London: why do we all like living here?

[Badger Kitten]

Post your reasons why you like living in London here...

[montevideo]

because it's not liverpool!

[Pickman's model]

it's better than other cities i could mention...

liverpool, for instance...

[citydreams]

London's calling

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00002MVQO.02.MZZZZZZZ.jpg

[Badger Kitten]

It is very beautiful.
It is rammed full of interesting places and however long you live here there's always something new.
You can do anything, be anything you want here.
It's genuinely mixed and massively tolerant in the main. People from all over the world want to come here.
It's exciting.
It has fabulous parks.

[Bob_the_lost]

It doesn't shut, HMV is open longer than the pubs are in my home town...

[madzone]

Just like Bristol - you're all in the one place :p

[noodles]

Post your reasons why you like living in London here...

'cos its great for a knees-up

http://www.barrycollings.co.uk/images/Chas%20n%20Dave.jpg

[bluestreak]

what an odd question. it's london. what do you want: it's here. crazy city living - check. quiet suburban living - check. great artistic / cultural scene - check. jobs - check. opportunities to do something worthwhile with your life - check.

[Iemanja]

Sometimes I wonder why... I've been here for too many years but every now and then I discover something new about it... Don't think I could live anywhere else!

[Pickman's model]

Now I have got a story, and believe me folks it's true
So if you listen for a while, I’ll tell my tale to you.
Now if go to London, there's a thing you mustn't miss.
It’s quite a simple matter, all you have to do is this.
Go running round the fountains in Trafalgar Square

That's the thing that everybody's doing down there.
Just take a peep into the palace yard
You’ll find all the gates are locked and barred.
And the soldiers that should be on guard
Are running round the fountains in Trafalgar Square.

And then there’s Madam Tussauds, that’s a well-known waxworks show
Now that’s the place where all the country trippers like to go.
The figures that you heard about now they’re no longer there.
There's only one place you will find them, I will tell you, where

They're running round the fountains in Trafalgar Square
That's the thing that everybody's doing down there.
Henry the Eighth, chasing Anne Boleyn
Old Dr. Crippin looking haggard and thin.
And Charlie Peace with his old violin
Are running round the fountains in Trafalgar Square.

Now when I took a trip to London some few weeks ago
To see the house of Parliament, thought I’d like to go
The Speaker simply looked at me with such an icy stare
I said, "Where’s the others?" and he said "I’ll tell you where,
They’re running round the fountains in Trafalgar Square.

That's the thing that everybody's doing down there.
Lloyd George, Baldwin, and dear old Ramsey Mac
Early every morning you will find them on the track
With Lady Astor, June and Amy Johnson at the back
They’re running round the fountains in Trafalgar Square.

Running round the fountains in Trafalgar Square
That's the thing that everybody's doing down there.
The finest sport in all the land when you’ve tried it you’ll understand.
That’s why Jack Hylton and his band
Go running round the fountains in Trafalgar Square.

[Badger Kitten]

what an odd question. it's london. what do you want: it's here. crazy city living - check. quiet suburban living - check. great artistic / cultural scene - check. jobs - check. opportunities to do something worthwhile with your life - check.



pssssst....it's because someone started a troll-y thread asking why anyone would want to live in London

[exosculate]

Roll out the barrel...........

[montevideo]

because people move to the centres out of absolute fear or absolute necessity. Those who move out of fear will be constantly disappointed, those who move out of necessity will always envy those who are constantly disappointed.

Every day, somewhere close by, something is happening without our permisiion, knowledge or consent. We are drawn to the need to have all three.

