Trains, Banks and Public/Private Ownership - Prev.Predict UK Gen.Election Result

[Tamas]

The true problem with the housing crisis is the over concentration of the economy in London.
Theres just too many jobs in too small a space. The green belts and transport infrastructure are supplementary to this core issue.
There needs to be more effort to spread jobs elsewhere in the country so then people from elsewhere won't all be forced to pile into London.
(which better public transport would do a lot of towards Helping)

Well yeah but you can't force skilled workers to relocate now can you? Without somebody being able to actually do the job at their new location, companies won't relocate.

[garbon]

The true problem with the housing crisis is the over concentration of the economy in London.
Theres just too many jobs in too small a space. The green belts and transport infrastructure are supplementary to this core issue.
There needs to be more effort to spread jobs elsewhere in the country so then people from elsewhere won't all be forced to pile into London.
(which better public transport would do a lot of towards Helping)

Well yeah but you can't force skilled workers to relocate now can you? Without somebody being able to actually do the job at their new location, companies won't relocate.

As someone based in London, yeah, I don't have a great desire to live elsewhere in the UK. Well, maybe would consider Edinburgh/Glasgow.

[Valmy]

Why not? Companies seem to regularly build stuff in the smaller towns and cities in the US. Stuff gets built in Tulsa, why not Liverpool?

[garbon]

Why not? Companies seem to regularly build stuff in the smaller towns and cities in the US. Stuff gets built in Tulsa, why not Liverpool?

You might be thinking about a different kind of job.

[The Brain]

Why not? Companies seem to regularly build stuff in the smaller towns and cities in the US. Stuff gets built in Tulsa, why not Liverpool?

Off-off-off... off Wall Street?

[garbon]

Why not? Companies seem to regularly build stuff in the smaller towns and cities in the US. Stuff gets built in Tulsa, why not Liverpool?

Off-off-off... off Wall Street?

Main Street!

[Tamas]

London is basically about bankers and the people selling them food and other services.

[Duque de Bragança]

It is early days but it looks like it is the building regulations that are at fault; ie insufficiently stringent. Apparently the cladding used is illegal in the USA for example. Sprinkler systems have been required for new blocks for a few years but there is no requirement to retrofit them in older buildings. I did feel for a fire safety expert who was on BBC news last night; he has known about these problems for years and has been banging on about them but receiving the cold shoulder from officials and politicians.

Illegal in Germany too. Frankfurt's fire chief ripped British regulations to shreds in an interview.

Frankfurt?   

Mainhattan advertising itself? Not the same kind of towers, really.

[Josquius]

The true problem with the housing crisis is the over concentration of the economy in London.
Theres just too many jobs in too small a space. The green belts and transport infrastructure are supplementary to this core issue.
There needs to be more effort to spread jobs elsewhere in the country so then people from elsewhere won't all be forced to pile into London.
(which better public transport would do a lot of towards Helping)

Well yeah but you can't force skilled workers to relocate now can you? Without somebody being able to actually do the job at their new location, companies won't relocate.

As someone based in London, yeah, I don't have a great desire to live elsewhere in the UK. Well, maybe would consider Edinburgh/Glasgow.

Consider Brits working there though.
I'd wager a good chunk of the people you know are originally from elsewhere and moved to London for work.
Offer Londoners the chance to be able to keep their job and move home and many of them will bite your hand off for it.


Why Edinburgh/Glasgow?

[Tamas]

Have you considered an other reading of the situation? Namely, that London is the exception in terms of the quality and number of jobs one can reasonably expect out of the British Isles, and the rest of the UK is the norm, not the other way around?

[garbon]

The true problem with the housing crisis is the over concentration of the economy in London.
Theres just too many jobs in too small a space. The green belts and transport infrastructure are supplementary to this core issue.
There needs to be more effort to spread jobs elsewhere in the country so then people from elsewhere won't all be forced to pile into London.
(which better public transport would do a lot of towards Helping)

Well yeah but you can't force skilled workers to relocate now can you? Without somebody being able to actually do the job at their new location, companies won't relocate.

As someone based in London, yeah, I don't have a great desire to live elsewhere in the UK. Well, maybe would consider Edinburgh/Glasgow.

Consider Brits working there though.
I'd wager a good chunk of the people you know are originally from elsewhere and moved to London for work.
Offer Londoners the chance to be able to keep their job and move home and many of them will bite your hand off for it.

