Manchester's history shows that it always attracted people from afar, as your Nigerian interviewee illustrates, so it shouldn't be a source of major comment really.Do we want to return to the deindustrialised wastelands of my youth or just accept that there's a new economy with different ways of making it or at least scraping a living? I don't like these identikit towers at all but they seem to be the only models of property investment active in the city centre at present and many inhabitants do seem to enjoy the non communal lifestyles they represent if not the high rents.For over £1000 a month you can definitely rent a family sized house in the suburbs of the city but that's not the requirement for these new Mancunians. I note that the new immigrants hope to return to their homelands and wish them well, but so many others have made the same wish then settled here permanently so maybe Manchester still has something to offer everyone even on a wet and gloomy Autumnal day.
Hey Archangel, thanks for the comment. I completely agree. People from afar being attracted to live in the city is by no means a bad thing. I don't think the piece tries to suggest otherwise. It's just a look at an area of the city that is being replicated and, in the eyes of many, is how most of the city ought to look in the coming decades, which is significant and interesting. Thanks again for commenting!
I realise it wasn’t necessarily a criticism but I do take exception with the notion that all the people living in Deansgate Square ‘probably aren’t from round here or the surrounding areas’.
Last year I was shared some stats by the developer which said circa 40% of residents had relocated from within 20 miles (27% from within 5 miles). Obviously this doesn’t prove that they are necessarily local but it definitely disputes the suggestion they’ve come to Manchester just for DS.
These figures will be out of date by now, I’m sure Renaker would be happy to provide an update though should you ask.
In any case, is it a problem if people relocate from elsewhere? Lots of people in New York or London or Paris aren’t local to begin with. It’s how dynamic cities stay alive. Plenty of places in the UK are only home to people who grew up there, they tend to be dying a long, slow death, as covered extensively in the Levelling Up debate and similar that preceded it.
Hey CJ! Many thanks for your comment. Correct, it wasn't meant as criticism, and I also didn't suggest in the story that all the people living in Deansgate Square probably aren't from Manchester or indeed Greater Manchester. Just that these developments attract people from outside of the region who are looking for a sort of housing at a price point below what you would pay in the capital. It was something that came up a lot in conversations with people living at Deansgate Sq. However, I probably could have made clearer that these developments are a mix of people from across GM and beyond. Thanks for those figures, we'll definitely look into getting some updated ones from Renaker. Thanks again for commenting!
I use the shop on the ground floor sometimes on my way home from work to pick up the odd thing. I don’t think I have ever seen another middle-aged woman in there and there’s definitely a sense that I am not a resident and not one of the Beautiful People. Won’t stop me going in when it’s handy, but the article rings true for me.
I know language is ever evolving (it does rapidly and yes garbage may well have been Elizabethan blah blah blah) but can we have stuff in English English thanks ?
Hey Jeremy, thanks for the comment! That's a great suggestion, I expect we'll run that poll. Also, as I've mentioned in replies to other comments, highlighting how people from outside of Manchester live in developments like Deansgate Square isn't meant to be a criticism, just an observation. Thanks again for commenting!
Thanks Jack - if you’re writing a longer follow up on this issue, I think there’s a couple of points to mention. One is that the growth of residential living in or close to city centre shouldn’t be described as gentrification as, unlike other locations (e.g. Islington in London, etc.) long term residents haven’t been displaced because no one was living there in recent years.
The other thing to thinK about is the ’talent drain’ - when I first moved up and was working in theatres, I hardly met anyone bought up in Manchester - we were all incomers and talented people from Greater Manchester went to London to find fame and fortune (or, at least, a better way of life). This also extended to graduates from, for instance, the Manchester Poly School of Theatre so it was very difficult to build a strong cultural ecosystem here - clearly job opportunities were the most critical factor but way of life was also important so the people who stayed were often on the fringe - e.g. The Dogs of Heaven and other Hulme Crescent residents thath The Mill wrote about recently.
Why does The Mill keep publishing these class-bait articles?
"Oh no people aren't from _around here_!" or "oh but they're not _real Mancunians_!" "People are wearing nice clothes and have small dogs, they must not have to work to live".
Is this The Mill's version of Reach (et. al.) journalists trawling Twitter for some minor controversy? Go to an area that's seen new residential development in the last few years and look for "real Mancunians" and write a few hundred words when the aren't many of them?
Hey Jack! Thanks for commenting. I don't reference the idea of a "real Mancunian" in the piece. Nor do I subscribe to the idea of a real Mancunian. The story is really a piece of observation about a place in the city. If you disagree with the idea of a "new Mancunian" being those who move here to live in the towers that are coming to define the city, then fair enough. But I wouldn't say that, or any part of the story, constitutes clickbait. Thanks again!
