The Mancunian Way: The horror of gentrification

Keep up to date with all the big stories from across Greater Manchester in the daily Mancunian Way newsletter. You can receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by signing up right here.

Gentrification. It's a topic we return to time and time again in the Mancunian Way.

Who are the winners and losers when a city such as Manchester undergoes the kind of rapid transformation we're currently seeing? What happens to the working class when well-paid professionals move in and the prices start to soar?

They're important questions which we're probably not doing enough to answer at the minute. And it's an issue given a paranormal twist in the play 2:22 A Ghost Story, now showing at The Lowry.

John Shammas went along to review it, on Halloween appropriately, and used the opportunity to have his say on the gentrification debate. Using the example of Levenshulme, which recently hit the headlines after the Sunday Times reviewed wine bar Isca, and its £10 cabbage, John concludes the south Manchester suburb is currently enjoying the best of both worlds.

"Now Levenshulme is an interesting place," writes John. "You can pay north of £6 for a gorgeous pint of craft beer at the lovely Nordie.

"And then, a few doors down at one of the still-standing Irish pubs a pint of Stella remains approximately £3.20 and can be enjoyed while watching live sport. Both are equally lovely experiences in my view – but the fact that both experiences are available so close together is remarkable."

The play, which is showing until November 4, sounds good as well, by the way.

What's bright blue, 16-stories tall and has a name that means 'gathering' in Latin? It's Manchester city centre's latest swanky office block obviously.

Plans for Colloco,