Cardiff, how nice is our City ?

[Carl Dale's Mole]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion of course and as someone who's lived in Asia since 2006 and went home last November for the first time in nearly 10 years, mine is that Cardiff is brilliant.

And I honestly think it's going to get better and better: https://www.cardiffwalesmap.com/CardiffDevelopments.htm

If I HAD to say something bad about the place I'd say that the Bay is a little overrated as it is but no doubt that'll look different too by my next trip home. There's so much potential there.

The thing that stuck out the most for me is how nice the people are. I had heard that everyone's miserable and it's all doom and gloom but that's just not the impression I got. We'd go to a bus stop looking lost and peopled helped us out every single time, then we'd chat for ages. People are so easy and nice to talk to. Sat next to a great bunch at the CCS, chatted and laughed the whole time. No idea who they are. Every day was a different conversation with a nice stranger.

I'm a bit of a pussy but never felt unsafe. Although my family did drop me off at my hotel down the Bay after a Tuesday night game because I was planning on walking through Grangetown alone with my new City away shirt in my hand. They didn't think it was a very good idea.

I admit I didn't go down that end of Queen Street but town is still great. The arcades are great. Cardiff Market is great. If that market was in Perth or Adelaide it would be all over the travel blogs. I grew up on pub food and a cone of chips. Now I can eat good Greek food and Polish dumplings? Maybe it was always there but there does seem like a lot more quality options nowadays.

My only hope is that house prices don't go through the roof before I get the chance to move back. Fingers crossed!

[goats]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion of course and as someone who's lived in Asia since 2006 and went home last November for the first time in nearly 10 years, mine is that Cardiff is brilliant.

And I honestly think it's going to get better and better: https://www.cardiffwalesmap.com/CardiffDevelopments.htm

If I HAD to say something bad about the place I'd say that the Bay is a little overrated as it is but no doubt that'll look different too by my next trip home. There's so much potential there.

The thing that stuck out the most for me is how nice the people are. I had heard that everyone's miserable and it's all doom and gloom but that's just not the impression I got. We'd go to a bus stop looking lost and peopled helped us out every single time, then we'd chat for ages. People are so easy and nice to talk to. Sat next to a great bunch at the CCS, chatted and laughed the whole time. No idea who they are. Every day was a different conversation with a nice stranger.

I'm a bit of a pussy but never felt unsafe. Although my family did drop me off at my hotel down the Bay after a Tuesday night game because I was planning on walking through Grangetown alone with my new City away shirt in my hand. They didn't think it was a very good idea.

I admit I didn't go down that end of Queen Street but town is still great. The arcades are great. Cardiff Market is great. If that market was in Perth or Adelaide it would be all over the travel blogs. I grew up on pub food and a cone of chips. Now I can eat good Greek food and Polish dumplings? Maybe it was always there but there does seem like a lot more quality options nowadays.

My only hope is that house prices don't go through the roof before I get the chance to move back. Fingers crossed!

Dont worry about house prices….probably going to plummet some more as the government’s target landlords and they sell up….its a buyers market at the moment.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Nope. I just don’t have a hissy fit anytime someone dares bring up “the egg”

Cardiff would be a worse place without the stadium in the middle of the city.

Bollocks

The stadium is far too big for a central location

The city cannot cope when big events are on wether that be your egg lot , football , pink , foo fighters or monster truck etc etc

Cardiff is gridlocked

A stadium and entertainments venue on the M4

Have it

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Bollocks

The stadium is far too big for a central location

The city cannot cope when big events are on wether that be your egg lot , football , pink , foo fighters or monster truck etc etc

Cardiff is gridlocked

A stadium and entertainments venue on the M4

Have it

How do people who come a fair distance get home on the trains after gigs at the stadium? I can't even get back to Taunton on a train after an evening game at the CCS.

[The Bloop]

Getting the rugby stadium out of Cardiff City Centre ?

I think that would be great

Reduce the carnage and reduce congestion

We are very lucky that we moved to a stadium right on the edge of the urban area but so close to our old home

If you remove that you'd kill off many of the businesses around the city centre. Bars and hotels would close overnight leaving more empty buildings and people would lose their jobs.
Much of the development in the city centre is because the stadium is there. Without it there'd be very little else left.

