The way I look at it, Liverpool has lots of some things, and not enough of other things.
It's got lots and lots of houses, most of them although obviously not all are probably fine. Many of them are low-priced and most are probably what get calls "affordable" these days.
But it's got far far too few jobs, and in particular it's got too few businesses and small businesses.
Lots of houses. Not enough jobs.
The city is poor because it doesn't have enough jobs and business.
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But how does the city get more jobs and businesses?
The days of the big relocations are probably long-gone, and now it's all "grow it yourself". In other words, Liverpool needs to have more people living in it who will succeed not just in being self-employed, but in creating jobs for others. And, like London and other successful cities, it needs to attract people to live in it who will do this. Cities rely on people moving to them who have ideas and ambition, and Liverpool needs to be attracting those people, who might currently visit now because of the airport, but will need a lot more incentive to say "Hey, I want to live here".
And how can the city become attractive, to keep people living there, and bring in new people who will create wealth? There must be a lot of ways, but it's vital to make the city centre a nice place to live, exciting, and genuinely attractive. In my opinion this is not the time to make a priority of improving housing generally - you can improve Everton or Netherton or any area you like, improve the houses, but if people are still unemployed, under-employed, basically poor, you have lost. It's time to make the city centre and surrounding areas attractive to newcomers, foreigners, non-scousers, posh people, fakers, posers, pseuds, intellectuals, scientists, fraudsters, writers, designers, but most of all people who have a bit of ambition, get-up-and-go and can create wealth and business and JOBS!
I think it's too dismissive to call regeneration "trickle down". If the city doesn't invest in its centre, and in new attractive residential districts for people who can pay a bit, then it's not going to get the new jobs that are essential. That has to be the priority, it is the only thing Liverpool can now do, if it is to have any chance in the future.
Jobs are more important than houses. That is what Militant could never understand. What point is there in their bungalows if the people in them cannot afford to maintain them or have a decent life? Jobs are more important than anything else. Without jobs, nothing else can be afforded or sustained in the long-term.
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