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Philder

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  1. Might be a bit of a tangent, but there's a very interesting documentary series on BBC2 at the moment, covering how TfL keep London running. They've done a series about the Tube, but they're now covering the less obvious world of surface transport. Last night was all about night buses. Interesting stat for me was that the night bus network has trebled in the last ten years as the population has increased and the 24/7 city effect has radiated outwards and ever more people are working at night (cleaners, bar staff, clubs, restaurants and whatnot). People tend to focus on property prices being impacted by rail network enhancements (Overground, Thameslink, Crossrail etc), but the bus network strikes me as another useful indicator, just perhaps more subtle. Either way, fascinating programme. There was one guy who had lost his job and house in the credit crunch, who now worked during the day and more or less lived on the night bus. His tactic was to ride the longest route that heads deep into the suburbs and ultimately Heathrow T5. He'd then use the washroom facilities at the airport, try and grab some rest somewhere quiet and then ride the bus back. That sort of existence had simply never occurred to me. Depressing situation, for sure, but a remarkably innovative strategy for adapting to it.
  2. Is it me, or do all the cars in that mock-up appear to be Audis? Nicely subliminal! I'm a touch south of Hemel (in Watford), and we have the same sort of stuff popping up here. More to come, as a big station redevelopment is planned, although that's been on hold for a few years now. There's an empty office block immediately opposite our mainline station that I'm certain will end up as "heart of urban living only 20 minutes from London" luxury appartments. Not sure if it's to capture people moving out of London, or trying to create a halo effect for people moving in. Possibly sits in the intersection of the Venn Diagram? I'm at the point in my life where I'm seriously thinking about selling my little flat here and heading about 40 minutes further out along the mainline. Two bed house for more or less what my flat would go for, smaller town with more open countryside. Longer commute being the trade off. Buy on my own or rent with partner is the next question. Pass the crystal ball!
  3. On a vaguely serious note, as eastern consumers become more akin to their middle class western cousins, I'd be looking at the dairy and meat industries, amongst others. Coffee probably plays a part in that as well.
  4. I'm interested in how much of this gentrification is due to the emerging middle classes from previous waves of immigration? It's been in the news lately, as the tabloids were making a fuss about the "white British" population of London dipping below 50%. Main driver seems to be the equivalent of white flight. People who were previously in inner city areas are radiating outwards for better houses and schools in much the same way the white middle classes have done, to be replaced by the next incoming wave. It's fascinating to watch both from a physical and social point of view. I'll see if I can dig out the link, but there was a great episode of the Londonist podcast recently where they interview the chief planning officer for (I think) City of London Corporation. He pointed out that London succeeds precisely because it's never finished, plus that the key to growth is ensuring young professionals have places to drink, eat and to pull no punches, meet for sex. When you view London through that lens, it is noticable how different "villages" cater for different tastes. West End/Soho for more mainstream clubbing, Shoreditch area for the "be seen" crowd, then Vauxhall and surrounds for LGBT venues. Recent years have seen me become more involved in alternative scenes, and it's amazing what's out there once you're "hooked in". Had never really viewed that as being useful for the cohesion of a city before now.
  5. Yep, that's what I meant - long day and frazzled brain! All fairly speculative at the moment, it was more simply wanting to see how much the commuting side of the equation would have to tip to bring the housing side into line with the present location. For guidance, I estimate my flat would currently go for £115k or thereabouts, and 2 beds out to Northampton were in or around that area. That was a very quick look and I don't know the area...they may all be on fire for all I know, it was just interesting to see how a one hour commute could have such an impact on quality of life. Northampton isn't exactly a backwater either. Nothing special, but it's a large urban centre and well connected, plus a university town, which generally keeps things interesting in any number of ways. As for areas to look at in London - Elephant & Castle would be one IMO. About as desirable as herpes at present, but given the development of Bankside and the new towers in build / planned on Blackfriars road, I can see that stretch of the south bank being in-filled to join the gap between the developments at Vauxhall / Nine Elms and the swathe of appartments to the east of Tower Bridge out to Rotherhithe, Surrey Quays, Greenland Dock sort of direction. There's a big "landmark" development going up in Bermondsey just round the corner from where I do archery, plus of course you have the Shard and the redevelopment of the whole London Bridge area for the Thameslink project. No idea if it's sustainable and to be honest, I'm not looking to play the property speculation game (although have looked at REITs in passing), I'm just fascinated by the massive amount of regeneration going on south of the river. We are starting to see "Hong Kongfication" in various parts of town - high density mixed use, new public realm and mass transit as a feature. What was the quote about London? It'll be a great city when it's finished
  6. To touch on a topic I know DrBubb likes, I think a main driver has been the vast improvement in transport over the last five or so years. Leaving aside the mega-projects like King's Cross and Battersea Power Station/Nine Elms, there are new developments popping up all over the place, most noticeably along the southern rail corridor out of London Bridge down to the likes of Forest Hill. My hunch there is that's a lot to do with the much improved London Overground network, which has completely transformed metro services in that part of town. I think a lot of people have cashed in property in more central/northern suburbs and moved out a bit, knowing they're only a 20 minute journey from the City and/or Canary Wharf. The connections are fantastic, the service clean and frequent and the network is already at capacity at a mere five years old. Might be a smart move to start looking at the more grimy locales along the recently opened phase two link from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction, or longer term perhaps the currently ATOC run services TfL has an eye on for conversion to Overground in the future - services to Tottenham Hale and out to Welwyn being examples. Interestingly, and staying on the subject of rail, I recently did a comparison to see how far along the West Coast Main Line I'd need to go before my Watford studio flat (20 mins) became a two bed house - Northampton seemed to be the answer, at about an hour out of town. Got me thinking, as I'm getting to the position where my partner and I (currently living apart) are looking for a place. Having worked my parts off for twenty years (and still only 39), I'm wondering if it might be time to perhaps cash in on the London property effect, then stomach a train commute for another five years or so whilst working on a network of friends and a property we could sustain mortgage free by each working six months of the year. Food for thought indeed. Anyway, slight derailment (ahem). As you were.