[Rjk]

if I was in charge of Cardiff, the first thing I would do is annexe Penarth, let's face it it is basically part of Cardiff in all but name, then I'd look to build towards extending out to Caerphilly, llantrisnt and Barry, making sure that the green areas as described in my earlier post are maintained

I'd also make a train station in the airport terminal building, not a depressing bus ride away.

thirdly I'd build a new, larger and fit for purpose (the purpose being rehabilitation) prison, somewhere away from the city centre, and redevelop that land. it's absolutely bonkers that such good land is just used for locking people up.

I'd also try to encourage higher rise buildings in the centre, but with a minimum sqft size applied to apartments, other countries have decent sized apartments, here they're nearly all tiny.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

it's a small city in my books. maybe it's medium by UK standards but it's still small as cities go.

it probably compares favourably to plenty of other cities a similar size but it's still pretty small time

Well uk wise is the only comparison unless we are talking worldwide

Birmingham and Manchester are large cities in the UK but in the USA barely figure compared to Chicago etc

Small cities in the UK are Exeter, Oxford , Newport , Gloucester

Medium cities Swansea , Hull , Derby etc

We are bigger than those by some distance and only just behind Bristol which is one of the UKs core cities

Cardiff is not a metropolis like Glasgow or Greater Manchester but there's only a few of them in the UK

[Rjk]

Well uk wise is the only comparison unless we are talking worldwide

Birmingham and Manchester are large cities in the UK but in the USA barely figure compared to Chicago etc

Small cities in the UK are Exeter, Oxford , Newport , Gloucester

Medium cities Swansea , Hull , Derby etc

We are bigger than those by some distance and only just behind Bristol which is one of the UKs core cities

Cardiff is not a metropolis like Glasgow or Greater Manchester but there's only a few of them in the UK

ost of those are cities in name only, let's be honest though, they are effectively towns.its pretty meaningless these days.
Swansea and hull might just scrape onto being cities in my books, nobody has ever walked around Gloucester and thought they were in a bustling city.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

If you remove that you'd kill off many of the businesses around the city centre. Bars and hotels would close overnight leaving more empty buildings and people would lose their jobs.
Much of the development in the city centre is because the stadium is there. Without it there'd be very little else left.

Well that shows how much things need to change then

[Dembe]

It is lovely to see Sludge, once again, spitting out his knowledge on Cities, Towns, their populations and urban areas and all surrounding cities. Ive never ever had the pleasure of reading these posts, ever, on ccmb. Brand new as usual.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

I was in St Louis, Missouri the other day, and the baseball park is absolutely the focal point of the city.
it's relatively new but built in the style of an old stadium and is absolutely stunning.

also in the centre, about 20-30 minutes walk from that is a brand new football stadium (soccer) for their new MLS franchise, and that looks really nice as well. not an identikit bowl.

Well we have CCFC twenty minutes from the city centre now we just have to relocate the Principality

Cardiff Gate , Cardiff West , plenty of places

[Rjk]

Well we have CCFC twenty minutes from the city centre now we just have to relocate the Principality

Cardiff Gate , Cardiff West , plenty of places

why though?

in st louis the stadium is bang in the middle of the city centre and it enhances the whole center.
having a soulless stadium out on a business park out of town does nothing for the town itself or the stadium experience.

[superfeathers]

Well we have CCFC twenty minutes from the city centre now we just have to relocate the Principality

Cardiff Gate , Cardiff West , plenty of places

It's a fantastic city. Has its faults yes but what city doesn't.
The stadium makes the city imo. Not a massive rugby fan but it's a massive pull for tourists. And if you're attending something there it's quite special, not many places you can be in a city pub atmosphere then walk to a game/concert/etc.
Not sure what you'd put there instead. I reckon you'd lose a lot of pubs etc if it wasn't there, so you'd need to fill that space too

[Wash DC Blue]

why though?

in st louis the stadium is bang in the middle of the city centre and it enhances the whole center.
having a soulless stadium out on a business park out of town does nothing for the town itself or the stadium experience.

St Louis isn’t a City that I would use as a yardstick for any comparison except homicides.

