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Marissa Macwhirter

Marissa Macwhirter

Herald Scotland

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I love her so much, so why is it so hard to be nice to my mum? It drives me nuts that my mum still does not understand how to use her iPhone. Or her TV. Or any other piece of technology, for that matter. She doesn’t seem to mind. She would rather spend time with her family than learn how to use a device, she says. This Christmas, I’m determined not to baulk every time she asks me how to do something mundane on her phone. Lord, give me strength.

There’s no place like home for the holidays. But I can’t seem to shake this sense of unease about spending Christmas with my family for the first...

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Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Sorry, Georgia, it's time to run a mile from attention-seeking BrewDog boss

There is a feeling of repulsion I get when confronted with images of anything slimy or oozing. It’s akin to a prickly sensation deep in my diaphragm...

20.12.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Endless consultations have derailed Glasgow's Clyde Metro ambitions The UK's consultation fetish has got to end if we are ever to get a decent public transit system in Glasgow. Will we ever get Clyde Metro? Honestly, I doubt it. Certainly not in my lifetime, at this rate.

A sea of suits has taken over the second floor of the Radisson Blu hotel in central Glasgow. Men clutching white porcelain coffee cups and pastries,...

13.12.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Sorry is hardest word to say for Sarwar as election blunder casts doubt on leadership Labour’s Mary McNabb, an employee of Glasgow City Council, was disqualified from office after winning the Glasgow North East seat for neglecting to quit her job with the local authority.

In preparation for returning home this Christmas for the first time in five years, I picked up a copy of Madsen Pirie’s How To Win Every Argument:...

05.12.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Why are senior officials in Scotland's largest council still getting golden goodbyes?

This week I was asked to participate in a Careers Afternoon Carousel for second year students. Since my dear friend, a teacher, invited me to take...

28.11.2024 9

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Is Scotland set to become a battleground for the next data centre boom? Bluesky, X, Instagram, Facebook. More social media platforms mean more content and more data. But where does it get stored? Could Scotland be on the verge of a data centre boom?

The internet as the “global town square” has finally sputtered, choked and given up the ghost. It was running rabid, foaming at the mouth for some...

21.11.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Could a shopping centre's major expansion spell disaster for Glasgow city centre? Glasgow Fort Shopping Centre could be getting a major expansion. What does that mean for footfall recovery in the city centre?

Cathedrals of consumption. Mecca for the suburban shopper. Grand naves of glass and luxury vinyl tile, comfortable temperatures and clean illuminated...

14.11.2024 7

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Can we find a balance between much needed development and affordable housing?

Stepping inside the new Candleriggs development is like being sucked into a Scandi-meets-mid-century-modern cocoon. Compared with the chaotic bustle...

07.11.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Here's how Glasgow can avoid a repeat of the O2 ABC demolition

It is possibly one of the most unsettling experiences one can encounter while performing a daily chore required to stay alive. The mundanity of eating...

01.11.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

New urban park proposal is Glasgow’s most exciting development prospect To transform such a lonely space into a free sports hub, naturally sheltered by the rain for year-round use, is an incredible prospect. Particularly since it borders Govanhill, home to the highest child poverty rate in the UK. If built, it will have a seriously positive impact on neighbouring families.

Between the bustle of the city and the swinging south side is the worst area in Glasgow. Not the worst for what it contains, but what it lacks. As...

24.10.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Is it time to be optimistic about the future of Glasgow?

Inside the urban planning offices of Glasgow City Council since time immemorial, fluorescent lights buzz and flicker. It’s too hot in winter, too...

17.10.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Does Glasgow need its own Andy Burnham-style mayor to sell itself? It's tempting to fantasize about some hotshot swooping in to fix the Glasgow City Region with a shiny new mayor badge. Someone who lives and breathes the city. A champion to change the negative aura slinking low over our rolling brownfields and crumbling buildings.

I was 19 years old when I met Justin Trudeau. It was 2014 and he had just become leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Bronzed and beaming, he...

10.10.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Strathclyde Regional Council was better for Glasgow than the Scottish Government The Scottish Parliament was introduced in 1999 to devolve powers from Westminster and give greater autonomy to Scots. But these days it seems like every attempt at meaningful public sector conversation is turned into a Three Spiderman Pointing meme starring a council, the Scottish Government and the UK Government.

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. The more I learn, the more I realise how much I don’t know. Like a mantra, I repeat these...

03.10.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Real threat to Clyde regeneration isn't graffiti - it is uncaring private landowners It was meant to be a bonnie stroll along the River Clyde. Little did the couple know they had meandered into the underbelly of Scotland’s largest city. Public enemy territory. Still haunted by the city centre Clydeside two weeks on, Councillor James Scanlon demanded action.

It was meant to be a pleasant stroll along the River Clyde. Little did the couple know they had meandered into the underbelly of Scotland’s largest...

