| I remember Southend as the cool place to be when I was a teenager. Now as a property investor I still think it’s the place to be but for different reasons! Southend is the largest town in Essex and now has a glitzier feel to the place than before. Its theme park operates all year round and attracts families looking for a day out from a 1 hour travelling distance radius. For this reason alone the tourism industry in Southend is its biggest revenue generator. Southend has had its problems though. Unemployment is higher than average for the east of England as it relies heavily on the tourism trade and its fishing industry. However this is about to change. The number of visitors is set to rise due to investment of £17 million on the Southend sea front, high street and pier-enhancement project. The project will radically change the appearance of the town's central corridor, from the entrance in Prittlewell through the high street and along the 1.5 mile pier, which is being redeveloped following the fire 3 years ago. Works to be undertaken as part of the project include cycle tracks, themed quarters in the high street and the updating of ugly and old-fashioned eye-sores. Southend is already visited by 1.6 million people a year. The aim of the project is to double that number. This should boost jobs and therefore boost demand for rental properties for the lower and average paid workers and for rooms at hotels and B&Bs from the increased visitors. 150 new jobs were created by London Clubs International alone, which opened a new Casino at the Kursal building earlier this year. The airport provides 1,300 jobs for Southend and surrounding areas and the outlook for the airport look strong. There are two major developments at Shoeburyness, which is at the eastern periphery of the borough, both of which are former Ministry of Defence ranges and are considered crucial to the regeneration of the area. One development, at Shoeburyness garrison, will result in 600 jobs as the result of the creation of a mini-town comprising 465 new homes, a school, shops, leisure centre and health centre. The A127 and A13 trunk roads link Southend to the national motorway network via the M25, which is 20 minutes' drive from the town. However, both trunk roads are overloaded but will be seeing a £14.5 million investment to improve passenger transport and reduce congestion on the A13 and A127. In addition, Southend received an increase in transport block funding of £4.6 million for 2001-02, against funding of £2.3 million in the previous financial year. | 
