One of the things I like about W. Ealing is its diversity. The road where I live is like the UN, with perhaps a small equal majority of white English and Polish, then a complete mix of Italian, Chinese, Sikh, Irish, Pakistani, Turkish. Cypriot All really good neighbours whom I'd be sorry to lose.I think your description is a bit simplistic. In the 30 years I've lived here W.Ealing has always been a sort of way-station for the current wave of immigrants. Back in 92 when I moved here there were more Asians than now. Some moved on and were replaced by Somalis and W.Indians. Some of them left and were replaced by the E.European diaspora. Yes, it's true you can walk through W.Ealing Broadway without hearing a word of English, but there's no homogeneity, unlike Southall. Yes, perhaps a third of shops are Asian owned, but you'll also find Iraqis, Afghans, Poles, Jamaicans, Cypriots, Thais...In my view W.Ealing is a sort of barometer for the economy. In good times it copes, just about. But as soon as there is a downturn you get shops and businesses going bust in short order, vacant property and short-life leases. It is now hovering on the brink, just like many poorer parts of the country, though it is nothing like any of the really stricken parts.Once you get a string of voids and short-life tat shops, you're into a spiral of decline as there is less and less reason to shop locally.What I think is pretty disgraceful is that very little has ever been forthcoming from Ealing Council in terms of proactive engagement with this decline. Talk to any of the shopkeepers (I have) and they will tell you the same story, that they feel they get nothing back for their business rates. They see parking constantly made more awkward and discouraging trade, and all the resources being poured into E.Broadway development, their competition for local punters. And the 5 or so years of uncertainty about the tram did terrible damage, as nobody knew whether to stay and invest or move away.None of this has anything to do with race, if you can see past skin colour. It's simply that the entrepreneurs of W.Ealing are, like the population they serve, further down the food chain than is the case in central Ealing.
Tony Sleep ● 5152d