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I think two things stand out for me - first the general atmosphere of genuine pride in the City and its physical manifestation in the modern but aesthetically pleasing regeneration of the City centre by Grosvenor Estates. Second, the world reknown of the City through the volume of its overseas visitors. Ask anyone anywhere in the world and they will know of Liverpool either through its reputation as a major portal gateway, the Beatles or its football teams. One particular highlight that demonstrates this reputation was the Klimt exhibition at the Tate. A truly remarkable exposition of the painter's work and one marking a lasting impression on the City.

A friend and I recently spent a week in Liverpool. We were most impressed!
Especially with provisions for the handicapped--wheelchair users, etc.
The ( free !) museums were wonderful.

Posting 1--agreed as one who regularly visits the city not particularly to see a "culture" event.
I see a transformation and a pride in all the develpments as I attended the opening ceremony of Liverpool1. I hope in the present economic climate it is sustainable and we wait and see if all the take-up of shops in the new development happens or will they wait and see how the current downturn in the market goes.

The QE2 visits for the last time tomorrow enabled by the development of a liner berth. Many more foreign visitors will come as a result with lots to see and experience, especially some excellent pubs and characters in them all.
However I was disappointed in the Klimt exhibition with most of his famous works missing and the rest were those of his contemporaries. But at least it was put on.

I hope Liverpool goes from strength to strength as for many years we have had little to regenerate the centre.

There are always people willing to knock and scoff but for once I can feel a pride in the city. which was always there but a tangible improvement in its infrastructure as a result of the City of Culture.

I personally question the value of this event as do many people on Merseyside that have not fallen for all of the hype that surrounds it.

There is no doubt that the event has brought in a lot of funding along with it but there are concerns about where this money has gone, weather it was well spent, and what the long term implications will be.

A lot of money has gone into redevelopment work around the city centre, but many of these new structures bear a resemblance to the architectural disasters of the post-war period, and there are those that anticipate that in 10 to 20 years time they will be the eye-sores of their age. They largely have the characteristics of design-school whimsy; the conquest of function by p**s and fluff. The new construction along the river though refreshing detracts and spoils the heritage view of the three graces, and will likely remain largely empty. New concert venue has been constructed beside Albert Dock, but there are questions about what use it will be put to in future years.

There are also many favourable comments about Liverpool One, but there is seldom mention of how this has drawn existing shops away from elsewhere in the City Centre with the associated run down of those areas. Other businesses may occupy their former premises but they will be more down market and likely to have moved from elsewhere in turn. How many bars, restaurants and coffee shops can the City sustain. The Liverpool One development is also divisive; it may be open to all but the prices of goods traded there are outside the budget of a substantial proportion of the City; is it at risk of becoming an elitist ghetto? In any case, what has a shopping arcade got to do with cultural identity other than the greedy pursuit of bling.

There have been some cultural successes. The Klimt exhibition (though I see no reason to describe it as remarkable other than the fact that it happened), the visit of the Tall Ships (but this has happened on two previous occasions), and perhaps the SuperLambBanana - but only just. Most of the work seems to have been more to the pockets of the artists than the general public. How can you describe a mechanical spider as are - perhaps an over hyped event but not art. As to Paul McCartney's concert, he is a bit over the hill and he recycled a few too many oldies for it to qualify as a leading concert - perhaps it would be more accurate to describe it as a Sanatogen benefit gig. Look also at the damage done to the surrounding towns that have lost their identity in favour of the grandiose schemes for Liverpool.

So what of the future. The timing is unfortunate in that any momentum is likely to be undermined by the forthcoming economic difficulties so it may not be seen to have been as successful in the long term as it might have done. The new concert venue may attract more acts but in what way does it help boost the quality of cultural expression of the City if they are only being diverted from existing venues? The Tall Ships will probably return, cruise liners may continue to make a call, but the event seems to have done nothing else for the long term cultural expression of the City while filling the pockets of middle-class artists from outside. It is likely that the event has raised expectations, but where will the money come from once the political favouritism and largess for Liverpool has gone with the Labour Government?

