I live in the south of Ireland, live in the countryside, very quiet and peaceful. Our 2 main towns, one is really nice and friendly, tourist hub of the south. The other town is an absolute shithole, drugs, prossies, murders all types of shit going on there.
No matter what tourists will always love london. New yorkers probably slate new york to a certain extent & praise how wonderful london is. The french, spanish, germans, canadians prob do the same. Its different when you have to travel into it every day paying a dick load on train fares that dont live up to there price tag. Walking past the homeless every day as they shout abuse at commuters is something i love waking up to 5 days a week. Walking through the lovely clean streets of china town as i walk past a squashed pigeon or dead rat is a bonus. Only another 45 years until retirement then im off outta here.
[cite]Posted By: Floyd Montana[/cite]Anyone who seriously makes the claim that London is the best city to live in
1. Really hasnt travelled very much, or
2. is lying
Johnson died in 1764 so quoting him really doesnt support the case that its the greatest city on earth, does it?
Well, I have travelled extensively and, although I currently reside in Brisbane, principally for family reasons, I think that London is a truly wonderful city, easily up there in the top five cities on the planet.
I come back to London every year in March for a big work conference and despite the icy cold winds, grey clouds and seemingly constant rain the place is simply fantastic, the history, the atmosphere, the amazing range of places to visit, the incredibly beautiful parks, the unbeatable pubs and, of course, Charlton Athletic Football Club.
Of course, there is a crime problem in London - show me a big city where there isn't - but you need to keep that in perspective when you look at the city as a whole and although there are areas where violent crime is a concern the place as a whole is reasonably safe if you know where to avoid.
It's funny really, I live in what many of you (but by no means all) would consider to be paradise, right on the ocean in tropical Queensland with year-round sunshine and a virtual crime-free environment and yet I must admit that every time I go back to the UK I get a very strong desire to go back and live there.
This is because, I think, that a place to live is not just about sunshine and safety but also about being nourished socially and mentally (sounds bollocks I know) and London, despite its many faults, provides an amazing canvas on which to live your life because there is so much to do and see and you really are at centre of things.
You want an example? OK, here is Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia and easily the fastest-growing, we have a grand total of.....one museum that is worth visiting - and you have to pay to get into the good part. Look at the riches you have there in London - and many of them are free or very cheap - The Natural History Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, Imperial War Museum, V&A Museum, National Maritime Museum.....
One of my great regrets is that my three children will not get to enjoy the massive thrill of living in London, although I hope that they do the backpacker thing when they are older and spend a year in London, I am certain they will love it.
[quote][cite]Posted By: Off_it[/cite]Why don't you pish off then too Leroy?
You and windscreen can go and live somewhere together - I'm sure you'd love it.
Now, leave me to wallow in my New Eltham "shit hole".[/quote]
Off_it, I've never been offensive on here but one day I'll make an exception for you. You think you have the right to dis me for leaving London? Most people where I live do not speak english and that means if and when I lose my much older husband I'll be completely screwed because of the lack of English speaking people in my area. I need someone to understand me when I ask for help to cross the road, this is already becoming a problem. In addition most houses on my estate have been sold off and what was once a community is now an estate of halfway houses for ex criminals, travellers and problem families. And before you hold up the race card...don't, because you'd be very suprised about my ethnic roots and my social circle!
erm, let me see. Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Christchurch (NZ not Dorset), Barcelona, Rome, etc etc. Yeah, let's live in London. God I hate the place. The only worst place is Paris. Whether commuting there everyday has clouded my judgement I don't know but I can't see the attraction myself. Would move down-under tomorrow if they would let me in !! However, will have to settle within the next five years for a move into deepest,darkest, lovely East Sussex so I'm within fifteen minutes of the coast and living in a small village with a sense of community.
[cite]Posted By: LargeAddick[/cite]erm, let me see. Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Christchurch (NZ not Dorset), Barcelona, Rome, etc etc. Yeah, let's live in London. God I hate the place. The only worst place is Paris. Whether commuting there everyday has clouded my judgement I don't know but I can't see the attraction myself. Would move down-under tomorrow if they would let me in !! However, will have to settle within the next five years for a move into deepest,darkest, lovely East Sussex so I'm within fifteen minutes of the coast and living in a small village with a sense of community.
