Social engineering or too good an opportunity to miss

westernpromise

You wouldn't get me moving to Manchester. For one thing it's full of Mancs and for another if you move out of London you can never afford to move back.

It does amuse me that people from oop north think the north's such a great place to live people should be forced to live there. People from oop north only think the north's great because they haven't got a clue. Look at where the immigrants go. Clue: not Birmingham. I wonder why?

zagubov

wotsthat wrote: »

Maybe instead of asking whether we should move certain government functions we should ask if we need them at all.

DVLA closed regional offices and moved to Swansea. Probably more efficient but they still employ 5,500 people!

I think they also took over some work from the NI driver license agency which once had a totally different system from the GB system (10-year licenses, no yearplates, R plates for new drivers etc.).

I knew someone decades ago whose lodger apparently couldn't get their license taken off them because it was issued by NI, not GB.

badmemory

westernpromise wrote: »

You wouldn't get me moving to Manchester. For one thing it's full of Mancs and for another if you move out of London you can never afford to move back.

It does amuse me that people from oop north think the north's such a great place to live people should be forced to live there. People from oop north only think the north's great because they haven't got a clue. Look at where the immigrants go. Clue: not Birmingham. I wonder why?

The thing is that once you have moved out of London it doesn't matter whether you can afford to move back - you just don't want too. Please don't move UP here as you are one of the few that wouldn't be very welcome. We are however usually polite to strangers unlike a lot of those who still live down there.

westernpromise

I've lived in Birmingham and Stafford, and I wouldn't move back, ta very much. Both were full of people who thought their little village was 1/ great and 2/ the whole world.

dlk

westernpromise wrote: »

I've lived in Birmingham and Stafford, and I wouldn't move back, ta very much. Both were full of people who thought their little village was 1/ great and 2/ the whole world.

Is the irony of that statement completely lost on you?

CLAPTON

badmemory wrote: »

The thing is that once you have moved out of London it doesn't matter whether you can afford to move back - you just don't want too. Please don't move UP here as you are one of the few that wouldn't be very welcome. We are however usually polite to strangers unlike a lot of those who still live down there.

rather unpleasant sentiment
I find most people all over the world polite and welcoming : maybe it's the effect you have on them

kabayiri

Maybe if there were more jobs moved up North, then the motorways wouldn't be full of people commuting to the South every weekend.

I've been one of those commuters in the past. Just how much pollution is generated by stagnant traffic for large chunks of Friday and Sunday?

westernpromise

kabayiri wrote: »

Maybe if there were more jobs moved up North, then the motorways wouldn't be full of people commuting to the South every weekend.

In the same way, if there were more water forced to flow uphill, the same old places wouldn't keep getting flooded.

The north is cheap for a reason. It's because it's rubbish. London is expensive for a reason. It's because it's the most popular tourist destination in the world

http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-popular-cities-in-the-world-to-visit.html

People who live in Burnley think it's great, but that's because they live in Burnley, and thus simply can't imagine anything better than that. Fine dining at the Harvester, four screens at the Vue and a nice park in which to walk tut whippet; who could ask for more?

dlk

westernpromise wrote: »

In the same way, if there were more water forced to flow uphill, the same old places wouldn't keep getting flooded.

The north is cheap for a reason. It's because it's rubbish. London is expensive for a reason. It's because it's the most popular tourist destination in the world

http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-popular-cities-in-the-world-to-visit.html

People who live in Burnley think it's great, but that's because they live in Burnley, and thus simply can't imagine anything better than that. Fine dining at the Harvester, four screens at the Vue and a nice park in which to walk tut whippet; who could ask for more?

Much as you're obviously just trolling and looking for a reaction I'll respond anyway.

London is a great city. For tourism it's got lots of tremendous attributes. Living there I would love to have the West End and all the shows etc on my doorstep. Many people love having the best museums at their disposal anytime they want to visit them. I also think the underground is a wonderful transport system and I'd love it for my home city of Leeds to have a similar system rather than having to sit in horrendous traffic to get anywhere.

HOWEVER. There are many other great cities in the country. Manchester, Leeds, I could go on but won't. They offer virtually everything that London has to offer other than the things I have already mentioned. The shopping, the nightlife etc are pretty much on a par. There really isn't the vast difference you seem to think there is.

There are reasons to live in London, though most of them are more beneficial for those who can afford to take advantage of them. I can't imagine any reason I would live in London if I didn't have a minimum of £150k salary so I could utilise the best restaurants and go to regular West End shows. On the flipside there are downsides. The pollution, the overcrowding, the living in homes the size of a shoebox. Nobody is wrong to want to live in London, London simply meets their priorities but likewise no-one is wrong to live in any other city because that one meets there needs.

For me I choose the North because I can live in a lovely 5 bedroom home with a playroom for my daughter and a small gym with a nice garden that in London would probably cost around 3-4m. I can also send my daughter to a good school without having to go private.

Of course people in Burnley like Burnley just like people in Leeds like Leeds and people in London like London, that's why they live there! Finding it strange that someone loves the place they live in is as strange as asking the man in a Ferrari whether he likes Ferrari's or asking the man at the football whether he likes football.

Fuzzyness

chiefie wrote: »

Can't understand why the government dont move central government departments to the regions.

That would reduce the pressure on public services in London, and hopefully house prices. They would also solve recruitment problems,for key workers go can't afford to live in London and as a result suffer miserable commuting towns.

It would help to regenerate the regions (North?)

Can only see them having done it with the bbc in Salford.

am I being a bit simple in thinking this ?

it has happened in the past. i think Coventry got some quasi government education/skills type body moved here a few years ago.