wrote:
On Mar 8, 8:40 am, Rupert Candy
wrote:
I chose not to live in South London, because the transport links
are
so unspeakably bad (with PAYG being a relevant, but minor, aspect
of
the general transport dreadfulness of South London). You could
have
done the same. Instead, you agreed to live in a horrible desert,
presumably because the rent was cheaper or something.

Or because it's nicer/greener/closer to jobs/young people can
actually
afford to buy here.. Unusually inflammatory for you, John.

Provocatively phrased, but nonetheless true in spirit - transport
links are a vitally important factor when deciding where to live.

Around London, the Tube has long been far more frequent, cheaper and
open longer hours than heavy rail services, and rents and house prices
near Tube stations have been correspondingly higher than those near NR
stations, as well as those near no stations at all.

While the availability of PAYG has only been a decisionmaking factor
for people who've moved house in the last five years, the broader
point that LU will provide a better and cheaper service than NR has
been true for as long as anyone currently alive has had the
opportunity to make the choice...

In that context, the only significant change in London's transport
over the last five years has been the conversion of the orbital heavy
rail network into something that closer resembles the Underground, and
the promise of more of the same.

In other words, people off the Tube network have got things worse than
people on the Tube network and pay lower rent / lower house prices
accordingly. However, they've got things better than they ever had,
and hence should probably stop begrudging PAYG.

How very British-a play-off between how much your house costs and what
sort of trains serve its area of the capital city. (I'm not denying
you're right!)

...and finally, choosing to live in South London cos it's nicer? Don't
make me laugh... ;-)

YMMV. Personally I've always found much of the NW, N and E postcodes
pretty grim (not to mention HA, EN and the like) :-P


--
Current nearest station: Pimlico