You know, I'm just sitting here on Boxing Day with my Santa hat on thinking about all the good laughs we used to have at this time of year before my wife left me for a younger man. But I like to be a positive person as you know and my mind has turned to some of the truly great things I have seen this year on my visits to important ground-breaking developments around Scotland.
It's hard for me to choose my favourite as there have been so many great new developments over the past few years. Here is a short list of the greatest ever projects according to me:
1) Glasgow Harbour
2) Ravenscraig
3) The big Tesco at Port Glasgow
4) X-scape and Ferry Village at Braehead
5) The Factory Outlet at Gretna on the Scottish Border
I may add more when I think of them. For now, Glasgow Harbour is the leader. I was there back during the summer on a wee boat trip down the river. I was completely bowled over by the quality of the architecture and the fact that it must be like having your own wee Scottish Castle - you know what I mean? You're completely isolated there with no shops or local facilities to attract neds and women of the night. You could walk out onto your balcony with nothing on if you wanted to. It looks really great too - see the wee photie I took from the boat, and notice especially the wee parkland on the left where all the seagulls live. That will be the biodiversity angle - clever.
So full marks to Clydeport for this great innovative development! I wish I could afford to live there! Today I am so proud to be a town planner!
2 comments:
As I don't know Glasgow Harbour I can't say much about it's quality. So in my opinion the best development for me is the big Tesco at Port Glasgow. Since I moved there 6 years ago the place really improved. I'm not a specialist in "...ground-breaking developments around Scotland..." but I think such a huge supermarket is what a town needs to be special. It is really nice to go there and to do all my shopping for my family (husband and 3 kids) without leaving the building. I don't have to walk very far as I'm priviliged to live in one of the new houses nearby. Most of the time I don't even have to go into the town centre anymore. That's great, so I can be back home quicker to prepare supper. I think every town or even village needs a Tesco to become a better place.
Hi Anja, sounds like a great place to live. Yes Tesco makes a great difference to living standards and should be welcomed everywhere. Best wishes to you for 2008. - Dave
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