Death Of London

[eek]

11 hours ago, JoeDavola said:

No but they paid a slim woman in a dress to walk across the room in the other shot, to let on it'll be full of women:

That reminds me of KLM's Schiphol lounge when they were working on it last year.

Those seats are fine if you are there for an hour or so to get some food and a rest before the next flight, utterly useless for a full working day 

[wherebee]

6 hours ago, Heffalump said:

'Death Of London' 

Sorry, but I couldn't begin to read comments in a thread with such a ridiculous title.

London has endured thousands of years, and will continue to do so.

That is all.

Well, if you look at cities like Detroit you end up with an effectively dead city outside a small centre and patches of live suburbia.  That's what London will become, in my view.  People will not stop living there, but anyone with brains or money will get out.

 

Same as Northern Ireland 1970-1990.  Everyone who could, left, leaving a hollow shell of a city in belfast.  joe D - am I right?

[Battenberg]

On 05/05/2020 at 11:11, Panther said:

I see they are both non-conforming by dressing like Zuckerberg

We’d never win another war if that’s what we’ve got.

[JoeDavola]

18 hours ago, wherebee said:

Same as Northern Ireland 1970-1990.  Everyone who could, left, leaving a hollow shell of a city in belfast.  joe D - am I right?

Well yes there was a significant brain drain. There still is.

I go for a walk around Belfast city centre most days now for my state-mandated daily stroll.

Two things strike me:

1. How many derelict/unused buildings there are within 1km of the absolute centre of the city (taking Belfast City hall as the centre), the pseudo-economy of ours not being enough to sustain them.

2. How much beautiful architecure there is from a time when people took pride in such things, and belfast was a wealthy city because it made things. When people think of Belfast they think of the troubles, but way before then there was a shipbuilding and I believe a linen industry? Anyways my point is that Belfast was a wealthy city at one point because of good old honest graft. We have a lot to thank our disant ancestors for as we gaze up athe the beautiful architecture - I say distant ancestors as the boomer generation have built very little of beauty - unless you find slavebox apartments that don't meet building standards beautiful (two blocks built in the 2007 boom have had to be evacuated because they're falling down already, another the Obel tower the tallest building in the city was a total fuckup with wall mounted electric heaters and a hideously cheap finish).

So you went from a city of grafters (where belfast actually made it's money), to a civil war, to a city of public sector dependent folk, benefit claimants, and a bunch of wideboy cowboy builders building horrible slaveboxes during the credit housing boom.

I don't hear anyone suggesting Belfast starts manufacturing again. They want to rely on selling beer and Titanic tours to tourists.

For those interested go here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Belfast

....and look at the building quality as you go from pre world war 2 into late 20'th century, and then finally to 21st century.

....Obel tower was a disaster, sold on a lie and they cut corners building it. Investors lost a fortune, all documented on ToS at the time. Beside that, victoria square is where the concrete pillars of the structure started to collapse a year or so ago and the entire building had to be emptied and is now uninhabitable. Fuck knows if or when it will open up. The boat had apartments they were trying to shift for half a million or so each; mate it's belfast not Manhattan.

Rant over

EDIT: More background info:

Victoria Square: 91 apartments uninhabitable after only 10 years:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49846742

Library Square, built 2006, may have to be demolished:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-50496511

 

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by JoeDavola

[spygirl]

3 minutes ago, JoeDavola said:

 

1. How many derelict/unused buildings there are within 1km of the absolute centre of the city (taking Belfast City hall as the centre), the pseudo-economy of ours not being enough to sustain them.

2. How much beautiful architecure there is from a time when people took pride in such things, and belfast was a wealthy city because it made things. When people think of Belfast they think of the troubles, but way before then there was a shipbuilding and I believe a linen industry?

 

 

On 1. Try Ull. I've never been to a centre where occupied units fall away to massive band of empty.

2. That's going to be London/SE. Technology is eating the finsec from the bottom. High housing costs are taking bites from the top.

 

[Option5]

7 minutes ago, spygirl said:

On 1. Try Ull. I've never been to a centre where occupied units fall away to massive band of empty.

2. That's going to be London/SE. Technology is eating the finsec from the bottom. High housing costs are taking bites from the top.

