The Off Topic Topic

[Richard Hakluyt]

But since here I think Tories generally do want people to do fine - I think their imagination and their understanding of people is limited. I think they are basically like those journalists - and in the case Johnson, they literally are that journalist - who write about private school fees as a "middle class" issue as if anyone in the middle class could afford - at the low end - £9k a year per kid.

At this point I can't help recalling the rent arrears course I went on when I was a housing officer. The young chap from Arundel, nice fellow, it had to be explained to him that one of the reasons that people fell into rent arrears was running out of money 

[Sheilbh]

The thing is (still about "flats" like the above one), there is absolutely no reason why detached houses should be repurposed as mini blocks of flats except entirely artificial constraints on supply.

Change in demand?

Neighbourhoods change. When I lived in a flat like that it was in Streatham which is classic 1930s Metroland. When that house was built it was the sort of 1930s where middle class commuter belt. There were still families who lived there but - unlike when that house was built - lots of people could and wanted to live further out: Croydon or into Surrey or Sussex. The trains were faster, people had cars etc.

Meanwhile that bit of London became quite popular with young people looking for a first flat - it's a little cheaper because it's in Zone 3 and there's no Tube but it's not far from Brixton, or Clapham. So after the flats above shops on the high street have gone people started changing houses into flats too. As I say on my street I'd guess the mix was about 50/50 families in single residence homes and flats but the properties were all the same.

[Josquius]

It strikes me in London however that you have demand for all types of house in every part of the city no?
Sure if you're a family with 2 young kids you don't want to live wherever the fashionable party spot is these days, but beggars can't be choosers and providing its vaguely in the right cardinal point of the city you'll take it.
In Newcastle the big problem in the early 2000s was student housing. So many people buying up family homes to convert them into HMOs, effectively locking out families from some nice and desirable parts of the city.
To tackle this a lot of purpose designed student housing schemes went ahead near to the city centre and it was best for everyone all round. The students go their own place near to the action whilst one of the nice areas in large part went back to families again. Heaton, the are in question, regularly tops lists for the nicest neighbourhoods in the country these days.
Of course you still see know- nothings online moaning about the amount of student flats being built and demanding social housing be built instead, but that's quite a different issue of British voters being absolute fuckwits who oppose anything that isn't directly shoving sausage rolls into their mouth.

[Sheilbh]

It strikes me in London however that you have demand for all types of house in every part of the city no?
Sure if you're a family with 2 young kids you don't want to live wherever the fashionable party spot is these days, but beggars can't be choosers and providing its vaguely in the right cardinal point of the city you'll take it.

Yeah and actually in London it's started to go the other way - where well-off fashionable young familes are moving back into areas that are party spots then making loads of noise complaints

I mean I think there's huge complexity in what drives different types of demand. The biggest is price, obviously, but I think fashion and wider social trends also drive it. So you know your middle class family that would once have wanted to move to the outer suburbs or commuter belt and have a long commute but countryside nearby, in recent years may be as likely to stay in the inner suburbs and become one of those middle-aged men in lycra families. You know I think fashion and preferences change over time. I've got a few friends who were raised in London - and none of my friends really want kids but for us who were raised in towns or villages or cities out of London the idea of being or having a kid in London sounded crazy when we first met. Having lived in London for 10+ years, you sort of see it and maybe you wouldn't move back to what you knew?

Similarly I can definitely see demand for more small flats for younger people/couples in rural areas if working from home stays a big thing because a lot of people live where they do because of economic necessity - and then they find the best area/area they like the most that they can afford in that area. But remove the economic necessity of going into the office every day - push it to permanently remote or only 2 days a week and who knows. I think younger people trend urban in general but it doesn't apply to everyone it's just possibilities were limited when everyone needs to be around 45 minutes to an hour from the office.

And that's before we get to what is going to happen with city centres and big commercial buildings - which I think is a really open question.

