Original sentence: This was a superficial judgement, and the Foundation's researchers seem not to have looked very hard; while Exeter's independent shops do mostly eschew the High Street (a characterless example of quick post-war reconstruction following the 1942 bombing), there are plenty of them in the more interesting roads immediately connecting to it
Edited sentence: Some say that this was a superficial judgement, they state that the Foundation's researchers had not looked very hard; while Exeter's independent shops do mostly eschew the High Street (a characterless example of quick post-war reconstruction following the 1942 bombing), there are plenty of them in the more interesting roads immediately connecting to it