[Blagsta]

Its my home, I grew up here. I moved back after 10 years away for a few reasons. Some to do with getting work, some to do with my headspace at the time. But mostly - London is beautiful, exciting, vibrant, energetic, all of life is here. I get a real buzz on the streets from the people, the architecture the place itself. There is loads going on, from scuzzy K'd up crusty parties every weekend to the world's best film, art, theatre via avant garde culture of all kinds. It has a sense of history unlike any other city in the UK, the streets seem to literally exude the weight of time. There's no other place quite like it.


http://www.atri38.dsl.pipex.com/thames/photos/DSCN1798.jpg

http://www.atri38.dsl.pipex.com/thames/photos/DSCN1802.jpg

http://www.atri38.dsl.pipex.com/thames/photos/DSCN1811.jpg

http://www.atri38.dsl.pipex.com/thames/photos/DSCN1822.jpg

http://www.atri38.dsl.pipex.com/thames/photos/DSCN1827.jpg

[Groucho]

I live in the far east. I mean on the outskirts of London, so far on the outskirts that my house is not actually in London.

However, my work and 90% of my social and political activities are in London. And I lived there for a decade.

There is ALWAYS something to do. The South Bank is always interesting. There are many galleries and museums that are still free. There is more green space per head of population than most, if not all, comparable cities.

There is a great mix of people from all cultures from around the World. Great food. The best and the worst of everything can be found in London. Generally London is a very open minded city. :)

[Louloubelle]

tolerant, cosmpopolitan, home of the Hampstead Heath Women's Pond, great nightlife, lots of music festivals, great museums, home of Drum & Bass, I love London :)

good sunsets too

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/loulou777/15thdec04055.jpg

:cool:

[red rose]

I come from the sticks but I'm moving to Greenwich next month (fingers crossed) So I'm going to answer anyway.

There are decent parties, you can go down the shops without the garuntee of bumping into one of your nosey neighbours, shops stay open all night, buses run after 8pm, there is a better transport system altogether, its far more culturally diverse than anywhere else I've been, there are more pubs, there are a lot more things to do within a smaller area....

I'll come back when I think of more

[Groucho]

And it is a short train journey to Brighton. :)

[Pickman's model]

http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images2/mar31_london_riot_bbc.jpg

[exosculate]

And it is a short train journey to Brighton. :)


Or Paris

[Loki]

tolerant, cosmpopolitan, home of the Hampstead Heath Women's Pond, great nightlife, lots of music festivals, great museums, I love London :)
You forgot huge lovely parks, beautiful buildings, thousands of quality restaurants serving up cuisine from all corners of the world.. I could go on.

PS. wtf is "Hampstead Heath Women's Pond"? :)

[Pickman's model]

PS. wtf is "Hampstead Heath Women's Pond"? :)
it is a pond on hampstead heath for women to swim in. as the name would suggest.

[Badger Kitten]

PS. wtf is "Hampstead Heath Women's Pond"? :)
A pond on Hampstead Heath for ladies to swim in.

[oryx]

It is very beautiful.
It is rammed full of interesting places and however long you live here there's always something new.
You can do anything, be anything you want here.
It's genuinely mixed and massively tolerant in the main. People from all over the world want to come here.
It's exciting.
It has fabulous parks.

Those are my reasons too. Also, I've lived in South London longer than I've lived anywhere else, & I have good friends and boyfriend here. And it's far easier to get work.

London is lacking in the village-gossipy, everyone knowing everyone's business, judgemental curtain twitching mentality that I find in my home town (York - though that is also a great place nevertheless).

[Louloubelle]

PS. wtf is "Hampstead Heath Women's Pond"? :)

http://www.pbase.com/louloubelle/hampstead_heath_

[salem]

There was something in the Evening Standard about a "beat the bombs" party in Shepards Bush yesterday which had a photo of loads of different people partying outside because they couldn't get home.

That pretty much summed it up for me :)

[montevideo]

i think we want london to be something, anything, we aren't. So we look for it in the architecture, the culture, the nightlife, the moments that seperate london from everything else. Except we find the same strange echoes that drew us here in the first place, unresolved & a little more battered. London is what happens when you try & dissolve the person you are with the place you want to be.

