Sheffield city centre: five big stories in just one week - and most of them are wholly positive

The news that city centre footfall rose so much last month that Sheffield was the most improved city in the country inspired our big read piece this week.

That success has been attributed to a number of events (excepting the Hedgerow market cancelled at the last minute because the road closure hadn’t been sorted, obviously ) from Heritage Open Days to Off the Shelf and the city’s half marathon, among many others.

In it, the councillor responsible for the economy says business owners are reporting a rise in takings, and asking for more events.

Some traders on Division Street even called for that road to be pedestrianised to encourage more of a holiday vibe and even more boosting of businesses.

The second phase of the Grey to Green scheme, which brings in improvements while adding wildflowers to drab city centre streets, is also underway on Angel Street.

Bang in the centre of the city centre lies Orchard Square, and a mural painted there has won the World Illustration Award. Not just national glory, but international, for an ‘ecstatic’ Will Rea.

Many readers talk of how glorious Sheffield’s Christmas lights displays used to be, attracting visitors from around the region.

There is now a new contract on offer to bring in displays with a ‘wow’ factor from next year. We might have to wait until 2022 for that but the Christmas market has been confirmed as returning this year as well.

Then we turn to Pinstone Street.

Not everyone will be happy that this road looks set to remain traffic free, of course.

It is a significant change for our city centre.

But hopefully the introduction of free electric buses might ease some of the issues faced by people who struggle now their buses have been diverted away from Pinstone Street.