|
I think many people are missing your point, but I agree with you. I lived in London for 6 years after university. I am a Software Engineer, my wife is a Lawyer. Whilst we could afford to just about rent in the city, we couldn't buy towards the lifestyle we wanted to lead. So we moved to Leeds, 2hrs north by train. Suddenly, the 1.5 bed flat we could afford in a good area of London became a 5 bed detached in the best area of Leeds - 15 minutes from the centre. We have huge parks, cinemas, waterfalls, cafes, public transport, swimming pools, yoga studios etc. all within 10 minutes of our house. This is the exact same stuff that I would crave and pay a premium for in London (or any other world city). However, I also have neighbours who are on minimum wage, also affording houses a few roads away from mine, getting to live that amazing lifestyle too. I would arguably say they are living better lifestyles than the majority of my peers in London who are finance bros, consultants, techies but stuck in flats or house shares in Peckham or wherever. This was a massive eye opening realisation for me, and I've recently come across the term 'Deano' to describe it. Anyway - the answer in my opinion to the housing crisis is decentralisation. Make it feasible to continue to achieve at high levels, but in regional areas. Improve public transport to increase the effective population of these cities so businesses have larger talent pools to choose from, and thus it is more viable for them to relocate. STOP centring so much of global media/films/tv/culture on these fantasy worlds set in New York and help people build fantasy imagines of nice lives by setting them in LCOL areas. Take the pressure off the big cities, share the wealth, the opportunities, and everyone will be better off for it. |