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| Dead-end street? Hard truths about life in a 'forgotten' Manchester neighbourhood Dead-end street? Hard truths about life in a 'forgotten' Manchester neighbourhood | |
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| There have always been forgotten areas of cities, regardless of location or time in history. They are parts of the urban fabric where many people wouldn’t want to live if they had a choice: the inner city, the dead-end street, the favela, the shanty town, the sink estate, the slum, the pits. All different names for those areas that have been forgotten and left behind. | There have always been forgotten areas of cities, regardless of location or time in history. They are parts of the urban fabric where many people wouldn’t want to live if they had a choice: the inner city, the dead-end street, the favela, the shanty town, the sink estate, the slum, the pits. All different names for those areas that have been forgotten and left behind. |
| Between September 2011 and August 2012, I lived with my wife and daughter in Gorton, south Manchester – a neighbourhood in true decline, despite many years of local regeneration programmes. | Between September 2011 and August 2012, I lived with my wife and daughter in Gorton, south Manchester – a neighbourhood in true decline, despite many years of local regeneration programmes. |
| We moved to Gorton because we couldn’t afford to live in more affluent areas of town; we were not destitute but we were not far from it. It was a tough time in my life as a father, trying to support my family. | We moved to Gorton because we couldn’t afford to live in more affluent areas of town; we were not destitute but we were not far from it. It was a tough time in my life as a father, trying to support my family. |
| We lived in a small terraced house just off a main thoroughfare out of the city towards the leafy suburbs of Didsbury and the Heatons – areas that are a world away from everyday life in Gorton. For most of the time we had to live upstairs as the property suffered from rising damp, which was at least six feet up the side wall of the house by the time we left. In truth, the house was probably 20 years past its knock-down date. | We lived in a small terraced house just off a main thoroughfare out of the city towards the leafy suburbs of Didsbury and the Heatons – areas that are a world away from everyday life in Gorton. For most of the time we had to live upstairs as the property suffered from rising damp, which was at least six feet up the side wall of the house by the time we left. In truth, the house was probably 20 years past its knock-down date. |
| It had very limited heating and, like most houses on our street, we had to pay for gas and electricity on a prepayment card – the modern-day version of putting money in the meter. I fear that utility companies purposely put prepayment meters in poor parts of cities to ensure the utilities are paid for, yet prepayment gas and electricity is always more expensive compared with paying quarterly in arrears by direct debit. It is a classic sign of living in a poor area, and it never helps anyone get out of poverty. | It had very limited heating and, like most houses on our street, we had to pay for gas and electricity on a prepayment card – the modern-day version of putting money in the meter. I fear that utility companies purposely put prepayment meters in poor parts of cities to ensure the utilities are paid for, yet prepayment gas and electricity is always more expensive compared with paying quarterly in arrears by direct debit. It is a classic sign of living in a poor area, and it never helps anyone get out of poverty. |
| Soon after moving to Gorton, we noticed a number of signs suggesting this was not a good neighbourhood. It was a forgotten part of town. This isn’t an attack on the good people of Gorton – far from it – but it is a series of observations of local neighbourhood decline and urban malaise. | Soon after moving to Gorton, we noticed a number of signs suggesting this was not a good neighbourhood. It was a forgotten part of town. This isn’t an attack on the good people of Gorton – far from it – but it is a series of observations of local neighbourhood decline and urban malaise. |
| Firstly, there was a lot of dog fouling in the streets and open spaces. It looked awful and was a potential danger to children playing nearby. Urban regeneration professionals and statisticians have a range of indicators that show a neighbourhood in decline: employment levels, GCSE pass rates and so on. However, I have always thought that levels of dog fouling are a sign of decline across forgotten areas of town; a sign of some residents having lost the desire to take care of their local neighbourhood. | Firstly, there was a lot of dog fouling in the streets and open spaces. It looked awful and was a potential danger to children playing nearby. Urban regeneration professionals and statisticians have a range of indicators that show a neighbourhood in decline: employment levels, GCSE pass rates and so on. However, I have always thought that levels of dog fouling are a sign of decline across forgotten areas of town; a sign of some residents having lost the desire to take care of their local neighbourhood. |