I don't understand the first entry's pride in the shopping development by 'Grosvenor Estates' - it involved the compulsory purchase of locally owned small businesses to clear the way for a massive Clockwork Orange-like shopping development in a city with high unemployent. Who, one wonders, is going to shop there? Drug dealers and Wags? And, as one scouser interviewed about the luxury apartments commented - 'maybe we can be the cleaners!' Even more bizarre, this development is taking place whilst shops in other parts of the city close their doors forever, incuding the ancient landmark Lewis's. The new buildings have also ruined what was a fine, world heritage status, cityscape: I feel like I have to go around the Pier Head with blinkers on: the multi-storey carpark opposite the Albert Dock looks like an ikea storage box. Sorry if I sound like Ed Reardon, but I hate it - it all feels like it's been parachuted onto the city without the people having much say in the matter.

The Bluecoat redevelopment has given some good working space (I'm using some) but at the too-high price of ruining a famous grade 1 listed 18thc building, which is now just a facade over a new generic-arts-complex aggressively 21stc concrete and steel interior - why couldn't they leave it be and build a new art space in one of Liverpool's many fine empty modern buildings or bombsites?

As for the art, well, the Klimt had a few good pieces padded out with a lot of second rate work - I liked him a lot less after I'd seen it (though there was the unexpected bonus of my favourite Schiele painting). La Princesse, the spider, was excellent.

Is this enough to bring the scouse diaspora back to the city, or enough to stop the next generation of young scousers leaving? Will any of your guests be leaving their London or Brighton homes to move back? I doubt it, but we'll see...

Two things stand out for me in Liverpool this year so far, the first being the Klimt exhibition. I really enjoyed that. It was comprehensive and revealing.

Secondly, the Tall Ships. Great!

With Glasgow the build-up was critical. The Glasgow Smiles Better campaign was the
start of about five years of activity leading
up to the 1990 European City of Culture bid and a tenement stone-cleaning programme also made a big difference to the look and feel of the city during the late 1980's. The American conductor John Mauceri jazzed up Scottish Opera (a controversial version of The Barber of Seville singing on a toilet seat; world premiere of Candide hosted
by STUC with Leonard Bernstein present;
crisis meetings as the more staid season
ticket holders started kicking up a fuss etc);
there was all the hype round the Garden
Festival (I still remain unconvinced by that);
cool Glasgow bands like Texas started popping up on the circuit e.g. in Holland;
Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltraine
starred in the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s 'Tutti Frutti' set in
the city which also became the backdrop
for Taggart; Kirsty Wark got the better of
Thatcher in a memorable early interview;
so the whole place was buzzing before
the City of Culture Year even began. But
internationally that title really mattered.

It also really irritated Edinburgh! Last month Glasgow did it again becoming
a Unesco City of Music but the relations
with her sister city at the other end of
the M8 are these days much improved
and this latest title is not seen as being in competition with Edinburgh which is also a Unesco City of Literature and part of the same network of Unesco Creative Cities.



The 1990 City of Culture year crowned that earlier period of revival in the 1980's and helped cement Glasgow's position on
the European stage as a classy city in which to live. 20 years on they're doing it again!

The Glasgow City Council team that won the European City of Culture title for the
city had also brought Peter Brook's epic
'Mahabharata' to a tram shed in Glasgow
in 1988. Twenty years on Tramway is now
the new home of a revived Scottish Ballet:

AS I wrote earler there are always those that try to denigrate what has happened.I
They may be proved right but i see what has happened NOW. Merseysiders proud in their City, and I go there regularly. I also love Manchester.

I think all money spent on Education is a waste--but my children have grown up. Who am I to say that one item of expediture is more important then another?

Grow up you knockers. Go and see for yourselves. Yes we could get into a long discussion over the cost of a spider. But such enjoyment.

