London Baby!!!

zaxdog

GlasweJen wrote: »

There are parts of Glasgow that are amazingly scary - I've worked in Shettleston, Castlemilk, Dalmarnock and Easterhouse, even as a born and bred weegie I wouldn't walk across Glasgow green alone at night, the west end is just as bad. My mum is more comfortable with us travelling abroad than going out in town for a night. My brother was glassed on a bus at 4pm on a Sunday by buckfast jakies - a situation so common the driver didn't even blink just went straight to the royal while a wee woman held my brothers skin to his skull.

Oh yeah you can chat to strangers on a bus but god help you if you look at someone the wrong way!

Hmmmm I don't recognise that description of my city. I lived in the West End for many years and happily walked through the parks etc in no fear. Knew not a single victim of crime

That said I had been in London less than 10 hours before being punch for being "One of them Scotch b*itches"

zagubov

I've lived in London for almost thirty years now and my wife's from here and my kids grew up here. Always going back up to central Scotland to meet my parents/sibs and can't help but envy their standard of living. I've no problem with London, but most big cities would be as interesting to live in. Manchester, Glasgow Edinburgh. Couldn't live in a town.

I moved from a small Scottish city to a big English town and thought they'd be similar. Not so. The town might as well have rolled up its pavements at night.

I've always said if you go from the university to the shopping mall to the Chinese supermarket to the multiples and each time you have to specify which one, then what you're living in's a city.
And that's the way uh-huh oh-ho I like it.

If London developed homes bigger than rabbit hutches, roads wide enough for more than two lanes of cars (or even just a road network that could get you somehwhere fast), some nightlife, some livelier pubs, affordable music venues, satisfying Indian restauarants and a decent city centre then it could turn into a proper little Glasgow. :beer:

Person_one

zagubov wrote: »

If London developed homes bigger than rabbit hutches

Just out of curiosity, I had a quick look on Rightmove to see what you could get for the same money in Central Manchester and Central London.

In Manchester, £250,000 gets you a good sized 2 bedroom apartment in a desirable part of the city with a garden and a parking space: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-44740483.html

In the West End, also in a desirable location also for £250,000 you can get a room so small there's only room for a single bed and no appliances or storage, and if you're a bloke with good aim you wouldn't even have to get up if you needed the loo in the night: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-40643623.html

Whatever anybody thinks of the positives and downsides of living in London, something's gone horribly wrong for there to be such a disparity.

FatVonD

They are both the same link, Person One, I'm itching to see what you've found in Central London for £250,000!

Person_one

FatVonD wrote: »

They are both the same link, Person One, I'm itching to see what you've found in Central London for £250,000!

Oops, hopefully corrected now!

(Of course, there's loads of nice flats in Manchester for far less than £250K but I had to go that high to find something in London that wasn't a parking space or a garage!)

Gavin83

zagubov wrote: »

If London developed homes bigger than rabbit hutches, roads wide enough for more than two lanes of cars (or even just a road network that could get you somehwhere fast), some nightlife, some livelier pubs, affordable music venues, satisfying Indian restauarants and a decent city centre then it could turn into a proper little Glasgow. :beer:

Some nightlife? London? Are you joking? London has the best nightlife of any city in the World, no contest. Whatever your tastes you can find somewhere to go any night of the week. I've had a lot of friends who moved from abroad for a few years and they all say they miss the nightlife. There are some truly amazing Indian restaurants around the city as well and again, you can find a pub to suit whatever tastes you have.

My flat is sizeable as well but I do appreciate I'm lucky in that respect.

The only real downside I can see to London is that it is expensive, both for property and to do things. I wouldn't particularly want to live here as a poor person. I'm fairly well travelled and been to some amazing places but London would certainly make my top 5 cities list. I'm glad I live here.

I guess it's all down to taste though.

Person_one

Gavin83 wrote: »

Some nightlife? London? Are you joking? London has the best nightlife of any city in the World, no contest. Whatever your tastes you can find somewhere to go any night of the week. I've had a lot of friends who moved from abroad for a few years and they all say they miss the nightlife. There are some truly amazing Indian restaurants around the city as well and again, you can find a pub to suit whatever tastes you have.

