Changes on the High Street

[Taf]

...to wider pavements, a 2 lane cycle track, 240 seat open air dining area, and a single lane for buses and emergency vehicles.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Taf

...to wider pavements, a 2 lane cycle track, 240 seat open air dining area, and a single lane for buses and emergency vehicles.

Looks far better and more tourist friendly. City centres have changed as their use has drastically altered since March. If circumstances change, then doubtless they will continue to respond to the changing circumstances too.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Looks far better and more tourist friendly. City centres have changed as their use has drastically altered since March. If circumstances change, then doubtless they will continue to respond to the changing circumstances too.

Sitting next to the bus lane eating your lunch whilst sucking up the diesel fumes and watching lycra louts pass by,sounds like heaven.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

Sitting next to the bus lane eating your lunch whilst sucking up the diesel fumes and watching lycra louts pass by,sounds like heaven.

.... to the wailing sound of the emergency ambulance that can't get through.

[Carth]

Just a blip in the figures, or a sign that people are happy to be able to go out shopping with the relaxation of lock down rules?

A little late to save many retail jobs, but a sign that things may improve for some?


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53859148

ONS said retail sales volumes rose by 3.6% between June and July.

It said sales are now 3% higher than February before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic and the UK was placed in lockdown.

July's rise in retail sales was not as pronounced as the previous two months. In May, retail sales had increased by 12% and in June they had risen by 13.9%.

Sales in clothing shops grew by 11.9% last month while online shopping fell by 7%.

[Taf]

I arrived at one end of our local main shopping street. It looked like a moshpit, so I turned around and came home.

[heero_yuy]

Quote from The Sun:

Pret a Manger has axed 2,800 jobs as it struggles to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic.

The coffee chain said it will cut the roles from its shops after completing a restructuring of its UK business.

The cuts come after the high street chain said last month that it was planning a shake-up which would result in the closure of 30 sites.

Most of the job losses affect store staff, although 90 of them are from Pret's support centre team.

Pret said that although there have been "clear signs of recovery" in footfall since the lockdown was eased, trade across its shops is still around 60 per cent down year-on-year.

A consequence of many still working from home.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

A consequence of many still working from home.

Just goes to show you can make your own coffee.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Carth

Just a blip in the figures, or a sign that people are happy to be able to go out shopping with the relaxation of lock down rules?

A little late to save many retail jobs, but a sign that things may improve for some?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53859148

Fingers crossed it continues. I think city centres will feel the effects of more homeworking but that could lead to more city centre housing and the return of cafes like Pret.

[Sephiroth]

Maybe it's as well to deal with the "new normal" sooner rather than later.

Trouble is, it needs a govenment that joins stuff up and knows what it is doing. For example, a government sponsored and targeted plan to convert buildings to residential (share of freehold, of course). Also big negotiations after public consultation that is properly assessed (too much to hope for) to get the balance right between home working andthe need to supply and integrate office space, transport etc for those who cannot work from home.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Fingers crossed it continues. I think city centres will feel the effects of more homeworking but that could lead to more city centre housing and the return of cafes like Pret.

The parasites renting out office/retail space won't let the Government away with a straightforward transition. Look for home working to be penalised/discouraged through the tax code in the future.

Supply and demand capitalism is for the little guys like us, not big businesses and investment firms. Something must be done to save them.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

The parasites renting out office/retail space won't let the Government away with a straightforward transition. Look for home working to be penalised/discouraged through the tax code in the future.

Supply and demand capitalism is for the little guys like us, not big businesses and investment firms. Something must be done to save them.

Are you sure they are 'parasites'? Take, for example, companies like Slough Estates who spend billions building the sites and office space. Are they parasites or are they charging a rent to pay for their investment plus profit?

Gangmasters are parasites; trafficking masters are parasites. But landlords? Really?

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Are you sure they are 'parasites'? Take, for example, companies like Slough Estates who spend billions building the sites and office space. Are they parasites or are they charging a rent to pay for their investment plus profit?

Gangmasters are parasites; trafficking masters are parasites. But landlords? Really?

Is it their own money or are they borrowing it?

Fundamentally rents represent a transfer between genuine wealth creators and entrepreneurs to asset holders. Who in turn take their profits (and borrow against their assets) to carry out the same wheeze elsewhere - fundamentally because land is an asset in short supply.

It's long overdue that this imbalance was removed and if Covid-19 accelerates that then there's maybe something good to come from it.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

Is it their own money or are they borrowing it?

Fundamentally rents represent a transfer between genuine wealth creators and entrepreneurs to asset holders. Who in turn take their profits (and borrow against their assets) to carry out the same wheeze elsewhere - fundamentally because land is an asset in short supply.

It's long overdue that this imbalance was removed and if Covid-19 accelerates that then there's maybe something good to come from it.

Why should borrowing money (which repaid to the lender) turn the borrower into a parasite?

The entire economic system in heavily populated small land-mass countries depends on this revolving door. When the economy becomes stressed as it is now and goes out of balance, landlords are placed into difficulty because their income stream needed to repay their investment debt has disappeared. You know that, of course. But no parasitism in that.

Your last sentence will indeed re-balance the equation and ultimately will hit the lenders as much as the landlords - indeed the lenders will become the landlords!

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Why should borrowing money (which repaid to the lender) turn the borrower into a parasite?

The entire economic system in heavily populated small land-mass countries depends on this revolving door. When the economy becomes stressed as it is now and goes out of balance, landlords are placed into difficulty because their income stream needed to repay their investment debt has disappeared. You know that, of course. But no parasitism in that.

Your last sentence will indeed re-balance the equation and ultimately will hit the lenders as much as the landlords - indeed the lenders will become the landlords!

It is though - their purpose is to extract rents from those out there genuinely creating something, who ironically can't afford buildings due to the high valuations because of the number of landlords in the market participating in this and restricting overall supply.

They essentially distort the market making genuine entrepreneurship - that which genuinely creates things for the economy and employs people - harder. It'd be welcome for many of these businesses to exit the market.