[LostNotFound]

if someone can confirm this 24/7-dial-a-beer type service i've heard about, i'll definitely move there. do they do strong lagers?

[SubZeroCat]

if someone can confirm this 24/7-dial-a-bee type service i've heard about, i'll definitely move there. do they do strong lagers?

I know there's several in Brighton so there's bound to be some in London.

Failing that, there's fuckloads of offies that serve you anyway, or illegal late night boozers etc :D

[sheothebudworths]

dial-a-bee.. :confused: .....interesting........only in London!!!! :cool:

[Badger Kitten]

There was something in the Evening Standard about a "beat the bombs" party in Shepards Bush yesterday which had a photo of loads of different people partying outside because they couldn't get home.

That pretty much summed it up for me :)


Beer Not Afraid

[on_the_fly]

dial-a-bee.. :confused: .....interesting........only in London!!!! :cool:


Drinks with a sting it its tail ? :D

[LostNotFound]

I know there's several in Brighton so there's bound to be some in London.

Failing that, there's fuckloads of offies that serve you anyway, or illegal late night boozers etc :D

when i lived there the kebab place near my mate's on the edgeware road would do tins for a quid. it was a bit hit and miss though.. so i'm all for a more organised and truly 24 hour delivery service.

[Cid]

You forgot huge lovely parks, beautiful buildings, thousands of quality restaurants serving up cuisine from all corners of the world.. I could go on.

PS. wtf is "Hampstead Heath Women's Pond"? :)

There's also a mens pond and a mixed pond. There're loads of reasons I love living here, and always have. I can't be arsed to list them though.

[ernestolynch]

Any of you wafflers actually Londoners or are you melodramatic blow-ins?

[Badger Kitten]

See title of thread: London: why do we all like LIVING here?
Not 'LondonERS: why do we all like living here?'


The thread is therefore asking people who live in London to state the reasons why they like living here.

RTFP.

[drag0n]

http://www.omnisperactio.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/helen/phone/londonbridge.jpg

[Badger Kitten]

Wow, some gorgeous pics on this thread

[ernestolynch]

RTFP.

:confused:

Me no do geek language soz

[milesy]

i love the friendly, helpful, happy-go-lucky populace of the city.

oh and the clean, fragrant, spit-free streets really do it for me, too. :)

http://www.urban75.net/ubb/icons/icon14.gif

[DrRingDing]

if someone can confirm this 24/7-dial-a-beer type service i've heard about, i'll definitely move there. do they do strong lagers?


There was dial-a-shroom not long ago but I don't know if they are still going.

[sheothebudworths]

i love the friendly, helpful, happy-go-lucky populace of the city.

oh and the clean, fragrant, spit-free streets really do it for me, too. :)

http://www.urban75.net/ubb/icons/icon14.gif


Send milesy to the bin! :mad:

[milesy]

fuck off back to the brighton forum, allotment boy :mad:

[peppery]

The smell of Indian food in Brick lane. Dusk in Hyde Park. All the languages in the world. No one caring who you are and where you come from.

[LostNotFound]

Any of you wafflers actually Londoners or are you melodramatic blow-ins?

i'm a melodramatic blow-in

<goes back to dreaming of dial-a-can>

[HarrisonSlade]

London is a dirty pig ignorant hell hole. It is also the most beautiful place on this planet. It is the most individual place in Britain. You can be as kind or as selfish as you like and very little judgement is passed in either respect. The place is a multicultural paradise with buildings modern and ancient standing side by side.

London is my home.

[madzone]

There's also a mens pond and a mixed pond. There're loads of reasons I love living here, and always have. I can't be arsed to list them though.
I know I'm a bumpkin but this tickles me

http://www.chrisgeary.co.uk/london/LondonHampsteadHeath/

[Blagsta]

Any of you wafflers actually Londoners or are you melodramatic blow-ins?

