6 ms·

Apt timing. I'm in the process of bailing out of London and heading about 200 miles west. Honestly I earn a shit ton of cash but I can't actually find anywhere

by batou 11y ago

Apt timing. I'm in the process of bailing out of London and heading about 200 miles west. Honestly I earn a shit ton of cash but I can't actually find anywhere that I can actually face putting the cash down on. I looked at a new development 3 bedroom flat last week for £419k that was made of the cheapest possible construction and you could hear your neighbours farting through the walls. The view was another new development block, some office buildings, the M4 flyover and a ton of haze in the atmosphere. So I'm bailing out west a long way. Half the salary but there is less disparity in quality of life and property prices.

branchless 11y ago
You are not paying for the building it's the land cost. Good for you, get out. Even better if you can leave the UK and starve out the UK treasury. Also the quality of life is better. Shorter hours as less wage slaves terrified of loosing their job as they live hand to mouth. Less busy. Easier to get out into nature.
JPKab 11y ago
Yep. Particularly notable for me in the article: " Because of this, London is becoming like Washington DC in the USA, where I used to live. DC is dived with poverty at one end serving the wealth at the other, and the wealth doesn't hang around. DC is a place where people go to further their careers before moving on to settle down because it's too expensive to stay." I bailed out of Washington, DC 11 months ago. Got so sick of trying to grind out a basic quality of life. I ended up moving to "flyover country", and I love it. Trees, fresh air, good jobs, and a house in a great neighborhood. The people are nice, and I have this crazy thing that some people refer to as liquid assets, others call it disposable income. It's nice. My brother, who remained behind in DC with his family, has a house that is less than half the square footage of my modestly sized country house. It's cramped, even by urban standards, and majorly in need of repairs. It is also a duplex, and the neighbors sharing the structure are rather snooty and unfriendly. He paid over $500K US for it. Did I mention the schools are so bad he'll have to send his son to private school? Yeah, I'll take the affordable cities any day over that crap. Unlike my brother, my house isn't making decisions for me, like "can one of us stay home with the new baby instead of putting her in daycare?" (His mortgage had a firm answer of no to their bank account.)
- tvanantwerp 11y ago
  I'm living and working in DC now, and this is so true. If I worked here for the next three decades, I could barely afford a one bedroom condo. A family and a house are out of the question. I love the work I do here, but I could easily learn to love other work in a cheaper state.
blatch 11y ago
I'm thinking of doing the same. I make more money than I ever imagined I would but the quality of life is crap. Shit properties, polluted, unfriendly people, overpriced... I'm thinking I might do another year then bail. All I want is a place where people are actually friendly, not too busy to care about each other, somewhere with a garage for my motorbikes and a garden for barbecues. Not much to ask, but can't see London being the place. I'm literally only in London now for the money.
- lgieron 11y ago
  > I'm literally only in London now for the money. Me too, but isn't it true for many people in top metropolies? People live there because it's great for their careers, not because they're nice places.
  - blatch 11y ago
    There's one thing somewhere being good for your career, another feeling like you're living to work because you can't afford the money or time to do the things you want to do.
    - lgieron 11y ago
      In my case I'm aggressively saving. I feel for people in professions which don't allow for that though. At the same time, I choose the software profession in part for the insane salaries we can command.

by batou 11y ago

branchless 11y ago

You are not paying for the building it's the land cost. Good for you, get out. Even better if you can leave the UK and starve out the UK treasury. Also the quality of life is better. Shorter hours as less wage slaves terrified of loosing their job as they live hand to mouth. Less busy. Easier to get out into nature.

JPKab 11y ago

Yep. Particularly notable for me in the article: " Because of this, London is becoming like Washington DC in the USA, where I used to live. DC is dived with poverty at one end serving the wealth at the other, and the wealth doesn't hang around. DC is a place where people go to further their careers before moving on to settle down because it's too expensive to stay." I bailed out of Washington, DC 11 months ago. Got so sick of trying to grind out a basic quality of life. I ended up moving to "flyover country", and I love it. Trees, fresh air, good jobs, and a house in a great neighborhood. The people are nice, and I have this crazy thing that some people refer to as liquid assets, others call it disposable income. It's nice. My brother, who remained behind in DC with his family, has a house that is less than half the square footage of my modestly sized country house. It's cramped, even by urban standards, and majorly in need of repairs. It is also a duplex, and the neighbors sharing the structure are rather snooty and unfriendly. He paid over $500K US for it. Did I mention the schools are so bad he'll have to send his son to private school? Yeah, I'll take the affordable cities any day over that crap. Unlike my brother, my house isn't making decisions for me, like "can one of us stay home with the new baby instead of putting her in daycare?" (His mortgage had a firm answer of no to their bank account.)

tvanantwerp 11y ago
I'm living and working in DC now, and this is so true. If I worked here for the next three decades, I could barely afford a one bedroom condo. A family and a house are out of the question. I love the work I do here, but I could easily learn to love other work in a cheaper state.

blatch 11y ago

I'm thinking of doing the same. I make more money than I ever imagined I would but the quality of life is crap. Shit properties, polluted, unfriendly people, overpriced... I'm thinking I might do another year then bail. All I want is a place where people are actually friendly, not too busy to care about each other, somewhere with a garage for my motorbikes and a garden for barbecues. Not much to ask, but can't see London being the place. I'm literally only in London now for the money.

lgieron 11y ago
> I'm literally only in London now for the money. Me too, but isn't it true for many people in top metropolies? People live there because it's great for their careers, not because they're nice places.
- blatch 11y ago
  There's one thing somewhere being good for your career, another feeling like you're living to work because you can't afford the money or time to do the things you want to do.
  - lgieron 11y ago
    In my case I'm aggressively saving. I feel for people in professions which don't allow for that though. At the same time, I choose the software profession in part for the insane salaries we can command.