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Drawing on what you have learned about City Road, outline some of the inequalities on a street that you know. In this paper I will list some of the inequalities observed on Kenton Road, and then compare them to those I learned about City Road. I will examine a commercial side of the street and economic inequality, highlight the conflict between people of different ages in a community and show unequal opportunities in being employed as a result of English language proficiency for immigrants. Kenton Road is a main road in the London Borough of Brent; it goes through Kenton and Harrow. As a suburb, although it is cheaper than in central London, rent there is still very expensive. The Local community is constituted predominantly of Asians and newly arrived Eastern Europeans. I am going to focus on a part of the road that begins at Kenton station and finishes at Northwick Park roundabout. Near the station, at the bottom of the road, there is a large Sainsbury’s Supermarket with a spacious car park for its customers. On the other side of the station, within 5 min of walking, one can find a Travellers rest pub, Chinese take away, Turkish kebab, Subway sandwich and Fried Chicken chip shop. On both sides of the road there are residential areas, a few traditional English corner shops and a small privately owned supermarket. Growing consumption creates new social demands and new competitors are entering the street generating inequalities. Although, they are situated well, traditional corner shops/newsagents are poor competitors with supermarkets. As a result of their huge resources, experience and market power large chains are in a vantage situation. Small local stores, places where I often shop, can survive because of their dual social role. As well as offering a large variety of goods and selling unique products that attract ethnic and national minorities, they create a friendly and safe atmosphere that fosters a sense of community (‘Evidence in the social sciences’2009, track1). Both small privately owned local shops and supermarkets have a smaller choice of products compared to Sainsbury’s. It’s much easier for Sainsbury’s to attract customers with big promotions, low prices, advertisements and a large car park. A similar situation arises on city road, where Colin, a newsagent, was struggling because of ‘big boys’ mowing in to the area (‘Making social lives on City Road’2009, scene 3). My next example of inequality is due to age; the conflict between older generation and youth. Many middle aged and elderly citizens find Kenton road unsafe, especially at night. Groups of young men loitering are seen as potentially threatening even if they behave. Old people then feel endangered and avoid going out at late hours. This is reminiscent of people at the Municipal Club in Cardiff. As Dr Georgina Blakeley states this behaviour is a longing for a past, ‘a sense of belonging that the men used to feel when City Road was theirs’ (‘Making social lives on City Road’, 2009, scene 5). They perceive the street differently, forgetting that when they were young, they too intimidated the elderly community. Streets are changing, people are moving in and out; they come from and go to, all corners of the world. New residents try to find a sense of emotional stability in a new environment. They often feel disconnected and unsafe. The proficiency of their English is indicative of yet another social inequality. Despite the fact they are well educated ‘many migrants have to take up jobs which have a relatively low social value’ (Blakeley et al., 2009, p31). A well-educated Anglophone is more likely to obtain a career of their choice than a person from a non English-speaking country. Limited linguistic prowess decreases the chances of being employed in a well-paid job. An array of people with university degrees are working long hours in cleaning services, restaurants, bars and construction companies, which limit their opportunities in effectively learning English. Dr Sukumar Nandi from Kenton, who obtained his education in India; where English is one of officially used languages, was able to pursue his career and achieved great success in cardiology whereas hundreds of others residents of Kenton road are effected by the language barrier. Dr Parvati Raghuram noticed that Nof Al-Kelaby, a proprietor from Cardiff who came from Iraq; a non English-speaking country, ‘does not follow his career in engineering he’s disconnected not able to use skills that he had’ (‘Connected lives, 2009, scene 1). Thus Kenton road is very similar to City Road in Cardiff as a place continuously undergoing changes, rich in multiculturalism, offering many different activities and opportunities, but also witnessing struggle, inequalities and differences. References: Blakeley, G., Clarke, J., Raghuram, P., Silva, E. And Taylor, S.(2009) Learning Companion 1, Introducing the social sciences: part one, Milton Keynes, The Open University. ‘Connected lives’ (2009) Making Social Lives [DVD], Milton Keynes, The Open University. ‘Evidence in the social sciences’(2009) Making Social Lives [Audio CD], Milton Keynes, The Open University. ‘Making social lives on City Road’ (2009) Making Social Lives [DVD], Milton Keynes, The Open University.