Ben Gardner
Winger
This isn't a joke and is meant to be a serious question.
Plan for £250m urban village on Newcastle Quayside | Construction Enquirer
The above article outlines basic plans for a £250m development on derelict land on Newcastle quayside.
Great news for them, loads of jobs being generated, some new new homes and loads of commercial stuff going on (potentially)
But when I read stuff like this, it's galling to think about the negative comments that would emanate from Mackems if such a thing was mooted for Sunderland - despite us having a near-identical plot of land ripe for development by the Wear.
Geographically, Newcastle is at a massive advantage with transport infrastructure but there must be more to it than that.
So, with this in mind (and going back to my original question), is it the local council? Is the place just better connected? Do they have a more condensed population? Is the demographic considered higher? Do businesses and investors buy into their history? Is it because their city centre architecture is finer?
I've grown out of a football-based bias against Newcastle and I really don't mind some of them, but for years I've always wondered how they seem to get the rub of the green, so-to-speak.
Investment, transport, music venues, even down to stuff like festivals n that.
Let's be honest, the people are no better or no worse than us. They're a traditionally working-class populous that expanded in the last century on heavy industry - and now working in tech and service industries (more-so than shipyards & pits)
We have so much going for us a s city, and we do seem to be going places (the City of Culture 2021 bid showed that), but we could be so much better. It's easy to say, "ignore them, focus on Wearside" but when developments like this quayside thing get unadulterated support from business and the public, it's a little annoying.
Plan for £250m urban village on Newcastle Quayside | Construction Enquirer
The above article outlines basic plans for a £250m development on derelict land on Newcastle quayside.
Great news for them, loads of jobs being generated, some new new homes and loads of commercial stuff going on (potentially)
But when I read stuff like this, it's galling to think about the negative comments that would emanate from Mackems if such a thing was mooted for Sunderland - despite us having a near-identical plot of land ripe for development by the Wear.
Geographically, Newcastle is at a massive advantage with transport infrastructure but there must be more to it than that.
So, with this in mind (and going back to my original question), is it the local council? Is the place just better connected? Do they have a more condensed population? Is the demographic considered higher? Do businesses and investors buy into their history? Is it because their city centre architecture is finer?
I've grown out of a football-based bias against Newcastle and I really don't mind some of them, but for years I've always wondered how they seem to get the rub of the green, so-to-speak.
Investment, transport, music venues, even down to stuff like festivals n that.
Let's be honest, the people are no better or no worse than us. They're a traditionally working-class populous that expanded in the last century on heavy industry - and now working in tech and service industries (more-so than shipyards & pits)
We have so much going for us a s city, and we do seem to be going places (the City of Culture 2021 bid showed that), but we could be so much better. It's easy to say, "ignore them, focus on Wearside" but when developments like this quayside thing get unadulterated support from business and the public, it's a little annoying.