'The North' has long been characterised with a single four-letter adjective - 'grim'. It's a horrible little word that manages to offend just about anyone who lives anywhere north of Oxford. It comes from decades of misrepresentation of the North of England: its inhabitants as dour, miserable and pessimistic; the cities as grey, industrial and architecturally uninspiring; the accents as crude, incomprehensible and unsophisticated; and the weather as cold with constant drizzle and slate-coloured overcast skies. Now, though, Southerners are either peering enviously up the M1 at their Northern countrymen in their buzzing, vibrant economic boom cities and wishing they could afford to have so much fun, or upping sticks and moving 'Up North'.
The problem for the North has always been that London is so far away, both geographically and figuratively. Decisions about the North have historically been made by men in suits down in the capital, often without ever even visiting the counties, cities, towns and villages that they were condemning to economic misery or consigning to the 2nd class carriage of the locomotive of national politics. This, however, has changed in the last 10 years, as politicians have both admitted the geographical unfairness of the distribution of wealth and power in the country, and realised the untapped potential of cities such as Manchester, Leeds and, of course, Liverpool.
The Northern Powerhouse was a proposal by the coalition government of 2010-2015. The main aims were to decentralise power so that cities in the North became more autonomous and to develop the region's economy, transport and education. Part of the devolution plan was the introduction of City Deals, voluntary partnerships between local government authorities and businesses which made the decision-making process faster, fairer and less bureaucratic. As the government's dedicated Northern Powerhouse website (https://northernpowerhouse.gov.uk/) states "Building a Northern Powerhouse is about boosting the local economy by investing in skills, innovation, transport and culture, as well as devolving significant powers and budgets to directly elected mayors to ensure decisions in the North are made by the North. We are backing business growth right across the North, and giving our great cities the power and resources they need to reach their huge untapped potential."
If one discounts a minor blip at the beginning of Teresa May's tenure as PM (she was rumoured to have been less than enamoured with the idea of any devolution of power away from the capital), the development of the North has been largely successful. Both Liverpool and Manchester are not only home to the two best football teams in the country at the moment, they are also two of the fastest growing economies in the UK, and projections see their meteoric rise continuing.
In Liverpool, there has been a steady stream of inward investment over the last 5 years, with a cool billion pounds being invested annually to make an even cooler £5 billion total. There are plans for high-speed rail links to connect Liverpool with Manchester and other cities in the North-West, reducing commuter times and facilitating a more efficient local commercial transport network. A new stadium for Everton Football Club, a new cruise terminal at the port and 2,000,000 sqft of office space are being constructed, all of which will both create jobs in the short and long term, and thousands of new homes have been green-lit for development by the city and county councils.
As the cities in the Northern Powerhouse remain so affordable - you can basically get two flats in Liverpool for one similar property in not even the best part of London - they are attracting both businesses and homemakers. The development of Liverpool City Centre has led to its revival as not only a business hub but also a residential centre, as more and more people decide that living in the city is preferable to living in the suburbs or in the countryside.
The Northern Powerhouse, then, is living up to its name, and Liverpool is in the engine-room, busy shovelling coal on the fire, making sure it stays at the forefront of innovation and development in this exciting and forward looking region. There would be, it seems, no better time to join the many that are leaving London and the suburbs and countryside of the North, and make your way to Liverpool.