| There was also the constant smell of people smoking marijuana in public, suggesting normal civic codes had been abandoned. You could argue that this makes Gorton a more liberal and tolerant neighbourhood. However, I see it as a sign that local people are not paying due regard to the accepted norms of society. Usually, someone who wants ‘a smoke’ would do this in the privacy of their own home, away from prying eyes. | There was also the constant smell of people smoking marijuana in public, suggesting normal civic codes had been abandoned. You could argue that this makes Gorton a more liberal and tolerant neighbourhood. However, I see it as a sign that local people are not paying due regard to the accepted norms of society. Usually, someone who wants ‘a smoke’ would do this in the privacy of their own home, away from prying eyes. |
| Thirdly (and one that affected our house as an end terrace), local people didn’t recycle their goods in the usual manner, but simply dumped them at the end of the terrace. It would be collected once a month by the council or picked off by the local rag-and-bone men, who toured the area regularly. But if you cared for the future of your neighbourhood why would you do such a thing, as it can only contribute to making it have a grotty, down-at-heel feel? | Thirdly (and one that affected our house as an end terrace), local people didn’t recycle their goods in the usual manner, but simply dumped them at the end of the terrace. It would be collected once a month by the council or picked off by the local rag-and-bone men, who toured the area regularly. But if you cared for the future of your neighbourhood why would you do such a thing, as it can only contribute to making it have a grotty, down-at-heel feel? |
| From day one, my family and I also noticed that no one talked to each other in the street, and rarely even bothered to look at each other to give a cursory nod. Residents simply saw no benefit in engaging with their neighbours. | From day one, my family and I also noticed that no one talked to each other in the street, and rarely even bothered to look at each other to give a cursory nod. Residents simply saw no benefit in engaging with their neighbours. |
| For someone who grew up in Liverpool with a community that chatted a lot, this worried and upset me. Also, for someone who now lives in London, a city renowned for unfriendliness (which I find often not to be the case), the lack of neighbourhood chat across Gorton was stunning. | For someone who grew up in Liverpool with a community that chatted a lot, this worried and upset me. Also, for someone who now lives in London, a city renowned for unfriendliness (which I find often not to be the case), the lack of neighbourhood chat across Gorton was stunning. |
| People appeared to have lost their sense of what it was like to be a community. Instead, they had become a collection of individuals who didn’t wish to form community cohesion to help develop the local neighbourhood. | People appeared to have lost their sense of what it was like to be a community. Instead, they had become a collection of individuals who didn’t wish to form community cohesion to help develop the local neighbourhood. |
| Right in the heart of Gorton, there is an area of open space on the corner of Mount Road and Matthews Lane which has effectively been returned to nature – the practice sometimes referred to as “smart decline” – as part of a recent local urban regeneration programme. Indeed, there are large unused areas of land across the neighbourhood, which seems odd when Manchester is predicted to experience significant population growth over the next 10 years. One would think that land would be at a premium. | Right in the heart of Gorton, there is an area of open space on the corner of Mount Road and Matthews Lane which has effectively been returned to nature – the practice sometimes referred to as “smart decline” – as part of a recent local urban regeneration programme. Indeed, there are large unused areas of land across the neighbourhood, which seems odd when Manchester is predicted to experience significant population growth over the next 10 years. One would think that land would be at a premium. |
| The programme, called the “Mersey Forest”, plans to green former derelict sites across the conurbations of Manchester and Liverpool to bring nature closer to city dwellers. Unplanned nature reserves have since sprung up that support a burgeoning new urban ecology and ecosystem. While it is good to see such urban green space in a densely populated area, it is more likely a reflection of the fact that no housing developers were willing to work on the site. | The programme, called the “Mersey Forest”, plans to green former derelict sites across the conurbations of Manchester and Liverpool to bring nature closer to city dwellers. Unplanned nature reserves have since sprung up that support a burgeoning new urban ecology and ecosystem. While it is good to see such urban green space in a densely populated area, it is more likely a reflection of the fact that no housing developers were willing to work on the site. |
