London..

ruggedtoast

I really enjoyed living in London in my early 20s, then I did a lot of travelling and working in various countries for some years, moved back and absolutely hated it.

At some point in my travels I'd forgotten how appalling night life is in the UK, I'd got used to going out in the evening without fearing for my life and paying entrance fees to clubs which was in some way commensurate with my value to them as a customer.

On something like our third night back we were invited to a friends leaving do before she went overseas to work herself. She wanted to go to Cream, one of London's premier clubs, as apparently the third cousins neighbours mate of Norman whats his name from Fatboy Slim was DJing which meant it was a big deal. We met in some grizzly cocktail bar over the road where we drank overpriced drinks while bellowing at one another over ear splitting music.

Eventually we dutifully lined up for the club and were verbally abused and physically manhandled by these absolute cretins they had running the door. After being relieved of about £20 each we got inside some cattleshed packed cheek to jowl with sweaty dilated pupilled losers desperate to catch a glimpse of some celebrity, and were served a few eye wateringly expensive drinks by barmaids who would quite clearly not have p1ssed on us if we were on fire.

At some point the bouncers got bored and went into the men's toilets and started kicking in the doors of stalls and threatening people, at which point we left and embarked on an epic series of miserable night bus journeys home through areas I can only describe as 'worrying'. Suddenly I realised that prior to my awakening in civilisation I would have probably thought this night out was "wicked" or something, like everyone else/

Staggeringly disillusioned by London's night life I then searched for more meaning in my life in our nations capital and came up with:

1) Jobs
2) Excellent free museums and galleries
3) Shows
4) An infuriatingly unreliable, expensive, over crowded transport system
5) Filth, literally just filth coating every public space, stairs, escalators, I wont even touch an escalator rail in London now
6) Horrifying levels of street crime with muggings happening with far greater frequency that in New York and no sight of a policeman
7) Some of the worst schools in the world
8) Medical facilities that felt more like being in a refugee camp in a third world country
9) Some truly baffling levels of drunken street violence from the pubs in Greenwich (a nice area) just outside the front door of our flat
10) Chewing gum coating every square foot of pavement like some kind of disease harbouring fungus
11) Chavs
12) Chavs
13) Lots of nice parks (full of chavs).
14) Shops I couldnt afford, what with putting every penny I could save towards private health care, private schooling, and a down payment on a unit in a gated community.

I then realised that London wasnt going to do it for me.

Kirri

stonethrower wrote: »

You're welcome to move but remember the grass is always greener on the other side.

Well I can't think of anything that is going to be worse? I've already said I'd miss the public transport, though maybe not the Croydon tram..
Things that interest me now are largely outside London, when I go out at weekends it's nearly always outside the M25.
I would be interested to know the downsides though as I am weighing everything up.

Puddleglum

Like Ruggedtoast, I loved London in my early 20's. Having children changed things. I took on some supply teaching to keep a roof over our heads and, while the primary schools I was sent to were generally pretty good, the secondarys were, without exception, grim. I turned up to take a pe cover in one and found a boy with a knife just going for people. It seemed as though you either had to sacrifice your principles and pay or sacrifice your children in the name of comprehensive, state education. So we wimped out and moved.

I miss London but the kids have so much more freedom here than they ever would have had in the Capital and when they are in their early twenties and move to London maybe I can go sleep on their floor.

stonethrower

Medical facilities that felt more like being in a refugee camp in a third world country

I was lucky enough not to use the NHS for nearly 20 years I but have been a frequent visitor for the last few months (wife Pregnant) and I have to agree with this. Its not the facilities I'm complaining about its the staff, I've lost count of the errors that have been made. N.H.S envy of the world my !!!!!. But I cannot see how the it would be any different in any part of the country.

lostinrates

stonethrower wrote: »

I was lucky enough not to use the NHS for nearly 20 years I but have been a frequent visitor for the last few months (wife Pregnant) and I have to agree with this. Its not the facilities I'm complaining about its the staff, I've lost count of the errors that have been made. N.H.S envy of the world my !!!!!. But I cannot see how the it would be any different in any part of the country.

In bigger places you have more choice. I am in the catchement for three surgeries all in the ame miserably low perfomring group. They are terrible and they have NO copetition.

Living out side london is great if its right for you, living in it is also great.

Kirri, what the down falls are depend on hat sort of ''outside London'' place you ant to go to.

stonethrower

Kirri wrote: »

Well I can't think of anything that is going to be worse? I've already said I'd miss the public transport, though maybe not the Croydon tram..
Things that interest me now are largely outside London, when I go out at weekends it's nearly always outside the M25.
I would be interested to know the downsides though as I am weighing everything up.

Nosy neighbours, begrudgers, people are usually not as friendly as made out to be.

Kirri

stonethrower wrote: »

Nosy neighbours, begrudgers, people are usually not as friendly as made out to be.

If I could walk down the street without being barged for no reason by some gangsta kid, that would be an improvement..

ruggedtoast

If you are wealthy to the extent that you can afford to pay for things you would otherwise have to rely on the state for (schools, health), and pay for taxis when you go out, I can see London might be ok if you are bringing up a family.

I still consider the level of crime to be unacceptable though and no one is immune from that. Really wealthy areas in Mayfair and the like now pay for private security to patrol and they still get doorstep muggings and home invasions.

No, I take back my first statement, its a grisly scab of a city; why in God's name the super rich want to live there I dont know. If I were super rich I would go nowhere near London.

stonethrower

Kirri wrote: »

If I could walk down the street without being barged for no reason by some gangsta kid, that would be an improvement..

I don't have this problem. I am 6'4 so I suppose that helps, but my wife doesn't have this problem and she is petite.

chewmylegoff

Kirri wrote: »

If I could walk down the street without being barged for no reason by some gangsta kid, that would be an improvement..

Try not living in stockwell or tottenham or whatever horrible area of London you are living in.

I have never been barged into by a chav when walking down the street, and infact rarely see anyone I would describe as a chav. I always feel much more unsafe when visiting northern towns and cities, where I regularly see alcohol fuelled violence which again I almost never witness in London.