'It's a growing city and, to me, Rome wasn't built in a day': Wolverhampton residents still divided on whether city status has made difference in 25 years
The debate among residents about whether Wolverhampton feels like a city and whether it has made the most of its city status is one which has rumbled on since it was first awarded.
It was on December 18, 2000, that Queen Elizabeth II awarded Wolverhampton city status alongside Brighton and Hove and Inverness, having put in a bid along 39 other towns to become one of the Queen's Millennium cities.
The Queen had expressed her intention to mark the new millennium by granting the new titles and Wolverhampton beat the likes of Luton, Reading, Milton Keynes, Warrington, Bolton and Stockport to receive the official letters patent.
It had been a long time coming, with Wolverhampton Council having first applied for city status to mark the Queen’s coronation in 1953, and then tried again in the 1960s, while further applications were made during the Silver Jubilee in 1977, Wolverhampton’s 1,000th anniversary in 1985, and then during the Golden Jubilee in 1992.
In the past 25 years since, the city has experienced a number of ups and downs, from being a host venue for the 2022 Commonwealth Games to fans filling the streets to celebrate trophy successes by Wolves, but also see the streets empty during the Covid-19 pandemic and the loss of city icons like Beatties.
Today, the city is one which divides opinion, with some people seeing it as a city that has seen better days and no future, while others look at development plans and see a bright future for Wolverhampton.
In the run-up to Christmas, there were plenty of people out shopping, eating in some of the various eateries and cafes or just taking a walk along Dudley Street and into the Mander Centre and the Wulfrun Centre.
One of those who felt Wolverhampton was a decent city was John Causer, with the 71-year-old from Bilston saying it was a nice place and said developments would take time.
He said: "I think Wolverhampton is great and it feels like a proper city to me, plus I think the development will come as Rome wasn't built in a day.
"To me, the biggest development that has been done is the Civic Hall as they've made it a great venue and it will be even better if they bring the darts back there."
While there were people who were happy to call Wolverhampton a city, there were still people who held the view of it being a large town and having that feeling of a town, such as Sharon Williams.
The 71-year-old from Bradmore said she felt it had gone downhill over the years and was just hoping that something could help it to get better.
She said: "I still call it the town after these years as it feels like everything is closing down and everyone is closing in on each other, such as M&S closing.
"The only benefit I can see from city status is that we've become a university city, which might be good for the city, with lots of young people and cultures and nationalities going around.
"I think it has to grow in the future, otherwise we will have nothing left, and I've watched it go down and down, year after year, which I think is very sad, and I don't even feel that when I talk about the city, I have anything good to say."
In city centre pubs like the Lych Gate Tavern, there was a warmer view of the city among the drinkers about city status and how it had made Wolverhampton better.
Among those was Chris Rowley from Bradmore, with the 61-year-old saying that he felt the city still had a lot going for it, but it still needed more.
He said: "Wolverhampton still feels like a city to me after all this time, especially the last few years as I think a lot has happened in the city, with the new Lockworks Cinema opening, and while the football team isn't great at the moment, I think the city is getting there.
"I think that a lot of people thought that once we became a city, that would be it, but you know that it's never going to be like London or Manchester or Birmingham, it's a very different place and I don't think it was necessarily going to be one of those flashy places.
"It's a better place than it was 25 years ago and things seem to be happening in the city, but I think investment is very important, particularly with housing, as if they build it, they need to make it affordable."
