Media thread 2022/23

[bobbyowenquiff]

How a great English city sold itself to Abu Dhabi’s elite – and not even for a good price | Aditya Chakrabortty

Manchester’s Labour council let Sheikh Mansour buy up acres of public land for seemingly a fraction of its worth, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

www.theguardian.com

Another anti city article from the beloved guardian.

Another posh boy who knows nothing about the city of Manchester. He knows nothing about Beswick and Ancoats in 2008. Investors weren't queueing up to develop that area before Sheikh Mansour and Manchester was, as always, neglected by central government. Without external investment from abroad the city would be on its knees after the way it has been treated by successive London-based politicians.
It is true that the city has become a very expensive housing market like the rest of the UK but to blame that on Sheikh Mansour is just absurd. Just another despicable and distorted Guardian article which makes no mention at all at the huge community investment provided by Sheikh Mansour.
The media used to say the whole project was about "sportswashing" and Sheikh Mansour was a "sugar daddy" but now they have woken up to the fact that he is interested in making profits (like every other business) so which is it?

 

[hertsblue]

BBC 30 minutes ago added a report on Everton’s 4-0 defeat last night but still zero on us.
We honestly should treat them with utter distain, send out a kit man or similar for MOTD interviews, ban Rag Stone from the ground or at best totally ignore him in press conferences.
Ferguson and Rangers took the right approach with them, about time we did similar

 

[JASR]

BBC 30 minutes ago added a report on Everton’s 4-0 defeat last night but still zero on us.
We honestly should treat them with utter distain, send out a kit man or similar for MOTD interviews, ban Rag Stone from the ground or at best totally ignore him in press conferences.
Ferguson and Rangers took the right approach with them, about time we did similar

@tolmie's hairdoo do the members of the press have fixed seating positions at City?

I’m getting visions of Mr Stones and Deloony’s seat being replaced by a baby high chair, with a few toys to keep them amused and in honour of Deloonys bogus claim to never eat at the etihad, a purried City cake and a sponsorship covered Tommy tipee mug.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

Agree to a degree. But the 'neighborhoods full of restaurants, bars and life improving quality' is the expansion of the N4/Ancoats.

The actual area around most of the stadium and Academies is no better off for the locals than before we moved there. In fact, when it comes to pubs, it's now far worse.
My missus' family are from there. Back in the day, even when Fort Beswick was standing, the shopping precinct and market was buzzing, and it had several well used community pubs. Yes, it could be dodgy to outsiders, I recall the first time going in their local pub, The Honeycomb and just hoping to get out in one piece, lol. All gone now and it's a ghost town of an evening. A couple of takeaways/vape shops/chippies and Bradford Labour Club as was, aka Mary D's for locals. Of course,it's the same of many other places (my hometown of Newton upon the Heath being another example) sadly the way of our world in general.

Try a stroll around on a non match evening, the investment of the stadium etc, and the 'New Islington' of nearer to town hasn't reached Beswick itself at all as yet.... Locals I know are in two minds about it happening too. While they would welcome a regeneration those kind of delis, bars and restaurants etc would bring, but are also aware they would at the same time be out of their price range, and gentrification would likely see them driven them out.

It's a lot better than it was in 1979 when i worked on Grey Mare Lane. What about the Beswick Hub plus a new primary school and sixth form college and all the posionous chemical dumps have been removed from the site. I realise a lot of the pubs have gone but that is down to lifestyle changes. For me Beswick is unrecognisable from what it was but still far from perfect. I also think the new arena will be a great boost for local businesses and local jobs.

 

[waspish]

Another posh boy who knows nothing about the city of Manchester. He knows nothing about Beswick and Ancoats in 2008. Investors weren't queueing up to develop that area before Sheikh Mansour and Manchester was, as always, neglected by central government. Without external investment from abroad the city would be on its knees after the way it has been treated by successive London-based politicians.
It is true that the city has become a very expensive housing market like the rest of the UK but to blame that on Sheikh Mansour is just absurd. Just another despicable and distorted Guardian article which makes no mention at all at the huge community investment provided by Sheikh Mansour.
The media used to say the whole project was about "sportswashing" and Sheikh Mansour was a "sugar daddy" but now they have woken up to the fact that he is interested in making profits (like every other business) so which is it?