My flat is sizeable as well but I do appreciate I'm lucky in that respect.

The only real downside I can see to London is that it is expensive, both for property and to do things. I wouldn't particularly want to live here as a poor person. I'm fairly well travelled and been to some amazing places but London would certainly make my top 5 cities list. I'm glad I live here.

I guess it's all down to taste though.

I always found that London was too spread out and too 'zoned' in that regard. Yes, there are loads of options, but you have to pick what you're in the mood for that night and plan for it, changing your mind can involve a lot of travelling!

In cities that are small enough to walk easily from one end of the centre to the other, there's more of an atmosphere, more people on the streets and you can play it by ear a bit more.

I've had some great nights out in London, but I've definitely had better nights in other cities, both in the UK and abroad. I'm glad I lived there for a bit but I'm also glad I didn't stay longer!

GenericUsername

Has anyone on here found a slightly different scenario from the original 'guy moves away and slags off where he comes from'?

I come from Belfast - left when I was 20, went to Uni in Wales, then moved to London and now live in Wycombe (slight nomad complex methinks!!)

For anyone who needs a reference here, London is that little place on the outskirts of Wycombe

I've been in England ten years, never lost my accent, always call Belfast 'home' in conversations. No plans to return, but your hometown is always your home town. Like everything, there is good and bad to living somewhere different.

Anyway, there is one thing that annoys me and it is this: when I go back to Belfast which I do often to visit friends and family, everyone will eventually start to ask me when I'm moving back and and ask me am I not missing home. They will tell me how much better life could be if I only lived there instead of here - due to having more money etc etc. A few times this was funny - the idea that I was just existing over in England until I could get back to Belfast when life could really start. But this has been a thing now for about ten years. Night out - drinks - trying to convince me I should move back. One friend even asks me everytime, 'when are you moving back?' Everytime!!

Part of me knows that the quality of life would be better because prices are cheaper compared to London and the South East, but at what point do friends from where you come from acknowledge that your decision to reside 'across the water' is permanent?

I don't mind admitting that sometimes I do actually happen to slag off where I come from, the way that only someone from a certain city can because you see it's flaws as well as it's advantages. But this is not because I think 'over here' is better. It is because sometimes when you step out into the big bad world out there and see how other people and cultures live, it tends to change your views on certain things, compared to someone who has never been anywhere else. There are very specific viewpoints exclusive to Belfast that once would have been completely normal to me that I now find skewed.

However, I never go back and put the place down. Everywhere has good and bad. Oh, and if it was a choice between London and Belfast for a decent night out, Belfast wins hands down everytime. Sunday night - Covent Garden - pubs close - 10.30pm????
Sunday night - Belfast city - pubs close - Monday morning.

You can take the boy outta Belfast but...

catkins

GlasweJen wrote: »

There are parts of Glasgow that are amazingly scary - I've worked in Shettleston, Castlemilk, Dalmarnock and Easterhouse, even as a born and bred weegie I wouldn't walk across Glasgow green alone at night, the west end is just as bad. My mum is more comfortable with us travelling abroad than going out in town for a night. My brother was glassed on a bus at 4pm on a Sunday by buckfast jakies - a situation so common the driver didn't even blink just went straight to the royal while a wee woman held my brothers skin to his skull.

Oh yeah you can chat to strangers on a bus but god help you if you look at someone the wrong way!

Glasgow is the only place I have visited in this country and abroad where I felt scared. Me and OH were there for a week and we both could not wait to come home and we never normally feel like that when on holiday. We got to the airports hours early for our flight and when we were told it might be cancelled because of the weather I burst into tears. Luckily it wasn't cancelled.


Having lived in London most of my life and now (no longer living there) still visiting about once a month on average I can honestly say I have never felt scared or unsafe there.


I absolutely love London and miss living there. I would move back tomorrow if we could afford to and our circumstances were different

blues

Those of us native to London don't spend our Sunday nights (or any nights out) in Covent Garden-it's purely for tourists!