It will never happen.
Westminster types fund nothing that they can't see out of their office window
The Elizabeth Line (Crossrail)
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Westminster types fund nothing that they can't see out of their office window
There's a good thread here about why that happens:
As I posted earlier in the thread, 70% of that figure was paid for by London via levying private development.
Darlo1973
Striker
Also because London and the SE has the population density to support a high frequency mass transit system. Move the Elizabeth Line to the north east and it would be mostly empty.
That's not to say that much more money shouldn't be spent in the regions but not building infrastructure in London doesn't help the rest of the country.
nelford_safc
Striker
Nobody is asking for the tube up here obviously. But £18.9b for a new line? Nowhere outside of London gets anywhere near that for improvement, travel links and quality of life. Before anyone moans I think London is class.
It's explained (to a certain degree) in that Twitter thread above.
We are an outlier in the western world with having a capital that is bigger than most of England's other cities combined. It skews all sorts of investment decisions.
nelford_safc
Striker
Fair enough. Certainly don’t deny the facts in the Twitter thread I just can’t be arsed to read it. The difference between London and any other city in the UK is frightening mind in terms of quality of life.
So Londoners can get to the pub and the office more quickly? Worth every penny.
42
Striker
Part of the problem is that what you say is a bit chicken & egg.
The NE doesn't have the population density because it gets very little spent on it, so doesn't attract enough jobs & people move away. Start spending on other places, and things might actually change.
London have always taken the piss.
They are happy to spend £18.9bn to take a few minutes off the journey time of some Canary Wharf worker. This is, apparently, "necessary". Meanwhile, services are being closed down in the North East.
It's like the Hunger Games. I am still pleased that the tributes from our district won on Saturday, though.
They are happy to spend £18.9bn to take a few minutes off the journey time of some Canary Wharf worker. This is, apparently, "necessary". Meanwhile, services are being closed down in the North East.
It's like the Hunger Games. I am still pleased that the tributes from our district won on Saturday, though.
It’s Catch 22 though. If they put the investment in, more people would come to the region and you’d have the indigenous folk complaining about the influx of “bloody southerners” and complain how their kids couldn’t afford to get on the housing ladder as property prices soared due to demand and lack of supply.
GTG
Striker
I've only skimmed through that thread and its spinoffs but found it absolutely fascinating and will set some time aside tomorrow to do it justice.
This stopped me in my tracks though!
Darlo1973
Striker
Surely, that's the inevitable consequence of "leveling up" of sharing London's money around the country more expensive housing, more immigration and higher beer prices. Be careful what you wish for
42
Striker
True, but even if we got trillions I don't ever think it'd get as out of hand London.
It would be nice just to get enough to properly improve public transport & reduce the brain drain
Darlo1973
Striker
It's known as the "Primate city" effect where the capital/biggest city is much larger than the second biggest and acts as the centre for finance, politics, culture, media etc.
Another example is Bangkok which is much bigger than Chiang Mai. Whereas in Germany, the US and other countries there is not one city with all of the power.
Primate city - Wikipedia
The fact that the nearest comparable example is Thailand is hardly reassuring.It's known as the "Primate city" effect where the capital/biggest city is much larger than the second biggest and acts as the centre for finance, politics, culture, media etc.
Another example is Bangkok which is much bigger than Chiang Mai. Whereas in Germany, the US and other countries there is not one city with all of the power.
Primate city - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Plus, they also have a Royal Family with disproportionate wealth and influence, don't they ?
As opposed to southern rentier types buying up northern housing stock to rent out ?
Just because they don't live here doesn't mean that they don't affect the local property market.
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