Faced with so many question marks about the future it is rewarding to contemplate the buoyancy of the Thames Valley.
It is not merely that the existing towns are in rude health but also the dynamic of the business parks in many places, particularly Oxford.
The conventional view is that all the high tech and science parks are around Cambridge but Oxfordshire belies that image.
At the home of the UK’s nuclear industry, Harwell is performing strongly as a centre for high tech businesses, as is the ever popular Milton Park which now has a new and formidable institutional investor from Canada.
With its new Lexicon Shopping Centre, Bracknell should have a renewed lease of life because it now offers local occupiers a much improved offer through the rebuilding of one of the post war New Towns.
Also significant is the steady performance of Basingstoke with a healthy leasing market.
However, the significant factor will be Crossrail and how it affects development in the Thames Valley. History tells us that new stations become nodal points for growth but in the case of Reading it also has a much enhanced rail service.
Surely this improved transport will attract more companies to locate there and increase the number of skilled jobs. That will mean more business for Heathrow, once again putting pressure on its capacity.