I've been down to London this morning....

1984ReturnsForReal_2

AD9898 wrote: »

Appalling architecture and probably build quality too.

As much as I hate London I have to say it has some of the best architecture in the World.

That is one of the few plus points.

Foggster

I love London to visit but I do live in absolutel rural splendour and wouldnt trade it for anything.

Like someone says its horses for courses.

I work and live around a beautiful idealistic market town with posh restaurants, overpriced boutiques and rural retreats for the rich and famous but take a walk down the picture postcard streets and keep heading to the housing areas and you will witness rural poverty which would have you running back to your cities.

It is only a naive person who thinks poor town planning and prefab horrors are reserved only for the big cities.

System

I would live in London in a heartbeat if I could afford it, so much to do, so many people to see, love it.

dunstonh

I just wanted to say, Londoners you have my sympathy and empathy for residing in such an area. Row after row of 70's, 80's, 90's and 00' pokey flats, with no garden, driveway, garage etc. Appalling architecture and probably build quality too.

You do realise that London is actually bigger than a couple of streets?

Every city, town and even villages now have less desirable areas in them. London is no different in that respect.

bristol_pilot

London is a great place to live if you are extremely rich, or a 20-something looking for excitement and career advancement. I am none of these, so wouldn't touch it.

Graham_Devon

London is pretty diverse, and between what AD described and what Cleaver described, you have the general medium.

You'd be forgiven for thinking this set of flats was somewhere in war torn russia...



However, it's not, and you can buy a flat there for £465,000 today. Well known, "lovely" trellick tower.

Then you got the other parts....the parts you would think are no where near london and the parts which cleaver described:



Could probably buy yourself a full house for over a million squid, or a pokey flat in one of the houses for a shade under.

Overall, it's pretty diverse. The time i have spent there was mostly going from one place to the next for work, and I didn't much care for it to be honest. Spent most of my time in queues of traffic, what I would describe as not too nice people, in not too nice areas. Liked the shops though, with all the stuff out on the streets etc, was different, but wouldn't catch me actually walking down the street as it didn't look to safe.

Spent no time in the nicer areas. Depends where you go. But it's pretty diverse.

macaque_2

Cleaver wrote: »

Isn't it lovely how we're all different?

I go down to London a lot for work and had a year of my life when I 'lived' there from Monday to Friday for work. Londoners have my envy and admiration for living in such a great city. Row after row of amazing streets and roads full of amazing architecture slap bang in the middle of an amazing place.

I love wandering around London and looking in to those basement kitchens and seeing families or inidividuals eating or preparing meals and think how great it'd be to have all that culture, history, great buildings, restaurants, bars, attractions etc. on your doorstep. There's just something about London that makes you feel alive, and it's only really New York and Paris that I've visited that gives me that same buzz.

I actually think the opposite of you Ad. When I see one of those 'secret' London terrace roads, right in the centre with lovey houses, hanging baskets and relative peace and quiet in such a busy place I can fully understand why so many people chose to pay so much to live there.

Londoners, I take my hat off to you for living in such an amazing place. You're lucky, lucky people. Make the most of it. Obviously peak oil is coming and you should all be fearful, but for now you should enjoy great food, people, museums and all the other stuff and don't worry too much about it...

Some areas of London have excellent architecture but normal people don't live in those parts. Most people are consigned to converted flats in ugly Victorian terraces with poor sound proofing and dry rot. If you want to know everything about other people's lives without ever talking to them, buy a converted flat in London.

London is good for people in their 20s who want to party 5 nights a week. When you get older and have children though, the shine wears off quickly. Children have no where to play unless you organise a trip to a local park. Shopping becomes a 'real expedition' as you struggle with the logistics of getting children and shopping all in the right places. Many roads are too narrow for cars to pass and every journey terminates in a tour of the local streets looking for a parking slot.

People talk about all the things to do in London but they don't actually do them. Concert halls are often half empty and West End plays are crammed with American and Japanese visitors.

