Grafton Street

smellmepower

Still has lots of buskers,lads dressed like leprechauns for photo opportunities and those moving statues that the tourists seem to love in fairness.

ProudDUB

MYOB wrote: »

Where are tourists being told that Grafton Street is magical?

I doubt if any guide books are using the term "magical" to describe Grafton St. But I have seen words like "chic" and "cosmopolitan" bandied about in various guide books and online articles. It definitely had a unique vibe to it back in the day. It doesn't now. Even the buskers are far from unique. You see the same ones over on Henry St or in Temple Bar.

Cienciano

I haven't been on Grafton street in ages, anyone got any photos of it?

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Oh, didn't realise HMV had reopened. Do they sell physical video games? The only other store in Dublin CC that does is Gamestop.

Don't forget Argos and Smyths. Although, Game on Dawson street was my favourite game shop

Aard

ProudDUB wrote: »

You see the same ones over on Henry St or in Temple Bar.

You see the same buskers in every country. Sometimes literally the same ones. Remember the guy who used do keepy-uppies with his crutches? Saw him in Oslo.

Grafton Street has never been chic.

And "cosmopolitan" is actually an apt description of the street.

ProudDUB

I wouldn't be falling all over myself to call it chic either. I don't think that anywhere in Ireland, never mind Dublin, could be considered chic. The scruffiness is just never too far away, no matter where you go.

I went to school on St Stephens Green. I walked down Grafton St every day for 12 years & I absolutely loved it. Back in the day, it definitely had an air and an atmosphere that you didn't get anywhere else in the city. It certainly doesn't have it now.

Aard

It's normal for streets/districts to change in character over time. As places become more accessible, rents go up and only the richest companies can afford it. That "unique air" it once had is probably to be seen elsewhere in the city now. Tbh I love seeing how places change. Sometimes it's for the worse, sometimes for the better.

L1011

ProudDUB wrote: »

But I have seen words like "chic" and "cosmopolitan" bandied about in various guide books and online articles

Its a street full of mid to high range international retailers; that's exactly what they mean by that.

Cienciano

MYOB wrote: »

Its a street full of mid to high range international retailers; that's exactly what they mean by that.

Grafton Street has about 5 high end shops. Weirs, Brown Thomas and a few smaller womens shops. The rest is shíte you'd find in the high street in any town in the UK.

ProudDUB

Cienciano wrote: »

Grafton Street has about 5 high end shops. Weirs, Brown Thomas and a few smaller womens shops. The rest is shíte you'd find in the high street in any town in the UK.

Bingo.

Other than BT's, there are a few high end jewelry shops (Weir's, Breretons, Boodles) the furriers & the specialty pipe shop, across from Trinity. That's about it really. The rest of the shops you can also find over on the north side, in suburban shopping centres, or on UK high streets.

Jumboman

They have ripped the character out of Grafton Street. It now looks like a generic UK high street.

Johnwayne98

I loved the HMV shop when it was there.

Frank Lee Midere

I disagree about the surface. I agree about the look. The same colour scheme should have been used. That made grafton street intersting.

vidor

Biggest issue with Grafton Steeet is the fact that it has now become a haven for some smug looking buskers. Don't know how that's allowed.

L1011

Cienciano wrote: »

Grafton Street has about 5 high end shops. Weirs, Brown Thomas and a few smaller womens shops. The rest is shíte you'd find in the high street in any town in the UK.

And that's basically the same makeup you find on "premier shopping streets" everywhere else in the world. Substitute BT for whatever the local 'posh' department store is, put the appropriate local mobile phone brands in and you're done.

JupiterKid

I've grown to like the new paving on Grafton Street. The street does have too many chain stores but they are the only ones that can pay the exorbitant rents.

cherryghost

I would have preferred a restoration project instead of the crap they've put down.

Rubberchikken

For a 'premier' shopping street it leaves a lot to be desired. Never impressed by it.

Don't know what the new surface is like but if it's the grey limestone similar to the one being put on our main street, then it'll look awful.
Ours is showing every stain and spill and seems to accentuate the dirt

hfallada

Even the champ Elysées in Paris has a McDonald's on it. You can't expect grafton street to be made up of small independent Irish stores, selling irish made products. Our clothing industry is pretty much gone and our only manufacturing is high value electronics or chemicals.

Stores are on Grafton Street because companies know there is a demand for their goods. Eg the two 02 stores are always packed.

Muahahaha

cherryghost wrote: »

I would have preferred a restoration project instead of the crap they've put down.

