On a serious note, how do we, as a nation, allow this to happen? Why on earth don't we intervene and fix the problems as they arise? If it were an area in London, the estate agents would move in, then the wine bars would appear. It happens to every area eventually, in London.
Why has the property boom left so many areas untouched? When the BBC moved to Salford, it was to the gentrified heart of the redeveloped dock area, not to the deprived estates that remain as they were to a large extent. Why don't we let a few tiles fall of the roof of Buckingham Palace in order to spend more redeveloping the derelict northern city centres?
No, no, they don't like it up 'em!