Londoners have absolutely decimated my city

[CrushedOrange]

NC as really outing.
I'm a musician and over the years I have seen what was a steady stream of londoners turn into a flood this year.
I'm so gutted. I know everybody has the right to live here but it has pushed so many of my friends out, artists and other musicians. It pisses me off that the whole reason these londoners moved here, they are also destroying.
I'm lucky as my landlord is really decent and hasn't put my rent up in years, so I can afford to stay here. But now I'm considering just leaving because of the vibe factor. It makes me really sad. I still gig a few times a week but the crowd is different. I miss my community, but now everybody is scattered as everyone who was pushed out has gone to different places.
I'm considering just jumping ship and moving on myself but I don't know where to go.
Today some more londoners moved into the street...The whole street is full of scaffolding as they seem to really love doing home improvements 😅
I know I sound really bitter. I guess I am. I don't know whether to stay or go, and of I go, where to?

Sounds like the Medway towns to me.
Used to be very hippy in Rochester ( my old haunt ) , lots of artists and musicians but with masses of new housing and the faster train links into London it’s definitely increased house prices ( grammars and private school in Rochester too ) attracted Londoners and changed the vibe.
However.
London is too expensive and people have to live somewhere.
Places and communities change over time.

Friend and her family moved back to Yorkshire after living in London for about 10 years.
Despite being Yorkshire born and bred she was given quite a hard time buying a property in a small village.

I think that’s very sad.

Oi! We don't want Southerners coming up here. We've spent years convincing everyone it's shit just to make sure 😜

I think your problem is capitalism, not Londoners. It hurts us all.

Always love this myth that Londoners are all rich. Have you any idea what it's like for those of us on average or low incomes to survive here?!

I have visited Brighton on and off for most of my life. It has changed I agree with the OP, though moving to the coast is not new.

There is one positive thing to highlight. LGBT people don't need to move there because of intolerance or worse where they lived any more, which 20 years ago could well have been the case.

Yes OP you can even live in a place called New Brighton. Liverpool is very affordable and not lacking in vibes

Watford.

Full of high rise flats now, never had those a while ago
Developers don’t even bother calling it Watford, herts anymore. It’s called Watford, London.
Just outside ULEZ though.

Exactly right.

I was there a few weeks ago for a uni visit and was disappointed to see Brighton felt as seedy and shabby round the edges as the previous time I visited >20 years ago.
Tbh OP the people you're complaining about probably aren't Londoners, they've probably lived in London for a few years and then decided to move out to somewhere more affordable/family friendly. You can't really blame them for that.

Can you channel your heartache about this traumatic situation into a new song? Is there enough material for a whole album do you think?

Yep, us boring bastards in Worthing definitely need livening up 🤣

Last Sunday’s Samba Beach Party - there’s actually a thriving music, arts and culture scene just along the coast if you yank your judgy pants out of your arse!

Why can’t you gig with Londoners around? What have gigging Londoners got to do with scaffolding? I’m confused. But I’m a gigging Londoner who’s just done an extension so maybe that’s why.

This

I live in a friend's place in London for cheap.

One day I'll have to move and who knows it may be to your town because I probably can't afford here. I'm an artist, does that make me more welcome than my partner, who isn't?

London is stupidly expensive. I live in London because I was born here but most people I meet have moved here; from all over the world and also from towns like yours. That, to me, is the joy of the place.

If you think it's our fault your prices are high then you think it's immigrants' fault London is so expensive.

Personally, I think the system is at fault, not the people.

Ah, they'll hopefully bring money with them and it'll do the place good. I love Brighton but parts need some serious investment, and I don't think I've been anywhere else with an entire street of bong shops.

It'll do my not terribly far from Brighton local town good too, as I've noticed increasing numbers of "UFBs" moving in! Fingers crossed we'll get a nice deli and a branch of the white company before long and no longer have to pay £££ for Brighton parking!

That is true. It's a difficult issue to discuss but it does nobody any favours ignoring it.

I think, there's a minority of genuine bigots who hate anyone 'different' or 'not from here' (aimed at both the domestic displaced and immigrants).

However aside from them, none of us want to create a hostile atmosphere, make people feel unwelcome, or lack empathy.

We do though need to be able to discuss things. Both the issue of the domestically displaced and the issue of mass immigration. We need to look for solutions that don't whip up hatred, or are kneejerk.

Solutions that are compassionate to newcomers (domestic or from abroad) but also take into account the needs of people already in an area, especially the disadvantaged.

I don't know all the answers but simply ignoring the impact especially on disadvantaged people and communicaties, of both mass immigration and mass domestic displacement, is unhelpful and increases resentment and then we have threads like this one.

Although it won't solve everything, the issues would be helped a lot if we had well-funded public services, more council housing, and good work education and training opportunities across the country.

Returning quickly to London specifically. With second homes, I understand London has the most second homes in the UK (and perhaps not uncoincidentally, the most homeless people).

I think it's the lack of community contribution that angers everyone, whether they're a Londoner being priced out or folk from outside that there London.

Though I’m just about to move from London to Worthing, so the OP will need to cross it off the list - even if s/he thinks s/he can save you from yourselves, people like me are about to leave the place beyond redemption.

A lot of it is to do with the BBC Media City move to Manchester.

There were calls to make the BBC less London-centric; this is the result I guess.

I live somewhere where Londoners aren't well thought of.

They don't seem to understand l would have loved to have bought in the area where my family have lived since they came from Ireland in the 1890s, but l can't afford it.

Funnily enough OP, I live in one of the places you mention that Brightonians are moving to in significant numbers. And yes, some of them are bringing a ‘vibe’ with them 😂 We also have quite a lot of Londoners moving here, and yes, Teslas and drastic home improvements are fairly numerous!

And in case anyone thinks I’m speculating about where newcomers are coming from, there are a lot of these folk in my immediate neighbourhood so I’ve talked to many new neighbours and people I meet on the beach on dog walks etc, and know that they’re from Brighton/London.

As long as people respect their new neighbours and the local environment; and ideally ensure their particular ‘vibe’ doesn’t conflict with others’ vibes, it’s all good by me 🤷🏼‍♀️

Londoners have been going backwards and forwards to Brighton since they built the railway line in the 19th century. They created the fashionable buzz in the first place (though I'm sure the OP adds her own attractive aura).

I have lived in London all my adult life so call myself a Londoner, whatever anyone thinks. I have zero desire to live elsewhere.

I have seen comments by people in Norfolk and Cornwall that would put me off moving there. I am surprised to see that Brighton is also anti-Londoner though.

Incidentally regarding Brighton. DH's childhood friend (from the SE but not London) moved to London years ago. He later moved to Brighton. No idea if 'born and bred' people from Brighton consider him a Londoner. He doesn't. He sees himself as someone who's moved around but is originally from his home town, then lived in London, and is now living in Brighton.

Definitely the issues of jobs and housing pressure, and mass movement of people, need to be addressed (in a compassionate way) but how boring and depressing if nobody ever moved somewhere else.

If my friend hadn't moved here from London years ago I wouldn't have her in my life and she's a very good friend. I also have a lovely neighbour who moved here from abroad a couple of years ago (in case it's relevant and I don't know if it is, my neighbour has a relatively well paid job and a mortgage).

Mate Hastings is just as bad! They get called FILTH - failed in London try Hastings

I thought it was
Failed In London Tried Hong Kong

As an expat Hongkonger 🤣🤣🤣