Social engineering or too good an opportunity to miss

zagubov

CLAPTON wrote: »

I guess that explains why Luton and Bradford are full of the English.

I'm afraid that some posters here were suggesting that cities outside London haven't had immigration. Bristol, Birmingham, Leicester, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds all seem multicultural, if not quite to the same extent as London.

Newcastle, Hull, Sheffield, Lincoln, Norwich, Ipswich, Peterborough, Northampton, I don't think have shared the same rate of historical immigration.

kabayiri wrote: »

I rather like the fact that Manchester is full of Mancs, and Leeds is chokka block with Yorkshires, and Birmingham is brimming with Brummies. You can repeat this with Scottish and Welsh major towns and cities.

London is such a hotch potch that it sometimes feels like a working town in parts. I've spent a lot of time in Paris and it feels much the same now.

We have homogenised the shopping experience, with a PC world and B&Q in every major town. Why do we insist on doing the same with people?

When I first visited the US, I went to cities like New Orleans and San Francisco which had distinctive local character. Later I realised that most cities are actual carbon-copies of each other and that the whole country is a lot more homogenous than many a smaller European one. The cities all had the same retail outlets and their signs and logos. The UK seems to be heading that way as well.

Europe seems to have enormous variation in much smaller areas. Whatever your opinion on Brexit, I'm worried we're aping the wrong models of how to organise our country.

DevilsAdvocate1

Some government departments are in the north. The child benefit agency is in Washington, Tyne and Wear. And there is a tax office in Longbenton which is part of Newcastle.

I've lived in London and now live in the North East. Its definitely a much better standard of living up here. Yes, wages are lower, but the cost of things is cheaper too. There is no way I would return to live in London. Its great to visit for a weekend though.

Oh - and for the person who spoke about the North and then referred to Birmingham. You need to look at a map, as Birmingham is not in the north

kabayiri

I guess it spikes a reaction if you say that it's rubbish to live in the North.

The reality is a bit more nuanced I suspect.

Give me a stack of money and I'm pretty sure I can find plenty of spots in London or surrounding which would meet my needs. I used to like places like Chobham and Windlesham. There's some beautiful spots just a short commute from London.

Give me an income that someone working in a call centre or shop could command, and I'd much prefer to live in cheaper parts of the country. I love running; running is cheap; and I could find plenty of places in Wales; NW; NE; Scotland etc.

Sapphire

Problem with central London now is that it is noticeably more polluted, and vastly more crowded and noisy than it was even a year or so ago (I used to work in the Covent Garden, New Bond Street, Grosvenor Square and similar areas, but now work freelance from home). I go into central London roughly once a week and sometimes think I'd love to live in a certain place because of interesting buildings, museums, etc., but when I hear/see careening cement lorries looming down on me/traffic absolutely chocker-block, and sense noticeably bad air due to said traffic and the constant huge building/destruction projects that are being visited on London, I realise it is definitely not for me except to visit – it is fine for that purpose.

westernpromise

kabayiri wrote: »

"the desirable parts of Cheshire"

The where? The what?

Even the grotty parts of London are stupidly priced.

Why might that be, then?

westernpromise

dlk wrote: »

For me I choose the North because I can live in a lovely 5 bedroom home

In a place nobody wants to live. It's so unappealing you can buy a house for £50.

westernpromise

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

Oh - and for the person who spoke about the North and then referred to Birmingham. You need to look at a map, as Birmingham is not in the north

Oh yes it is. It's not the south, so it's tut north. It's poor, it's full of call centres, the accents are incomprehensible and nobody wants to live there = it's tut north.

In the same way you can say you're auburn or strawberry blonde, but to everyone else, you're just ginger.

StevieJ

westernpromise wrote: »

Oh yes it is. It's not the south, so it's tut north. It's poor, it's full of call centres, the accents are incomprehensible and nobody wants to live there = it's tut north.

In the same way you can say you're auburn or strawberry blonde, but to everyone else, you're just ginger.

It is ironic that the guy who owns Mayfair and Park Lane lives in the north.

kabayiri

westernpromise wrote: »

The where? The what?



Why might that be, then?

Desperate or stupid people. A few wealthy Russians and Chinese. They always come out with every housing boom.

Hey, it's their money, so I don't care. I dislike the stupidly high housing benefit bill which results though.

When automation finally delivers and takes out a whole raft of jobs,it won't care how mortgaged up someone is on their tiny London pad.

societys_child

westernpromise wrote: »

Then why does nobody want to live there or visit them?

Stop trolling . .

Got a lot of memories of London, all spoilt by flat beer and lousy fish 'n' chips.

There's an old saying:
The only good thing to come out of London . . .









. . . is the M1

:beer: