But this problem arguably exists in every Western city at the moment. I have my own pet policy ideas which I won't raise here. I will say that this problem seems to be markedly worse elsewhere, for example in American cities, Australia, Canada and also even on (western half of) the continent.
EDIT: Also pollution levels
I have a nice job at my country at 2250 euros / month (which is twice the average salary) and I was asked to work for some company where I would get around 3000 euros/month.
And now it gets interesting. On interview, they will ask me various questions about my work that should theoretically be memorized by anyone comming from the school education. I have 25 years of development behind me and I dont have the "stack" to remember everything. And I am already decided to give them "fuck off" once they start with the theory.
On other side, I have a child from previous marriage and I will not leave the country for the sake of the team. Child development is more important to me.
So, I am over-competent engineer, bullied by idiotic recruiting, fixed in the position that I have, unable to relocate due to life circumstances. And now "moving to London" is a thing. Yeah right.
I don't mean to extrapolate from Internet-rant to presumed-reality, but this is a common pattern, so maybe it's worth mentioning:
I can teach a person Prolog. Any reasonable developer can teach themselves Prolog.
I cannot teach a person, nor have I ever witnessed a person self-educate on a short (employer-relevant) timescale, the willingness and propensity to work cooperatively and constructively, if it is not in their nature at interview-time.
Sometimes the latter is much more important than the former.
Negativity is infectious, and people naturally steer clear.
But there are also great advantages: it's easy to find work here, it's a walkable place where there is no need to own a car (or even know how to drive), although many complain the weather is in fact very mild and it's very achievable for someone on a software engineer salary to raise a family close(ish) to the centre. Of course there's plenty of "cultural" whatnot too. I love it here and wouldn't move anywhere else.
If you are thinking about moving here, I'm happy to answer any "dumb" questions you have over email (see my profile).