Londoners moving out to towns - AIBU

[Disgruntledtownie]

I have lived in the same town all my life - great community feel, independent shops etc.

During COVID, we had an absolute influx of people moving out from London which massively drove up prices so locals have had to move away and it’s really changed the whole town.

A lot of the Londoners were campaigning about getting a Pure Gym in the town - one opened, and now our local leisure centre has had to go into liquidation. This is where all the school kids learn to swim, all the teens hang out after school etc and it’s just gone.

An independent family owned shop that has been in our town for over 130 years has had to close as business has dropped.

In the last two years, Gails and a Joe & Juice have opened right next to independent coffee shops - there’s been massive queues outside Gail’s and everyone saying how good it is they can still get their Gail’s fix out of London. But it’s meant the independents have struggled and a few have had to shut.

I totally appreciate that times are tough and spiralling costs and overheads will have impacted these businesses but AIBU to think if you move out of London, you embrace the local shops etc and don’t just change the town into a mini London ??!! It’s just such a shame to see our local community disintegrating around us.

We're actually getting more independents opening and the leisure centre is getting a revamp! The place is full of ex londoners (including me technically although I've lived half my life outside of London!) I don't see a demand for more chains.

I've got a Gail's opened near me. Never been in, seems I have made a good decision.

If you have always lived in your town that is nice for you .However you cannot build a fortress and not allow anyone from London in! My DP moved from London to the SC 40 odd years ago! Sniffy locals complaining about "Grockels" a sneery name for holiday makers. and those that dare to move into their "own" county.No one owns a place .yes they may have been born there,but they dont own it!

I have this vision of coach loads of 'Londoners' heading down the A303 like some marauding band of Vikings.... throwing money about and demanding chain coffee shops and generally taking over some quaint oldie-worldie village with cheap houses.

I'm not a Londoner, and it us 100% not the faults of people from London moving to this town.
The faults lies with the local businesses, obviously their service or products were not as good or competitively priced as these new ones.

Tell me you're a NIMBY without telling me...

This reminds me- I've been to the Gail's bakery in Blackheath village a few times, several years ago now when I clearly had far more money to burn

I really liked it, yummy cakes & great cooked breakfast!

Maybe it's gone downhill since?

Sorry, I'm kind of missing the point of this thread

Whatever. Gail’s is great. Bring one to the place this ex-Londoner has moved to pls!

I live in the catchment for people relocating for media city in the north west. People moving north with London money to spend has sent price's spiralling here. We've had some amazing new infrastructure as a result, with areas that were once derelict are now thriving.

There are pros one cons, the cheap first time buyer homes are gone. My friends son is having to get a mortgage for 260k for his first home. I bought a 4 bed detached in the same area for significantly less, less than a decade ago.

I have some sympathy is that I live in an area thats become more popular with commuters. It has changed things as before more people lived, worked and spent locally. Now prices are higher reflecting london wages and the market in terms of whats on offer is more geared to them.
But thats just life.

Imagine if Londoners were upset about others coming to live in London?

YANBU about house prices and culture.

But Londoners didn't close down Hoads. The fact that people now shop online did.

The independent cafes and shops won’t have closed because “Londoners” moved to the town. It will be because they didn’t keep on their toes and adapt to the changing needs of modern society and the people who live nearby. My family have owned a cafe for 15 years and we have to continually adapt to meet the need of the people living in our area. 15 years ago people liked a pot of tea, latte or cappuccino with their scones, tea cakes or Victoria sponge. In 2023 people want more variety, to try new things, they are bored of the same old. You need to constantly research what are your competitors offering, what are the newest food/drink trends on Insta, what new innovative idea can we try. If you are not offering what local people want to buy, at the times they want to buy them, then you cannot complain when your business fails and another swoops into the premises next door and offers what you are not.

The chain gyms here are doing a lot better than the council leisure centre because the latter smells like it hasn't been cleaned since 1962. But it's definitely my fault for moving here from London.

Well if all the 'locals' had continued using the resident facilities there wouldn't have been an issue would there? Very much a case of use it or lose it. The loyal residents were maybe not so loyal to their old shops and leisure centre.

I think OP is putting 2 and 2 together and making 5.

High streets are suffering badly, small independent businesses are suffering badly, and for a variety of reasons. I don't think you can blame an influx of residents from London for all those changes you are seeing in your town.

GAILS was such a letdown when I tried the new local branch, bitter coffee, overpriced cakes, rude staff, I felt like they did everything they could to discourage me from returning.
As for leisure centres they have been hit hard by energy prices, many of them are shutting down because it’s no longer possible to heat and run a pool.

Londoners are slowly ruining this country. They have ruined London and now they are moving to other parts of the country and ruining them to. When will this stop?

Complete rubbish. Londoners love independent places, same as anyone else. And amazingly, we also use leisure centres.... If shops and facilities closed look for other reasons.

No idea what GAILS is but I live in a town that has become very run down. We have a pure gym and it's basic but busy. Our local leisure centres are run by a company who offered the most competitive bid and quickly stopped investing in maintenance because their bid was unrealistic. Nobody wants to go to them anymore. Local shops are closing because nobody wants to drive to the town centre and pay a fortune for parking in a multi-storey with tiny spaces and stairwells that smell of wee. We're within commuting distance of London but I can't blame any commuters for council decisions.

Yeh I’m not sure where this is coming from. Seems a strange stance to take

If Town centres aren't being used anymore, and people prefer going to out of town shopping malls, what is the point of the town centre? Just let it die, when shops become vacant, convert them into housing.

''@Florenz

Londoners are slowly ruining this country. They have ruined London and now they are moving to other parts of the country and ruining them to. When will this stop?''

Because all Londoners are automatically the same? they all act and think the same simply because of where they live? Really?especially when you consider how diverse London is that is a bizarre view of Londoners....

London has not been ''ruined'' and people moving out is not ''ruining'' anything.

You would think you are talking about a plague of locusts or Viking hordes...

I thought this

Please tell me this is a sarcastic post………………