In Newcastle the big problem in the early 2000s was student housing. So many people buying up family homes to convert them into HMOs, effectively locking out families from some nice and desirable parts of the city.
To tackle this a lot of purpose designed student housing schemes went ahead near to the city centre and it was best for everyone all round. The students go their own place near to the action whilst one of the nice areas in large part went back to families again. Heaton, the are in question, regularly tops lists for the nicest neighbourhoods in the country these days.

Yeah I've seen similar in other cities to and except for university halls, my experience is that student housing is really expensive especially in terms of quality and mainly used to rinse foreign students

The other side of this is also the gentrification element so in Bristol I know that there was a lot of student housing (of the renting a terrace house together style) in St Pauls and Stokes Croft which are histoically centres of Bristol's black community and suddenly became very student-y and hip. I don't think the prices suddenly locked families out - but I feel like it was probably cheaper for landlords plus there's always demand every year at the same time plus churn. There's similar with neighbourhoods around Sefton Park in Liverpool.

I have no idea how student housing works in London though

[Sheilbh]

This is an extraordinary story - apparently the first of its kind in the UK:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/03/rapist-jailed-fight-justice-daughter-born-following-attack-carvel-bennett

Man in his 70s who raped a 13 year old girl has been jailed. His daughter (from that rape) was put up for adoption and has doggedly campaigned and worked to identify and prosecute him, including using her DNA to confirm that he was her biological father.

Remarks from the rape survivor and his daughter who brought the prosecution, referred to as Daisy by the prosecution are really affecting:

The rape survivor's statement was read out by the prosecution barrister, Peter Glenser. "Over the years I have realised that when you are a child you have no voice or control over your life," she said. "My life was already traumatic due to neglect and other sexual abuse. I was told not to say anything, I knew no one would care or believe me. I felt disgusted with myself and did so for many years. I believed it was my fault. I was carrying his shame though I felt the shame was mine."

Daisy read out her statement in court and described the trauma of being a black child adopted into a white family. "I experienced feelings of wanting to be invisible because of being black and adopted, and knowing nothing of my past."

While Daisy and her birth mother are in contact, they said in court that because of the circumstances their relationship was a difficult one.

In her victim statement Daisy's birth mother said: "I have met my daughter but because of the circumstances it's been difficult. What I will say about my daughter is for many years she has relentlessly pursued justice. I have three other daughters, they have been my saviours."

In her statement, Daisy said: "Carvel Bennett, you have caused total carnage, your act of violence decimated any potential relationship between my birth mother and I because you chose to rape a child."

She added: "I am more than evidence, I am more than a witness, I am more than a 'product' of rape. I am not your shame and I will not carry the shame and horror of what you chose to do. This legal process has caused further complexities in the relationship between myself and my birth mother, in my opinion, a deeper split, which is utterly tragic. Because you chose to rape a child we are still paying the price."

Daisy's mother, who has had multiple sclerosis for the last 16 years, said: "I just want this to end. I just want to live the remainder of my life in peace."

[Josquius]

So. The US army just got reality bombed on social media.

https://mobile.twitter.com/USArmy/status/1131704927963766785

[Razgovory]

So. The US army just got reality bombed on social media.

https://mobile.twitter.com/USArmy/status/1131704927963766785

What am I suppose to be seeing here?

[Syt]

So. The US army just got reality bombed on social media.

https://mobile.twitter.com/USArmy/status/1131704927963766785

What am I suppose to be seeing here?

Check the replies.

[Habbaku]

Oopsie.

[Syt]

Was watching someone stream Pool of Radiance, and this shop keeper looked familiar ...

[Valmy]

They thought he retired to a monastery. He actually retired to New Phlan.

That game was very cool at the time, very experimental.

[Admiral Yi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll-9Otg8p14

Professional cornhole 

[Sheilbh]

I've got so much respect and envy for the Bristol University pediatrics professor who is on the JCVI. Everytime there's an announcement about the vaccine program he pops up on the BBC to discuss it from his holiday home in Haute Savoie where, as far as I can see, he's been all year

[FunkMonk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll-9Otg8p14

Professional cornhole 

This was on ESPN the other day and I couldn't believe it.

[Grey Fox]

Bush's Best parent company will sponsor ANYTHING.