3 ms·

It’s not clear at all that the vast majority of people in London commute by public transport. The sources linked below, one during the pandemic in 2020, and the

It’s not clear at all that the vast majority of people in London commute by public transport. The sources linked below, one during the pandemic in 2020, and the other a series of estimates, suggest the figure is more like 25-35% but I wasn’t able to find something more conclusive. [1, 2] More to your point, I agree that SF or at least the Bay Area has a higher dependence on cars, but it’s also more geographically constrained by the bay and resulting bridges/ferries, so it’s not obvious that there’s much more freedom in where to live in practice. For instance, I would guess a one hour commute in London would encompass a similar or greater number of housing units than in the Bay Area. Somewhat unrelated, but London seems relatively low in public transport usage compared to virtually every large continental European city [3], which at least anecdotally tend to have much cheaper transport (particularly for monthly/annual subscriptions for commuters) and/or somewhat less car-friendly infrastructure. Riding a bus through Old Street, for instance, makes apparent one cost Londoners pay for not prioritising public transport. [1] https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/estimated-mode-shares https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-do... [2] https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/estimated-mode-shares https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-do... [3] https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Modal-shares-in-selected-European-Capitals-Authors-elaboration-on-data-from-EPOMM_fig1_330541314 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Modal-shares-in-selected...

DrBazza 2y ago
I was replying regarding why London rent is high in general. SF/The Bay seems to be disproportionately tech-based jobs. London is a more generic mixture, including finance, arts, entertainment, services, insurance, tourism and so on. Though specifically tech: offices are in central London - Google at King's Cross, Apple at Battersea, Facebook near Oxford St. Old Street and Hoxton for start ups. And of course fin/fintech in the City, Canary Wharf, and the West End. That's 10s of thousands (if not 100s) of developers concentrated in around London. Microsoft in Reading 20 miles outside London is a bit of an outlier. No one drives to any of those jobs. And the talent pool for those jobs is centred around London and London transport. And then if you want to raise VC you need to get into the City or Canary Wharf for meetings - they won't go to you as you need their money. And then they'll be interested in 'where are you set up, and where will you get your talent from and grow?' - I can't recall any significant tech company that's inside the M25 and not in Central London. The "Microsoft UK in Reading" equivalent towns in any other direction than the M4 would be something like Maidstone (Kent, SE), Bishop's Stortford (NE), Milton Keynes (NW), Crawley (S). None of those have any significant tech companies. Weirdly, Guildford (SW) does have a tech scene partly because some gaming companies set up there in the 1980s and 90s.

DrBazza 2y ago

I was replying regarding why London rent is high in general. SF/The Bay seems to be disproportionately tech-based jobs. London is a more generic mixture, including finance, arts, entertainment, services, insurance, tourism and so on. Though specifically tech: offices are in central London - Google at King's Cross, Apple at Battersea, Facebook near Oxford St. Old Street and Hoxton for start ups. And of course fin/fintech in the City, Canary Wharf, and the West End. That's 10s of thousands (if not 100s) of developers concentrated in around London. Microsoft in Reading 20 miles outside London is a bit of an outlier. No one drives to any of those jobs. And the talent pool for those jobs is centred around London and London transport. And then if you want to raise VC you need to get into the City or Canary Wharf for meetings - they won't go to you as you need their money. And then they'll be interested in 'where are you set up, and where will you get your talent from and grow?' - I can't recall any significant tech company that's inside the M25 and not in Central London. The "Microsoft UK in Reading" equivalent towns in any other direction than the M4 would be something like Maidstone (Kent, SE), Bishop's Stortford (NE), Milton Keynes (NW), Crawley (S). None of those have any significant tech companies. Weirdly, Guildford (SW) does have a tech scene partly because some gaming companies set up there in the 1980s and 90s.