Berlin is the new Hackney for Brits

buglawton

Seems that the real people that were going to be the economic dynamos of the UK's future are now leaving London in droves.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/01/creative-young-brits-quit-london-affordable-berlin

Because the cost/stress of housing and living in London squeezes the life-blood, energy and creativity out of anyone who tries to live there.

Sounds like London is only a choice for royalty, skilled financial speculators, foreign oligarchs and their relatives or young people gaining a bit of life & work experience before moving on to their real life elsewhere.

Now I'm all for free markets setting the real price of everything, but this bodes badly for the future of the UK's creative economy.
And for London, if it becomes a city split between well-off inheritors and poor itinerants, with no real professional/working class living there any more.

Is London going to become a victim of it's own success?

missyrichards

I knew somebody who moved to Camden in London from Berlin and she said the standard of living back In Germany was far higher than here. She did a breakdown of what she paid in rent and what she spent on entertainment etc... and it seemed she was right. She moved back there after about a year.

chewmylegoff

Berlin's population is still about a million lower than it was in the Second World War, largely due to the ongoing legacy of its historic division and the fact that major parts of its economy relocated to other cities and haven't moved back post-reunification (eg Frankfurt is now the centre of the german banking industry). To add to that its population is stable whereas London's is going through the roof. Against this backdrop it is not surprising that accomodation costs are lower than in London.

buglawton

You just made Berlin sound very attractive.

padington

My taxi driver today spent the whole journey talking about how London is now the capital of the world and how a German customer said recently that if it wasn't for his parents he would see no reason to ever go back home now he's seen how much better London is.

Whilst my German volunteer has spent the last 6 months talking up London and talking down Germany. She was from black forest country, she said that the Berliners had a dreadful big head and it was a real bore for anyone from the German countryside to go there because of attitude they give to people with the wrong accent.

Berlin was the place to be ten to fifteen years ago, now it's London. Anything else is wishful thinking.

From the article ... “Occasionally, you get, ‘What are you doing here, you’re ruining everything,’

That's not the attitude that made Hackney and Dalston what they are today.

cells

London is a poor choice if you are on a low income (unless you can bag a council house or are entitled to HB or a willing to live 6 to a 3 bed home)

padington

cells wrote: »

London is a poor choice if you are on a low income (unless you can bag a council house or are entitled to HB or a willing to live 6 to a 3 bed home)

That's supply and demand for you.

princeofpounds

Berlin is a really great city. Has a very green, spacious feel. Totally understand why people would want to live there and it's true the housing quality and pricing is far far better. Helps if you speak German though!

cells

padington wrote: »

That's supply and demand for you.

a busy McDonald doesn't charge more for big macs than a quieter one

michaels

cells wrote: »

a busy McDonald doesn't charge more for big macs than a quieter one

Actually McDonalds in Central London, at airports etc do charge more.

antrobus

cells wrote: »

a busy McDonald doesn't charge more for big macs than a quieter one

Depends on whether or not it's a franchise, and what pricing policy they have adopted.