25 replies to this topic

[panda plodder]

"Come to Milton Keynes" sang the Style Council in the late 80's in a satirical swipe @ the New Town (or should that be City or even post modern sprawl of Sub urban villages?).

Just what is the attraction for people to move south?

Wages?

Better housing?

Oh I know it must be the 'Streets are paved are paved with gold!'

Wages, susposedly the average wage in the South East is around £24,000 not enough to buy a nice house but maybe enough to rent some rabbit hutch.

Better housing (Yeah sure as the advert goes Move out, Move Up and Move in) one enterprising company brought a block of town houses in Watford and converted the Garages into modern bedsit flats.

Every Sunday evening the M6/M1 is jammed packed with cars heading south (not a lot heads North) to London as workers return to their jobs and bedsit land.

Why are companies so keen to stay in the south? there are loads of quality office/factory/Distribution buildings 'Up North' Some of the offices in Manchester are of a better size, cheaper and look just as good as anything on docklands.


If only the stupid Government would invest a bit more in the transport infrastructure up here (Tram Extention).

The M25 at rushhhour is still far worse than the M60 with roadworks.

[Sidious]

Milton Keynes (not that I have been) is supposedly built on a grid system. The centrepeice of this architectural masterpiece is Midsummer Boulevard apparently. I am told that the railway station is at one end of this and the roof is made of a complex prism of glass which illuminates brightly on the day of the summer solstice.

Not sure if this is true, but it sounds impressive.

Just as we don't entirely know what stonehenge is about, perhaps in thousands of years time, the people will think that we were some strange people who worshipped trains or something

[Minerva]

Where I live we are always subjected to adverts that invite us to "Come to MK", now I consider Milton Keynes in the North and they seem desperate for people to go there.

I might nip up one day.

[Jenny P]

I have been to Milton Keynes many times and Sidious you are right, it is built on a grid system. There are loads of roundabouts and everytime I go into MK I always seem to come out another way (unintensionally).

There is loads of really good shopping and facilities as everything is held within a couple of 'blocks'. There is a real snow indoor ski slope which is fantastic!

I have not yet seen the concrete cows though.

That's enough of my MK advert.

[Bas]

I have been to Milton Keynes many times and Sidious you are right, it is built on a grid system.  There are loads of roundabouts and everytime I go into MK I always seem to come out another way (unintensionally).

There is loads of really good shopping and facilities as everything is held within a couple of 'blocks'.  There is a real snow indoor ski slope which is fantastic!

I have not yet seen the concrete cows though.

That's enough of my MK advert.

I have been to MK once. I got so lost it truly was unbelievable. The grid system at first visit is an absolute nightmare.

Roundabout city!

I am told though, that once used to it, it is one of the best road infastructures anywhere. I can see that being possible.

If my memory serves me correctly, the roads are named H1-9 and V1-9 (horizontal and vertical)?

[sm00]

been to MK many times, hate it, the roads are bland and green scenary either side you are going to struggle if you rely on landmarks i.e left at the church etc, roundabouts everywhere you dont where u are! roads signs bleh!

The shopping centre is huge infact its bigger than Merry Hill oops typo i ment Merry Hell...

tsk tsk

Trainstation seems well managed never had a problem staff always great didn't particulary pay attention to its structure...

wasn't that impressed.

I actually did a Geography A-Level case study on MK there are very poor sides and very rich sides MK has congregated the poor and rich. The poor area'd houses are very badly designed some even have flat roofs so there is alot of roof flooding problems.

Good points are the cycle lanes if you like cycling

[Top Cat]

Good points are the cycle lanes if you like cycling blink.gif

Although in the days of Mini Metros, the local Bill dion't think so - they were the only cars that'd fit down the cycle ways and the baddies used to use them to evade capture!

[karmapolice]

This is a very well trodden discussion, and I simply can't bring myself to repeat what many of us have discussed elsewhere. However:

"Come to Milton Keynes" sang the Style Council in the late 80's in a satirical swipe @ the New Town (or should that be City or even post modern sprawl of Sub urban villages?).

Wages, susposedly the average wage in the South East is around £24,000 not enough to buy a nice house but maybe enough to rent some rabbit hutch.

Yes, but on the upside, it's not in the North, eh?

Better housing (Yeah sure as the advert goes Move out, Move Up and Move in) one enterprising company brought a block of town houses in Watford and converted the Garages into modern bedsit flats.