Feck me Large! If you reckon that living in Perth, Adelaide or Christchurch is better than living in London then you must have a downer on the place.
You can see most of Christchurch or Adelaide in about half an hour and Perth is the mining boom capital of Australia and is morphing into a latter-day Dallas but is developing a whole bunch of problems along the way.....
A lot of people move here for the sun, sea and "lifestyle" but quickly realise that Australia, in so many ways, is actually quite a vacuous place with not a lot of depth to it, especially in social and cultural terms.
You would not believe the amount of Aussies who loved their "backpacking" time in London - and the number who would live there full-time - because of the incredible opportunities that exist there - if they had the chance.
My personal view is that your move to East Sussex will give you a wonderful quality of life and let you enjoy the best of England whilst escaping the worst aspects of life in London.
I would love to try a couple of years living in a Kent village, it would be a lovely part of the world to spend a few years.
Ah..Eltham/New Eltham..i've lived that general area for most of my life apart for a few years in Erith/Slade Green and Merthyr Tydfil so by Off_it and Leroy's reckoning i should have at least topped myself or commited several murders by now...!!
The difference here is between subjectivity and objectivity. Of course on a south london football club message board almost everyone will have some strong family/emotional connection with the city. Sadly this does not allow for objectivity, as we have to overcome our fundamental attachment to our 'nest'.
I have loved London all my life, but recently the experience of having to show visitors from abroad around, together with having a group of friends including policement and health workers has made me wake up and smell the roses.
I have lost count of the times I have been ashamed of the place. From the infrastrucutre (airports railways buses road surfaces and traffic management) to the countless yobs jobsworths. surly, rude members of the 'service' trade and the vomiting loutish behaviour encountered on any night out after a meal. The violence arrogance and aggression is astonishing and not something you notice as a resident. It really made me realise that you cant see the wood for the trees in London.
And before the predictable 'why dont you piss of then if you dont like it' comments - consider this as an alternative viewpoint to be considered.
[cite]Posted By: Chizz[/cite]This is the greatest city on Earth. No question. No ifs, no buts. It has everything going for it.
Yes, it's terrible that there are incidents, acts of violence, anti-social behaviour. Crime and victims of crime are everywhere in London. But it's always been like that; and it's worse in many world-class cities. New York's a great city, but parts of it make London appear like Trumpton. My first sight in Manila? A dead body. Miami has sunshine and beaches, but also gangs, drugs and violence. (Incidentally, never, ever, ever forget to turn on your headlights in Miami). Rio has even better beaches. And even more violence.
How about Mexico? In Monterrey, this week, 72 people (58 men, 14 women) were murdered. In a single shoot out. But the murder rate is twice as bad in Brazil and five times as bad in Jamaica.
But, at least police, fire-fighters, ambulance crews and others turn up and do their job to make London a safer, better place to live.
It's the cultural capital of the world. The best sights, the best venues (sporting, music, theatre, food), the best people, the most cultural diversity, the highest levels of tolerance. It's not as good as it could be. But it's better than anywhere else.
Samuel Johnson said it right: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life..."
Agree with you Chizz. Been to but never lived in another City so can't say if one is better than the others but London and New York are world cities and London is a place that people from all over the UK and the world want to visit and work and live in.
As far back as I can remember it has been dirty (and much dirtier than now) seedy (but seedier than now anyone remember Soho in the 70s) and crime ridden. There were drugs, vice and violence when I was "uptown" most weekends. Maybe that was part of the buzz even if I partook of little of the first and none of the other two!
If anything transport has got better in that time, more tubes, more buses, later trains with less cancellations, air conditioning in some places, whole new transport systems like the DLR. Some bits of London are much better (Soho, Docklands) others are worse (insert name here) but it's always been that way. Some places rise as others go down. Used to live in North London, East London and even NW London for a while so not just a South London thing.
London is just so big that it is many cities in one and so has so many different things going on, good and bad but mostly good IMHO. Can't doubt the artistic, cultural, food and sport dominance of London over anywhere bar maybe the Big Apple.