| To most Mancunians, Gorton is a passing place to and from work. Some aspiring residents may even feel embarrassed to live in this forgotten part of the city. While we were living in Gorton, at least six of the 28 families in the street moved out – a sure sign of a transient population. This haunted me until we were able to get the money together to move south, to Reading in Berkshire, for a better place to live and grow up. | To most Mancunians, Gorton is a passing place to and from work. Some aspiring residents may even feel embarrassed to live in this forgotten part of the city. While we were living in Gorton, at least six of the 28 families in the street moved out – a sure sign of a transient population. This haunted me until we were able to get the money together to move south, to Reading in Berkshire, for a better place to live and grow up. |
| Yet there are some fine examples of recent urban regeneration in Gorton, including the restoration of the monastery into a new conference centre. These projects are stimulated by the New East Manchester Regeneration initiative, which received massive funding from central government and other sources. | Yet there are some fine examples of recent urban regeneration in Gorton, including the restoration of the monastery into a new conference centre. These projects are stimulated by the New East Manchester Regeneration initiative, which received massive funding from central government and other sources. |
| What I find intriguing about such initiatives are the phrases of positivity that get used, the promises of hope and rebirth for the local community. Yet in truth, some of the promises made in strategy documents can never be realised, as the problems are much wider and run deeper than the resources and remit of a local regeneration scheme. | What I find intriguing about such initiatives are the phrases of positivity that get used, the promises of hope and rebirth for the local community. Yet in truth, some of the promises made in strategy documents can never be realised, as the problems are much wider and run deeper than the resources and remit of a local regeneration scheme. |
| Although it sounds like a lot of money, a £50m urban regeneration programme spread over a five-year period can never hope to turn around the economic fortunes of a neighbourhood lain waste by uneven capitalist development. | Although it sounds like a lot of money, a £50m urban regeneration programme spread over a five-year period can never hope to turn around the economic fortunes of a neighbourhood lain waste by uneven capitalist development. |
| Perhaps the best hope for the rebirth of Gorton is for some of the economic wealth generated by a growing Manchester city centre and other local economies to somehow permeate into this community. For example, in between Burnage and Gorton are the thriving centres of Levenshulme and Longsight, which are home to the growing Asian immigrant communities who live along this part of the A6 between Manchester and Stockport. These neighbourhoods are beginning to grow without any form of urban regeneration programme. | Perhaps the best hope for the rebirth of Gorton is for some of the economic wealth generated by a growing Manchester city centre and other local economies to somehow permeate into this community. For example, in between Burnage and Gorton are the thriving centres of Levenshulme and Longsight, which are home to the growing Asian immigrant communities who live along this part of the A6 between Manchester and Stockport. These neighbourhoods are beginning to grow without any form of urban regeneration programme. |
| Local communities and residents in and around Gorton have every right to feel isolated and left out from Manchester’s city-wide economic growth. They have every right to ask why the city council and a range of economic development agencies seem to be leaving them behind, while other areas continue on a path of prosperity. | Local communities and residents in and around Gorton have every right to feel isolated and left out from Manchester’s city-wide economic growth. They have every right to ask why the city council and a range of economic development agencies seem to be leaving them behind, while other areas continue on a path of prosperity. |
| The key here is how the city council seeks to engage with the communities of Gorton to ensure that they are fully integrated into the economic growth of Manchester. Is it possible to ensure that forgotten areas of cities benefit from wider city growth? | The key here is how the city council seeks to engage with the communities of Gorton to ensure that they are fully integrated into the economic growth of Manchester. Is it possible to ensure that forgotten areas of cities benefit from wider city growth? |
| If this cannot be achieved, then I worry that neighbourhoods such as Gorton will find themselves stuck in a never-ending spiral of urban and economic decline, with a transient population and limited community spirit – a forgotten area where nobody really cares. | If this cannot be achieved, then I worry that neighbourhoods such as Gorton will find themselves stuck in a never-ending spiral of urban and economic decline, with a transient population and limited community spirit – a forgotten area where nobody really cares. |
| Nobody Cares, Forgotten Parts of British Cities by Raymond Holden is available as an ebook on Amazon for £2.06. For a hard copy (£10 + p&p) email raymond.hpr@gmail.com | Nobody Cares, Forgotten Parts of British Cities by Raymond Holden is available as an ebook on Amazon for £2.06. For a hard copy (£10 + p&p) email raymond.hpr@gmail.com |
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