Samuel Johnson said "When you are tired of London, you are tired of life". But he enjoyed a priviledged life and lived at a time when there were green fields between Westminster and Hampstead. If Samuel Johnson's was ordinary Londoner today, his life would be Sky TV and the internet (like 90% of Londoners).

London is fine for visiting but not for living in (unless you have £10m in the bank).

Cleaver

AD9898 wrote: »

I just wanted to say, Londoners you have my sympathy and empathy for residing in such an area.

amcluesent wrote: »

But it's all very 'diverse' and 'vibrant' an' that, innit!

macaque wrote: »

Most people are consigned to converted flats in ugly Victorian terraces with poor sound proofing and dry rot. Children have no where to play unless you organise a trip to a local park. Shopping becomes a 'real expedition' as you struggle with the logistics of getting children and shopping all in the right places. Many roads are too narrow for cars to pass and every journey terminates in a tour of the local streets looking for a parking slot.

London is fine for visiting but not for living in (unless you have £10m in the bank).

I think we see the general theme on this thread that we see all over this forum. Basically, if you're fairly pessimistic and always see the downside in life (which the three posters above generally always do) then there are plently of bad things to pick out in London. It's not hard to find 'bad' things around you in big cities if you look for them.

However, the majority of people tend to have a different outlook on life and naturally (and probably subconsciously) tend to see the nice and good things that are around them. And thank god for that, as it means the world tends to be a nice place to live. To any normal person, who enjoys living in cities (and I know not everyone does, which is fine) there's loads and loads to enjoy about London.

I should point out that my view of London is not just based on 'nice' areas. I love spending time in areas such as Whitechapel, many areas of North London, Elephant and Castle, Battersea... there's many areas of London that you wouldn't think of spending time that are well worth a visit for a number of reasons.

Macaque and Amcluesent, I have a honest question. Are there any people, places, hobbies, activities etc. that give you genuine joy? Or does every single thing about this life provide you with an opportunity to see the negatives and have a great big moan? I'm not sure I've ever read any comments on this forum about people you admire, pursuits you enjoy, things that inspire you, places you adore, actitivies you are passionate about. Maybe you do and you just have an image to maintain for this forum.

One of my Dad's friends is an eternal gloom monger and recently came back from a weekend in Paris with his wife moaning about what an awful place it was. When I asked why it mainly boiled down to 'rude' people, litter and graffiti. He couldn't see anything remotely nice about the city because he couldn't get past these three aspects. I personally think if you can't get joy out of a weekend in Paris with the one you love then you should just give up on life - when my wife and I went the rather assertive service from the staff in restaurants and bars was one of the highlights. That's just the style of them, and when you start chatting to them they're just as nice as anyone else you chat to in bars. And my wife loves photography and graffiti is often a great backdrop for photos. As I say, it's all about your attitude to life.

But then I love living in Manchester and think it's an amazing city that I enjoy every day, so maybe I'm one of life's optimists.

Cleaver

master_of_ghouls wrote: »

London is a cesspit but it's been a fantastic BTL cash cow for my portfolio.

What's with the lowercase username? Forget the caps lock for this latest moniker?

Cleaver

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Spent most of my time in queues of traffic, what I would describe as not too nice people, in not too nice areas. Liked the shops though, with all the stuff out on the streets etc, was different, but wouldn't catch me actually walking down the street as it didn't look to safe.

Just out of interest, which areas of London were you in where the majority of people were 'not too nice' and you didn't feel safe enough to walk down the street?

I think I've been to most the 'colourful' areas of London, but even in those places I've never thought the majority of people weren't nice and never saw a street that I was actually scared to walk down. Harringey wasn't a great place and some areas of East London weren't the best either, but never to the point where I was scared for my safety. I used to have moments in Brixton (worked there and Balham for quite a while) where I would have a slight moment, then I'd come across an organic pizza place that served a creme fraiche, lemon zest and rocket pizza and I'd pull myself together and remember that compared to many places in the world it's an incredibly safe area.