Blackburn - The best place to make a living

lisa110rry

Kabayiri, well said. And up here there are some who are agonising over having to boil water. First world problems. When I worked in Africa my eyes were opened.

[Deleted User]

GunJack wrote: »

I know...your point is what, exactly?

There's plenty of places 'north' of Watford that you would consider 'the south'. Cambridge, Oxford, Colchester, Milton Keynes..

Heck, I live 2 miles north of Watford, and we're still within the M25, so we're certainly 'in the south'

I'd oddly put the dividing line at a diagonal, from Cheltenham, through the Watford Gap, over to King's Lynn

lisyloo

I think I'd take Blackburn over parts of Calais, Kos, Lesbos and other places under pressure.

You are absolutely correct to put in perspective.
A few days ago I was laughing at my first world problems.
I've had to re-organise a luxury holiday because of FCO advice (pirates) and someone has depleted my stock of Chai tea bags at the office !! :-)

Nevertheless the decision (for example) between being unemployed or taking a job in London and paying high rent is still something that's going to occupy someone's mind in the UK.
We still have the right to complain if things are unfair even if we are much richer and certainly on behalf of other less fortunate than ourselves.
I am concerned for people 20 years younger than me and those who are lower earners.

bugslet

Ah London so tempting.....



See Warrington is in the top 10, well I live in a WA postcode and I have Liverpool, Chester, Warrington within 15 minutes and Manchester within 30 minutes drive. Cheshire countryside on my doorstep and three major motorway nearby. Turn left out of my house and I'm 5 minutes walk from the canal towpath and a fantastic theatre, or turn right and 10 minutes from Runcorn Hill & Park with its tennis courts, bowls and brass band concerts in summer



Far as I can tell there's ropey bits in any town and good bits, but your money goes a heck of a lot further in the North;)

kabayiri

I believe even Blackburn needs people to work in shops, supermarkets, cut people's hair, look after the elderly, fix the roads, drive the buses, do people's accounts, fix PCs etc.

If you want to work for a top 10 ad agency where office chairs are replaced by designer comfy cushions, or become a top barrister, then I'd hazard a guess that Blackburn isn't for you

On the occasions I work with IT people in India they don't seem too concerned with if I live near London; near Blackburn; near Birmingham etc.

Maybe our obsession with workplace location is a short lived thing.

GunJack

ringo_24601 wrote: »

There's plenty of places 'north' of Watford that you would consider 'the south'. Cambridge, Oxford, Colchester, Milton Keynes..

Heck, I live 2 miles north of Watford, and we're still within the M25, so we're certainly 'in the south'

I'd oddly put the dividing line at a diagonal, from Cheltenham, through the Watford Gap, over to King's Lynn

hmm.... close, maybe....

I'd have it just north of cheltenham (it's still posh and expensive there) but start it off out in west wales to include cardiff/swansea, so more like through Hereford, and drop the other side to more like Norwich, which would be far more realistic

Either way, it would mean that I lived in the South for 9 years (just north of Cambridge), which employer at the time considered to be in the "expensive south-east" and so moved most of us (but not me thankfully) to Bristol as a cost-cutting exercise :rotfl: :eek: :rotfl:

GunJack

bugslet wrote: »

See Warrington is in the top 10, well I live in a WA postcode and I have Liverpool, Chester, Warrington within 15 minutes and Manchester within 30 minutes drive. Cheshire countryside on my doorstep and three major motorway nearby. Turn left out of my house and I'm 5 minutes walk from the canal towpath or turn right and 10 minutes from Runcorn Hill & Park with its tennis courts, bowls and brass band concerts in summer


Far as I can tell there's ropey bits in any town and good bits, but your money goes a heck of a lot further in the North;)

You're not that far from me then - it's better up here than down there

lisyloo

On the occasions I work with IT people in India they don't seem too concerned with if I live near London; near Blackburn; near Birmingham etc.

I agree it makes no difference at all to our Indian colleagues.

However there is no way we could move our office without losing some staff. For our business it would be a major blow to lose the experience and knowledge of many people with 20 years service so it's very costly in terms of lost experience to move a business.

For people personally it's not always that easy to up sticks.
We have very elderly parents who fall down a lot, go into hospital and regularly need help with paperwork and DIY. We are now at a stage in our lives where we just wouldn't "up sticks" and move to Blackburn.
There is also an issue when you have 2 careers.

So I agree with where you are coming from, but it's very difficult in practice.

Maybe our obsession with workplace location is a short lived thing.

I can't see any of the issues I've mentioned changing any time soon.

[Deleted User]

I'd want to keep Stratford-upon-avon in the Midlands.. whilst it is very nice, I always consider it 'in the Midlands' and not the south.

FYI - if i had a business that required hiring a load of graduates; i'd certainly want it in London. My firm only uses 'experienced' hires, so it doesn't matter as much that we're based in the north west

My job lets me live litterally anywhere in the country.. but we're in leafy Hertfordshire because i) Wife's family is here ii) kids are settled in school iii) It's nice

Sure, I could buy a house twice the size in the north <sob>

GunJack

ringo_24601 wrote: »

I'd want to keep Stratford-upon-avon in the Midlands.. whilst it is very nice, I always consider it 'in the Midlands' and not the south. my line just about squeezes it in the Midlands

FYI - if i had a business that required hiring a load of graduates; i'd certainly want it in London. Why??

^^^ and that sort of attitude is why most half-decent opportunities seem to be leaking away from the rest of the country... what's so special about a whacking-great big expensive horrible overcrowded place like London unless you're in politics or finance??