Yes thanks. Aren't you supposed to be Welsh btw?

[Rollem]

i'm a londoner (cant you tell by my brash mannerisms? ;))

london will always feel like home, and i like living here to a degree, mostly for the entertainment side of things (i.e. more going on) and coz my mates are all centred in and around this city it would seem.

however, since reproducing, i wanna move out of the hell hole :)

[mmmSkyscraper]

It is very beautiful.
It is rammed full of interesting places and however long you live here there's always something new.
You can do anything, be anything you want here.
It's genuinely mixed and massively tolerant in the main. People from all over the world want to come here.
It's exciting.
It has fabulous parks.

Hmmmm. I don't imagine that the 1000's of homeless people in London feel any better knowing that the Tower of London or St. Paul's is just a few tube stops away.

I don't suppose that someone living in a rat infested council estate takes any comfort from the fact that there are magnificent residences off Sloan Street.

I wouldn't have thought that someone living on floor 26 of a decrepit tower block is that impressed that Hyde Park is a fantastic inner city green space.

I doubt that someone afraid to go to the chippy cos there are gangs hanging round on the corner, selling drugs and stabbing innocent children, takes any pleasure from knowing that the Ivy has an early bird menu.

I suspect that a foreign tourist, stabbed for their wallet, doesn't take much consolation from the the fact that London has fantastic tourist locations as they are slumped in the street, Londoners scurrying past too busy to care.

Face facts - as cool/beautiful, historic as central London is, the suburbs where 90% of people spend their time, are filthy, grimy, drug infested slums.

(Oh, one other thing - this post contains no personal abuse, just an opinion of a city. Before you lovely, lovely Londoners go apoplectic, try and remember that.)

[Batley]

tolerant, cosmpopolitan, home of the Hampstead Heath Women's Pond, great nightlife, lots of music festivals, great museums, home of Drum & Bass, I love London :)

good sunsets too

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/loulou777/15thdec04055.jpg

:cool:

'home of the Hampstead Heath Women's Pond.' I am getting the next plane home.

[mmmSkyscraper]

Hate to be party pooper, but London doesn't have a monopoly on sunsets you freaks.

That photo is just of a tower block and a sunset that you can see in any part of the UK.

[SubZeroCat]

<yawn> :p

[noodles]

Hate to be party pooper, but London doesn't have a monopoly on sunsets you freaks.

That photo is just of a tower block and a sunset that you can see in any part of the UK.

zzzzz

[mmmSkyscraper]

How original. But if you have nothing to say other than copy everyone else, maybe it would be better if you just kept quiet. What do you reckon?

[SubZeroCat]

maybe it would be better if you just kept quiet.

Back atcha' buddy :cool:

[mmmSkyscraper]

But I've got plenty to say. Fucking loads. Not like these London dullards.

[noodles]

How original. But if you have nothing to say other than copy everyone else, maybe it would be better if you just kept quiet. What do you reckon?

Have the last word I can tell you crave it. What do you reckon? I've got better things to do; you obviously haven't.

[gawkrodger]

http://www.pbase.com/louloubelle/hampstead_heath_


there's photos of a bunch of U75ers in there

[Backatcha Bandit]

I was born and raised in London, lived and worked there for years.

I left because, amongst other reasons, I couldn't breath or find anywhere to park. :(

[Batley]

Affordable housing, friendly people, cheap taxis with amusing cock-er-ney banter from the driver, Spurs fans in white trainers called Chris, great beer, helpful bobbies giving directions to Japanese tourists, dinner parties in Islington......oh London, home of the brash outrageous and free!

[Badger Kitten]

Originally Posted by Badger Kitten
It is very beautiful.
It is rammed full of interesting places and however long you live here there's always something new.
You can do anything, be anything you want here.
It's genuinely mixed and massively tolerant in the main. People from all over the world want to come here.
It's exciting.
It has fabulous parks.