 

The UK's only hope is to become a tax haven post Brexit.

[Chewing Grass]

10 minutes ago, Option5 said:

The UK's only hope is to become a tax haven post Brexit.

For natives or non-natives?

[Option5]

Just now, Chewing Grass said:

For natives or non-natives?

Anyone with money to spend/hide.

[Panther]

On 05/05/2020 at 11:41, JoeDavola said:

No but they paid a slim woman in a dress to walk across the room in the other shot, to let on it'll be full of women:

Speccy at the back is getting a perve in while he can, his thick glasses refracting his gaze back towards his iLaptop

Oh my God, just look at the desks benches, sawn treetrunks

[The Generation Game]

50 minutes ago, spygirl said:

On 1. Try Ull. I've never been to a centre where occupied units fall away to massive band of empty.

2. That's going to be London/SE. Technology is eating the finsec from the bottom. High housing costs are taking bites from the top.

 

Yep. I don't know anywhere like it. The shopping Mecca of the 90s, Princes Quay, is like a ghost town these days. Of course, when it opened it had an amazing top floor full of independent shops. Now it's a cinema. 

They were going to expand it towards what is now the Bonus Arena, which would have made it even worse. Then they gave the go-ahead to St Stephens, conveniently located next to a renovated transport interchange. 

The centre is just too large for the number of shops that are there. The old shopping area (places like Whitefriargate next to the fore mentioned shopping centre) is dead and there is no disposable cash so all the premises lay empty (they made a half-assed attempt to stop it by rejecting planning on the extension of an out of town retail park in Kingswood). Any well-to-do shoppers will then shop at the better selection in York, Leeds or the upmarket Beverley (although that's also mostly dead). 

The Kingston retail park is a good indicator of the whole economy though (Gap - gone, not enough wealthy people, Mothercare -folded, ToysRus - folded, Poundworld - folded)

[PatronizingGit]

20 hours ago, wherebee said:

Well, if you look at cities like Detroit you end up with an effectively dead city outside a small centre and patches of live suburbia.  That's what London will become, in my view.  People will not stop living there, but anyone with brains or money will get out.

 

Same as Northern Ireland 1970-1990.  Everyone who could, left, leaving a hollow shell of a city in belfast.  joe D - am I right?

London has all the hallmarks of a Latin American city now. Heavily patrolled urban core that is spotless, surrounded by mile after mile of overpopulated, increasingly crime ridden/gang controlled suburbs, with the rich flying in to helipads atop the towers.

London, bar a few areas, up until about 2000 used to be similar to any other town in England. You'd stil have 90/95% white suburbs, where generation after generation lived..ie, actual communities. Now, your typical white working class family semi is 6 to 8 bedsits, each with a couple of immigrants in, and a bed in s shed at the end of the garden. And A lot of those sheds look like full on shanties. 

[King Penda]

On 05/05/2020 at 17:30, Heffalump said:

'Death Of London' 

Sorry, but I couldn't begin to read comments in a thread with such a ridiculous title.

London has endured thousands of years, and will continue to do so.

That is all.

It could go the way of Detroit with luck but I doubt it

[stop_the_craziness]

54 minutes ago, Panther said:

Oh my God, just look at the desks benches, sawn treetrunks

Clothes-bobbling/catching nightmare.  Could ruin a nice pullover in a few short hours in that place as well as crucifying your lower lumber region.  Who thinks up this cobblers?

[Chewing Grass]

The government has said London transport fares will have to rise as it nears an agreement with Transport for London over a bailout.

Grant Shapps said the government did not want “a situation where people outside of the capital are unfairly carrying the burden, by which I mean, sadly, fares do end having to rise with inflation.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/14/london-faces-bus-and-train-cuts-without-urgent-funding

[Ash4781b]

12 minutes ago, Chewing Grass said:

The government has said London transport fares will have to rise as it nears an agreement with Transport for London over a bailout.

Grant Shapps said the government did not want “a situation where people outside of the capital are unfairly carrying the burden, by which I mean, sadly, fares do end having to rise with inflation.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/14/london-faces-bus-and-train-cuts-without-urgent-funding

Think it’s political though back to Khan. Raising prices. Not sure that helps. Aside from being warned away from public transport let’s make it more expensive?

