City area sadly variable with little good in it (9)
I believe the answer is:
belgravia
'city area' is the definition.
(area of London)
'sadly variable with little good in it' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'good' could be 'g' (abbreviation) and 'g' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'variable' is 'belravia' which is within the left over letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for belgravia that I've seen before include "Area S. of Knightsbridge" , "part of London" , "London locality" , "London area" .)