Italics posts from MmmSky scraper trolling person

Hmmmm. I don't imagine that the 1000's of homeless people in London feel any better knowing that the Tower of London or St. Paul's is just a few tube stops away.

Actually, they do. Ask some. Just because you are homeless doesn't mean you can't appreciate beauty. How patronising.

I don't suppose that someone living in a rat infested council estate takes any comfort from the fact that there are magnificent residences off Sloan Street.Well, dear, I lived in Wood Green for 5 years, one of the poorest areas in London - complete with mice - until I got a cat - and I still loved London's sense of opportunity. Don't patronise me. Or the majority of us who live in rented/council/ 1-bed accomodation. Actually no-one mentioned posh houses off Sloan (sic) Square apart from you. It's irrelevant.


I wouldn't have thought that someone living on floor 26 of a decrepit tower block is that impressed that Hyde Park is a fantastic inner city green space.Actually, yes, it is impressive. It really helps to have free green spaces to hang out in. Most of us don't have gardens but we can all use the parks and get there on public transort. And they are open to all of us. Whether we live in tower blocks or not. When I lived in Wood Green I spent much time in Alexandra Palace park; really helped.

I doubt that someone afraid to go to the chippy cos there are gangs hanging round on the corner, selling drugs and stabbing innocent children, takes any pleasure from knowing that the Ivy has an early bird menu.

Gangs - just cross the road. They're interested in other teenagers in other gangs, not me. Selling drugs? No, if you want drugs, you need to know the right people, just like anywhere else. Stabbing children? WTF? Anyway, you just learn which chippies to go to , and when they are safe to visit. Like, not visiting the chippy outside the roughest pub at closing time. (Something I learned when a young teenager in a Norfolk village.) It's called being vaguely streetwise. Fortunately London is full of shops and food outlets open 24 hours a day, so it's much easier to get late night chips without being harrassed by drunken youths than when in, say Norwich.

Or you get a take out.



I suspect that a foreign tourist, stabbed for their wallet, doesn't take much consolation from the the fact that London has fantastic tourist locations as they are slumped in the street, Londoners scurrying past too busy to care.

I think you are confusing London with the roughest parts of, perhaps, South America? Stats please. Or admit you are talking shite. Its a big crowded place, so you get crime, but I have yet to read of stabbed tourists slumped and bleeding in the street as we trample over them to get to work in 12 years - even in the Evening Standard. Which if it had a story like that, make no mistake, would run it for weeks.


Face facts - as cool/beautiful, historic as central London is, the suburbs where 90% of people spend their time, are filthy, grimy, drug infested slums.

Well, as someone who has lived here for 12 years, mostly in suburbs, in some of the poorest ares of London - Haringey, Hackney etc - zone 2 3 and 4 I'd beg to differ. Slums? No. Poor? Yes. But hey, do feel free to carry on spouting fact free bollocks, I'll take your opinion over personal experience any day


(Oh, one other thing - this post contains no personal abuse, just an opinion of a city. Before you lovely, lovely Londoners go apoplectic, try and remember that.)
I'm amused. YOu know so little about London. Look, no-one forces you to visit. Or to hang out on a London talk board. It does look like you have a teeny weeny bit of an agenda, doesn't it?.

Anyway.

I really was bored. Couldn't sleep. I'm now off to bed.

[HarrisonSlade]

Hate to be party pooper, but London doesn't have a monopoly on sunsets you freaks.

That photo is just of a tower block and a sunset that you can see in any part of the UK.I hate to say it, but he is right. The last pic on this thread is only made beautiful by a beautiful skyline. Such an image could even make Cleethorpes attractive.

[Derian]

Originally Posted by Badger Kitten


(Oh, one other thing - this post contains no personal abuse, just an opinion of a city. Before you lovely, lovely Londoners go apoplectic, try and remember that.)
I'm amused. YOu know so little about London. Look, no-one forces you to visit. Or to hang out on a London talk board. It does look like you have a teeny weeny bit of an agenda, doesn't it?.