Not sure that's entirely the case. I know several people who had similar jobs in their home areas who moved here - some of whom work at companies that have offices in their home areas.  I know you hate London but that doesn't mean that everybody does.

Certainly though pay is higher here but then that's always the case with big cities vs. elsewhere in a country.

Why Edinburgh/Glasgow?

Nice, friendly cities though obviously on a much smaller scale.  Preference really for Glasgow but recognize that Edinburgh has higher prestige/esteem.

[dps]

The true problem with the housing crisis is the over concentration of the economy in London.
Theres just too many jobs in too small a space. The green belts and transport infrastructure are supplementary to this core issue.
There needs to be more effort to spread jobs elsewhere in the country so then people from elsewhere won't all be forced to pile into London.
(which better public transport would do a lot of towards Helping)

Well yeah but you can't force skilled workers to relocate now can you? Without somebody being able to actually do the job at their new location, companies won't relocate.

As someone based in London, yeah, I don't have a great desire to live elsewhere in the UK. Well, maybe would consider Edinburgh/Glasgow.

Consider Brits working there though.
I'd wager a good chunk of the people you know are originally from elsewhere and moved to London for work.
Offer Londoners the chance to be able to keep their job and move home and many of them will bite your hand off for it.

Maybe.  But consider a company that employees 100 people in London, and which is considering relocating.  Let's say that 85 of those people are not originally from London, and of those, 75 would prefer to keep their job but relocate to their hometown.  The problem is, that might well be 70 different hometowns;  the company isn't going to open 70 new locations--they're going to either stay in London or relocate to 1 other city.

[garbon]

The true problem with the housing crisis is the over concentration of the economy in London.
Theres just too many jobs in too small a space. The green belts and transport infrastructure are supplementary to this core issue.
There needs to be more effort to spread jobs elsewhere in the country so then people from elsewhere won't all be forced to pile into London.
(which better public transport would do a lot of towards Helping)

Well yeah but you can't force skilled workers to relocate now can you? Without somebody being able to actually do the job at their new location, companies won't relocate.

As someone based in London, yeah, I don't have a great desire to live elsewhere in the UK. Well, maybe would consider Edinburgh/Glasgow.

Consider Brits working there though.
I'd wager a good chunk of the people you know are originally from elsewhere and moved to London for work.
Offer Londoners the chance to be able to keep their job and move home and many of them will bite your hand off for it.

Maybe.  But consider a company that employees 100 people in London, and which is considering relocating.  Let's say that 85 of those people are not originally from London, and of those, 75 would prefer to keep their job but relocate to their hometown.  The problem is, that might well be 70 different hometowns;  the company isn't going to open 70 new locations--they're going to either stay in London or relocate to 1 other city.

If it is office work they could consider letting their employees work from home.

[dps]

If it is office work they could consider letting their employees work from home.

That's true, and I would expect we'll continue to see more of that in the future. 

[Josquius]

Not sure that's entirely the case. I know several people who had similar jobs in their home areas who moved here - some of whom work at companies that have offices in their home areas.  I know you hate London but that doesn't mean that everybody does.

Certainly though pay is higher here but then that's always the case with big cities vs. elsewhere in a country.

Oh sure, there are some for whom London is an attraction in itself. (Particularly a certain type of young person too rich/stupid to consider London's issues. :p)
But with older people in particular there's a big drive to get out.

I've tried to find the statistics but am drawing a blank, but I'm sure they are out there, that there's a huge drive into London for 20 somethings and then as people approach 40 a huge drive to get out.

Maybe.  But consider a company that employees 100 people in London, and which is considering relocating.  Let's say that 85 of those people are not originally from London, and of those, 75 would prefer to keep their job but relocate to their hometown.  The problem is, that might well be 70 different hometowns;  the company isn't going to open 70 new locations--they're going to either stay in London or relocate to 1 other city.

When I've heard people based in London speak of this I've heard people say "Back north" as much as they say "back home". I'd guess for many the aim isn't so much to move to their hometown (many of them coming from no-name villages) but to move to a northern city.

Also the UK isn't that big. Move the office to Leeds for instance and pretty much anyone from Yorkshire except the far north can move home. The Manchester lot can have a good go of it too.