tiltonroader, You must appreciate that there has been many changes over the last few years, and not all good, having posted and read these posts several times it is becoming obvious that the main gripe is the overcrowding situation here in Brum, we have been bombarded by "non British subjects" (I'm being polite here) causing a massive problem especially for the younger generation in setting up home in their own city, due to the fact that the city council's lack of building social housing and the fact that any empty properties are being given to none locals, the other obvious fact is that money is being spent on "tarting up" the city centre to attract tourism but very little spent on some of the residents homes, Brum IS a wonderful city from a business/investment/nightlife point of view but what about the very people who helped build this city in the first place, it is, and has been for many years in some cases, our home, but it would appear that we are being brushed aside in the name of progress, causing many problems in the suburbs unseen by many, as you state most large cities have similar problems but our interests are with Brum as this forum suggests, our only hope is that now we are OUT of the EU, things may well finally improve.