With all I have written in previous posts, you might complain that I'm referring mainly to experiences in London. Rightly so. Life in Britain can be different. And we have considered moving out of the capital. It can be really nice.
Whether it's the green hills of England, the English south coast, which almost has a Mediterranean feel to it, or the rugged beauty of Scotland, scenically, Britain has a lot to offer. The idyllic countryside is often interrupted only by the ornate villages or renovated stately homes. The air is much better than in London, I can walk for hours without getting tired. Also, the tap water doesn't have a strange taste.
But as much as we like the countryside, we didn't want to live there. We are city people, enjoying the buzz and opportunities larger urban areas have to offer. And there are practically no appropriate jobs for Ph.D. physicists in scenic villages. However, if one wants to escape the conditions in the capital, there are other appealing options, aren't there? It depends...
Let's start with something positive. In the larger cities of England, the cost of living is indeed much lower than in the capital. If one takes property prices as a yardstick, the price level in Manchester or Birmingham only reaches between 30 and 40 per cent of London. In Liverpool it is only 20 to 30 per cent. In addition, houses are always somewhat larger. (Although still not comparable with houses in Germany, size and quality.)
There would even have been a few jobs for me, but they weren't particularly attractive or well paid (i.e. even worse than in London.) And unfortunately, the capital has absorbed almost everything of cultural relevance from the rest of the country. None of the theatres, museums, galleries or event centres can compete with those in London.
Most towns outside London are a collection of shops and housing estates that have lost all charm. A typical English dwelling is a terraced house in a street, where all houses look the same; mass-produced industrial goods without personality. Even if one visits a richer neighbourhood with detached houses and larger gardens, it hardly gets any better. The houses, while not copies of each other, remain unadorned and cheap looking as do the streets and pavements between them.
The impression often continues inside the houses. The properties of many London friends are spartanly furnished. No surprise, due to the high cost of living. But it is no different outside the metropolis.
The living room, or lounge, is often furnished with only a sofa and TV, maybe accompanied by some sports equipment or a few children’s toys. A lost-looking picture might decorate a wall, together with a modern sculpture in the corner, a.k.a. the hoover, because there is no storage space. A single lamp sheds some cold light on the scene. With luck, however, the hoover is out of sight. Because one regular room is used for storage. Then, together with the hoover, all kinds of stuff are piled up there. Shelves or cupboards to keep everything tidy and organised are usually missing, in all rooms.
Even in the rest of the country, the low salaries do not allow proper homes. Many neighbourhoods did not seem to me like places where people live, more like enclosures, storage spaces for workers.
Not only are there a lack of cultural facilities in cities, but there is a lack of people to fill them with life or to enrich a neighbourhood by presence alone. Artists and creative people are drawn to London. In general, those who want to make a career have more opportunities in the capital. In a way, London is the elite university among cities.
For example, that my wife completed her medical training in the capital is already a distinction. Before each specialisation level, young doctors have to pass exams, and the results are ranked nationwide. The best one gets to choose his or her region of choice first and the specific job in that region. Since London is not only culturally attractive but also home to the best hospitals, the better young doctors end up in the capital.
The same applies to the general infrastructure. It may be dilapidated in London, but that is no comparison to the rest of the country. The road network is in a disastrous state, trains are delayed much more than in Germany, if they are not cancelled altogether. Local transport is only sporadically developed. And many long-distance buses are at the end of their life cycle rather than the beginning. On one trip, buses had to be replaced on the outward and return journey because of technical defects. The supermarkets are bigger than in London, but the variety of goods is not. Additionally, the excellent London off-licence shops and delicatessens are missing. Only the internet availability is still better than in comparable regions in Germany.
Of course, my impressions here are condensed and therefore seem slightly exaggerated. There are some cities where we could have lived well. Oxford and Cambridge have a completely different flair, both architecturally and in terms of the people. There would also have been suitable jobs for me; plenty of high-tech companies are based in the vicinity of the two cities.
However, two obstacles stood in the way of a possible move. One was my paltry German degree, which significantly reduced my chances of getting the advertised jobs. The other was the price of houses. They were not that much cheaper than in London. Oxford and Cambridge are university towns. Many students stay on after graduation and earn well (relatively).
That left us with two options: Move to the outskirts of London or move to the wider belt. Well, with the former, you can move to another city straight away. As soon as you leave Inner London, the architecture becomes as depressing as elsewhere, and the same applies to the development of the infrastructure. Only those who can't afford the city's more upmarket neighbourhoods live here. (Exceptions prove the rule).
Things look a little better in the suburbs. Numerous railway lines run in a star shape towards the centre, trains are closely timed. If the workplace is in the vicinity of a one of London's railway stations, the journey time may be shorter than if one has to slog through London's local traffic.
King's Cross and Euston station connect the northern part of the country with London. Within an hour's journey, the typical time required to get from A to B in London, you can reach St Albans, Luton or Milton Keynes in succession. After 90 minutes you are in Northampton, which is as far from London as Bremen is from Hamburg.
Of course, the good connection to the metropolis comes at a price. Properties cost more than in most cities in England. In Milton Keynes, Luton and Northampton they are 60-40 per cent of London prices. St Albans is so close that the median price is above the London average. And one must not forget the cost of train tickets.
Season tickets are far more expensive than in Germany. An annual ticket between Hamburg and Bremen cost 2,964 € in 2022. The ticket to commute between London and Northampton cost more than twice as much, £6,328.
Over the years, the costs add up to a small fortune, e.g., if one commutes for 30 years, one pays over £170,000. Double that amount if two are working in London.
It makes more financial sense to buy a property in the capital. Although the ticket expenses may not cover the difference in property prices, the investment in London promises a greater increase in property value than anywhere else.
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