Concrete spoils a good city (Southampton in General)

Member Name: Alternum

Product:	Southampton in General
Date:	01/08/00 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent shopping and nightlife

Disadvantages: Concrete!

The problem with Southampton can be put down to one word: concrete. That grey menace which swept all towns during the 60's and 70's unfortunately caught Southampton in its grasp too; and just like a lot of towns, it has not made the town a pretty sight. Tower blocks make regular eyesores and the high street (although soon to be supplemented by a large new modern complex at West Quay) is more of the same: dull and lifeless to look at.

However bad the packaging though, the content of the city is quite another matter. The shopping is some of the best in the region, and the high street is really rather long, containing all the famous names you'd expect. The John Lewis store, soon to be moving to West Quay, is worth particular mention as a great catch-all store; it literally sells everything. The nightlife is as you would expect from a large city: abundant, vibrant, exciting.

It has been noted that the city has more traffic lights per square mile than does New York; this is a key to driving, which can be alternately easy or nightmarish. Finding a parking space is usually difficult unless you know where to go though; Grosvenor Square multi-storey is a good bet, fairly near to the top of the high street.

It must be said though that however good the shopping and nightlife etc. is, the uniform nature of the city makes for some very flat visits on occasion. If you prefer to shop in a nice environment then try Winchester instead; a spruce-up would make Southampton a very much nicer place to be.

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