London madness

ruggedtoast

CLAPTON wrote: »

seriously do the crime statistics support this?

My friend lived in the Stow for ten years. I know what the area is like. Rapes, muggings, gang crime. Having to shred all your unwanted mail because identity thieves tear all the black bags open looking for bank statements.

It got worse not better during the time he was there too. A few hipster bars and cafes don't make it suddenly nice.

On the plus sides it does still have some community cohesion and hasn't yet got the tension amongst the different communities who aren't quite enjoying the diversity as much as they are meant to, as some other parts of London.

These are all completely swept aside when you look at how much it costs to live there though. I will eat my hat if buying in the Stow in 2014 is anything other than an epically bad financial decision.

MGCP

Ruggedtoast - you make Walthamstow sound like downtown Mogadishu! Perhaps that is how it feels if you're the type that is scared of their own shadow but that's never been my experience there. I have a lawyer friend who has lived there for years (and not even in the "Village"). She loves it and has never had any problems. Perhaps if you ever visit she could accompany you as a bodyguard (she's small, blonde and lovely by the way)!

OP - try having a look at Leyton/Leytonstone. I looked in Walthamstow last year but decided the prices had just shot up too much so settled on Leytonstone instead and got a lot more house for my money. We are 5 minutes on the tube from Westfield in Stratford if we need access to a large range of shops quickly, otherwise it takes about 20 minutes on the tube to get to Oxford Street.

The newly opened Olympic Park is nearby and is lovely (particularly if you go on to have kids as the facilities for young children to play on are fantastic). On the other side to the East you have Wanstead Flats, Hollow Ponds and the start of Epping Forest if you fancy a walk somewhere less manicured. There are also some really good primary schools around, like Davies Lane which has just received an Outstanding rating from OFSTED.

There is a very active and friendly Leytonstone facebook group who share news about what is going on in the area. The local councillors also use it so it is a good way to speak to them directly about issues and hear their plans for the future. To me it feels like the area has a real buzz about it at the moment and I'm loving it. I know there are people online who seem to think that any area outside of Holland Park or Hampstead is a cesspit but the reality is that for those of us who could never dream of buying in those sorts of areas there is still a lot of pleasure to be had living in the more affordable parts of the city.

cells

CLAPTON wrote: »

seriously do the crime statistics support this?

Most crimes in London are higher but robbery is much higher lile 3-4x
however London is a big place and I would wager walthamstow is higher than the London average

ruggedtoast

MGCP wrote: »

Ruggedtoast - you make Walthamstow sound like downtown Mogadishu! Perhaps that is how it feels if you're the type that is scared of their own shadow but that's never been my experience there. I have a lawyer friend who has lived there for years (and not even in the "Village"). She loves it and has never had any problems. Perhaps if you ever visit she could accompany you as a bodyguard (she's small, blonde and lovely by the way)!

OP - try having a look at Leyton/Leytonstone. I looked in Walthamstow last year but decided the prices had just shot up too much so settled on Leytonstone instead and got a lot more house for my money. We are 5 minutes on the tube from Westfield in Stratford if we need access to a large range of shops quickly, otherwise it takes about 20 minutes on the tube to get to Oxford Street.

The newly opened Olympic Park is nearby and is lovely (particularly if you go on to have kids as the facilities for young children to play on are fantastic). On the other side to the East you have Wanstead Flats, Hollow Ponds and the start of Epping Forest if you fancy a walk somewhere less manicured. There are also some really good primary schools around, like Davies Lane which has just received an Outstanding rating from OFSTED.

There is a very active and friendly Leytonstone facebook group who share news about what is going on in the area. The local councillors also use it so it is a good way to speak to them directly about issues and hear their plans for the future. To me it feels like the area has a real buzz about it at the moment and I'm loving it. I know there are people online who seem to think that any area outside of Holland Park or Hampstead is a cesspit but the reality is that for those of us who could never dream of buying in those sorts of areas there is still a lot of pleasure to be had living in the more affordable parts of the city.

I have been to Walthamstow a number of times. It is a dump.

