A Tale of Two Cities

Separated by a sliver of water, Manchester and Salford are geographically closer than any two cities in the UK. In terms of perception they are worlds apart.

Manchester had its fictional Cold Feet and Cutting it, where characters flounced around the swankier parts of the city centre and the southern burbs dealing with their relationship problems. These remain important cultural reference points and are as much a part of what people associate with the city as the Hacienda and Madchester.

At about the same time, Salford had an occasional series on Newsnight called Real Estates which followed the gritty day to day events in the areas of Langworthy and Ordsall. Designed to test the new 'New' Labour government's plans to bring the country's youngsters out of poverty, the toxic events on display painted a desperate picture of the city laced with the odd chink of light.

A stone's throw from where these features were filmed the BBC is now forging ahead with its new northern home at Media City.

Just yesterday, the first high-profile BBC presenter expressed support for the move to Salford. Nicky Campbell's comments are timely and important as is the fact that The Guardian managed to name check the correct city - unlike Nicky himself!

The nuance may be lost on many but certainly not on the regional level. The communications benefits to the city of Salford are huge even if people think the BBC is remaining in Manchester.

In our age of City Regions and the international search for investment, local authorities gloss over boundaries and operate for the greater good. But having the BBC pitch up on your manor will undoubtedly be worn as a badge of civic pride.

A key question is to what extent and in what manner the BBC's northern exodus will deliver economic and cultural benefits to the wider North West region over the course of time, not just in the cities of Salford and Manchester.

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