thanks ell...bit off the subject here but i sincerely hope that the powers that be have a bit of money left over to tidy up the digbeth/high st area...i was up that way the other week and as i stood outside the coach station on the high st side i looked left and then right and i thought to myself if i was a tourist taking in the same views i would turn round and go straight back home again...
lyn
NOTE: This reply was first posted in another topic (hence the off topic comment below) but was moved here by the admin people.
As you say off topic, but I think the area around the Digbeth coach station and Digbeth in general will see massive changes over the next decade or so (though being 68 I am not sure how much of it I will see).
First of course the huge Wholesale market will be moving out of its present site just south of the Bull Ring in a year or so.
Unless you look at Google Maps (or similar map) it is hard to tell how large the Wholesale Market is but it is MASSIVE, and when it goes this will leave a HUGE area ready for redevelopment.
Also of course the area just North of Digbeth (near Curzon Street and New Canal Street) is going to be the site of the HUGE HS2 train station.
Also there are plans to bring the trams down to Digbeth as well.
So these three developments (Wholesale Market site, HS2 station, and trams route) will totally transform the area.
So for example when the HS2 station opens many people will want to live nearby so they can get on the train and be in London in 45 minutes. For many people who WORK in London that is a reasonable commuter time (some people take longer than that to get from the edge of London in to central London).
So I can imagine many new flats will be built in Digbeth, some people may even move FROM London to live in Digbeth and go to London by train every day.
In fact some flats are already being built in Digbeth, for example Fabrick Square which consists of 300 flats (all sold already) in the old Harrison Drape factory, see web link below
https://sevencapital.com/development/fabrick-square/
I can see dozens more like this being built in the next decade or so and Digbeth will change dramatically over that time.
I think Digbeth may well become a very desirable place to live being so near the city centre and the BillRing, also once the HS2 station is built and the Wholesale Market site redeveloped.
Exciting times ahead for Digbeth!