Likewise. The decision to use grey coloured stone in a country where the skies are predominately grey is bizarre. Not only that the street now looks like any other high street in other European capitals. The whole project has taken the character out of Grafton St IMO, it's disimproved it.

quadrifoglio verde

My stone of choice would have been the Wicklow granite slabs that were outside trinity until the Luas works started. Yes they're grey, but they add this old world charm that's lost with the new ones.

The problem with the previous design is that patio/cobble lock tends to break up after a few years. The street was a mess before they started laying the new stones, patched in parts with Tarmac and a good few loose. Not to mention the white ones which were lethal in the wet.

Muahahaha

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

The problem with the previous design is that patio/cobble lock tends to break up after a few years. The street was a mess before they started laying the new stones, patched in parts with Tarmac and a good few loose. Not to mention the white ones which were lethal in the wet.

Agreed, the previous surface was problematic but surely they could have found something that was more in tune with the street and then go about maintaining it properly, even if that means having a couple of workers employed full time throughout the year to carry out work on loose cobbles. The street gets some 15 million people on it annually so it is always going to need work of some description.
I dunno, I'm just scratching my head here and thinking that the powers that be went for the option that was going to cost them the least amount in maintenance. Weather it fitted the street well seems to have been further down their list of priorities IMO.

Aard

What "fits the street" better is a matter of opinion, whereas what creates a safer environment is quantifiable.

anncoates

Grafton Street (as much as I love it) looks like a UK shopping street with or without the new paving. I'm not sure why people are convinced otherwise.

It's like people (for example criticism of Wetherspoons) feel duty bound to use Britain for any pejorative remark about a rose tinted view of Ireland

Maust Boi

Does anyone know why they have left a section untouched outside Rocks jewellers? The whole area around it has been completed for weeks now but the small patch outside this shop in still the old red bricks.

Muahahaha

Hopefully they'll preserve the few remaining red bricks as an open air museum so we can show future generations how we used to have a nice street.

i walked down it again today, that grey slate still isnt growing on me and tbh I don't think it ever will. When they changed the Christmas lights over from the red lanterns with bushy holly to the newer crystal lights I thought it lost a bit of atmosphere at Christmas. This latest move has finished the street off in terms of calling it unique, every major town in the UK now has pedestrianused streets and they all seem to use some sort of drab grey paving. There wasn't many shopping streets in the world that were done in red bricks, there's one less now

Jumboman

Grafton Street now looks horrible someone should start a campaign to bring the red bricks back.

crushproof

Muahahaha wrote: »

Hopefully they'll preserve the few remaining red bricks as an open air museum so we can show future generations how we used to have a nice street.

i walked down it again today, that grey slate still isnt growing on me and tbh I don't think it ever will. When they changed the Christmas lights over from the red lanterns with bushy holly to the newer crystal lights I thought it lost a bit of atmosphere at Christmas. This latest move has finished the street off in terms of calling it unique, every major town in the UK now has pedestrianused streets and they all seem to use some sort of drab grey paving. There wasn't many shopping streets in the world that were done in red bricks, there's one less now

While I'n not a big fan of the grey brick I really don't get the fascination with the red brick. It was a prime choice for suburban homes in the 80's for heavens sake, hardly unique. It's also all over the UK, the entire centre of Derby is covered in it so I really and just like Grafton Street was it's falling apart and hard to maintain.
Yes the grey isn't great but there really isn't much choice when it comes to paving streets. What other colours could you go for? Stone doesn't come in too many colours to be fair.
Unfortunately Ireland is in the top 3 of the most Globalised countries in the world and Grafton St (and other main streets throughout the country) are symptoms of these, endless rows of chain stores selling the same sh**e you find anywhere else in the developed world. Due to high rents and the insatiable demand for brand names, nothing is going to change that so if you're looking for an independent vibe you've got to look elsewhere I'm afraid.

hfallada

Muahahaha wrote: »

Hopefully they'll preserve the few remaining red bricks as an open air museum so we can show future generations how we used to have a nice street.

i walked down it again today, that grey slate still isnt growing on me and tbh I don't think it ever will. When they changed the Christmas lights over from the red lanterns with bushy holly to the newer crystal lights I thought it lost a bit of atmosphere at Christmas. This latest move has finished the street off in terms of calling it unique, every major town in the UK now has pedestrianused streets and they all seem to use some sort of drab grey paving. There wasn't many shopping streets in the world that were done in red bricks, there's one less now

Nothing says Irish culture and heritage like a manufactured red brick that can be found in most cheap drive ways across Dublin. The old brick was horrific and can be found cheaply in any building providers. It was slippy when wet and was nearly repaired every single day. Grafton St so busy you never look down at the ground but what's infront of you.

alastair

Has anyone considered a nice bit of carpet?

HeidiHeidi

alastair wrote: »

Has anyone considered a nice bit of carpet?

Too much hoovering.