Manchester's history shows that it always attracted people from afar, as your Nigerian interviewee illustrates, so it shouldn't be a source of major comment really.Do we want to return to the deindustrialised wastelands of my youth or just accept that there's a new economy with different ways of making it or at least scraping a living? I don't like these identikit towers at all but they seem to be the only models of property investment active in the city centre at present and many inhabitants do seem to enjoy the non communal lifestyles they represent if not the high rents.For over £1000 a month you can definitely rent a family sized house in the suburbs of the city but that's not the requirement for these new Mancunians. I note that the new immigrants hope to return to their homelands and wish them well, but so many others have made the same wish then settled here permanently so maybe Manchester still has something to offer everyone even on a wet and gloomy Autumnal day.
tried to post new comment saying really nice piece
but doesn't work easy on an old macbook btw
Hey Archangel, thanks for the comment. I completely agree. People from afar being attracted to live in the city is by no means a bad thing. I don't think the piece tries to suggest otherwise. It's just a look at an area of the city that is being replicated and, in the eyes of many, is how most of the city ought to look in the coming decades, which is significant and interesting. Thanks again for commenting!
I realise it wasn’t necessarily a criticism but I do take exception with the notion that all the people living in Deansgate Square ‘probably aren’t from round here or the surrounding areas’.
Last year I was shared some stats by the developer which said circa 40% of residents had relocated from within 20 miles (27% from within 5 miles). Obviously this doesn’t prove that they are necessarily local but it definitely disputes the suggestion they’ve come to Manchester just for DS.
These figures will be out of date by now, I’m sure Renaker would be happy to provide an update though should you ask.
In any case, is it a problem if people relocate from elsewhere? Lots of people in New York or London or Paris aren’t local to begin with. It’s how dynamic cities stay alive. Plenty of places in the UK are only home to people who grew up there, they tend to be dying a long, slow death, as covered extensively in the Levelling Up debate and similar that preceded it.
Completely agree
Hey CJ! Many thanks for your comment. Correct, it wasn't meant as criticism, and I also didn't suggest in the story that all the people living in Deansgate Square probably aren't from Manchester or indeed Greater Manchester. Just that these developments attract people from outside of the region who are looking for a sort of housing at a price point below what you would pay in the capital. It was something that came up a lot in conversations with people living at Deansgate Sq. However, I probably could have made clearer that these developments are a mix of people from across GM and beyond. Thanks for those figures, we'll definitely look into getting some updated ones from Renaker. Thanks again for commenting!
I use the shop on the ground floor sometimes on my way home from work to pick up the odd thing. I don’t think I have ever seen another middle-aged woman in there and there’s definitely a sense that I am not a resident and not one of the Beautiful People. Won’t stop me going in when it’s handy, but the article rings true for me.
dumpsters
garbage
skips ?
rubbish ?
I know language is ever evolving (it does rapidly and yes garbage may well have been Elizabethan blah blah blah) but can we have stuff in English English thanks ?
How about a quick poll of your readers to find out how many are 'from round here' I moved from London 44 years ago - does that make me a local now?
Hey Jeremy, thanks for the comment! That's a great suggestion, I expect we'll run that poll. Also, as I've mentioned in replies to other comments, highlighting how people from outside of Manchester live in developments like Deansgate Square isn't meant to be a criticism, just an observation. Thanks again for commenting!
Thanks Jack - if you’re writing a longer follow up on this issue, I think there’s a couple of points to mention. One is that the growth of residential living in or close to city centre shouldn’t be described as gentrification as, unlike other locations (e.g. Islington in London, etc.) long term residents haven’t been displaced because no one was living there in recent years.
The other thing to thinK about is the ’talent drain’ - when I first moved up and was working in theatres, I hardly met anyone bought up in Manchester - we were all incomers and talented people from Greater Manchester went to London to find fame and fortune (or, at least, a better way of life). This also extended to graduates from, for instance, the Manchester Poly School of Theatre so it was very difficult to build a strong cultural ecosystem here - clearly job opportunities were the most critical factor but way of life was also important so the people who stayed were often on the fringe - e.g. The Dogs of Heaven and other Hulme Crescent residents thath The Mill wrote about recently.
Off to vote in your poll now (quick work)
All the best
Jeremy
Why does The Mill keep publishing these class-bait articles?
"Oh no people aren't from _around here_!" or "oh but they're not _real Mancunians_!" "People are wearing nice clothes and have small dogs, they must not have to work to live".
Is this The Mill's version of Reach (et. al.) journalists trawling Twitter for some minor controversy? Go to an area that's seen new residential development in the last few years and look for "real Mancunians" and write a few hundred words when the aren't many of them?
Hey Jack! Thanks for commenting. I don't reference the idea of a "real Mancunian" in the piece. Nor do I subscribe to the idea of a real Mancunian. The story is really a piece of observation about a place in the city. If you disagree with the idea of a "new Mancunian" being those who move here to live in the towers that are coming to define the city, then fair enough. But I wouldn't say that, or any part of the story, constitutes clickbait. Thanks again!