Music&Data

It’s time to pedestrianise oxford street.

The long drawn out death rattle of the high street is painful to read about let alone watch unfold. As a longstanding (despite a brief hiatus) Tufnell Park resident it’s impossible to have missed the fluctuating state of Kentish Town High Street, not to mention Tufnell Park itself. Big brands disappear, the shops remain empty for some time before inevitably being converted into a bookmakers, a pound shop or a charity shop and then gradually the soul of the area fades.

We’re lucky in N19 – Tufnell Park itself is currently having a fantastic revival… first newcomer on the block was Ruby Violet. Lunacy, some thought. An ice cream parlour!? In England? In December!? Idiots! Well… err.. try it. Because it’s fantastic and there’s now one Granary Square Kings Cross… soo…. Anyway. Next up came Bear+Wolf, a mumsy coffee/vegan friendly snack stop. Then came a bakery and an incredible butcher called NW5. We’re only missing a candlestick maker now, although we have just got our very own Fishmongers. All within 10s of each other. A brilliant local economy supporting each other and offering (for those that can afford it) something a little bit more special than the one sized fits all supermarkets can offer you. We do have a Sainsburys, mind, so  it’s not all la di da.

My point then – when was the last time you walked down Oxford Street?

Crikey.

Talk about miserable.

What’s left of the high street exists famously on Londons biggest shopping street, but the question that needs to be asked is… who on earth is going shopping there? With Westfields both West and East now not to mention Bluewater not being that far away, Oxford Street with it’s narrow pavements, loud busses, aggressive taxi drivers and dangerous cyclists is the last place most people want to be.

It seems to me that revitalising the high street as a basic concept is often over complicated. If Oxford Street is the high street… it’s unpleasant. It’s not a nice place to be and frankly most Londoners hate it. So what if it was pedestrianised?

Stop the bikes. Stop the cabs. Stop the bikes. At least during opening hours (those deliveries won’t magic themselves to the door) or atleast during weekends?

Make the high street the domain of the shopper again.

Give them right of way, and access.

Line the street with trees and greenery. Maybe some of those empty shops might make good restaurants. Café Culture on Oxford Street with outdoor tables and chairs in the summer would suddenly become a destination.

With greener air, less congested pavements, less noise and more TLC given to the shopper, London’s flagship highstreet would be the envy of the nation as opposed to the sad, soulless quagmire that it is.

Yes, the busses would have to get diverted and that’s annoying, and no doubt the taxi drivers would moan – but more people visiting the street means more potential work.

People would WANT to go there. I want to go there, and it’s not even real.

At this time when Britain appears to be content nose diving itself in a recession (ala Brexit) it seems to make sense that giving our biggest landmarks a lick of paint is the minimum we could do. In a way, Oxford Street being open for business mimics the governments Britain is Open for Business line. Yes, it may well be open… but name someone that want’s to go shop there? Quite. Pedestrianise oxford street.