The times they are a changin!
I see where you?re coming from Kev. The financial reward is important to the City. I had the misfortune of coming up against some very dark and cynical voices on the Echo forum. Thankfully that is over. All Cities are multicultural that is the reality of City life. I think the Chinese Olympics gave this new century a reality check too. What for me is the real benefit of 2008 for Liverpool is the idea of real regeneration. With the economic gloom of the past two months that might appear to be over optimistic. Yet if you consider the geographical factor that the City is not the busy Atlantic port it once was then you can see the need for innovative planning. The City has to respond to the changes. The point about Liverpool becoming a shopping center and cultural centre for the wider Merseyside community is also of interest and very welcome. I think the label of down trodden scousers has been a millstone around us. The year brought about a sense of social cohesion for the City. I don?t doubt that the arguments about what Culture is will go on. Visiting the town centre myself I noticed that the general attitude was that Liverpool is a place of interest. Sometimes you might feel that we could think bigger. Yet the consideration that as a port we have lost the trade routes has to be taken. I remember being in the playground of Saint Joan of Arc Bootle during the seaman?s strike of the sixties. The Mersey was clogged up with ships, all you could see was funnels of the different shipping lines. Well that?s gone and the majority of trade now is cross channel. I personally would like to see a reemergence of Atlantic shipping or at least an increase. That might still happen as the economic union of Europe is slightly unpredictable and the presence of three major ports on the periphery is something that might be utilized in coming years. All in all the year has to be seen as of benefit to the City.