Hello You 94: Is Shrewsbury a Good Place?

‘Who’s looking at the bigger picture?’

In recent years there’s been much discussion about what makes Shrewsbury a good place to live … and what could make it better.

Lisa Richards has a fine eye for the details that make towns and cities attractive, comfortable and exciting. She’s an urban designer, a placemaker, working to make places thrive, not just survive.

Lisa is also (like me) a long-time Shrewsbury resident. In the week that the Shrewsbury Moves festival takes place, I wanted to hear her thoughts on the county town.

‘We have to look after our streets and spaces’

The conversation takes us to the Square and the Quarry, to Bear Steps and Old St Chad’s, to the suburbs of Shrewsbury and to the Riverside development. It covers places unchanged for hundreds of years, and others that are being created right now.

We talk about shops, leisure, people who work in the river loop, flooding, transport, accessibility, getting from the Smithfield Road level to the level of Pride Hill, and more, in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast.

'It’s not just about individuals. It’s about how we come together and share that benefit’

Wherever you live, the principles that Lisa talks about will apply. Tell me what you think of Lisa’s ideas? What works and what doesn’t in Shrewsbury, or in your town or city?

Share this benefit?

If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, why not share it with someone else? There’s someone in your friend group or your family WhatsApp chat who’d find Hello You interesting, so get their weekend off to a good start:

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Coming soon …

You’ll hear the voice of someone you’re very unlikely to have heard before, sharing first-hand experiences that have been much discussed, argued about and pronounced upon by others.

It’s part of a story that’s brought national attention to our part of the world, some of it welcome, some of it less so.

And it’s someone who has been through some terrible things, from which they are still recovering. They chose to tell me their story because they want you to know what happened.

It’s quite a lengthy interview, but it needs to be. It’s a hard listen, with some heavy stuff included. It may make you angry, it may break your heart, it may change your mind … as it did mine.

It’ll be one of the two episodes of Hello You the Shropshire podcast next week. It’s likely to generate quite a lot of discussion.

To make sure you don’t miss it, click this button:

Thank you …

… for being there. It means a hell of a lot; I’m hugely grateful to you for being a member of the Hello You family. Subscribe (for free, payment is entirely optional!) and pull up a chair to the Hello You virtual kitchen table. You’ll find a whole community of lovely, thoughtful people from all over the world who enjoy intelligent, progressive discussion and hearing new voices. People just like you!

Take care of yourself …

Take care of the people around you, and I hope they’re taking care of you, too.

Have the best weekend you possibly can. I’ll see you with the Hello You Sunday Supplement on Sunday morning!