Yep if we left it as a shit hole be plenty of cheap properties

 

[LongsightM13]

It was an absolute shithole beforehand, nobody would have touched it and it’s been turned into the coolest area of the North West by a mile.

The council is making millions off % of the rent and There are 2 whole new neighborhoods full of resteraunts, bars and life improving the quality of life for millions on the North and East side of Manchester.

Local developers like Kamani and Capital and Centric are over there now as well.

Genuine derangement at the Guardian over Abu Dhabi.

No, no, it was “prime real estate” according to this lunatic

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

I find the property/gentrification/development debates about Manchester to be tricky. I came here as an undergrad in 2004, and the City feels bigger, stronger, and safer. Most of my graduating class moved to London, and now there are good jobs for graduates here. Some of the flats that have gone up could be better quality, and I wish urban planning stretched to schools, parks, and shops and not just for 20 somethings sharing. That global capital has done some dodgy dealings along the way is obvious, but within the parameters of what you could do in the last 20 years the council has turned 2 or 3 parts of the city from bomb sites, car parks and derelict brown sites into squares and walkways as good as any in Europe. Compare and contrast to Wolverhampton or Stoke.

 

[asahartford1]

Another posh boy who knows nothing about the city of Manchester. He knows nothing about Beswick and Ancoats in 2008. Investors weren't queueing up to develop that area before Sheikh Mansour and Manchester was, as always, neglected by central government. Without external investment from abroad the city would be on its knees after the way it has been treated by successive London-based politicians.
It is true that the city has become a very expensive housing market like the rest of the UK but to blame that on Sheikh Mansour is just absurd. Just another despicable and distorted Guardian article which makes no mention at all at the huge community investment provided by Sheikh Mansour.
The media used to say the whole project was about "sportswashing" and Sheikh Mansour was a "sugar daddy" but now they have woken up to the fact that he is interested in making profits (like every other business) so which is it?

It's a double whammy Sports washing while making a profit.

I particularly liked the line.

"Addicted to Oil revenue"

 

[bluemanchester]

How a great English city sold itself to Abu Dhabi’s elite – and not even for a good price | Aditya Chakrabortty

Manchester’s Labour council let Sheikh Mansour buy up acres of public land for seemingly a fraction of its worth, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

www.theguardian.com

Another anti city article from the beloved guardian.

I read as far as "prime real estate". I lived in Ardwick many years ago when I was young and often played in Ancoats. Now there were lots of hard working salt of the earth people living in those areas who would call a spade a spade but I never heard them refer to it as "prime real estate". I saw the area, when it was taken over by Monsour, as an industrial wasteland and the academy site previously occupied by Clayton Analine as a poisoned industrial wasteland that no-one would have been willing to take on. This is just a clickbait article to try to tarnish City and our owners just like all the other articles that have gone before this one. The headline should be, How City, Abu Dhabi and Oak View Group saved East Manchester from terminal decay.
PS. They could even say they alone turned it into "prime real estate";-)

 

[feedmpenzaandhewillscore]

Another posh boy who knows nothing about the city of Manchester. He knows nothing about Beswick and Ancoats in 2008. Investors weren't queueing up to develop that area before Sheikh Mansour and Manchester was, as always, neglected by central government. Without external investment from abroad the city would be on its knees after the way it has been treated by successive London-based politicians.
It is true that the city has become a very expensive housing market like the rest of the UK but to blame that on Sheikh Mansour is just absurd. Just another despicable and distorted Guardian article which makes no mention at all at the huge community investment provided by Sheikh Mansour.
The media used to say the whole project was about "sportswashing" and Sheikh Mansour was a "sugar daddy" but now they have woken up to the fact that he is interested in making profits (like every other business) so which is it?

I think Manchester as a whole has been fortunate with the investment and property development happening. It’s not just Abu Dhabi that are investing it’s also the Chinese, you get a better return in Manchester on your money than you do in London now. This is providing work for people in Manchester and the spin offs of the supply chains to make this construction happen, should the council have said no to it? We’d have a city stagnating like some of the areas in the North East.