This photo of Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010 shows housing in central London taken from the top of the BT tower. It's been at the heart of London's identity for decades: Bakers and bankers live on the same city streets in patchwork neighborhoods where swank mansions sit in the shadow of grim tower blocks, and residents from all walks of life mingle in shops, schools and subway stations. Now Britain's debt-shredding austerity measures will slash housing benefit payments used to subsidize rents for the low paid, threatening to price tens of thousands of poor families out of their homes and force them toward the fringes of the country's capital – an exodus that could permanently erode London's famed ethnic, economic and cultural mix. – AP Photo
LONDON: It's been at the heart of London's identity for decades: Bakers and bankers live on the same city streets in patchwork neighborhoods where swank mansions sit in the shadow of grim tower blocks, and residents from all walks of life mingle in shops, schools and subway stations.Now Britain's debt-shredding austerity measures will slash housing benefit payments used to subsidize rents for the low-paid, threatening to price tens of thousands of poor families out of their homes and force them toward the fringes of the country's capital – an exodus that could permanently erode London's famed ethnic, economic and cultural mix.
