Milton Keynes Is Expanding

MIDSUMMER BOULEVARD BRIGHT AND EARLY

Milton Keynes has changed a fair bit since I last visited. There are a few residential estates that have gone up to cater for all the new people moving there. There are Londoners that have moved there, as well as those from nearby cities like Cambridge. Many new residents are also there to work in the many very large warehouses located there.

There is a very nice shopping mall that has been expanded as well. I like the design of it. Because they have so much space, unlike London, everything is pretty much on the ground floor and designed in boulevard format. In fact, it's along the famous "Midsummer Boulevard", which is a major fixture of Milton Kynes.

I stayed in one of the shiny new hotels in the area. From the top floor you can see amazing panoramic views of the town, including all the rooftops and the shopping mall car park. It's very cool. I wanted to check out the water reservoir/lake, which is used also as an amusement park of sorts, including a ferris wheel. I didn't get the chance, sadly. The weather turned less pleasant on the morning I was supposed to visit.

I got up nice and early, before shops were open, and went for a walk around the centre. I do this sometimes when I visit places outside the UK in order to get some good photos without too many people walking around. The photos usually turn out better this way.

Milton Keynes looks the way it does because it's flat land. It's completely flat - no hills, no valleys, nothing. It must be very easy to build on such a landscape. It's also perfectly located to serve London, which is why a lot of the companies, notably Amazon, have situated their warehouses there. It's similar to the area between London and Reading often referred to as the "Silicon Corridor"

I haven't been that side of the country in nearly ten years. Hopefully I get some time soon so I can visit with my camera and make posts about it. I used to visit my sister back in the day when she was at the university at Reading. It's a nice part of the country for sure. I used to also stop over on the way to Wales on the M4.

I think Milton Keynes is still expanding rapidly. I noticed a whole bunch of new development happening - expanding the residential areas. It's only a matter of time before the estates all merge into one giant new city. The demand for these homes must be high as many people continue to flee from London. While some are fleeing the Big Smoke because of the high cost of living, I find Milton Keynes is also now getting very expensive such that it almost costs as much as London. The council tax is still much lower that most parts of London but, again, that's only a matter of time before that changes.

Peace & Love,

Adé