Anyway.

I really was bored. Couldn't sleep. I'm now off to bed.

And he can't answer back for 48 hours after his latest tasteless trolling ban from his antics elsewhere. And he kept this thread bumped up before his own thread's trollish debate that started it .... maybe he just couldn't resist the temptation for a dig. Bless.

[ernestolynch]

Have you posted here under another name? Y/N

Your whining seems mighty familiar.

[Guineveretoo]

Post your reasons why you like living in London here...
I live in South London, work in Central London, and have done for a few years, having moved here for work purposes. However, I don't feel able to say that I like living in London. All the cultural attractions can be reached by people who live outside London, and I find London a lonely place. It's too big!

That's why I joined this forum when I spotted it, as I hoped it would be a way of finding like minded people in this huge metropolis... Perhaps it will :)

[jæd]

Best gay scene in the country, if not the world. (Based on personal experience on Paris is as fun). Oh, and a mostly tolerant society. The only hassle I ever get seems to be from pig ignorent tourists.

[pk]

I love it because it's not Liverpool too...

Whenever I have to stay in Liverpool I check in to the Chinese Jade rooms at the Thistle hotel on the riverfront and always carry cans of London Pride, so it feels like I'm by the Thames.

[Poi E]

Hmmmm. I don't imagine that the 1000's of homeless people in London feel any better knowing that the Tower of London or St. Paul's is just a few tube stops away.

I don't suppose that someone living in a rat infested council estate takes any comfort from the fact that there are magnificent residences off Sloan Street.

I wouldn't have thought that someone living on floor 26 of a decrepit tower block is that impressed that Hyde Park is a fantastic inner city green space.

I doubt that someone afraid to go to the chippy cos there are gangs hanging round on the corner, selling drugs and stabbing innocent children, takes any pleasure from knowing that the Ivy has an early bird menu.

I suspect that a foreign tourist, stabbed for their wallet, doesn't take much consolation from the the fact that London has fantastic tourist locations as they are slumped in the street, Londoners scurrying past too busy to care.

Face facts - as cool/beautiful, historic as central London is, the suburbs where 90% of people spend their time, are filthy, grimy, drug infested slums.

(Oh, one other thing - this post contains no personal abuse, just an opinion of a city. Before you lovely, lovely Londoners go apoplectic, try and remember that.)


Underneath it all you are actually quite a dour person, no?

[Yossarian]

I like the way that whenever I start to feel a little pissed off or bored with the place, I remember there's an endless amount of things to do and places to see here that I haven't got around to yet.

[Agent Sparrow]

Post your reasons why you like living in London here...
I can find people who I feel I belong with. :)

[boohoo]

I love it because it's not Liverpool too...

Whenever I have to stay in Liverpool I check in to the Chinese Jade rooms at the Thistle hotel on the riverfront and always carry cans of London Pride, so it feels like I'm by the Thames.

I like Liverpool because it's not London!!! Different things to discover, different attitudes - good and bad, cheap nights out, fantastic architecture and a fascinating history......

but anyway, back to the original question about London....

Born and bred here and the problem is when you have grown up here, it's difficult to find anything that quite compares to it. There is so much here I haven't seen so I find it hard to have a decent recent to leave the place. London's main fault is that it is too expensive to live here and will end up being the reason I have to leave the place.

[ernestolynch]

It seems the majority of proper Londoners can't wait to get out, and all the ones who are gushing are Henriettas from small villages who have come to 'find themselves'!

[Guineveretoo]

It seems the majority of proper Londoners can't wait to get out, and all the ones who are gushing are Henriettas from small villages who have come to 'find themselves'!

What is a "proper Londoner"?

On what are you basing this generalisation? It isn't an obvious conclusion to reach after reading this thread! ;)

[ernestolynch]

What is a "proper Londoner"?

