Originally Posted by
Heathrow Harry
Aberdeen is probably the last "single industry" city in the UK - when the oil price is up the place booms and when it drops the place is like a ghost town
Certainly the price of things like houses bear little relationship to what affects them elsewhere in the UK
A mate of mine who was born in Aberdeenshire reckons that the families who ran Aberdeen before the oil are still the ones who run it largely today
Yes I'd agree there, Aberdeen certainly has a buoyant housing market, although I did not experience the ghost town effect you described when I lived there. But you are right that the main industry stems from the oil sector although it also has a thriving legal sector. One of the largest legal firms in Scotland has their main office in Aberdeen. Edinburgh and London are also similar I guess in that they are, as you describe "
single industry cities" (finance). Again in both Edinburgh and London the cost of housing bears little relationship to what affects them elsewhere in the UK. I certainly benefited from that, our first house purchase being just outside Aberdeen. Aberdeen, London and Edinburgh are certainly among the wealth generators of the UK for sure. We could do with some more
