Where to live?

General Chat
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We lived in Leamington in the late 80’s and I still miss it sometimes, but a city it ain’t.

You’d need a good reason to live in Oxford. Unfortunately if you have one you’ll find that you’re in the company of about twice as many other similar people as there are houses/flats. Property gets monotonically cheaper the further south-east you go from Magdalen Bridge. There are good reasons for that, although if you like a more colourful, edgier environment then maybe it would suit you. There’s loads of demand for chefs but the pay might be the reason that that demand isn’t being met. In a lot of senses (but not all) the healthcare here is exceptional. I have several older friends who have said that for this reason alone they simply daren’t leave.

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:face_vomiting:

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It fucking loathes me to agree with sodders but if I was under 40 I wouldn’t be coming back to the UK, I’d be making a beeline for NZ, Canada or NW America. I’d go back to San Antonio but not now for the same reason I’d avoid Oz is that it’s just too fucking hot.

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Yep me and Hel have said pretty much the same thing too.

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Guessing the need to be able to get to France quickly and cheaply knocks Vancouver / Auckland / Sydney out of the park. A different metric:

Top 5 happiest places to live and work in the UK

Cambridge (3.91)
Brighton (3.88)
Bristol (3.87)
Newcastle (3.87)
London (3.85)
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46

If you fancy working in Liverpool you could come and live on The Oblong of Dreams, avoid the east and central areas, the top and west sides are fine. Pretty good rail network , handy enough for JL Airport.

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@TMC A timely reminder, if one were needed, that wherever you go, you take yourself with you. :rofl:

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Surely the answer is to ‘try before you buy’ - do a nationwide tour of meatmen’s homes, staying over to check out the area. Louis Theroux style. Netfix would buy that.

If I had such a great decision to make I’d start with London and Brighton. My dream home/lifestyle in encapsulated in one place, cliched I know;

https://www.thomasmichael.co.uk/property/residential/for-sale/london/barbican/TM170

Similar to @thebiglebowski remark, people make all the difference, if I were to be moving to a new spot I’d be looking for somewhere with a clear sense of community, like the Barbican.

I live in Stratford Upon Avon, in the cheap seats. Can’t recommend it enough for a superb blend of town and country. But, like so much of the UK, the failing High Street detracts from the experience - I’d be looking to move somewhere that has the density to support independant traders and culture - something I saw this week in Lincoln. Not easy to sustain.

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Laugh it up - I’ve got to live with myself! Hell will come as sweet relief!

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50

Not quite a city but new career opportunity and airport on your doorstep…

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We have friends who live in the Barbican. They love it. They don’t run a car but they’re used to that (they were in a Manhattan apartment for 8 years before coming back to London). They would agree, I’m pretty sure, about the ‘strong sense of community’ but they’ve explained that that comes with its constraints too. You need to be happy to accommodate, at least, the general view of ‘the way things should be’. Being very different there might be hard.

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I did laugh, just couldn’t quite bring myself to ‘like’ it! :grin:

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IME “strong sense of community” usually = “nosy cunts with no lives who make your every move their business, and their business is complaining loudly and often to anyone they can get to listen to them about absolutely everything”.

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Bristol is a cracking city, both culture and work.
Property prices are ring stretchingly high tho.

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Lincolnshire it is then. :skull:

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56

Somewhere north of London near the train to St Pancras. Keep going north from London until you can afford to live. Bypass Luton though. Can’t think of a bigger shithole than Luton.

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Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Sunderland, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, and Edinburgh are all cities with good work prospects for catering and IT.

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Was surprised to see this one recently.

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Gee, thanks. Love you too.

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60

Best work life balance = Plymouth, I find this astounding but reassuring, this place must be loaded with sloths - I’m for once in the right place.

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