26.09.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Glasgow doesn't need thousands of new-build flats for students. Here's why But wait a minute. Wait just a minute. I thought Glasgow needed 22,000 student beds? Isn’t that why we keep approving all of these high-end Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) blocks? Isn’t that why the local authority has agreed to let foreign developers rip up our built heritage? If I strain my ears from the office I can almost hear a Kubota digger scraping desperately against the cast iron arch of the former ABC cinema on Sauchiehall Street.

Lump of concrete wedged in my throat. Heartbeat quickening. Eyes darting. Apple Watch Mindfulness reminder nagging at my wrist. Two things in life...

19.09.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Firework bans are welcome, but whatever happened to celebrating Bonfire Night? In August, Edinburgh became the first Scottish council to vote for a ban on the use of fireworks in certain areas: Niddrie, Balerno, Seafield and Calton Hill. Glasgow City Council announced this week that Pollokshields would be the first FCZ in the city. At least Edinburgh has Fawkes Festival. Meanwhile, Scotland’s largest city has tried to quietly quit hosting anything for Bonfire Night.

A decade ago, when I first moved to Glasgow, I thought Bonfire Night was held to celebrate that Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the House of Lords. To...

12.09.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

New trains, no ideas: Our transport system needs ambition, urgently

The first time I travelled on a new Glasgow Subway train I developed a serious case of music topophilia. It involved standing at the back of the train...

05.09.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Are London developers the new planning authorities in Scots cities? Why save the much-loved frontage of Glasgow's O2 ABC building when you can finally raze the site and put up an over-scaled, dull, drab, uninspired and soulless student block? Because Scotland is in its Philistine Era, that’s why.

The best popcorn is Tesco Salted. I’ve dabbled in Propercorn and sampled the own-brand options from every major supermarket chain. Tesco is king....

29.08.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Why are we really still putting up deserts wi' windaes? This is the plight of the Robroyston and Millerston Community Growth Area on the northern boundary of Scotland’s largest city. Developers are on a mission to build a total of 1,600 homes in the area. This week plans to build 300 of said homes took a step forward with joint housebuilders Taylor Wimpey West Scotland and Caledonian Properties applying for an Approval of Matters Specified in Conditions to Glasgow City Council.

Owning a little box on the hillside made of ticky-tacky is a dream of mine. I grew up in suburbia and the economy has dashed any dreams I once had of...

22.08.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Marissa MacWhirter: Councillors are on front line of democracy and deserve a pay hike

Sitting at a café table overlooking a sunshine-dappled Leith Walk, Irvine Welsh laments the sleepy state of Scotland. A political framework was...

15.08.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Glasgow's built heritage is going up in flames - how can we end this crisis? The former Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice on Carlton Place and the O2 ABC on Sauchiehall Street are just the latest in a long list of wasted buildings.

A familiar scene. Huge clouds of smoke wafting into the city centre as flames lick ferociously at the roof of a treasured building. A torrent of rain...

08.08.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Glasgow is being swamped by student accommodation. And that's a good thing

When I first moved to Glasgow from Canada, I lived in a flat with four Hungarian students. I was 21 years old and in a new country for the first time....

01.08.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Sorry, nimbys, we don’t need another green space. We need people in our cities Artisan Real Estate first submitted plans to turn a brownfield into 109 flats in spring 2022. But dreams of turning the area into a mix of flats with ground floor commercial space were nearly dashed by residents who like the site just the way it is. Two years on and builders have yet to break ground.

Rolling hills dotted with sheep. Traditional farmhouses snug in the curves of the landscape. Rural views and property values threatened by monstrous...

25.07.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Marissa MacWhirter: It's easy to hate bike lanes but they could be Glasgow's saviour There’s an episode of Grand Designs from 2019 famed for being the “saddest ever”. In it, Edward and Hazel Short sink their life savings into building the extravagant Chesil Cliff House in North Devon. Inspired by a lighthouse, the dramatic build juts out over a cliff like a modernist white and glass cake.

There’s an episode of Grand Designs from 2019 famed for being the “saddest ever”. In it, Edward and Hazel Short sink their life savings into...

18.07.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Marissa MacWhirter: Is it time we had a four-day working week?

“If you like what you’re doing it won’t feel like work.” My dad’s take on the famous Mark Twain quote is a phrase I heard often growing up....

12.07.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

'Glasgow's new public transport ZoneCard is a shambles. Who is to blame?'

In the spring of 2020 an invisible, semipermeable dome came crashing down over Glasgow city centre. People are now repelled from crossing the...

04.07.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

Marissa MacWhirter: Pubs and clubs are in my blood. Here's how to save them

It was on a Tuesday night in October 1956 that Margaret Harrison showed up at the Locarno alone. She was shy but determined to find the handsome bloke...

27.06.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

'Scotland was hurtling towards a future that young people didn’t vote for'

I was neck deep in my master’s and spending my weekends getting tennis elbow from a cocktail shaker when I landed my first reporter job in Glasgow....

27.06.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

The Glasgow Wrap newsletter is a new life and soul of Glasgow for a new era

Getting your local news was once a straightforward endeavour: delivered to your doorstep in the morning or purchased from a vendor on your commute....

10.03.2024 9

Herald Scotland

Marissa Macwhirter

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