The North East economy is certainly not as you put it "a basket case".
Any economy made up by burger eating, mouth-breathing, tracky-suit wearing, facebook using, illiterate, social housing dwelling half-wits is a basket case. Only when the region becomes self-supporting (ie. a net contributor to the exchequer) will it be anything else. To do that will take two generations of 'hard love', something which they won't get. Until then, it will be anywhere cheap with sunshine.
PM