Well you can understand their bitterness but after all it was nearly 30 years ago - time to move on. The simple fact is that around 7,000 jobs were lost in the shipbuilding industry and about 12,000 created by Nissan and it's supply industries. The jobs lost in the mining industry on Wearside are dwarfed by the expansion of the University of Sunderland. Then you have the likes of Doxford International, Sunderland Enterprise Park etc.
This makes the current state of Sunderland as a commercial centre even more annoying.
In the big scheme of the economy and social consequences 30 years is a blip. As i said earlier it will take generations more to undo the damage to the social fabric of the north east and then only if there is willingness to do so from Westminister.
Meanwhile the Crack and Smack underculture will carry on.