Fire in Douglas - See Mod note in post #506

freshpopcorn

RINO87 wrote: »

Stories like this make me despair for humanity, are we that lazy?

I'm unsure to be honest. I just think people associate Maxi Zoo and those larger pet shops with Retail Parks which are nice and bright outside and they find Douglas miserable to go into. When ever I visited the store it was almost always empty.
These people wouldn't be lazy to be honest.

I'd say Maxi Zoo are delighted to be out of the place.

I don't want to derail the thread talking about Maxi Zoo by the way.

Ludo

Their store in Ballincollig is always even emptier than the one in Douglas used to be and that is in a "retail park". In fairness, it is not the kind of shop that is going to ever be that busy no matter where it is. People buy in bulk for the most part in them and dont spent time browsing.

undertaker fan 88

Ludo wrote: »

Their store in Ballincollig is always even emptier than the one in Douglas used to be and that is in a "retail park". In fairness, it is not the kind of shop that is going to ever be that busy no matter where it is. People buy in bulk for the most part in them and dont spent time browsing.

It's also alot cheaper to buy pet products online these days. Maxi zoo is quiet expensive

Cork Trucker

undertaker fan 88 wrote: »

It's also alot cheaper to buy pet products online these days. Maxi zoo is quiet expensive

Wait for the “Shop local save jobs” outcry.

I 100% agree with you though.

undertaker fan 88

Cork Trucker wrote: »

Wait for the “Shop local save jobs” outcry.

I 100% agree with you though.

Plenty local pet shops that are not as crazy price like maxi zoo. And it's a German chain store so it isnt technically local ha.

Tauriel

I really hope that the book shop reopens. They had some great bargains.

Harika

mustang shelly wrote: »

I really hope that the book shop reopens. They had some great bargains.

The library? Yeah they really sold for a bargain lol

Tauriel

Harika wrote: »

The library? Yeah they really sold for a bargain lol

Nope, the shop that sold books, lottery tickets, sweets, stationery, etc. It would of been a little bit down from Clarks.

SaltyJohn

mustang shelly wrote: »

Nope, the shop that sold books, lottery tickets, sweets, stationery, etc. It would of been a little bit down from Clarks.

Book Station

lilmissprincess

They're still in Blackpool shopping centre so hopefully they will be back in. Loved that shop!

freshpopcorn

lilmissprincess wrote: »

They're still in Blackpool shopping centre so hopefully they will be back in. Loved that shop!

According to there website they plan to re open in late 2020!

Tauriel

SaltyJohn wrote: »

Book Station

That's the one. I've been calling it Book Store and Book Shop, couldn't for the life of me recall the name.

funnydoggy

I hope to f*ck that we open on time now given the whole level 5 business..

beer enigma

Whilst I'm really looking forward to having the centre open again, I'm REALLY looking forward to the relief road opening again !

TheChizler

beer enigma wrote: »

Whilst I'm really looking forward to having the centre open again, I'm REALLY looking forward to the relief road opening again !

I'm the opposite. I've never found it as easy to get through Douglas as in the past year (barring when they dug up Church Road).

Dbu

beer enigma wrote: »

Whilst I'm really looking forward to having the centre open again, I'm REALLY looking forward to the relief road opening again !

While I appreciate where you are coming from, but since the day that road closed the traffic in Douglas has been great

beer enigma

Dbu wrote: »

While I appreciate where you are coming from, since the day that road closed the traffic in Douglas has been great

Yep don't get me wrong, mine is a purely selfish viewpoint as a driver not a resident. If I'm going to Douglas I tend to walk, so traffic doesn't affect me.

For work however, driving down the Well Road and through the relief road rather than through the village, church road etc is so much easier, especially with no right turn from the Well Road.

Totally see where you are coming from

dulpit

beer enigma wrote: »

Whilst I'm really looking forward to having the centre open again, I'm REALLY looking forward to the relief road opening again !

I wonder if they could do something to make the road only accessible for people going in and out of centre? I've been through Douglas a bit in the last while and traffic does seem to flow better since it's been closed.

dulpit

dulpit wrote: »

I wonder if they could do something to make the road only accessible for people going in and out of centre? I've been through Douglas a bit in the last while and traffic does seem to flow better since it's been closed.

...... Way less traffic as the centre is closed coupled with less traffic due to WFH etc

Treehelpplease

Nothing to do with working from home (although that helps). As soon as they closed that street (Riverwalk I think), the traffic flow has been great. Church Street was crippling, though, and that was benefitted by WFH

It's nice to see the scaffolding come down but I was hoping that they would change up the facade a bit, make it look less cluttered looking and maybe add a green element. Even with all the plants on the overpass side, the street isn't a very nice one to drive on, and even less nice for people walking

who_me

Treehelpplease wrote: »

Nothing to do with working from home (although that helps). As soon as they closed that street (Riverwalk I think), the traffic flow has been great. Church Street was crippling, though, and that was benefitted by WFH

Yeah, Church St. (pre crisis) picked up a lot of the traffic that was taking the other road. The traffic didn't just disappear, just changed route.

