Patrick Street Development – does it reflect the needs of the cork people?

A few first thoughts 🙂
Needs: improved pedestrian facilities, reduction in noise and pollution, improved safety – especially at night. Aesthetically – pedestrian areas attractive but in danger of being destroyed during works to drains and other services.
Culturally: lighting design to echo cultural aspects of cranes at docks are well publicised features but can be a hazard for the partially sighted, etc. Wider footpaths provide spaces for cafe seating, street performers, food fairs, etc and allow residents and visitors alike the opportunity for leisurely strolling – more continental atmosphere?
New developments such as Opera Lane have high quality apartments above retail – brings residential aspect back into city centre, although city living in apartments is not yet as popular in Ireland as in other countries. It appears that multinational chains are better able to afford the higher rents of these new developments with local small outlets moving to secondary retail areas such as Oliver Plunkett Street, Paul Street and the lanes – similar to cities in Europe and the UK.
Overall, the smartening up of the central spine of the city can only help to improve civic pride – some cultural aspects such as the Echo Boy statue and the adjacent plaque in the pavement re the now-demolished building which led to the foundation of the Crawford Gallery and which was the site of the original Examiner office can improve the cultural knowledge.

I remember how it looked in the late 1980’s – broken paving slabs, bollards and a mish-mash of pole standards, bad signage and taxi rank with car parking in the middle of both Patricks Street and the Grand parade. I still think that there is way too much street furniture but overall it works and only adds to the Cork continental vibe. Now they need to tackle Merchants Quay and Parnell place with a revamp.

I’d agree with Cliff about the street furniture, it’s massive overkill. together it actually serves as a barrier when crossing the street, which is far from ideal. The lighting has the right theory behind it, but is visually chaotic when you look down the street, as is the multicoloured paving. overall though, it’s a pretty successful development and miles better than it was before.
as far as ‘reflecting the needs of the Irish people’, I’d say it’s a step in the right direction – any economist will tell you Ireland relies to a fair degree on tourism dollars, and the relatively recent upsurge in popularity of city breaks, coupled with the low exchange rate of the eastern european nations, means that if Cork is to remain competitive in that sector we need to make our city as attractive as possible. We have to build a tourism approach similar to that of Norway, where a bad exchange rate is countered by clean, efficient and world-class cities, like Oslo. ergo, polishing and pedestrianising Patrick St, even without an integrated transport network, is a good step.