Someone who's from London?

[Dr. Furface]

Someone who's from London?

What does that mean? From London in the past - ie. born here - or from London now - ie. live here? I wasn't born here but I've lived here for over 20 years, half my life. I don't know if that makes me a Londoner or not, but what I do know is that most born-and-bred Londoners I know hardly know their own city at all. Typically, they still live in the same area they were born in, sometimes even in the same street or house, and the only time they venture into the centre is to go to work - after that, they scuttle off back to Bermondsey or Kidbrook or some other nondescript suburb. (One of my colleagues who was born and raised and still lives round Elephant & Castle told me that he was 14 before he ever came into central London, and he went to the Tower of London for the first time the other week - and he's 45 years old!)

In my time here, I've lived in 15 different places in areas all over the city, been to most of the cultural places, lots of sports events, regularly go to concerts and movies etc. And so do most people I know, but those that do these sort of things weren't born here. If you see someone with a copy of Time Out, you can guarantee that they weren't born here - what use would they have for it, they never go out anywhere!?

[ernestolynch]

Very anti w/c sentiments there, quite revealing...

[ernestolynch]

If you see someone with a copy of Time Out, you can guarantee that they weren't born here - what use would they have for it, they never go out anywhere!?

If I saw someone with a copy of that pathetic rag I'd assume they were a right nobend.

[exosculate]

In my time here, I've lived in 15 different places in areas all over the city, been to most of the cultural places, lots of sports events, regularly go to concerts and movies etc. And so do most people I know, but those that do these sort of things weren't born here. If you see someone with a copy of Time Out, you can guarantee that they weren't born here - what use would they have for it, they never go out anywhere!?


That is absolute nonsense.

[steeplejack]

What does that mean? From London in the past - ie. born here - or from London now - ie. live here? I wasn't born here but I've lived here for over 20 years, half my life. I don't know if that makes me a Londoner or not, but what I do know is that most born-and-bred Londoners I know hardly know their own city at all. Typically, they still live in the same area they were born in, sometimes even in the same street or house, and the only time they venture into the centre is to go to work - after that, they scuttle off back to Bermondsey or Kidbrook or some other nondescript suburb. (One of my colleagues who was born and raised and still lives round Elephant & Castle told me that he was 14 before he ever came into central London, and he went to the Tower of London for the first time the other week - and he's 45 years old!)

In my time here, I've lived in 15 different places in areas all over the city, been to most of the cultural places, lots of sports events, regularly go to concerts and movies etc. And so do most people I know, but those that do these sort of things weren't born here. If you see someone with a copy of Time Out, you can guarantee that they weren't born here - what use would they have for it, they never go out anywhere!?


It's often the case that people are indifferent to the places they grew up in. I know many Montrosians who hardly ever bother going to the beach- they know it's there, but have no real reason/desire to do so.

Obviously London's about 1000 times the size of where I live, but the same kinds of things hold true. Why bother travelling to see different football games at different clubs, for example if you've been brought up in Bermondsey and follow Millwall?

As to the 'attractions' of the West End etc., I got the distinct feeling when lived in London that most ordinary locals didn't bother because they perceived it to be 'for tourists' rather than for them.

I lived in London for five years and enjoyed it- though it's really miserable without any money. That was in the days when postgrads still got some money- got knows how students living away from home for the first time manage now. That said, the reason I enjoyed it was because all my brothers and my sister were already living there and a few mates...had I been totally alone the experience would have been very different.

London is second to none for galleries. It's not quite the case anymore that you have to move to London to be an artist, but it does help. The range of cinemas, restaurants, the possibility of being completely alone if you wanted to be with no-one to bother you were also things i enjoyed.

But, having been back for a week's work last week, I have to say I don't miss the noise, dirt (London is absolutely filthy and I've just about stopped producing black snot again), stinking heat in July/August, random psychos, or vaguely insane pace of things down there.