  7. So, euro bailout talks are now considering a "Redemption Pact" which "covers all public debts of EMU states above the Maastricht limit of 60pc of GDP, roughly €2.3 trillion". Reading further, this caught my eye :- Italy and other states would have to pledge gold and other forms of collateral equal to 20pc of their debt in the fund. "The assets could be taken from the country's currency and gold reserves. The collateral nominated would only be used in the event that a country does not meet its payment obligations," said the proposal. Prospects for gold off the back of that suggestion? The fact it's even being suggested (and by Germany at that) would seem to cement the safe haven status?
  8. Can't add anything especially insightful to the discussion, other than to say someone should plot a chart showing the correlation of downward gold moves to screaming "It's a buying opportunity!" headlines on KWN... Joking aside, if it makes Sovereigns that little bit cheaper, probably IS a nice time to think about adding to the collection, on the understanding that's all it is, a collection, not some ultra clever market play or somesuch. I just like coins and shiny things
  9. The issue I have with claims that there's x tonnes of secret gold somewhere out is that they do nothing to explain where it all came from. If there's that much more gold than thought, and gold is formed at the same time and by the same processes as other elements, there ought to be more of those elements as well, unless our theories are wrong. They may well be, but in that case, the "there's much more gold" proponents then need to offer a new method by which all this extra gold came into being.
  10. No evidence to support theory = "they" are suppressing it! Evidence disproving your theory = "they" are hoaxing it, don't believe what you read, "they would say that..." It's genius really. Annoyingly, it only serves to detract from the genuinely interesting areas of discussion.
  11. Also throws up all sorts of interesting astrophysical and geological questions regarding the formation of the stuff in the first place. Also, gold mining is a dirty business that creates a LOT of waste material. For there to be that much more gold in circulation, it follows there would also be a huge amount of additional waste. You might be able to keep people quiet, but how do you conceal the waste from an order of magnitude more gold being mined?
  12. I don't disagree, but they change due to experiment, observation, reformulating theory and re-experimenting. I wouldn't mind the fringe stuff quite so much if it at least proposed a way of actually measuring or verifying the claims. If they can't be independently checked, they simply don't count I'm afraid. That's why I'm always rather suspicious of fringe types making claims about conspiracy and suppression, as it just seems like a convenient way of explaining away why their claims have never been verified. Someone has already mentioned about the latest CERN results and the very honest and frank way they've announced them. That's how it should work! The whole point of DOING such an experiment was to find out something like this, ditto the search (or not) for the Higgs. To use a nice Dara O'Briain quote, "science KNOWS it doesn't know everything, otherwise it would stop". As for Elenin...seems to have taken a CME in the face and is now in the process of disintegrating. I have no doubt this "coincidence" is already being reported as "proof" that HAARP is a star wars weapon or other such twaddle.
  13. I'd be careful before using this to try and claim an overturning of the scientific orthodoxy. The results need to be repeated, preferably independently before we start jumping up and down. Even if they do prove to be correct, it's doesn't necessarily mean Einstein was wrong in the same way Einstein didn't mean Newton was wrong, it just means Special Relativity isn't the full picture. It has survived 106 years of scrutiny and ever more detailed measurement, which suggests it's on the right lines, so I don't think we ought to be throwing it in the bin just yet. The CERN result is fascinating if true, but it is currently not verified. Fleischmann–Pons and Rusi P. Taleyarkhan spring to mind.
  14. Equally, I've seen many more predictions of events that have subsequently not come to pass, not least your own warnings about the effects of the "Supermoon". Let's be even handed here and focus on the hits AND the misses, otherwise selection bias creeps in. Regarding quakes, many may well have occurred during conjunctions or alignments over the years, but many more will have occurred when no such event was taking place, suggesting mere coincidence. We live on an active planet, so something is always going to coincide with something else. Doesn't imply causation. I'd wager far more quakes have occurred when there ISN'T a comet on close approach than when there IS, so if anything, the relative proximity of Elenin ought to be of comfort to you, as it means we're statistically less likely to have an event...
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