New book offers different perspective of the Rural English countryside

Here's the NY Times article, Mustlovedogs - I still have some gifts left. :)

The English Countryside is a Place of Profound Inequality (unlocked)

ETA: I love that article but sadly, think it is very true. I will look for the book as I would be interested in reading it also.

It is sad to read about how places such a these are in such a conflicted state- what some see as a positive opportunity becomes quite a negative outcome for others. While not the same situation, reading about those English work class folks being uprooted made me think about the young people who cannot find housing on the Outer Banks of NC. (And probably other small, rural vacation destinations in the US)

Because of the ability of these landlords to break up their properties for short term rentals and put them on all the online services for big $$, they’ve basically shut down local housing for workers in the area. We talked to some restaurant employees when we visited the OBX last summer and they were driving almost an hour from the mainland over.

I’m looking forward to reading the book!

It makes me wonder if there is anything we, as visitors and partakers of the beauty, can do differently.

My daughter lives in Portland and at one unenlightened point, we were thinking of buying a house in Portland, airbnb-ing it for most of the time but having it available for us to stay in when we wanted. My daughter discouraged us with some very strong opinions about housing stock available to locals etc. We decided not to buy a second home anywhere.

I agree Katie. Unenlightened is exactly how I felt reading this. I really didn’t put any thought into what could be going on behind the scenes when, say, we booked a place. The younger generations seem to be so much more in tune- thank God for them!

I may chose to stick with established small hotels or BnBs that the families themselves live in/ run as their main source of income. At least it’s my minuscule attempt to curb this trend?

Thank you, Mustlovedogs and Mardee for sharing this. It definitely made me think of the impact of my travel in the English countryside. Much as I love the idea of Airbnbs, I think established inns, hotels and BnBs or even AirBnBs where one rooms with the hosts is possibly the way I want to go in the future.

As regards the Lake District, this article is very starkly true.

As just one example the Wetherspoons pub in Keswick is having to import staff from Merseyside currently, because the locals can't afford to live on the wages they pay there.

And there is a whole fleet of buses travels from West Cumbria to Center Parcs (east of Penrith) daily with housekeeping staff, as we have high unemployment in the west of the County, so people can't afford their own transport for the hour's drive there- and probably not worth it as the petrol/gas alone would cost about £12 a day to get there.

Mustlovedogs- yes, I actually learn so much from my adult children!

This is why a lot of Brits can’t get enthusiastic about visiting places in the Cotswolds like Bourton on the Water or Bibury. They’re not real places anymore: nobody lives there and they’re just full of cafes and gift shops.

Housing in the U.K. as a whole is massively highly priced compared to earnings. House prices have doubled in the last 20 years. So this is in no way a problem unique to rural areas. A lot of young people have to leave London to afford housing.

That is why I have voiced my opinion on numerous occasions against airB&B rentals.

Next time you find yourself in a beautiful village in the British countryside, try counting how many houses you see that don’t have a keysafe attached to the front porch, denoting a rental house or Airbnb. I was in the north Devon seaside village of Appledore recently and couldn’t find a single house in the most historic section of the village that didn’t have a keysafe.

I don’t know the answer. It’s British tourism and second homeowners mostly, but obviously with overseas tourists as well. A few initiatives recently include Cornwall and Devon considering charging double council tax (the homeowners’ tax which pays for local services) for second homes.

In Cornwall, most of the coastal villages are now unaffordable for local people whereas some of the inland towns like Camborne & Redruth have significant levels of poverty and deprivation.

But on the other hand, with the decline of mining and fishing in the area, tourism is the biggest business so 🤷🏻‍♀️ I dunno the answer.

Great post by you, OP MLD!
And merci to Mardee for the link to that interesting article. Smith is a great writer, with both style plus the ability to make a point clearly.
Same thing is now happening in both Vancouver and Toronto. For several years now, both cities have become borderline-unaffordable.
I am done. the Chipping Banbury

I must admit, these issues were totally unbeknownst to me before reading this article and these subsequent comments. Then I thought about that OBX conversation with that waiter last summer and it all came full circle. It’s one of those omg times that at 62 years old, I felt very, very unaware (naïve, ignorant could also be adjectives used?) of something really important that I could be unknowingly contributing to. Like Katie, I’ve had a number of these socioeconomic issues explained to me by my adult kids, and I’m always so thankful to be able to learn about them, grow and try to be a better human being and ally (to our planet and other humans)- it’s really never too late!

I know it’s a complicated issue for some, but like Barbara I’m going to at the least share with traveling friends the information I’ve gleaned about the impacts of choosing this type of accommodation, especially in high tourism, rural areas so people are more educated about it. Then they can make up their own minds. I’ve certainly made up mine.