The Manchester I grew up in is changing rapidly - I'm both excited and terrified at the same time

On the one hand, there are signs that Manchester is moving up in the world. We have a skyline that looks more like London’s year-on-year, we’re hosting more and more internationally prestigious events and the demand for housing continues to rise.

These days, when you say you’re from Manchester, it’s not just football teams and Oasis that people think of, it’s our new shiny glass towers, rapid development and the word “Manctopia.” But this is the part of the Manchester success story that makes me nervous. While our city cements its reputation as a global city, it’s getting harder and harder for ordinary Mancunians to live here.

The effects of the cost of living crisis are still being felt across Greater Manchester, house prices and rents are soaring due to demand, with some Mancunians not being able to afford a house in the area they grew up in, and the lack of social housing remains one of the biggest challenges the council faces today. 

For years now, people who live in the surrounding boroughs have watched as the city centre booms, waiting for some of this prosperity to trickle out to the less desirable suburbs. In some cases it has – take Stockport, for example. The industrial town famous for its viaducts now has a thriving food, drink and entertainment scene thanks to considerable investment, giving Ancoats a run for its money as one of the trendiest places to live in the North West. However, the same cannot be said for neighbouring Ashton-under-Lyne, where residents are frustrated with their deteriorating town centres and dwindling opportunities. 

Looking back towards the city centre, however, there are some signs that previously underfunded and overlooked parts of Manchester will be getting some much needed attention in the near future. Most recently, regeneration plans were announced for Holt Town. Situated between Ancoats and the Etihad, there is not much at Holt Town apart from the Metrolink stop, but now the council is looking to build 4,500 new homes there, including a ‘significant’ amount of affordable housing. The vision also mentions green spaces and commercial opportunities. 

Elsewhere, there are even bigger plans in Collyhurst and the Victoria North development, which will see 15,000 new homes built, seven new neighbourhoods and the potential to grow the population by 40,000 people. Wythenshawe is also poised for a massive £500,000 transformation of its public square, which will include more shops, cultural spaces and 1,700 homes, thanks to Levelling Up money.

But as the council greenlights these projects aimed at addressing the housing issues in Manchester, the private developers are also looking for the next corner of Manchester to build luxury apartments and hotels on. The Northern Quarter, an area of independent shops bars and arts venues, is well on its way to getting its first tower. Over at Albert Square, Gary Neville is making progress on his ambitious St Michael’s hotel development, which will one day loom over our historic Town Hall. 

One proposal that has caught my eye in recent weeks is the plans for the biggest tower in the UK outside of London over at the Regent Retail Park in Ordsall. These plans would see the retail park demolished and 71-storey tower, 3,300, park and new retail spaces built in its place. Local residents in Ordsall, Salford, have set up a campaign group to save the retail park, arguing that local residents would lose out on the employment opportunities the retail park provides, it would create more traffic and pollution in an already congested area and that most Ordsall residents would not be able to afford the houses the development offers. 

Manchester has not stopped growing since the Industrial Revolution which put this city on the map in the first place. It’s constant and inevitable. But sometimes it feels like it's growing too fast for the people who live here. It should be embraced, but only if the people who call it home can grow here too.