St Marys Street = fail!

As is my want on a Saturday, I took the bus into Cardiff on a Saturday afternoon - I used to take the Vespa, but Cardiff Bus makes things as easy and ought to be supported - and had a wander around.

If the last visit that you made to Cardiff was more than 2years ago, you would be shocked at the changes. If the last visit you made was 20 years ago, when the docks and Tiger Bay were a no-go area for anything but adult pleasure seekers, then you wouldn't recognise the place. It really has changed that much.

The biggest difference up until a few years ago was the Bay Area development, which is till isolated from the main part of Cardiff. The Bay Area bendy bus service is great, but why not invest something in the linking streets between Cardiff and the Bay? Its a lovely walk, it just - like what has happended either end - needs tidying up.

Now the latest thing is St Davids 2, which has put Cardiff up into the UK wide Number5 slot for places to shop. Yes, we now have the fifth largest amount of shopping area in the UK.

Now this is great, and the combination of St Davids, the re-pedestrianisation of Queen Street, and now St Davids 2 has turned nice ltlle Cardiff into nice little and bustling Cardiff. The old Hayes which was once quiet, is now full of cafes and Jamie's restaurant - oh yes, he's even got to Cardiff!

So to extended the effect, Cardiff City Council have tried pedestrianising St Mary's Street, to bring the Millenium Stadium into the centre of the town. Opps, big fail!

Although St Davids 2 has made the Hayes buzz, the buzz on St Marys Street, and through the arcades, was always from bus passengers. You would alight at St Marys Street, and then wander back through town. Some days you could vary the routine and do it the other way, getting off at Queen Street and then meandering to St Marys Street. That's why both ends of the town were full of buzzing little cafes serving London-esque priced coffee and croisants, and the occasional Welsh cake.

But sadly for the traders of St Marys Street, the malaise which was isolated to the small block of buildings between the stadium and town, has now spread to all of St Marys Street. The problem is not that the plan was wrong - in theory - its just that the revamped Hayes is so much more modern and nice to sit in. While the Hayes was quiet because of taxi's, now its St Marys Street that looks like the old Hayes: slight faded, full of taxi's, dying. I walked down there yesterday, and it was piled high with rubbish bags at 15:30 - ah, no!

So here's a thought Cardiff Council: bring back the buses to St Marys Street. Accept that the urbanisation experiment failed, and let the buses go one way down St Marys Street: not both ways, just one way. Then let the people again meander from one end of Cardiff to the other. At the moment its just a mess, and all that happens is that everyone gets confused - and so St Marys Street is dying.

Nice plan, time to reverse it. Quick, quick!