LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION...WHAT THEY DIDN'T TELL YOU

Tuesday, 23rd October 2007

The Channel 4 programme Location, Location this week claimed Middlesbrough was the worst place in the UK to live.

Not surprisingly we don't agree with their opinion - and hope that you feel the same way. Here we point out just a few of the things that are making Middlesbrough a better place to be.

How the programme makes its conclusions

The programme collects information on the 434 local authority areas in the UK.

They look at five factors. These are the ones the programme says people take into account when deciding to move from one area to another. Each is weighted depending on the priority that people give them.

The five factors in order of importance are:

- Crime, here they look at "victim" crime, such as assault and car theft.
- Environment, number of sunshine hours, rainfall, life expectancy and carbon emissions
- Lifestyle - number of shops, bars, restaurants, sports facilities
- Education - percentage of children in local authority schools getting five A* to C GCSEs.
- Employment - the percentage of people who are economically active.

Inevitably, some of these figures won't be bang up to the minute. Nor can they reflect the changes that we see happening every day, or plans for the future.

So what is changing?

Everyone around here knows that Middlesbrough had big economic and social problems in the 1980s and 1990s. There was a massive decline in the traditional industries. At its peak over one in five people were unemployed. That had a massive impact on people's well-being. Everyone knows the problems it caused won't be sorted overnight.

However, the last ten years have seen big improvements in these areas:

Local economy

Since 2000 Middlesbrough has seen economic activity rates up from 68% to 73% - an increase in the top 10% of all local authorities in the country. Employment rates are up from 60% to 67% - an increase bettered by only 13 of the 354 English districts. There has been a fall of 34% in numbers unemployed - that is the biggest decline in percentage unemployed in the country. In addition there's been a ten per cent increase in people of working age with NVQ3 or higher qualifications.

Crime

Since 2000 levels of crime have also reduced in Middlesbrough. This applies to all types of crime but significantly violent crime, burglaries and theft have shown a marked reduction.

Environment

Middlesbrough has some of the cleanest air in the country - so much for the "smoggy" myth. It was also the UK's first Environment City.

All the town's parks have won the coveted Green Flag award, while our pioneering work on climate change has won national praise.

Surveys on street cleanliness have shown substantial improvement, while the "talking" CCTV cameras pioneered by the town have deterred anti-social behaviour.

Education

GCSE results in Middlesbrough have improved every year for the past five years. The University of Teesside is a world leader in the field of digital technology and has just opened its Institute of Digital Innovation - part of wider plans to create jobs and wealth through this exciting new technology.
The Building Schools for the Future programme will see around £90 million invested in secondary school to create an excellent environment for learning

Lifestyle

We all know Middlesbrough is surrounded by some of the best countryside in the UK. It is also rapidly developing city-scale facilities, such as mima our magificent modern art gallery and Middlesbrough Centre Square. All our shopping malls have been revamped and the town had more shopping space then the Metro Centre. We recently hosted BBC Proms in the Park, which proved a huge success.

The drive to create city-scale facilities is being developed through the Middlehaven project in the heart of the town. Middlehaven is set to create up to 3,000 new jobs with plans for waterfront housing, offices and leisure facilities. The project will confirm Middlesbrough's new credentials as a forward thinking, imaginative and dynamic town at the heart of the Tees Valley city region.