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Absolutely. I'm sick of reading these whiny, entitled, rants. London does not owe anybody a place to live within its borders. London has not done something wron

Absolutely. I'm sick of reading these whiny, entitled, rants. London does not owe anybody a place to live within its borders. London has not done something wrong just because you cannot afford to live there. London is perhaps the greatest city in the world. It's certainly in the top 3 or 4. Surprisingly, it's expensive. That's because lots of people want to buy property there. If you want to leave because it's too expensive, I can completely understand that. It's a rational choice. But it's not London's fault. It's not the fault of people living in London. It's nobody's fault. A city can be great and unaffordable simultaneously.

EliRivers 11y ago
That's because lots of people want to buy property there. That's part of the problem. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just lots people wanting to live there, but it's not; there are people who do simply want to buy property there as some kind of capital parking. That's damaging to the city.
- d_theorist 11y ago
  Is it? By what measure?
  - EliRivers 11y ago
    What makes a city such as London valuable is the high density of people (or rather, the high density of opportunity created by having so many people in a suitable regulatory environment; the regulatory environment is essential but fixed - the population density changes). It lowers the costs of a great many things (including more nebulous things like simply meeting people and interacting with them) and increases opportunities for creation enormously. There is a negative feedback loop in action as increased population causes the price of things we cannot simply create as much as we like of (such as places to live) to increase, reducing the attractiveness of the city. Actions that jack up prices push people away, reducing the value of the city. Buying property as a capital park and leaving it empty is one such action.
    - d_theorist 11y ago
      People aren't buying things and leaving them empty. That would have zero financial sense. They're renting them out. London's resident population is not going down; it's going up. So, I see no evidence that the city is being harmed. It's thriving.
      - EliRivers 11y ago
        People aren't buying things and leaving them empty. Yes they are. I'm not going to do your google searching for you. So, I see no evidence that the city is being harmed. It's thriving. You have made a fundamental logical error. Your error is that you equate "thriving" with "not being damaged". This is incorrect. It is possible to have something that is thriving and would be thriving even more if only it were not being damaged in some way. You've also taken what you see and decided that that's all there is, without bothering to look further. Your laziness is common but no less sickening. Don't bother answering to explain to me how you actually don't even need to look at google because you know everything, or how actually London is currently the best possible London it could possibly be; I'm too old to try to explain things to you more than once. If you think I'm being dismissive and not very nice, you're right. Fortunately, I'm just a line of text on a screen, so if this makes you feel bad, or angry, or frustrated, why not take a look at yourself in the mirror and wonder just how you've reached the point where a line of text on a screen can do that do you.

EliRivers 11y ago

That's because lots of people want to buy property there. That's part of the problem. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just lots people wanting to live there, but it's not; there are people who do simply want to buy property there as some kind of capital parking. That's damaging to the city.

d_theorist 11y ago
Is it? By what measure?
- EliRivers 11y ago
  What makes a city such as London valuable is the high density of people (or rather, the high density of opportunity created by having so many people in a suitable regulatory environment; the regulatory environment is essential but fixed - the population density changes). It lowers the costs of a great many things (including more nebulous things like simply meeting people and interacting with them) and increases opportunities for creation enormously. There is a negative feedback loop in action as increased population causes the price of things we cannot simply create as much as we like of (such as places to live) to increase, reducing the attractiveness of the city. Actions that jack up prices push people away, reducing the value of the city. Buying property as a capital park and leaving it empty is one such action.
  - d_theorist 11y ago
    People aren't buying things and leaving them empty. That would have zero financial sense. They're renting them out. London's resident population is not going down; it's going up. So, I see no evidence that the city is being harmed. It's thriving.
    - EliRivers 11y ago
      People aren't buying things and leaving them empty. Yes they are. I'm not going to do your google searching for you. So, I see no evidence that the city is being harmed. It's thriving. You have made a fundamental logical error. Your error is that you equate "thriving" with "not being damaged". This is incorrect. It is possible to have something that is thriving and would be thriving even more if only it were not being damaged in some way. You've also taken what you see and decided that that's all there is, without bothering to look further. Your laziness is common but no less sickening. Don't bother answering to explain to me how you actually don't even need to look at google because you know everything, or how actually London is currently the best possible London it could possibly be; I'm too old to try to explain things to you more than once. If you think I'm being dismissive and not very nice, you're right. Fortunately, I'm just a line of text on a screen, so if this makes you feel bad, or angry, or frustrated, why not take a look at yourself in the mirror and wonder just how you've reached the point where a line of text on a screen can do that do you.