I hate you Northerners.

becky_rtw

I think thats the point though - if you live in Central London (like I do) its amazing - all the buzz, a walk to work, friendly, not much crime and absolutely beautiful - yes you pay more for stuff, but my rent is the same here as it was in Cambridge - frankly I love it...

If you live in Zone 4 - its completely different - same cons and hardly any pros plus an hour or more a day on the tube at rush hour (why would you)...

London is overpriced but its ace

McKneff

bryanb wrote: »

A yorkshire friend of mine, in France, says eyup all the time. Is he winding me up?

Most definitely :j

McKneff

brixham wrote: »

Think of us in Torbay.

Loads on min wage due to large tourist industry, fishing in decline due to fuel costs, over inflated house prices due to second homes,useless transport links, highest water rates in the country as we have to keep all our beaches clean.........

Ah that has made me stop and think..........5 mins walk to the beach, swimming and sailing in summer, warm summers and ice/snow VERY rare in winter, countryside, moorland and sea all on our doorstep.

Anyone feel sorry for us now ?

feel sorry for you!!! i am absolutely so jealous of you.

McKneff

Eyup!!!!;)

We live in north yorkshire and were in Oxford for a holiday.
We went into London for the day (train fair £24 return for 2 people) and spent some time where the London Eye was, went on a boat down the Thames, Fish and Chips and a coke wherethe tower is for a fiver, (best Ive tasted for a long time) One ice cream parlour tried to charge us an extortionate amount for an ice cream, went round the corner away from the crowds and paid what we would have done at home.

Rip off London, doesnt have to be, if you keep your wits about you.
We had a fantastic time and spoke to many a stranger during the day.

lostinrates

HelpWhereIcan wrote: »

I certainly don't doubt what you say, but is your industry not one in which you could work remotely most of the time?

Surely only the least enlightened of employers would want you to be in the office simply for the sake of being in the office.

Why not get the best of both worlds? At the cutting edge of IT technology you and your firm must be able to make it happen.

DH works in an office, and does a lot remotely at weekends and when we've been on holiday. For example, I am on the computer now because he is on a conference call. I do not understand why flexible working and working from home is not an option used more by his office. It was raised at the annual meeting though, and the big bosses dismissed it for several reasons.
1. Despite doing an awful lot with clients over the computer and phone (like now:rolleyes: ) if clients want to see you NOW they pay enough to want to see you NOW, and often schedules imposed by authorities beyong clients control are short. eg, DH has to submit something tomorrow at 10am thet was only requested by an external source on Friday at 4pm. For the same reason Mon-Fri employees MUST reside within the M25 area.
2. Flights. It has happened that DH has had to fly with v. little notice, like not even half an hour. Office staff responsible for sorting out travel arrangment know how long (roughly) it takes fom the office to various airports, trying to work it out for a mmber of staff they don't know well and a location thy don't adds valuable time and fuss.
3. Collegiate atmosphere. In the office you ar all in it together. There arepeople who know more than you, and people who know less than you who you can help, and people to have coffee with and get to know outside of work restricted emails and convrsations.

I dare say they quite like keeping an eye on employees too, but I do wish thr was just a wee bit more flexibilty. A work from home day (extra to the weekends :mad: ) would be nice once a month on a Monday so we could have a decent Sunday night. (we leave for the train station at 5.45 on Monday mornings.)

butterfly72

I'm a northerner and have been living in london for 10 years now. I'm ready to move back up north having enjoyed all that London has had to offer - great nightlife..if you don't mind a £40 taxi ride home or a night bus!, theatre, museums, shopping etc etc. But as I get older and slow down I dont venture into the west end much anymore. It would be cheaper to live elsewhere and pay for a hotel if I really need to come down.

Coming from up north makes the house prices here seem worse! I just couldn't pay these prices. As for wages.. yes I do get a 15% london weighting but it doesn't help me get on the property ladder!

As for friendliness... I'd say its easier to make friends up north.. you can meet someone in the morning and be down the pub with them in the evening (or lunch!). Here in London I say you have to work at friendships more.. earn your right for a drink! Also, in smaller towns arrangements can be easier to make. In london if I want to meet a mate its a bus, train, tube and a hassle. Also, I hate coming back late on public transport. Up north, you can get across the town/city in a taxi for a decent fair not like here.

I'm counting down the days til I'm back up north, I say, back up north! :j

lostinrates

London can be friendly.
My father has lived in Central London for his entire career (bar overseas postings) and has developed 'relationships' with various shops, restaurants, bars, services and is an active member of his local residents association as well as his many London friends and neighbours.

I lived in Hampstead, north London, -having never even been there before and developed a friendly relationship with neighbours and local shopkeepers very quickly.

The thing is you can be as friendly and 'villagey' as you want in many areas, but its too big for people to know or remember you if you don't want to be.

lostinrates

butterfly72 wrote: »

I'm a northerner and have been living in london for 10 years now. I'm ready to move back up north having enjoyed all that London has had to offer - great nightlife..if you don't mind a £40 taxi ride home or a night bus!, theatre, museums, shopping etc etc. ... :j

Nightbuses can be gruesome. When we lived in Hampstead I did what I always did in central London, walked. It gets horrid walking uphill after Chalk Farm and you have to take flat shoes, which can be a pain, but its nvr proved unsafe for us.

needahome_2

dont forget that oop north, we have had the housing bubble aswell, and that these £100k 3 bed houses you here about, were going for about £30k even about 5 years ago.

misskool

I work in Central London, there isn't really that many places for me to work at down south that would be of comparably quality. I commute (personal reasons) and it's not enjoyable but you cope.

And as for being able to afford to live 5 to 10 minutes from work, I would have to spend over half my salary for a studio that near to work (SW7).