trailingspouse

The wood stores are on the RHS as you drive into Satwa on Satwa Road from Jumeirah. Park as soon as you see stores and just walk along. There are several.

Fairydust

Went there today but they would only sell me a huge plank

Blue Cat

what MJC was up for sale???
LOL!

Madam Medusa

meeeoouwwww.....
lmfao

MM, xx

Fairydust

LOLOLOL wait till he gets on here and reads all this

Blue Cat

he was last seen in the play area at Spinney's Umm Suquim. his age group I suppose.

Madam Medusa

nah...far too advanced

MM, xx

Blue Cat

he is going to kill us !!

W10

Actually, rents aren't astronomical in London. I had a 2 bed apartment in central/west London which I used to rent for the equivalent of Dh145,000 a year.

It always makes me laugh when people compare London with Dubai and use that as a benchmark.

In terms of cost, why not compare it with Birmingham (as they are similar cities in terms of size) or, with a small city in Australia, or even a small city in India?

London is a sprawling metropolis with twice as many people as there are in this entire country, with a mature economy. The two places share almost nothing in common.

Madam Medusa

well rents are astronomical in the areas of London I've lived in - you were very lucky I guess. Our place in SW London rents out for a lot more than what we pay here. I'm from Birmingham, actually...and even there, rents are being hiked up, the whole place has been developed over the years and has changed significantly.

What I just don't get is why people constantly moan about how Dubai is changing, how prices are increasing etc...it's called progress, like it or love it, it's inevitable, and you've got the choice to stay or go...

MM, xx

Blue Cat

I love it here, I just feel as though we are being ever so slightly squeezed out!!

littlejimmy

I don't call the kind of increases in the cost of living (rent/school fees) "progress". I don't call putting tolls on the most popular roads (24 hours a day) with no real alternative in place "progress". I don't call introducing car parking charges in residential areas "progress".

This "if you don't like it leave" argument is just simplistic nonsense. There are good and bad aspects to living anywhere, and it's a question of whether the balance is on the plus side or not. For a lot of people in Dubai, the balance is starting to tip towards the negative, and if they just upped and left without complaining, then there would be no improvement for the people who are staying here (through choice or otherwise). It's called feedback, and the powers that be listen, even if they are playing catch-up with a city that has grown too fast. Should we just let the poor treatment of labourers continue? Should the labourers accept their fate, even though most of them were misled what they were coming to? Should we be happy to let people drive around like complete maniacs? Should we just sit in our cars for hours on end with a big smile on our faces because the sun is shining? I don't think so.

But anyway, rant over. The weather's been crap the last few days, hasn't it? That's a proper British moan for you.

W10

I'm telling you that I lived in Notting Hill...and I find the rents high here. It's a comparison in what you get in return for say your DH100,000 in Barsha. 24 hour construction, no proper roads, no danger of any stores...

Is Birmingham more expensive than Dubai?

Madam Medusa

well I still think you did pretty good to get that rent in Notting Hill, I could never afford to live there, lol . I would imagine Brum isn't as expensive as Dubai, but then I don't want to live in Brum.

I do think Dubai is bleedin expensive, I've said that before on here. My rent went up 15% last year, from an already massive amount, and there's no way that I could do that to my tenants in the UK.

However, my point, which clearly I haven't been very good at explaining (and probably still am not!)...is that I'm not arguing that it's not expensive here...I just don't agree with the talk about "greedy" Dubai. I don't see Dubai as any different from any city in the UK where there has been huge development (you could use London, Manchester, Leeds, Brum as examples it doesn't matter...where the traditionally run down city centres have been revamped, prices have rocketed etc etc). Anywhere that is trying to uplift the local economy will experience price increases in all the things we are seeing here. I don't say it's right though...just think it's inevitable.

MM, xx

IndieG

‘Leave if you don’t like it here/can’t afford to live here’

That’s exactly what’s happening btw – and there is no reason to be so smug about it – this is in fact very worrying.

Cheap labour, low cost of doing business, good infrastructure was the only real USP for Dubai.

Now bring in high rentals, high inflation, bad traffic, take out cheap labour, – the cost of doing business increases significantly. You become less competitive and face serious competition from neighbours. A lot of businesses (traders, small shops, restaurants…in Bur Dubai, Satwa) are at the end of their tether and it is only a matter of time before they leave. Attracting new business is already becoming a problem, (we all know what types of new ‘businesses’ are now being attracted and are thriving at the free zones).

I also find that many newcomers (especially the ones who have arrived here within the last 2 years) are taken in by all the marketing hype, are really bullish and who think that absolutely nothing can go wrong. A lot of my acquaintances and friends (again new to Dubai) were very bullish too just about 4 weeks back – overnight certain events happened and about 4,000 expatriates now are suddenly very uncertain about what their future holds. You will know what I’m talking about if you’ve been reading the papers.