Edited May 14, 2020 by Ash4781b

[spygirl]

1 hour ago, Chewing Grass said:

The government has said London transport fares will have to rise as it nears an agreement with Transport for London over a bailout.

Grant Shapps said the government did not want “a situation where people outside of the capital are unfairly carrying the burden, by which I mean, sadly, fares do end having to rise with inflation.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/14/london-faces-bus-and-train-cuts-without-urgent-funding

They can can the free oap pass too.

1 hour ago, Ash4781b said:

Think it’s political though back to Khan. Raising prices. Not sure that helps. Aside from being warned away from public transport let’s make it more expensive?

Again,

50% of London is non natives.

Conservative vote has shifted North by 50-100 miles.

[Wight Flight]

1 minute ago, spygirl said:

They can can the free oap pass too.

And the 17/18 year old pass that the rest of the country doesn't get.

[Rare Bear]

4 hours ago, Chewing Grass said:

The government has said London transport fares will have to rise as it nears an agreement with Transport for London over a bailout.

Grant Shapps said the government did not want “a situation where people outside of the capital are unfairly carrying the burden, by which I mean, sadly, fares do end having to rise with inflation.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/14/london-faces-bus-and-train-cuts-without-urgent-funding

Kahn will have held the fares down to as an election bribe. The big rise would have been this autumn after the election. Along comes foot and mouth, election postponed and paying passenger numbers drop of a cliff. Kahn has to go begging to government and put up fares now. Hoist with his own petard is the term, I think.😁

[Wight Flight]

1 minute ago, Rare Bear said:

Kahn will have held the fares down to as an election bribe. The big rise would have been this autumn after the election. Along comes foot and mouth, election postponed and paying passenger numbers drop of a cliff. Kahn has to go begging to government and put up fares now. Hoist with his own petard is the term, I think.😁

He boxed himself into a corner. By saying he would cut services without more money, there were two outcomes assuming no money was forthcoming:

He cuts services. He is now risking lives and will be hated.

He doesn't cut services. Seen as the bullshitter he is and hated.

Classic zugzwang.

Man is an out of his depth twat.

 

[Democorruptcy]

15 hours ago, Chewing Grass said:

The government has said London transport fares will have to rise as it nears an agreement with Transport for London over a bailout.

Grant Shapps said the government did not want “a situation where people outside of the capital are unfairly carrying the burden, by which I mean, sadly, fares do end having to rise with inflation.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/14/london-faces-bus-and-train-cuts-without-urgent-funding

They need a bailout partly because the running costs are so high, which wasn't helped by the wage rises when the unions used such as the Olympics for bargaining power. This bailout is just supporting wage rises the union have negotiated. If you search on "Tube drivers to go on strike" you get a lot of articles returned. 

[MrPin]

11 hours ago, Rare Bear said:

Kahn will have held the fares down to as an election bribe. The big rise would have been this autumn after the election. Along comes foot and mouth, election postponed and paying passenger numbers drop of a cliff. Kahn has to go begging to government and put up fares now. Hoist with his own petard is the term, I think.😁

The government is not recommending public transport at the moment. Best to go in your own vehicle, except this won't work in London, and many other places.

[eight]

5 minutes ago, MrPin said:

The government is not recommending public transport at the moment. Best to go in your own vehicle, except this won't work in London, and many other places.

I've owned a few vehicles like that.

[This Time]

17 minutes ago, MrPin said:

The government is not recommending public transport at the moment. Best to go in your own vehicle, except this won't work in London, and many other places.

If they actually wanted people to not take public transport then they would be suspending the congestion charge, instead it's going up 30% next month.

[Ash4781b]

1 hour ago, This Time said:

If they actually wanted people to not take public transport then they would be suspending the congestion charge, instead it's going up 30% next month.

I need to have a lie down are they just pushing through a price increase that’s in essence unrelated to any congestion objective? 

[Rare Bear]

17 minutes ago, Ash4781b said:

I need to have a lie down are they just pushing through a price increase that’s in essence unrelated to any congestion objective? 

They being in fact Khan. Of course it's nothing to do with congestion and all about raising revenue.