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

[Deleted User]

I went down on someone from London this morning and I found it very enjoyable

Graham_Devon

Cleaver wrote: »

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?

Hackney.

And kids in hoodies, hanging around copiously graffitied shops and alleys, don't, look too nice.

You only have to go slightly off the beaten track to be in a place you wouldn't want to walk down on your own, in an area your not familiar with. Not sure why you have to ask, as I doubt I'd find you walking down some of the streets.

Cleaver

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Hackney.

And kids in hoodies, hanging around copiously graffitied shops and alleys, don't, look too nice.

You only have to go slightly off the beaten track to be in a place you wouldn't want to walk down on your own, in an area your not familiar with. Not sure why you have to ask, as I doubt I'd find you walking down some of the streets.

I can honestly say that I've never seen a street I was scared to walk down, and certainly not in gentrified Hackney. The most 'interesting places' I've spent time is the Bronx and Harlem in New York once for work, but there still wasn't any streets I was scared to go down.

And most kids in hoodies are fine if you just chat to 'em aren't they?

Sapphire

Cleaver wrote: »

I can honestly say that I've never seen a street I was scared to walk down, and certainly not in gentrified Hackney. The most 'interesting places' I've spent time is the Bronx and Harlem in New York once for work, but there still wasn't any streets I was scared to go down.

And most kids in hoodies are fine if you just chat to 'em aren't they?

I (female) once lived in Streatham and was absolutely terrified if I came back late at night by public transport, then walked down lonely streets. Definitely a sense of threat in places like that.

Living now in north Kingston, I never get that feeling and feel perfectly safe even if travelling in the middle of the night from Richmond.

Inner London has pockets of decent places, but these are intermixed with some very rough areas. Guess this situation is only going to become more acute as household economies are rebalanced to something more realistic rather than living in la-la land on borrowed or taxpayers' money.

AD9898_2

Cleaver wrote: »

I can honestly say that I've never seen a street I was scared to walk down, and certainly not in gentrified Hackney. The most 'interesting places' I've spent time is the Bronx and Harlem in New York once for work, but there still wasn't any streets I was scared to go down.

And most kids in hoodies are fine if you just chat to 'em aren't they?

Your a hard man Cleaver, did you star in The Warriors

lostinrates

The thing is that ''bad areas'' can be right next door, or in the middle of ''good areas''. I DO feel London is a different place than it was in my late teens, but I still love it. It ranks in top three world cities certainly. And not just because of familiarity but because of the very fluid nature of it. Things sadden me about Lodnon but they are more about globalism (there is a Pat. Val in Salisbury too...I groaned....Pat Val was a special treat whenI was a kid, nt something on every ''swish high street''.

I don't use night buses....personal experience...any more, but I feel safe enough most places on foot (there are safer feeling cities though). I think people forget how unsafe particular corners of market towns can seem at night in comparison...proportionally equal or more so I think.

I love London, very much, and though I don't live in it its because of lifestyle, if I were a city girl still I'd be as happy there as its possible to be in a city. Of course things could always be better...anywhere.

vivatifosi

lostinrates wrote: »

I DO feel London is a different place than it was in my late teens, but I still love it. It ranks in top three world cities certainly. And not just because of familiarity but because of the very fluid nature of it. Things sadden me about Lodnon but they are more about globalism (there is a Pat. Val in Salisbury too...I groaned....Pat Val was a special treat whenI was a kid, nt something on every ''swish high street''.

Out of interest lir, do you think it is better or worse than in your teens? When I was first in London it was at the time of the riots and there were big areas of London that I was too scared to go to. Now there's nowhere I am scared of. I worked back then for a (legitimate) film company in Soho. You'd have to walk past brothels with chicken wire instead of windows and very agressive hookers shouting at you to stay off their patch, just for being female. Now the same area is full of swanky restaurants and chi-chi pavement cafes. That was just round the corner from Pat Val! I bet your mum was really careful how much further you went:rotfl:.

lostinrates

vivatifosi wrote: »

Out of interest lir, do you think it is better or worse than in your teens? When I was first in London it was at the time of the riots and there were big areas of London that I was too scared to go to. Now there's nowhere I am scared of. I worked back then for a (legitimate) film company in Soho. You'd have to walk past brothels with chicken wire instead of windows and very agressive hookers shouting at you to stay off their patch, just for being female. Now the same area is full of swanky restaurants and chi-chi pavement cafes. That was just round the corner from Pat Val! I bet your mum was really careful how much further you went:rotfl:.

My mother used live in a flat below two''working girls'' who found her a lodger. (A brave decision for a single mother: there was no state support back then) She was no prude! But there were bits we walked faster through!!

(edit: we also lived in worse places in my childhood, so I guess Soho didn't worry my mother too much. and I've lived above a ''kept'' mistress as an adult, very different, but a ''less shocking'' version of the same thing, and they've always existed in the ''nice'' areas....)

Better or worse? Neither or both I think. I find parts of london over sanitised....(I'm certain I've ranted before about Spitalfields). I'msure that is better in someways, because it gets more people to them...but that's also worse in otherway, because it takes away their identity....(e.g. the chain shops at Spitalfields). Those chi chi pavement cafes you talk about, there...ok. Many aren't memeorable or ''flavourful'' of an area....

I think buses were nicer....before my teens as a little girl, I remember adults telling kids to behave...and I am a strong advocate of the role of conductors. Now they can feel quite...intense. And its not safe to tell children to be quiet...the kids might be armed. This isn't so much a London issue as a UK one, but I personally see it more in London I think...its where I'm not in a car I guess. There are a number of streets in London where you could be anywhere in UK, anywhere in Europe..that I don't like. I like places that have a feel, but for those you need independent traders and places where people's adult children can afford to live.

Streets that were safe then are less safe now...busier, streets, whole areas..that weren't safe are safer now...swanky even.

Unlike many I do not find London impersonal, unless you want it to be. But I say that from the perspective of someone whose parent was on a local residents committee and who was a ''Londoner'' for many years..no different to a rural village, in an urban one you have to put yourself forward to become ''community''. You have to build relationships with retailers, not nip into tesco/tesco metro. When you do so it becomes a warmer place.

It is true, IMO, that places get a lot smaller. My father bought a wreck in West London around when I was born. He earned comparitively less than DH did when a trainee. That house is now flats (I can't remember whether its 4 or six flats) and DH couldn't afford one of the flats when we saw them. Lots of longstanding independants going...a few places I'd always been to with the first phase of CG zone. Another few in more recent times. Somethings will go in our quest for cheap tat over quality items, and cheap service rather than knowledgable caring service. This is a great sadness I think.

Better or worse? Both. Fabulous? ALWAYS.

teachersaver

I'm glad we are all different as well.

I love London! I can't imagine living anywhere else in the UK. I'm American and for me it's London or go home. However I appreciate for other people it's too big, busy, they would prefer land etc.
The difference between what I said and what the original poster said is I'm am not a Debbie Downer. Do you not see that people have different views and likes?

System

It's always "up" to London, wherever you are coming from.
Like going "up" to university.