The free market rocks. And don't tell me the North isn't littered with monstrosities of 60s architecture and slum housing. Bradford, Dudley and large swathes of Glasgow are top-of-my-list to demolish when I am King.

Every Sunday evening the M6/M1 is jammed packed with cars heading south (not a lot heads North) to London as workers return to their jobs and bedsit land.

Bedsit land? You don't know the South very well, do you?

Why are companies so keen to stay in the south? there are loads of quality office/factory/Distribution buildings 'Up North' Some of the offices in Manchester are of a better size, cheaper and look just as good as anything on docklands.
If only the stupid Government would invest a bit more in the transport infrastructure up here (Tram Extention).

The Government has. Things like the Sheffield Tram are a great example, although, ironically enough, not enough people are using it and, therefore, it's future is less-than-certain.

Companies are keen, because their staff are keen to. More people live in the South. It's simply easy to recruit and retain good quality staff down here than it is in the North. It's also a damn sight easier to poach staff from your competitors. You could have the sexiest looking building in England, but if you can't fill it with good quality people, then it's somewhat irrelevant. For a lot of industries, especially Financial Services, there are strong historical links and reasons for being located in concentrated areas.

The M25 at rushhhour is still far worse than the M60 with roadworks.

I agree. But you're mixing the issue of people not getting out of their cars coupled with the lack of suitable alternatives with trying to make a tenuous comparison as to why the North is better - "'cos we have more roads, innit?".

Right on.

Oh, and I'm extremely disappointed to note that no-one has pointed out the historical reference to Superman II, which was filmed largely in location in Milton Keynes due to the grid-system of roads being similar in appearance to US towns.

[kirkyfosh]

i lived in MK for 9 years finished my schooling there i must say for a kid of that age it is the best CITY to grow up in there is everything you could ask for at that age, its based on the roman citys as a layout once you have lived there a while its V V easy to get around on the H`s and V`s

it may look bland to visitors but till you have lived there you cant really know (also some companys in MK are paying outer london weighting about £1500 )

[sandbag]

The girlfriend used to live in MK & we've been over several times to visit. I've found it very easy to find my way around the city centre, no alleys or side streets to get lost in . As for landmarks, you can't miss the indoor ski place. It's amenities are fine: 2 cinemas, a bowling alley, a theatre, an indoor ski slope, lots of shopping & plenty of places to eat & drink.

The only thing it's missing is a football stadium & a halfway-decent team.

[Top Cat]

The girlfriend used to live in MK & we've been over several times to visit. I've found it very easy to find my way around the city centre, no alleys or side streets to get lost in . As for landmarks, you can't miss the indoor ski place. It's amenities are fine: 2 cinemas, a bowling alley, a theatre, an indoor ski slope, lots of shopping & plenty of places to eat & drink.

The only thing it's missing is a football stadium & a halfway-decent team.

They have an ice hockey team though...

..and to be honest, lack of o footie team (are wimbledon still moving there??) Is a bonus in my book!!!!!! :wink:

[kirkyfosh]

They are already there matey MK Dons mmmmmmm nice name they play at the national hockey stadium which is just about big enough to swing a small under developed kitten in, but they are having one built hoorah

[Biscuit]

Hardly a North/South divide though is it? It's Milton Keynes, not Aberdeen.

[Top Cat]

Nah - Milton keynes is sarf..(!)

[kirkyfosh]

no its not its the midlands

[Top Cat]

nah - midlands? It's Bucks - Home counties

[kirkyfosh]

touche old chap touche

Edited by kirkyfosh, 09 December 2004 - 04:33 PM.

[sandbag]

They are already there matey MK Dons mmmmmmm nice name they play at the national hockey stadium which is just about big enough to swing a small under developed kitten in...

And they still can't fill it on match day.

[Police Constable 1]

do u have a north south divide over in ireland sandbag (notices the dublin thing)

as for the north south divide, there are many things over than the state of roads and buildings that show of the north south divide.

[panda plodder]

nah - midlands? It's Bucks - Home counties 

Yep.... but Bedfordshire is a South Midlands county (Its not in East Anglia as people think (Mainly down to ITV and BBC TV regions), doesn't qualify as a Home County because it doesn't border London, listed as South Midllands along with Northants and Oxfordshire and before anybody says West Anglia, sorry peeps thats Cambridgeshire.

[sandbag]

do u have a north south divide over in ireland sandbag (notices the dublin thing)

as for the north south divide, there are many things over than the state of roads and buildings that show of the north south divide.

