After decades of relative economic decline and population loss, the north has a problem unimaginable in most of the south: too much old housing.

ECONOMIST: The rebuilding of England��s northern cities has stopped

Areas which have been particularly badly hit include those parts of the country where unemployment has traditionally been a problem for all age groups, such as north and south Wales, Northern Ireland, and urban areas including Liverpool and Birmingham.

BBC: Youth bear brunt of recession

The problem began when we decided to drive not back south, where the temperatures were warmer, but north, where the roads were caked with ice.

WSJ: An Accidental Trip to Trans-Dniester | Traveler's Tale