The junction of Church St. and West Douglas St. badly needed a pedestrian crossing, it was getting pretty dangerous with the additional traffic.

Treehelpplease

ridiculous, yeah. I was driving around that corner recently and someone walked out right in front of me. it doesn't help either that taxis use that footpath to park on so just swing in front of you to get onto it. the whole street layout in Douglas needs a vast rethink and upgrading. the only decent one is the relief road. wide road, wide footpaths, big trees, a decent amount of crossings, little traffic despite heavy use. for such a big and important area in the city, a lot of it looks like a regular old town in a county (in terms of excess parking, poor allocation of space, traffic)

kub

Treehelpplease wrote: »

ridiculous, yeah. I was driving around that corner recently and someone walked out right in front of me. it doesn't help either that taxis use that footpath to park on so just swing in front of you to get onto it. the whole street layout in Douglas needs a vast rethink and upgrading. the only decent one is the relief road. wide road, wide footpaths, big trees, a decent amount of crossings, little traffic despite heavy use. for such a big and important area in the city, a lot of it looks like a regular old town in a county (in terms of excess parking, poor allocation of space, traffic)

Let's not forget that Douglas is only recently ( May 19 ) in the actual jurisdiction of Cork City Council.
Despite what anyone says about them and I know they are not perfect but at least they have vast experience with a lot of issues that Douglas village has had for years thanks to the inaction of the County Council who have zero experience or indeed expertise when if comes to Urban issues.

I am optimistically expecting the City Council to sort out Douglas in time.
I am not however holding my breath on that, but as I said at least they have the necessary experience

snotboogie

kub wrote: »

Let's not forget that Douglas is only recently ( May 19 ) in the actual jurisdiction of Cork City Council.
Despite what anyone says about them and I know they are not perfect but at least they have vast experience with a lot of issues that Douglas village has had for years thanks to the inaction of the County Council who have zero experience or indeed expertise when if comes to Urban issues.

I am optimistically expecting the City Council to sort out Douglas in time.
I am not however holding my breath on that, but as I said at least they have the necessary experience

I think Douglas is past saving. The cinema site was make or break, an aldi is the worst realistic thing that could have gone in there; another car dependent supermarket squeezed in between a Tesco and M&S on one side and a Dunnes on the other side. It should have been left as it was until Busconnects was rolled out and gave the option for other developments.

Treehelpplease

at least lidl by old carrigaline road didnt happen that wouldve been a disaster. even the entrance to douglas. from douglas road its a mess of car lanes and islands and the ugly shopping centre. from sth douglas road its even worse. it looks like a run down american city before you go under the bridge and then back to narrow traffic filled streets. hopefully one day the street with subway can be made pedestrian and bus only, that might help a bit.

kub

snotboogie wrote: »

I think Douglas is past saving. The cinema site was make or break, an aldi is the worst realistic thing that could have gone in there; another car dependent supermarket squeezed in between a Tesco and M&S on one side and a Dunnes on the other side. It should have been left as it was until Busconnects was rolled out and gave the option for other developments.

It was the County Council that granted the planning permission for that.

Hibernicis

Dbu wrote: »

While I appreciate where you are coming from, but since the day that road closed the traffic in Douglas has been great

Totally agree with that. And while the traffic would be bad enough after the centre reopens if it merely returned to previous levels when you factor in the Aldi development opening for business it will be worse by an order if magnitude. And it is very difficult to see any worthwhile alleviation measures, much less a solution.

snotboogie

Treehelpplease wrote: »

at least lidl by old carrigaline road didnt happen that wouldve been a disaster. even the entrance to douglas. from douglas road its a mess of car lanes and islands and the ugly shopping centre. from sth douglas road its even worse. it looks like a run down american city before you go under the bridge and then back to narrow traffic filled streets. hopefully one day the street with subway can be made pedestrian and bus only, that might help a bit.

At least Lidl would have been something new! There is already an Aldi in grange. Both the South Douglas Rd and Douglas Rd are eventually set to be transformed by Busconnects but the protests will be ferocious I imagine. There is a shorter term plan to get rid of the roundabout before the bridge on the Sth Douglas Rd and clean the place up a bit. Funny you mention American suburbia because that was clearly the plan in the 80's and 90's, complete with a drive through McDonalds and all. I think a lot of the residents hold onto that vision.

funnydoggy

funnydoggy wrote: »

I hope to f*ck that we open on time now given the whole level 5 business..

JohnK

funnydoggy wrote: »

Could still open with Tesco and M&S