Even the addition of 'Europe's longest market' (or a mile of knock off polyester track suits and fake electronics as it's otherwise recognised as) fails to draw me back now I don't know anyone who lives there.

Suggest your lawyer friend have a word with her boss about her salary. If she's wound up in Walthamstow she's doing lawyering wrong.

cells

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

By comparison to the economies they are located in, yes.

Economies of scanominate across all living organisms, and humanity, in remarkably similar measures.

The difference between smaller cities and mega cities is not that much and if you look at ppp rather than nominal its even smaller. For example Londons more expensive residential rents alone add some £3-4k to nominal gdp per capita while adding zero to gdp ppp per capita

also the largest cities often account and count for the national sectors. Eg everyone needs and buys car insurance but it overwhelmingly adds to London GDP which is more of an accounting trick than london adding value. If London didnt exist some other city would be hosting that value added as the demand for car insurance is there London or not

I would guess past about 500k population any additional productivity gain is small

MGCP

When I first came to London I spent most of my 20's renting in some of the most 'well to do' parts of the city. I spent years in St John's Wood, Primrose Hill and Belsive Park. All great fun. I've also lived in Harlesden (which had a very different reputation - a cab driver once referred to it as "cowboy country", ie the Wild West), and then I moved out East and have now bought in Leytonstone.

Looking back I've had a pretty good time everywhere I lived, and was certainly having just as much fun when I moved East as I was in the rarefied atmosphere of posh North London (to be honest some of the places in St John's Wood were a bit stuffy so we'd head further afield for a bit more life when I lived there with friends).

For that reason I've never really had too much sympathy for people who get snobbish or insulting about parts of London. If you are open minded, tolerant and you love the particular type of lifestyle that city living brings then you can have a great time all over London. Of course having more money is generally a pretty good thing, but in terms of day to day happiness I don't think living in Leytonstone makes me any less happy than when I lived in Primrose Hill etc.

Conrad

I've recently discovered Ponders End North London is pretty affordable and although a bit scruffy there is plenty of potential for improvement.


Pretty sure you will get a very nice 2 bed apartment under £250k.


All too often people are far too hung up on living in certain locations and to be honest I have no sympathy. Get real and open your mind.

Metranil_Vavin

Yes people always have an opinion on any part of London you care to mention! It's either too middle class/yummy mummy or too ghetto and rough.

I'm glad I never listened to what anyone had to say about my corner or S London, which has improved massively in the time I've been here, has a fantastic community feel without the forced gentrification of other parts of S.London.

Jason74

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

Yes people always have an opinion on any part of London you care to mention! It's either too middle class/yummy mummy or too ghetto and rough.

I'm glad I never listened to what anyone had to say about my corner or S London, which has improved massively in the time I've been here, has a fantastic community feel without the forced gentrification of other parts of S.London.

Where about's are you ?

MGCP

One thing I think people don't always consider is that your personal wealth compared to the people around you can have quite a significant impact on your experience/enjoyment of where you live in London.

Living in a really smart area where you are conscious that everyone around you seems to be much wealthier can have quite a corrosive effect on your self esteem. It can be hard not to compare when you see streets lined with Bentleys and Aston Martins and everyone is spending money eating in crucifyingly expensive local restaurants. It can end up giving you the twisted sense that that is the norm, and that somehow you are failing. I could get some sense of that living in places like St John's Wood, but I probably escaped the worst of it as I was just starting out in my career and so at that point having any money at all made a change from being a student!

Conversely, if you live in an area where the people around you earn less on average it feels very different. Instead of being surrounded by people in designer clothes dropping a hundred quid a head in the local bistrot you find yourself in Tescos feeling lucky that unlike the person next to you you're not having to count your change when you put things in your basket.

For your own mental health the second experience is probably better for you to be honest. Unless you have the income to match I'd be wary of chasing that Holland Park address just so you can say that you bought in one of the "nice parts" of London as the reality of living there may not be as great as it looks and could leave you feeling isolated and dissatisfied with life.