How to stop northern cities emulating the worst of London
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Version 0 of 1. David Cameron and George Osborne are in Leeds on Thursday outlining how Yorkshire can play a part in their Northern Powerhouse vision. It’s a rare week now when there isn’t some event or other about devolution to the northern cities, with much chin-stroking over how London’s success can be emulated outside of the M25, redressing the massive imbalances in our economy. On Wednesday night I went to a debate organised by Prospect magazine, where various bigwigs talked about how Manchester might look in 2065. Mike Emmerich, the chief executive of New Economy Manchester, Greater Manchester’s propaganda unit – sorry, research and analysis arm – talked of how Manchester’s economic development can be divided into three phases. The first was industrialisation, those halcyon days when the Cottonopolis contributed more per head to the nation’s coffers than London. The second was the period of decline which accompanied deindustrialisation, dragging on for a good 80 years or so. The third, which he thinks began perhaps ten years ago, is the new cycle of regeneration, which has led to Greater Manchester becoming Osborne’s pet city region and the first area to be entrusted with a devolution deal. Giving an example of how Manchester is booming, Emmerich noted that the previously “underpriced land assets” in the city are now the subject of “intense scrutiny from international investors”. This, he seemed to suggest, was an irrefutably good thing. But it made my blood run cold. One of the many reasons I don’t want to move back to London is the way in which international investors have been allowed to park their money in our great capital, buying up huge chunks of land and much needed residential property, pushing up prices without contributing anything to civic life, let alone paying taxes here. I asked Emmerich how we could stop Manchester following London and becoming a “safe deposit box” for the international superrich and their often ill-gotten gains. He said that while he too would not like to see areas of Manchester follow those pockets of inner city London which are dark each night because there is no one actually living there to turn the lights on, Manchester was decades away from that sort of scenario. He said: “Lord almighty, we are are a generation, two, three generations away from that happening. What we have got are the assets left behind from the biggest wave of Schumpeterian economic destruction, creative destruction, ever seen in Britain, which was the wipe-out of the cotton industry. What’s happening is those assets are being bought up by foreign investors, who are turning them back to productive use. We can have a good few generations of that before we have to worry about what you raise.” Emmerich may be right, but I dearly hope that in their rush to improve economic growth, our northern cities do not adopt the worst of London’s habits. Here are a few more Londonisms I would hate to see imported to the north of England: Stranger fear One of the many reasons I love living up here is that people are much less suspicious of strangers. This is not just because it makes my job easier as a professional nosy parker, but also because it makes life a lot nicer. Shoebox living In Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool or Newcastle, owning or renting a property with a spare room and maybe even a garden (imagine, Londoners!) is within the reach of people on average salaries. Sure, more and more high rise flats are being built in the city centres, but these tend to be starter homes for 20-something graduates who would rather have a balcony than a back yard. Over-priced sandwiches Near the Guardian’s shiny London offices in Kings Cross there is – or was, when I worked there – an outdoor food market running in the walkway down to the mainline station. One day I decided to treat myself to a lamb wrap from a BBQ stall and was horrified to discover that it cost £7. Seven pounds! That was before I’d moved back north and discovered Katsouri’s on John Dalton Street, the king of delis, where a hot roast sandwich costs £3.50. Don’t get me started on the 50p slice of Victoria sponge I enjoyed in Rotherham. Parking nightmares As Weekend magazine’s resident bicycle reviewer, people are sometimes surprised to learn that I have a car. But I do, and I bloody love being able to park outside my house without a permit, and to nip into my local shop without feeding a meter. What Londonisms would you hate to see in your northern city? Please share below the line. |