Around four this afternoon I was awoken by a police officer shouting "Get off the street" minutes later our road was swamped with a rapid response team, two fire engines, three ambulances and numerous officers. 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. I'll be moving in the next two weeks but any affection I had for this house or this area dissapeared today.
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Just very expensive!
Where do you live for god sake!?
But I do remember the many years I worked in central London, the days of the IRA bomb blasts and being in my office when the windows shattered.
Peace of mind is a most valuable thing. Good luck with your move.
Fella move we are
If i have enough dosh ill retire to Thailand although ill have to pay for everything and register every year to make sure i stil have enough dosh to pay for everything. Funny thing is my wife says she wants to live in both London and Thailand ? and its her im more concerned about. as a chef she works late i have picked her up every night(almost) without fail for 17 years. The thought of her coming home on late night transport--- no way.
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..."
London is not perfect but if you love city life, I doubt there is a better place to live and work.
I only come back to watch Charlton and every time i drive through the City of my birth i breath a huge sigh of relief that i don't live there anymore.
I now live in a nice market town. Great schools for my kids and with very little crime and my three bedroom house cost half the price it would in the smoke and best of all the people who live hear are English ( and i dont mean that in a racist way) . All this just 40 miles up the A1.
If your thinking of getting out Do it!
Fucking good if you like a beer as well.
In a way that i don't have to dodge knife wielding Somalians on way to taking my kids to school or have 18 different languages spoken in their classroom. If it's racist to not want that , then I'm guilty as charged.
Yep your right. "Some" are.
A total and utter cesspit.
i don't go anywhere without checking what mcs has to say about there first. and paris didn't score well with him.
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?
For cities I've spent more than a few days in that are better than London in almost, if not every respect:
Sevilla
Barcelona
Valencia
Toronto
Ottawa
Calgary
Melbourne
Munich
Hannover
Zurich
Stockholm
Rome
Milan
Catania
Riga
And they're just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Admittedly I've spent time in some absolute holes (Palermo, Madrid, Trenton all spring to mind) but that list above is about 80% of cities I've visited for more than a few days - and means that 4 out of 5 places I've had any 'real' experience of are better than London. And I don't even have kids. Face it - this place is a shithole, end of.
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".