I think the question about high street shops mattering or not is interesting. I mean in York and cute market towns, it probably really matters. In Strasbourg, without them, the tourism would possibly be badly hit. But in Slough, eg, I'm not so sure it does matter. Different townfolk want different things or care more about their town than those in other towns. And chain shopping estate on ring roads along with online shopping seems to tick the boxes for most towns. Or does it?
Mostly, though, I can think of no examples of a town completely reinventing itself when facing whatever disaster. Hull has yet to pick itself up since the fish trade went / the war?
Has any town reversed its fortunes by reinventing itself? Examples, please. Big cities like Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and Leeds don't really feel any different to me. Just slightly better. Bigger with a couple of glammy hotspots and some nice apartments in old industrial warehouses on canals. But overall, they feel like they did 30 years ago. To me at least.
If I were still trading online from Hull, I would ideally have liked a clicks and mortar business, but the council business rates and crime levels made it completely unappealing. I understand UK is considering introducing rates for online businesses. Well fair enough I suppose. But my business possibly couldn't cope with an extra 10 grand or so in taxes.
