Page - 79 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 3/2017

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 3 2o17 Samantha Wilkinson, Catherine Wilkinson | Night-Life and Young People’s Atmospheric Mobilities 79 consumption has been written in the context of the expanding night-time economy, which itself tends to focus on urban inner-city areas (e.g. Chatterton and Hollands 2002; Hollands 2002; Lovatt and O’Connor 1995). While research has been undertaken into rural drinking geogra- phies (e.g. Leyshon 2008; Valentine et al. 2008), and holiday destinations (Bellis, et al. 2000; Briggs et al. 2011), very little has been said about drinking practices in suburbia (see Wilkinson, S., forthcoming). Wythenshawe and Chorlton were selected as the case study locations due to their differing socio-economic status (Wythenshawe performing poorly on many markers of socio-economic status, in comparison to Chorlton), and the varying drinking micro-geogra- phies of the wards (e.g. Wythenshawe has a nightclub, yet numerous pubs have shut down in recent years, whereas Chorlton has no nightclub, yet has a very vibrant bar / pub scene). Wythenshawe was created in the 1920s as a Garden City in an attempt to resolve Manchester’s overpopulation and depravation in its inner-city slums. It continued to develop up to the 1970s, however the 1980s and 1990s saw a steady decline, high unemployment, decaying infrastruc - ture, crime, and problems with drug misuse (Atherton et al., 2005). Wythenshawe is eight miles south of Manchester city centre, and faced with relatively poor transportation links (Lucas et al., 2009). Data from the Wythenshawe and Sale East constituency show that in the constituency, as a place of work – 18.7% of all employee jobs paid below the Living Wage in 2014 (£7.65 per hour). This compares to 23.6% regionally and 21.7% nationally (Northern Housing Con- sortium, 2015). Moreover, the proportion of minority ethnic residents living in Wythenshawe is below Manchester’s average (8%, whereas Manchester’s average is 23.1%) (Manchester City Council 2011). There are distinct neighbourhoods within Wythenshawe, along with a town centre with various shops, supermarkets, hairdressers, pubs and a club. Whilst a number of pubs have shut their doors permanently, in existing pubs, CCTV is in abundance (Pubs of Manche- ster, 2012). Wythenshawe was the outdoor filming location for the Channel 4 series  Shameless, which included shots of the local tower-blocks, and housing estates. Chorlton, on the other hand, is a residential area approximately four miles from Manche- ster city centre. It is a cosmopolitan neighbourhood with traditional family areas alongside younger, vibrant communities. The area has good road and bus access to, and from, the city centre, and it is situated within easy access to the motorway network. In 2011, the percentage of pupils achieving five GCSE’s A*-C was 69.5% in Chorlton, compared to 57% for Manchester’s average (Manchester City Council, 2012). Drawing on Manchester City Council’s (2012) data, Chorlton has a higher proportion of minority ethnic residents in comparison to Wythenshawe, and compared to the national average (19.1%, compared to the national average of 11.3%). As of November 2011, private residential property in Chorlton accounted for 90.3% of all property in the ward, much higher than the city average of 68.7%. Chorlton is renowned for having more of a bohemian feel than other parts of Manchester; it has a large number of inde- pendent bars and pubs, yet no club (Manchester Bars, 2017). The drinking venues are popular with both students and young professionals, and include a mix of traditional pubs, and modern bars (Manchester Bars, 2017). Bars often have some form of music, and are considered to have a relaxed door policy (Manchester Bars, 2017). Having detailed the case study locations, we now review literature on young people’s im/ mobiities. This is followed by a review of a small body of literature that considers the approa- ches of atmospheres and mobilities as mutually intertwined, when bound up with alcohol