Up until the boom of the 90's pretty much the entire country was in a bad way, the levels of depravation varied (certain affluent suburbs & towns aside). Since the boom things have improved dramatically, though the border areas & parts of the west still lag behind.

On a psychological level, there's the Dublin/Cork/rest of the country divide. We Dubs would consider the rest of the country to be toothless, bog-trotting simpletons while the muckers would call us thieving, chav-like heroin addicts.

People from Cork are a special case. They reckon Cork is the centre of the universe, everyone else reckons they're a*sholes.

[fatboytim]

I have been to MK once. I got so lost it truly was unbelievable. The grid system at first visit is an absolute nightmare.

Roundabout city!

I am told though, that once used to it, it is one of the best road infastructures anywhere. I can see that being possible.

If my memory serves me correctly, the roads are named H1-9 and V1-9 (horizontal and vertical)?

You can even buy a calender just with pictures of M K roundabouts,thats sad.
The shopping centre is first class, but get there early as it can sometimes be a pain to find a parking space

[panda plodder]

PP has replied in red.

[
Wages, susposedly the average wage in the South East is around £24,000 not enough to buy a nice house but maybe enough to rent some rabbit hutch.

Yes, but on the upside, it's not in the North, eh?

Better housing (Yeah sure as the advert goes Move out, Move Up and Move in) one enterprising company brought a block of town houses in Watford and converted the Garages into modern bedsit flats.

The free market rocks. And don't tell me the North isn't littered with monstrosities of 60s architecture and slum housing. Bradford, Dudley

Dudley is in the West Midlands (and hardly north in fact about the same latitude as Watford Gap)

and large swathes of Glasgow are top-of-my-list to demolish when I am King.

And your excuse for the Barbican Flats is? Elephant and Castle? Slough? Canvey Island?

Every Sunday evening the M6/M1 is jammed packed with cars heading south (not a lot heads North) to London as workers return to their jobs and bedsit land.

Bedsit land? You don't know the South very well, do you?

Well actually Fenland Boy I do! 30 odd years in Hertfordshire. If I'm ever down that way I always on a virtually clear motorway on a Sunday whilst heading the opposite way are masses of lemmings returning to the smoke. Ah yes smoke, now call me Mr Picky but despite the old image of flat caps, clogs and Lowry landscapes you don't get smog in Manchester. I have been on the slow crawl of the M1 between Jct 10 and 8/7 during rush hour for many years, on a sunny morning you can see the grey smog sitting a few thousand feet above London in the distance. My wife returned after a day down in London and blew into her hanky and if I knew I had that in my lungs everyday then I would be worried (for the faint heated it was black sooty stuff!)

Why are companies so keen to stay in the south? there are loads of quality office/factory/Distribution buildings 'Up North' Some of the offices in Manchester are of a better size, cheaper and look just as good as anything on docklands.
If only the stupid Government would invest a bit more in the transport infrastructure up here (Tram Extention).

The Government has. Things like the Sheffield Tram are a great example, although, ironically enough, not enough people are using it and, therefore, it's future is less-than-certain.

No Government policy on Trams is a farce! no two systems are the same which has pushed up costs to such a level that Audit Commision has had a fit. New Labour is keen to foster "Civic" pride so each system will be unique, costly to build, run and repair.

Companies are keen, because their staff are keen to. More people live in the South. It's simply easy to recruit and retain good quality staff down here than it is in the North. It's also a damn sight easier to poach staff from your competitors. You could have the sexiest looking building in England, but if you can't fill it with good quality people, then it's somewhat irrelevant. For a lot of industries, especially Financial Services, there are strong historical links and reasons for being located in concentrated areas.

Such as Mumbai

The M25 at rushhhour is still far worse than the M60 with roadworks.

I agree. But you're mixing the issue of people not getting out of their cars coupled with the lack of suitable alternatives with trying to make a tenuous comparison as to why the North is better - "'cos we have more roads, innit?".

Right on.

Oh, and I'm extremely disappointed to note that no-one has pointed out the historical reference to Superman II, which was filmed largely in location in Milton Keynes due to the grid-system of roads being similar in appearance to US towns.

Edited by panda plodder, 15 December 2004 - 08:12 PM.

[karmapolice]

PP has replied in red.

I can barely feign my interest.

[panda plodder]

I can barely feign my interest.

Hmm your getting more difficult to wind up these days KP


peaceout