We were out on Front Street on Saturday morning, asking residents and visitors what they love about York and what they’d change. We also asked the same questions about Acomb, and were very grateful to local business PlayIt VR, who lent us their sofa for the morning.

There was a great level of engagement, as you’d expect when you plonk a sofa down in the middle of a busy shopping street. Less people, however, were willing to speak on film. Again, something you’d expect.

But we still managed to get into double figures, and got some great content from local business owners Shabby to Chic, the volunteers at Cats Protection, and a number of people out and about shopping.

In general people loved the architecture, community and safety of York; but they were universally less impressed with the races, stag dos and tourism – with many claiming they avoided town altogether on weekends through the summer.

In Acomb, the people we spoke to loved the peace of Front Street and the sense of community. On the whole though, people said they’d change the type of shops (less bookmakers and charity shops, and more independent and curio shops), create somewhere to eat and drink on an evening, and develop an overall masterplan for the area.

Watch the full video – What do you love about Acomb and what would you change?