Here are 13 things that you wish Sheffield had - just like other towns or cities

And this is what they had to say on the topic:

Frequent commentor, Jean Hepplestone had this to say; “We never got investment like the European cities of culture. That's not going to happen now but it changed Liverpool vastly. They need to invest more money and lower rates to encourage independant shops into the run down areas. And move the market back to the city centre.” It was a response that garnered quite a bit of approval with eleven thumbs up and some decent responses.

Craig Gambling responded with this thoughts, “The city is held back by a council that is not forward thinking and this has put us miles behind other major cities. I was in Manchester last weekend and it is so vibrant and just grows and grows. Leeds is also so much better for nights out and shopping.”

We had a wonderful and also heartbreaking response from DottieLottie Bennett, who said that she thought that “Sheffield is a fantastic city with so much to offer but so much of what it has is still inaccessible to so many people. Better pavements and drop kerbs, better disabled access to public places. As a wheelchair user, I so often find myself at the end of a pavement with no drop kerb to get off the pavement, or running into road works that block the drop kerb without an alternative. Just because we are a minority doesn't mean we aren't out there and the hills make it tough enough without poorly thought out street planning.”

These discussion topics always get an amusing comment (usually quite a few to be fair) but this time around David 'swfc' Birks takes it with a wonderfully phonetic take on proceedings:

“Open oyal in rowad up.

Bring back josies n steeleys.

Open Stonehouse and fiesta. .

Bring back woolworths.

Open Castle Market. Inc harringtons and roof top cafe. Bring back 2p bus fares. May as well bring towd tram system back anall. This super tram thing is always out of service... Oh well tha knows wot a mean... Bla bla” — cheers for that David.

Karen Avery would like Sheffield to have “A decent concert venue that gets "A" listers so we dont have to go to Leeds and/or Manchester to see popular acts”.

Julie Taylor would love to see a “Clean up campaign, even little things like, Barnsley have sponsored hanging baskets why don't we. Sort homeless out in town very sad.”

This was a bit of a theme, something that Christine Plews expanded on; “Big names coming to the Arena again, hardly anyone comes here anymore . Also help the rough sleepers, feel sorry for them but it’s also not good for the shoppers who feel intimidated.”

Caroline Nelson kept it short and sweet with her response, “A decent town centre”, which struck a chord with over 21 of our readers who gave it a thumbs up.

Justin Seaman responded via Twitter, and he said “Develop the old castle market area into a big open green space by the river / marina, with cafes, trees etc. It could be a hub for independents. It would also make getting off the tram at Ponds Forge far nicer.”

And Tanya Fish added her opinion, saying “ A city centre worth visiting for independent shops and food. Decent cycle infrastructure. Put the trees back”

One of our other frequent commentors, Jennifer Mohammed Jones said that it would be nice to have “some actual shops in the city centre. Been to Leeds and Manchester recently it's bloody embarrassing that we don't have a town anymore. No wonder bus/tram use is down 50% on pre pandemic times.”

And Anya Marson would like it to be similar to “What Sheffield had 30/40 years ago! All been ruined completely!”

Adrian Hunt replied with his thoughts, “A city council that is not anti-car and hellbent on making us all walk, cycle or bus no matter where we want to go!”

Abigail Burchill says that she would like to see “An actual city centre with decent shops and somewhere nice to sit other than the peace/winter gardens”, a sentiment shared by many of our readers who gave a thumbs up approval.

Tim Rudland said he’d like to see “a town centre not run into the ground by its council."

Finally, we had Patrick Siddall, who responded saying he’d like to see a “Proper council who put the City and its people first. Preferably all independents because you can't trust a party member who follows the party line.”

There were plenty of comments lamenting the loss of John Lewis and asking for it to come back, sadly it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon. We also had some really interesting suggestions, like an aquarium, reduced parking costs to increase footfall across the city, an indoor ski slope, and actual shops… like other cities have – thanks Liz Atkins.

But seriously, in the words of Sue Mckay it would be nice to have more “People that are proud to be from Sheffield!”

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