I live just outside Liverpool and I am delighted with all the investment that has taken place here, particularly down town. Compare the investment here with that in Manchester over the last 10 years!

However, all of the cultural events passed me by. None except one appealed to me. That was Lear at the Everyman, with Peter Postelthwaite. And when I went on line, three days after the programme came out and two months before the event, to buy two tickets, guess what? Every seat for every performance was listed as sold. Do you believe that?

> 9. At 8:03pm on 02 Oct 2008, Billbradbury wrote:

That is the typical kind of response you get on Merseyside which is often used to gloss over the murky dealings that go on in Liverpool.

Unfortunately it is not all sweetness and light, there has been questionable decisions and expediture even before it started. Bill* also seems to forget that those that pay for the event have a right to ask where their money ended up.

One final point regarding your post; I am not sure what part of the City you visit, but you obviously go in with blinkers - a lot of the City Centre is turning into a sorry mess - and yes I see it on a regular basis - perhaps not through teh rose tinted glasses you are using.

After being away for over 20 years due to HM Forces commitments, my wife and I are moving back to Merseyside, in particular my birthplace, Liverpool.

The changes we have seen in 20 years are amazing. Who would have thought in the mid 80s that Liverpool would have a Liberal council! That we would be the European Capital of Culture and carry out our duties with (mostly) dedication, pride and passion. We have been lucky enough to be in the city(house hunting) several times this year and have caught a few of the Cultural events.despite the weather, the Tall Ships was a hilight for me, but so was our Superlambana hunt which we combined with a tour of several of Liverpools fine ale houses.

The Paradise Street Project (Liverpool 1) will be an attraction to outsiders for many years to come, while the museums and art galleries have been given a huge amount of publicity this year. Business and Commerce is booming and retail opportunities are growing.

I understand some of the points raised above, but if the Year of Culture had not happened, would we have been better off?

Most of the people I have met are fully behind the city and its recent development. It seems that those that want something for nothing and those that want to sit on their arse and wait for things to come to them are the most vocal in the running down of the event. Please dont knock what is happening because it is popular to do so. Believe me, things could be an awful lot worse. Perhaps Derek Hatton was the first street artist to show in Liverpool with his "Streets full of binbags" theme?

If you need to know anything about the legacy of Capital of Custard 2008 I have provided an official Guide at profchucklebutty.blogspot.com

Professor Chucklebutty's Official Guide To Liverpool Capital of Custard 2008
This is the most accurate record and analysis of recent events in Liverpool you will find since Sir Hugh Soapers Hitler Diaires.

I believe Mr Paxman gets a mention here and there. In the custard blog I mean not the Hitler diaries, well aprt from when he asked the Fuehrer 14 times if he threatened to sack Ernst Rohm.

This will be the legacy and future required reading for students in The Red Jam Universities.

What is culture? A rag-bag of leisure opportunites? Tourism development? A big anywhere shopping mall? Arts events for a discerning few? A giant spider?

Not to mention a development company mired in in-fighting; an uncultured council leader; no coherent vision; a motley collection of events; poor international content; weak local involvement; the same old faces ..... ..... a last minute rescue .... tacky superlamb bananas everywhere ...

Which reminds me. Overheard in a local pub: a report of a wedding where costume rivalry reached bitchy boiling point as one fortysomething viewed her rival's daffodil yellow designer dress - "just look at her - mutton dressed as superlambanana!"

Now that's scouse culture!!!

Lorentz,
I have been visiting the city much longer than you and I don't wear blinkers and am well aware of its shortcomings,politically and economically.

But I can guarantee people like you will always rain on my (our) parade.

Matthew Parish in today's Times reckons Manchester is like a public lavatory. Citizens there should pull him in like we did withBoris and apologise.

> 12. At 9:48pm on 02 Oct 2008, Mr_Pilchard wrote:

So you think a flashy Shopping Mall full of over-priced outlets is a cultural achievement?