[Rjk]

St Louis isn’t a City that I would use as a yardstick for any comparison except homicides.

the centre is nice, then a bit further out it's horrible, then right out in the suburbs it's quite nice again

seems to be a standard template for US cities tbh

[Canton Kev]

Bollocks

The stadium is far too big for a central location

The city cannot cope when big events are on wether that be your egg lot , football , pink , foo fighters or monster truck etc etc

Cardiff is gridlocked

A stadium and entertainments venue on the M4

Have it

My egg lot Think the last time I went to a game was the Rugby World Cup in 2013.

For 10-15 days a year the city is gridlocked. The trade off is 10’s of millions of pounds get pumped into businesses all across the city.

Unless you think people are going to spend their millions at B+Q in Cardiff Gate?

Cardiff would be a lesser city without the stadium. Fact.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

ost of those are cities in name only, let's be honest though, they are effectively towns.its pretty meaningless these days.
Swansea and hull might just scrape onto being cities in my books, nobody has ever walked around Gloucester and thought they were in a bustling city.

Well clearly if you drive around Cardiff on the M4 , using the link road , head down the bay , pass through Coryton interchange etc it's definitely a bustling city with a population knocking 400 k

It's not Houston or Amsterdam but its not small

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

It's a fantastic city. Has its faults yes but what city doesn't.
The stadium makes the city imo. Not a massive rugby fan but it's a massive pull for tourists. And if you're attending something there it's quite special, not many places you can be in a city pub atmosphere then walk to a game/concert/etc.
Not sure what you'd put there instead. I reckon you'd lose a lot of pubs etc if it wasn't there, so you'd need to fill that space too

The rugby stadium makes Cardiff ?

Get out of here 😂

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

How do people who come a fair distance get home on the trains after gigs at the stadium? I can't even get back to Taunton on a train after an evening game at the CCS.

Another problem solved by relocating the stadium to the M4

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

My egg lot Think the last time I went to a game was the Rugby World Cup in 2013.

For 10-15 days a year the city is gridlocked. The trade off is 10’s of millions of pounds get pumped into businesses all across the city.

Unless you think people are going to spend their millions at B+Q in Cardiff Gate?

Cardiff would be a lesser city without the stadium. Fact.

Listen Mr egg chaser

A lot of us don't like that stadium and want it moved

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Eating out

That food critic Jay Rayner gave Cardiff a right roasting

There's a new Thai place called the Damp Squid or something but even that is a chain ?

That cafe quarter down the hayes ......by that canal exposure used to be good

Shopping wise the whole thing like other places has been wiped out by the Internet and then covid and now the economy

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Here's another great idea

Close down the Millenium Centre which puts on shows that hardly anyone pays to go and see ......and turn it into a 2500 seater rock and pop music venue

We might be able to attract decent bands here then

What's the point of putting on plays and musicals if there's about 35 people in the audience ?

[Canton Kev]

Listen Mr egg chaser

A lot of us don't like that stadium and want it moved

Boo hoo, your teachers made you play rugby at school and there’s a nasty mean rugby stadium in the city centre. Get over it lol.

It benefits Cardiff more than it hinders it. It ain’t moving any time soon so you (and all the rest of you who want it gone apparently) can suck it up.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Boo hoo, your teachers made you play rugby at school and there’s a nasty mean rugby stadium in the city centre. Get over it lol.

It benefits Cardiff more than it hinders it. It ain’t moving any time soon so you (and all the rest of you who want it gone apparently) can suck it up.

Up yours eggboy

You clearly love walking around looking at that thing jutting into the sky like a metal spider

I do my best to avoid it

[The Bloop]

Eating out

That food critic Jay Rayner gave Cardiff a right roasting

There's a new Thai place called the Damp Squid or something but even that is a chain ?

That cafe quarter down the hayes ......by that canal exposure used to be good

Shopping wise the whole thing like other places has been wiped out by the Internet and then covid and now the economy

Jay Rayner has been back since he slated the restaurants in 2016 and says its vastly improved.
Maybe you should try taking your dates to somewhere other than Dorothy's, then maybe they'll hang around long enough for a second date.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-...ining-23302553