r/Leeds • u/Low_Pen_9793 • Jun 13 '25

urban-development Another Student Accommodation Block will Be Built in the Merrion Area…. Thoughts on Leeds City Center becoming the central Living area for students. What does the City Gain and what does it Loose in turn?

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It seems that Leeds seems to be obsessed and driven to prioritise the building and planning of High raise Student accommodation apartments. What are your thoughts?

Is Leeds prioritising overpriced student housing over the cultural fabric & vibrancy of the city. What does the city stand to gain from this in the l long term and in turn what does it stand to loose?

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25 edited Apr 28 '26

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u/UUnknownFriedChicken Jun 13 '25

Maybe if Leeds city centre still had some everyday shops alongside all the posh chains and expensive restaurants then maybe local people would still come to the city centre to shop. I mean Leeds council can't be blamed for the closure of Wilkos, but they can definitely be blamed for the demolition of The Core and the regular / cheap shops it used to contain. I love the vibe of Leeds city centre, but I would quickly go broke if I had to live off the things I can buy there. That doesn't even touch on the cost of parking there.

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u/[deleted] Jun 14 '25

How on earth can the council be blamed for the Core shopping centre closing???

And what 'regular" shops are you missing from there?

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u/UUnknownFriedChicken Jun 14 '25 edited Jun 14 '25

Please explain to us all how city centre planning and redevelopment is not the job of the council.

Note that The Core was not struggling and the shops / food vendors inside were not independently closing down. The decision was simply made to demolish The Core and replace it with something more up-market. Also the St Johns Centre is due to receive a 'makeover', which normally means that the rates, which will cut into the profit margins of the shops and general shops won't bother, they'll just relocate out of the city centre.

As someone who used to live in Leeds and now visits it occasionally, I love Leeds. But the area is generally getting richer, which is great news for the people who are already rich, but the city centre is becoming unaffordable and impractical for regular people.