Most of the investments in infrastructure you mention did not come about as a result of the City of Culture event. The question is will the event have a lasting impact? The answer seems that it's impact on culture of the City is questionable.

> 15. At 11:10pm on 02 Oct 2008, Billbradbury wrote:

> I have been visiting the city much longer than you ...

You seem to be well informed about me - is this another case of an over inflated Scouse ego I wonder? Anything done in the name of Liverpool is beyond question?

The only people that are going to loose out are the people of Liverpool when it becomes evident that little has been done to safeguard the continuity and momentum of the exercise. And when that happens it wont be the fault of Liverpudlians will it?

Lporenz, I am a "woolly-back" not a scouser but I enjoy my Missionary work in Liverpool.

Unless you live in Liverpool or the area you won't know what a woolly-back is.

> 18. At 08:27am on 03 Oct 2008, Billbradbury wrote:

Yes I know what a wool-back is. Knowing that explains where your low cultural expectations come from.

When Liverpool was announced as Capital of Culture I thought it an eminently sensible choice.

I still do and I still think that, in theory, development and optimization of culture can be a significant factor in positive change.

What we've seen happen in Liverpool however is discredited administration wrapped in the Culture flag, reasonable questioning demonized as negativity, and commitment to the programme made a defensive article of faith.

It's two dimensional culture at best and if fear of raining on parades has delayed full investigation by one second that is very, very wrong.

Liverpool is not alone in chasing the culture pound or wider regeneration. Perhaps at the moment "Tees Valley...it's happening!" might make us point and laugh but there is a world shortage of businesses with more money than sense and Liverpool needs urgently to sort out the credibility of its administration in Cultural and Civic leadership.

Liked the Spider by the way, and Chucklebutty's blog.

I am a London Labour MEP and a member of the European Parliament Culture and Education Committee. I have just returned from a three day parliamentary visit to Liverpool, European Capital of Culture.

I have to say I was impresed. I loved Tate Liverpool and the le Corbusier exhibition. I also enjoyed some of the community art which was included in our visit, such as the rotating trees near the Anglican Cathedral. Projects like this one really do seem to be able to be used to help regeneration and bring communities together. One reason for this may be that no-one is afraid of art. It can, therefore, provide a focal point to which everyone can sign up to.

Superlambanana and the spider have generated much interset - and rightly so. Both are excellent examples of how important ideas can be communicated in a fun way.

Liverpool has done the UK proud. This is one of the best European Capitals of Culture so far.

> 21. At 11:37am on 03 Oct 2008, MaryHoneyball wrote:

Well that's the Labour Party line. SDP anyone?

For me the highlight so far was Elvis Costello's June concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic accompanied by the RLPO, Steve Nieve and opera singer Gisella Stille. This was a shining example of musical eclecticism, combining pop. jazz, big band and opera in a truly wonderful and original way. The sell-out crowd loved it and Elvis reciprocated their appreciation with a succession of encores.

Like Sir Paul, Elvis always seems to find extra reserves of energy when he plays on his home turf and his sense of excitement was contagious. This was truly a world-class event by a consummate artist and entertainer who is proud of his Liverpool roots.

For me the capital of culture has been a great opportunity. The superlambananas was a brilliant idea to get people walking round their city and seeing places they hadn't seen for years. There have been so many highlights too numerous to mention. So many events have chosen Lpool as their venue which would not have happened without this. For me the highlights -most things done by the Phil, especially Deep Purple at the Phil and Joanna Macgregor, the opening of the Concert Hall at St George's Hall and the opening opera there. My family have done loads of things there's never been a dull moment and I'll be seeing Pete Postlethwaite next month. What did the Commonwealth Games do for Manchester. It gave them pride and we still feel it. The same will be true for Liverpool. Best discussion on Newsnight Review ever thanks to Scousers and Miranda Sawyer. Would have loved to see Simon Rattle and the Berlin Phil but you can't have everything.