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craig5
Full Member
Excuse the humpty question, DINKY?
Dual Income No Kids Yet
Just watched episode 2, so many void properties that could easily be used a s soup kitchen for the homeless, in the city centre, lots of empty retail space available, just needs a landlord or the council to get its fingers out and do some walking and talking .
just needs a landlord or the council to get its fingers out and do some walking and talking .
Good luck with that. A couple of years ago my boss came back from a meeting with the council top brass and told me that all the homeless people in Manchester were imported from outside by gangsters to take advantage of the fact that, 'Mancunians are too generous'. This came from the person at the council (I never got the name) who at the time was in charge of dealing with homeless people. Manchester City Council don't give a flying f*** about the homeless, and genuinely believe the problem doesn't exist, and is instead a money making scheme organised by non-mancunian gangsters.
Here's the council leader back 2015 cofirming this view..
https://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/743/homelessness-and-street-begging
and another one..
https://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/860/-peak-begging-season
just needs a landlord or the council to get its fingers out and do some walking and talking .
Good luck with that! The only thing that counts is returns on investment for fund managers. The only thing. The homeless aren’t even on the radar.
In this brave new world, people who can’t afford a half a million quid mortgage are considered second class citizens.
I’d love to hear what Howard Bernstein thinks about all this. The man who drove all that development in the 90’s. Who did so much for this city he clearly loved. He really was a visionary. What’s his take on this? That would have been a worthwhile addition to the documentary
So sad, any one of could be homeless in months if the downturn continues, and then what, civil unrest.
I'm begining to realise how fortunate Hulme and Moss Side were in the 90's, not only that they got all the investment that areas like Collyhurst never recieved but mostly because they rebuilt the entire area so theres very little derelict land or unrenovated property to build on or demolish.
What a difference a decade makes. I'd assumed that other areas would gradually receive the treatment that Hulme and Moss Side had recieved, (i,e. redevelopment that suited the needs of the community.) 10 years on it was Ancoats and Miles Plattings' turn, only the needs of the community were ignored this time. What would Howard Bernstien think indeed.
For the last couple of generations people have come to study in Manchester (and other Northern cities) and stayed on, it's helped to create a healthy (cosmopolitan) mix between newcomers and natives and between the classes as well. It's that mix that fuelled the Manchester renaissance where the population developed organically and in a positive way, that has now ceased and that's not a good thing. Im sure there's many on here like me who moved to the city from the countryside and learned to adapt and integrate. For the Sandmen and Women (Logans Run reference) they dont have to adapt and integrate, everything has been arranged for them, the city has adapted to their needs. The modern city is no longer an urbane or cosmopolitan place, It is the new suburbia.
Definitely a middle aged man looking back with rose tinted glasses, doesn't make me wrong though.
My own take on Manchester is that it feels sterile - lived in many places across the globe to make my opinion. The city should 'feel' way more than it does - in terms of size and supposed stature. Visitors and friends come based on the media hype, find out its nothing like its portrayed, leave and and won't come back. Newcastle and the 'real' vibe is much more a northern city in my opinion. I also don't get the scary, perceived violent side of the city - having grown up in Glasgow all im seeing here are dolls with (EVOC?) bum bags tied around their shoulder/waist.