Shopping provision: There are loads of multiple retailers missing from the city centre, relative to its size, (Debenhams, H&M, BHS, Lush, Schuh... to name but a few) and the vast majority of people in the district shop in other places than Bradford and over a fifth of city centre shops are vacant.
Westfield: The old buildings on Broadway were demolished in 2004 and eight years and a couple of planning applications later, the saga is still on going.
Odeon: Whilst the City Park has been developed, the derelict former Odeon cinema has been empty for 12 years and it is still unclear what its future will be.
Crime / Fear of Crime: There is considered to be a high crime rate in the centre of the city and the lack of footfall and activity in the centre only exacerbates the feeling of the city centre being unsafe.
Anti-Social Behaviour: There is lots of street drinking and begging in the city centre, which puts people off being in the town centre at night.
Footfall: Lack of footfall in the centre does not help make the city an attractive place to set up a business, nor does it help make the city feel like a safe place. Footfall has declined by some 39% in the City Centre from 1999 to 2010.
Derelict buildings: A couple of mills on Thornton Road have burnt down in the last six months and this whole area is full of derelict buildings, making it feel like a very unsafe.
Lack of Quality Jobs: Office developments to bring shiny new office space alongside the City Park (including at the aforementioned Odeon) haven’t materialised – the city is lacking in highly paid jobs for people to come into the city centre and spend money.
Reputation: The 2001 riots, arising from racial tension, and high profile killers such as Peter Sutcliffe and Steven Griffiths and other negative news articles about the city have not given the city a good reputation in the media, with Bradford viewed as 'boring and dangerous', which lead to quite a few responses.
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