dropping in Galway i'd be afraid places like Deacy's and McCambridges will be closed soon.

I would imagine that most of those older businesses own the freehold to their premises, so they won't fall victim to the crippling rents which are killing more recent startups. To be frank, if the likes of McCambridges and others such as them (Ryans etc.) had to pay market rents, it's hard to see how they would survive in the current climate.

?Cee?view

softmee wrote: »

Terryland "park" ??? Are you serious? How you can call this untended ugly piece of bushes a park? :eek: Not to mention about salthill... eh.
No trees, not green in this town.

Completely agree. In contrast to Dublin, for instance, Galway is virtually treeless. When they do plant the odd tree, they plant specimens that are far too immature to have a decent chance of survival when they're left relatively unattended.

Areas such as Westside, Eyre Square, Headford Road etc. could be significantly improved with a bit of tree planting.

softmee

churchview wrote: »

Completely agree. In contrast to Dublin, for instance, Galway is virtually treeless. When they do plant the odd tree, they plant specimens that are far too immature to have a decent chance of survival when they're left relatively unattended.

Areas such as Westside, Eyre Square, Headford Road etc. could be significantly improved with a bit of tree planting.

Yes, city without trees is very sad sometimes. This is what i miss the most in here. Treees!

Amhran Nua

softmee wrote: »

Yes, city without trees is very sad sometimes. This is what i miss the most in here. Treees!

Don't vote for Crowe so.

inisboffin

churchview wrote: »

Completely agree. In contrast to Dublin, for instance, Galway is virtually treeless. When they do plant the odd tree, they plant specimens that are far too immature to have a decent chance of survival when they're left relatively unattended.

Areas such as Westside, Eyre Square, Headford Road etc. could be significantly improved with a bit of tree planting.

They're supposedly turning the Bishop O'Donnell/SQR road into an 'avenue' with trees in the centre of the road. Sounds intriguing on the page but we'll have to wait and see!

inisboffin

softmee wrote: »

Yes, city without trees is very sad sometimes. This is what i miss the most in here. Treees!

Ireland used to be 2/3 trees! They were decimated...Don't get us started on that one or we'll have to head over to politics!:D

I agree though, more trees, and appropriate ones that will be looked after. There are folks pushing this though, and the hardwood tree grant thing was a great idea.

drum!

churchview wrote: »

Completely agree. In contrast to Dublin, for instance, Galway is virtually treeless. When they do plant the odd tree, they plant specimens that are far too immature to have a decent chance of survival when they're left relatively unattended.

Areas such as Westside, Eyre Square, Headford Road etc. could be significantly improved with a bit of tree planting.

Wonder how long 20 saplings would last in Westside..

galwayrush

A 3000 seater multi purpose event hall.

softmee

inisboffin wrote: »

Ireland used to be 2/3 trees! They were decimated...Don't get us started on that one or we'll have to head over to politics!:D

I agree though, more trees, and appropriate ones that will be looked after. There are folks pushing this though, and the hardwood tree grant thing was a great idea.

I was wondering exactly where in city center there are any trees. I tought only about the front of city (or town) hall on Collage Road -few nice, big proper trees and...... yeah -thats it, i cant remember anywhere else really. Few on Eare Square (sorry i never know how to spell it properly) . Merlin Woods is full of sick trees -not to long before they all die, 80% is covered with ivy-parasite.

inisboffin

softmee wrote: »

I was wondering exactly where in city center there are any trees. I tought only about the front of city (or town) hall on Collage Road -few nice, big proper trees and...... yeah -thats it, i cant remember anywhere else really. Few on Eare Square (sorry i never know how to spell it properly) . Merlin Woods is full of sick trees -not to long before they all die, 80% is covered with ivy-parasite.

By St Nicholas' Church in the Churchyard is a lovely one. NUIG has some beautiful trees, opposite the Cathedral and throughout the grounds. Near the courthouse. Along the river, some beautiful ones.
There could be more, but I would rather see a few well tended than tons neglected. They just cut a good few mature trees on Bishop O'Donnell Rd to make way for the widening.

inisboffin

Here's an interesting article on the 'Ivy - good or bad' debate.