Bristol is the largest city in the south west and one of the 11 core cities in the United Kingdom. Bristol is home to a wealth of cultures and creative ideas, but over the last few years there has been massive changes in the state of the Bristol high street.
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00:00 Bristol is the largest city in the South West and one of the 11 core cities in the United
00:09 Kingdom. Bristol is home to a wealth of cultures and creative ideas but over the last few years
00:15 there has been a massive change in the state of the Bristol High Street. 2023 saw many
00:21 major retailers and independent small businesses close, often citing the rising cost of living
00:28 as a reason for closure. But in 2024 what would locals like to see bought or improved
00:35 on the Bristol High Street? In this area, bank, Primark, can't think of anything else.
00:42 That's the main thing. It's run down quite a bit in the last few years so getting places
00:50 is not so easy, especially here and if they keep closing banks and things you've got further
00:56 to travel. That kind of thing, you know what I mean? A few more places serving more English
01:07 type food would be nice. Parking, because I know that there's a problem with the issues
01:14 over parking so good parking would be really useful. Yes the banks are closing, I hope
01:20 that my bank doesn't close because that's the last one here. It's nice just to have
01:27 the amenities like the vegetable shop. Chemist, chemist is one thing we're missing now actually
01:34 from Westbury Village so a chemist would be perfect. Well I think that they, for example
01:41 here in Westbury, might be another chemist would be a good idea. We've got one already
01:47 in the doctor's surgery and the doctor's surgery is very good. It's saved my life actually.
01:54 Westbury on Trim, doctor's service and Southwick Hospital so I've got nothing but praise for
02:00 the health service. But I think maybe another chemist here would be good as well as the
02:05 one we've got. I think there's a nice range of shops here, people are very friendly in
02:10 the shops, they put up with me, they've got to be friendly haven't they? Across Bristol
02:16 City Centre and the 46 recognised high streets, the city centre rate for property vacancy
02:22 is at around 17% but have locals noticed free spaces on their high streets in the city and
02:29 are they concerned for the future? Well the bank have just left of course, NatWest Bank
02:33 has just left as you know but I'm a member of Lloyd's, that's useful to have because
02:41 as an older member of the community I like to have at least some banks. Well a lot of
02:46 places seem to have gone very vegan and vegetarian which I think is great but it seems to be
02:51 at the expense of more conventional foods and it would be nice to see just a bit more
02:57 variety of that really. Only time will tell what the future of Bristol's high street is.
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