If another part of London or another place entirely suits you better then great, go for it. There will always be someone else, most likely from the very place you are moving to, waiting to move in fill your place.
I think it’s very subjective. You may travel to a city for say a couple of weeks have a great time there and then come back saying it is the greatest place on earth, but if you consider you're on holiday and you're seeing the place through the eyes of a tourist which probably doesn’t give an accurate portrayal of what it is really like to live there. You're not going to go to a place half way round the world then spend your time there commuting from a suburban area to an industrial area for example.
As for the problem of an area containing a high number of foreign nationals, I believe there was a policy to group people together to help with their integration. This proved to be a failure as the area's ended up "ghettoised" with people there having no interaction with anyone outside their community which resulted in them not learning the language etc and not feeling part of the country.
I have to say i personally i find it so funny when someone says "I’m not being racist" and then says something racist. It's not like a magic get out of jail card that counter acts what you're about to say. You're racist by what you believe in, not by the way in which you present it.
I've just moved back to Charlton and i have to say I’m loving it there. I like being part of a multi cultured community and all my neighbours have been incredibly welcoming since i moved in.
If I have to live in England, it has to be London.
I've lived all over but now been back in London for 17 years. I have a very soft spot for Brighton too but I love where I live.
With such a huge population there are always going to be problems but for me the positives knock the negatives.
We are all different & we all like or prioritise different things.
If we didn't we'd all be Manchester United fans living in the Cotswolds.
I moved out to the country a few years ago, I will never live in city again! I open my front door and I am 50 meteres from the woods of Trossley Country Park. I was walking the dogs this morning about 7am and you could practically drink the oxygen, fill yer lungs, beautiful!!!
My bro lives in Bexleyheath and he can't wait to get out, the country is where its at!!!
Of course if you are single and wanna party everyday/night then trees dont cut it!!!
When you spend day in, day out working & living in London you become part of the daily grind, you get into routines and ruts, you moan about trains, tubes, rudeness, the pace, the weather, the prices, the crime etc etc.
But when you actually take a step back and actually look at what London has to offer, the places to see, things to do, the diversity, the quirks, the options, it really is a fantastic place.
What you need to do is take the time to savour and experience it, not fall into habit & rut of going the same places, doing the same thing, week after week.
[cite]Posted By: Sparrows Lane Lion[/cite]London really isn't as bad as people make out.
When you spend day in, day out working & living in London you become part of the daily grind, you get into routines and ruts, you moan about trains, tubes, rudeness, the pace, the weather, the prices, the crime etc etc.
But when you actually take a step back and actually look at what London has to offer, the places to see, things to do, the diversity, the quirks, the options, it really is a fantastic place.
What you need to do is take the time to savour and experience it, not fall into habit & rut of going the same places, doing the same thing, week after week.
when your train goes past some rusting jumble of metal next to a power plant everyday it just depresses you ;-)
I have been to a lot of cities in Europe, never to live, but London is one of my favourites, offers so much, like people have mentioned, it is easy to take a place for granted when you live there.
[cite]Posted By: Sparrows Lane Lion[/cite]London really isn't as bad as people make out.
When you spend day in, day out working & living in London you become part of the daily grind, you get into routines and ruts, you moan about trains, tubes, rudeness, the pace, the weather, the prices, the crime etc etc.
But when you actually take a step back and actually look at what London has to offer, the places to see, things to do, the diversity, the quirks, the options, it really is a fantastic place.
What you need to do is take the time to savour and experience it, not fall into habit & rut of going the same places, doing the same thing, week after week.
when your train goes past some rusting jumble of metal next to a power plant everyday it just depresses you ;-)
Thanks Large, I was about to post that I agreed with the Spanner but your post saved me. No wonder you want to move : - )
Windscreen said "When I first moved to London incidents like this shocked me, but today it just felt like an inconvenience. This is the fifth shooting / stabbing in my street in the last two years and has sadly become part of London life".
It then became apparent that Windscreen lives in Tottenham. What did you expect?
It's a bit like someone complaining it's really hot living in Dubai.
