if New York can die so can London

version said:

'Welcome to Fear City' – the inside story of New York's civil war, 40 years on - https://www.theguardian.com/cities/...side-story-of-new-yorks-civil-war-40-years-on

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craner said:

Barry is alive. It has a great Spoons, has the highest growth in house prices in the UK according to the BBC and a resident expert on Italian Fascism, ornithology and esoteric 90s mystical New York rap.

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luka said:

I can vouch for the wetherspoons,the local chip shop and the curry house, the staff of which patiently, long sufferingly, tolerated craners 'bangra dance' which he insisted on performing for them after 6 pints of kingfisher and a lamb bhuna

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Tens of thousands of city-dwellers are opting for a new start in the countryside or in market towns, an analysis carried out for The Times has revealed.

Last year there was a net outflow of residents in 12 of the biggest 15 cities in England and Wales, with the biggest beneficiaries being provincial towns that offer greater affordability and a better lifestyle.

The widespread exodus suggests that a lack of housing affordability is only one factor of many that motivates people to leave cities, because some urban areas with population declines are actually among Britain’s most affordable.

Greater London had the biggest net outflow of any city, with 103,230 more residents leaving than arriving — 12 in every 1,000. However, analysts were surprised by the large numbers leaving many other cities.

Birmingham’s net population fell by 10,417 despite swift economic development, and Manchester had a net outflow of 5,088 — or nine residents in every 1,000 in each city — while six in every 1,000 people in Nottingham moved out.

Out of the 15 biggest cities in England and Wales, the only population increases took place in the cities of Durham, Liverpool and Wakefield. The analysis, of the latest internal migration figures by the Office for National Statistics, was carried out by Hamptons International, an estate agency.

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Gráinne Gilmore, head of residential research at Knight Frank, the estate agency, says that a number of factors are at play when people choose to leave cities. These include seeking a better education for their children and wanting a better lifestyle. Other analysts suggest escaping urban crime and pollution also play a part.

“Affordability is often a factor for those deciding to move, but other key considerations include education, lifestyle and employment,” she said. The Times has highlighted the dangers of soaring urban pollution through its Clean Air for All campaign.

As such, the areas with the biggest population inflows are overwhelmingly market towns, such as Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, which gained 20 people for every 1,000 residents last year, and affluent amenity-rich communities such as Stratford-upon-Avon (a gain of 19 for every 1,000) and the Cotswolds (16).

Daniel Bentley, editorial director at Civitas, the think-tank, says that the figures showed that people were falling out of love with urban living. “What this tells us is the cost of living in cities is, for the existing UK population at least, increasingly unjustified by the advantages of living in them,” he said.

Charlie Wells, managing director of Prime Purchase, a buying agency, agreed: “You will get more space for your money in the country, more freedom for your children and more variety and style of property.”

Despite the urban exodus, the figures do not mean that urban populations are going down overall. The ONS migration figures only take into account people who move from one local authority in England and Wales to another, so they exclude migrants arriving from overseas, who continue to drive up the populations of all cities, particularly London. They also exclude natural changes such as births or deaths.

“Those who are moving out are mostly being replaced by overseas migrants who clearly do feel it is worth their while moving in,” Mr Bentley said. “I suspect a critical reason for this is that migrants tend to be more willing to compromise on housing space than existing residents who are moving out.”

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at the estate agency Hamptons International, said that many residents leaving cities were now skipping over local suburbs and instead buying bigger homes further out with the intention of making a long-term move. “They are moving further out, trying to buy the biggest house that they can, because they won’t be able to move again for a long time. A lack of affordability is literally knocking rungs off the property ladder.”

She agreed with research last year by Savills, the estate agency, which suggested that going forward homeowners were likely to move once every 14 years rather than every nine — as had been the case before the 2007 financial crisis — because moving house was too expensive.

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Charlie Wells, managing director of Prime Purchase, a buying agency, agreed: “You will get more space for your money in the country, more freedom for your children and more variety and style of property.”

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