Preston's of Bolton to close

Along with the points made already... you have no free parking. People travel far more now than 25 years ago......  and at night you have low-life's and yobos out and about.  You couldn't dream of taking your wife downtown for a nice dinner even if there was a place left to go to.
The rise of shopping centers and things to do outside of Bolton has done us in I'm afraid to say. Many working class towns of old are in this shape.
I just did a couple of days in Chester ......probably not a fair comparison but what a difference between that town center and ours.

terenceanne wrote:Along with the points made already... you have no free parking. People travel far more now than 25 years ago......  and at night you have low-life's and yobos out and about.  You couldn't dream of taking your wife downtown for a nice dinner even if there was a place left to go to.
The rise of shopping centers and things to do outside of Bolton has done us in I'm afraid to say. Many working class towns of old are in this shape.
I just did a couple of days in Chester ......probably not a fair comparison but what a difference between that town center and ours.

At the weekend there is plenty of free parking with the car park behind the fire station and the car park at top way which are free all weekend and bank holiday Mondays.  Market Place car park is free for the first 90 minutes and then only £1, plus near Prestons there are the edge of town carparks which are about 80p for the whole day!

Have you been to The Vaults, yet?  Great place and more places are opening up soon and this is being extended to just outside The Market Place, and now with the cinema and Market Place carpark being totally free after 6pm as well - that does make a great evening out!!!

Bolton  is slowly rising from the ashes and the catalyst is The Market Place and now that Business Taxes have been reviewed and Boltons has been drastically reduced (lower than Bury now and has NOTHING to do with the council) this now gives the green light for companies to come back into Bolton making Bolton more cost effective - only thing that has to change now are the rents that the private landlords charge which assume they can get the same rents as they do with London properties!

bwfc71 wrote:

terenceanne wrote:Along with the points made already... you have no free parking. People travel far more now than 25 years ago......  and at night you have low-life's and yobos out and about.  You couldn't dream of taking your wife downtown for a nice dinner even if there was a place left to go to.
The rise of shopping centers and things to do outside of Bolton has done us in I'm afraid to say. Many working class towns of old are in this shape.
I just did a couple of days in Chester ......probably not a fair comparison but what a difference between that town center and ours.

At the weekend there is plenty of free parking with the car park behind the fire station and the car park at top way which are free all weekend and bank holiday Mondays.  Market Place car park is free for the first 90 minutes and then only £1, plus near Prestons there are the edge of town carparks which are about 80p for the whole day!

Have you been to The Vaults, yet?  Great place and more places are opening up soon and this is being extended to just outside The Market Place, and now with the cinema and Market Place carpark being totally free after 6pm as well - that does make a great evening out!!!

Bolton  is slowly rising from the ashes and the catalyst is The Market Place and now that Business Taxes have been reviewed and Boltons has been drastically reduced (lower than Bury now and has NOTHING to do with the council) this now gives the green light for companies to come back into Bolton making Bolton more cost effective - only thing that has to change now are the rents that the private landlords charge which assume they can get the same rents as they do with London properties!

Hope you are right.

I just stayed at the Holiday Inn right next to the market place and I can assure you nobody wanted to walk around town after dark. Friends, relatives who still live near never go near apart from shopping on a Saturday afternoon. 
Market Place is nice in general but the rest of town is rough don't you think?