Was very close to moving to Dublin before the little 'un came along, would like to move about further out to Kent eventually but wouldn't really like to be more than an hour away from our families now.
Sounds to me that Windscreen is doing exactly the right thing and for the right reasons in getting out of Tottenham now. I have lived there and it can be a very dodgy area of London. But it is all subjective. Feeling safe is very important and having friendly neighbours that you can talk to and trust is a big piece of the jigsaw for me. When I wandered through the streets of Bermondsey after the away Millwall game I shuddered at all the unkempt looking flats and multi racial gangs hovering on the sreet corners. But that was just one little snapshot so I shouldn't get too judgemental (plus of course I was in a shit mood after losing so badly). I do remember the old Rotherhythe when the dockers lived there and it was an okay place to be. In Kingston there are rough areas where you wouldn't want your daughter to walk alone and this is supposed to be one of the more salubrious areas of London.
Comments
Well, I have travelled extensively and, although I currently reside in Brisbane, principally for family reasons, I think that London is a truly wonderful city, easily up there in the top five cities on the planet.
I come back to London every year in March for a big work conference and despite the icy cold winds, grey clouds and seemingly constant rain the place is simply fantastic, the history, the atmosphere, the amazing range of places to visit, the incredibly beautiful parks, the unbeatable pubs and, of course, Charlton Athletic Football Club.
Of course, there is a crime problem in London - show me a big city where there isn't - but you need to keep that in perspective when you look at the city as a whole and although there are areas where violent crime is a concern the place as a whole is reasonably safe if you know where to avoid.
It's funny really, I live in what many of you (but by no means all) would consider to be paradise, right on the ocean in tropical Queensland with year-round sunshine and a virtual crime-free environment and yet I must admit that every time I go back to the UK I get a very strong desire to go back and live there.
This is because, I think, that a place to live is not just about sunshine and safety but also about being nourished socially and mentally (sounds bollocks I know) and London, despite its many faults, provides an amazing canvas on which to live your life because there is so much to do and see and you really are at centre of things.
You want an example? OK, here is Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia and easily the fastest-growing, we have a grand total of.....one museum that is worth visiting - and you have to pay to get into the good part. Look at the riches you have there in London - and many of them are free or very cheap - The Natural History Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, Imperial War Museum, V&A Museum, National Maritime Museum.....
One of my great regrets is that my three children will not get to enjoy the massive thrill of living in London, although I hope that they do the backpacker thing when they are older and spend a year in London, I am certain they will love it.
You and windscreen can go and live somewhere together - I'm sure you'd love it.
Now, leave me to wallow in my New Eltham "shit hole".[/quote]
Off_it, I've never been offensive on here but one day I'll make an exception for you. You think you have the right to dis me for leaving London? Most people where I live do not speak english and that means if and when I lose my much older husband I'll be completely screwed because of the lack of English speaking people in my area. I need someone to understand me when I ask for help to cross the road, this is already becoming a problem. In addition most houses on my estate have been sold off and what was once a community is now an estate of halfway houses for ex criminals, travellers and problem families. And before you hold up the race card...don't, because you'd be very suprised about my ethnic roots and my social circle!
Well its quite shit where I am in New Eltham
Feck me Large! If you reckon that living in Perth, Adelaide or Christchurch is better than living in London then you must have a downer on the place.
You can see most of Christchurch or Adelaide in about half an hour and Perth is the mining boom capital of Australia and is morphing into a latter-day Dallas but is developing a whole bunch of problems along the way.....
http://theworstofperth.com/
A lot of people move here for the sun, sea and "lifestyle" but quickly realise that Australia, in so many ways, is actually quite a vacuous place with not a lot of depth to it, especially in social and cultural terms.
You would not believe the amount of Aussies who loved their "backpacking" time in London - and the number who would live there full-time - because of the incredible opportunities that exist there - if they had the chance.
My personal view is that your move to East Sussex will give you a wonderful quality of life and let you enjoy the best of England whilst escaping the worst aspects of life in London.
I would love to try a couple of years living in a Kent village, it would be a lovely part of the world to spend a few years.
Higher crime rate than London.
I prefer London to both Paris and Barcelona. Though all 3 are shit.
; - )
Of course on a south london football club message board almost everyone will have some strong family/emotional connection with the city.
Sadly this does not allow for objectivity, as we have to overcome our fundamental attachment to our 'nest'.
I have loved London all my life, but recently the experience of having to show visitors from abroad around, together with having a group of friends including policement and health workers has made me wake up and smell the roses.
I have lost count of the times I have been ashamed of the place. From the infrastrucutre (airports railways buses road surfaces and traffic management) to the countless yobs jobsworths. surly, rude members of the 'service' trade and the vomiting loutish behaviour encountered on any night out after a meal. The violence arrogance and aggression is astonishing and not something you notice as a resident. It really made me realise that you cant see the wood for the trees in London.
And before the predictable 'why dont you piss of then if you dont like it' comments - consider this as an alternative viewpoint to be considered.
get the hell out of tottenham but dont leave London I have a lovely life in Enfield
Agree with you Chizz. Been to but never lived in another City so can't say if one is better than the others but London and New York are world cities and London is a place that people from all over the UK and the world want to visit and work and live in.
As far back as I can remember it has been dirty (and much dirtier than now) seedy (but seedier than now anyone remember Soho in the 70s) and crime ridden. There were drugs, vice and violence when I was "uptown" most weekends. Maybe that was part of the buzz even if I partook of little of the first and none of the other two!
If anything transport has got better in that time, more tubes, more buses, later trains with less cancellations, air conditioning in some places, whole new transport systems like the DLR. Some bits of London are much better (Soho, Docklands) others are worse (insert name here) but it's always been that way. Some places rise as others go down. Used to live in North London, East London and even NW London for a while so not just a South London thing.
London is just so big that it is many cities in one and so has so many different things going on, good and bad but mostly good IMHO. Can't doubt the artistic, cultural, food and sport dominance of London over anywhere bar maybe the Big Apple.
If another part of London or another place entirely suits you better then great, go for it. There will always be someone else, most likely from the very place you are moving to, waiting to move in fill your place.
As for the problem of an area containing a high number of foreign nationals, I believe there was a policy to group people together to help with their integration. This proved to be a failure as the area's ended up "ghettoised" with people there having no interaction with anyone outside their community which resulted in them not learning the language etc and not feeling part of the country.
I have to say i personally i find it so funny when someone says "I’m not being racist" and then says something racist. It's not like a magic get out of jail card that counter acts what you're about to say. You're racist by what you believe in, not by the way in which you present it.
I've just moved back to Charlton and i have to say I’m loving it there. I like being part of a multi cultured community and all my neighbours have been incredibly welcoming since i moved in.
I live in Fareham, Hampshire!
I've lived all over but now been back in London for 17 years. I have a very soft spot for Brighton too but I love where I live.
With such a huge population there are always going to be problems but for me the positives knock the negatives.
We are all different & we all like or prioritise different things.
If we didn't we'd all be Manchester United fans living in the Cotswolds.
I open my front door and I am 50 meteres from the woods of Trossley Country Park. I was walking the dogs this morning about 7am and you could practically drink the oxygen, fill yer lungs, beautiful!!!
My bro lives in Bexleyheath and he can't wait to get out, the country is where its at!!!
Of course if you are single and wanna party everyday/night then trees dont cut it!!!
When you spend day in, day out working & living in London you become part of the daily grind, you get into routines and ruts, you moan about trains, tubes, rudeness, the pace, the weather, the prices, the crime etc etc.
But when you actually take a step back and actually look at what London has to offer, the places to see, things to do, the diversity, the quirks, the options, it really is a fantastic place.
What you need to do is take the time to savour and experience it, not fall into habit & rut of going the same places, doing the same thing, week after week.
when your train goes past some rusting jumble of metal next to a power plant everyday it just depresses you ;-)
Thanks Large, I was about to post that I agreed with the Spanner but your post saved me. No wonder you want to move : - )
I wouldnt move to anywhere else on this planet.
Unfrotuantly Crime is everywhere.
It then became apparent that Windscreen lives in Tottenham. What did you expect?
It's a bit like someone complaining it's really hot living in Dubai.
So is bad spelling!