Great city though.

[Dr. Furface]

That is absolute nonsense.

No it isn't. It's a generalisation, I'll grant you that, but the overwhelming majority of born-Londoners stay away from the main city except for when they go to work, or maybe the odd shopping trip or football match. Other than that, most of them might as well be living in Coventry.

[montevideo]

Someone who's from London?

a cockernee geezer?

a pearly queen?

eliza doolittle?

lou beale from eastenders?

delboy?

-larvely

we are all londoners. It's just some are more london than others.

[ernestolynch]

we are all londoners. It's just some are more london than others.

So you're not a Mancunian anymore? :confused: Is this an image change? What accent do you have now?

[exosculate]

No it isn't. It's a generalisation, I'll grant you that, but the overwhelming majority of born-Londoners stay away from the main city except for when they go to work, or maybe the odd shopping trip or football match. Other than that, most of them might as well be living in Coventry.


You persoanlly can account for several million Londoners in this way?

Sorry mate, but the generalisation is beyond words.

[boohoo]

It's often the case that people are indifferent to the places they grew up in. I know many Montrosians who hardly ever bother going to the beach- they know it's there, but have no real reason/desire to do so.

I agree. When living in Liverpool, I was often showing scousers things they had not seen or noticed. And alot of London born people take what London has to offer for granted.


As to the 'attractions' of the West End etc., I got the distinct feeling when lived in London that most ordinary locals didn't bother because they perceived it to be 'for tourists' rather than for them.

I lived in London for five years and enjoyed it- though it's really miserable without any money. That was in the days when postgrads still got some money- got knows how students living away from home for the first time manage now. That said, the reason I enjoyed it was because all my brothers and my sister were already living there and a few mates...had I been totally alone the experience would have been very different.



I've barely been to any Westend shows because they are expensive. As are alot of "tourist" attractions. There should be a Londoner discount card to encourage them to explore their city.

[scott_forester]

I like it because I can still find parts of my culture and get all the benefits of London culture – also fast food delivery.

[Yossarian]

As to the 'attractions' of the West End etc., I got the distinct feeling when lived in London that most ordinary locals didn't bother because they perceived it to be 'for tourists' rather than for them.


The West End's like a theme park for tourists - but isn't that the case with the centres of a lot of other European capitals?

[Agent Sparrow]

I've barely been to any Westend shows because they are expensive. As are alot of "tourist" attractions. There should be a Londoner discount card to encourage them to explore their city.
To be fair I've only lived here 3 years and I know I should take advantage of some of the central attractions more. However, I also really can't think of much worse than drinking in certain parts of the centre on a weekend.

I dunno, my parents were Londoners and always took me up reguarly when I was growing up, that combined with growing up in a vibrant, busy town for its size (now a city) and then going to Leeds Uni, the places I had to keep moving to just needed to get bigger. Going "back" in size after uni just didn't work.

[Agent Sparrow]

As a second point, of course there aren't just West End shows out there, but a wonderful (and cheaper) selection of fringe theatre. It just takes a bit more organisation to find out whats out there. And I will admit that due to an inherent lazyness, I'm not too good at this either! But there are affordable things out there if you look.

[Dr. Furface]

You persoanlly can account for several million Londoners in this way?

Sorry mate, but the generalisation is beyond words.

I note that you only take issue with the generalisation - but you don't seem to have any counter argument with examples of born-londoners who spend any of their time experiencing or contributing to the cultural life which most the rest of us associate as a main feature of living here. (Ok, Robert Elms - an exception to prove the rule, but he's hardly one of your everyday Londoners).

[ernestolynch]

I note that you only take issue with the generalisation - but you don't seem to have any counter argument with examples of born-londoners who spend any of their time experiencing or contributing to the cultural life which most the rest of us associate as a main feature of living here. (Ok, Robert Elms - an exception to prove the rule, but he's hardly one of your everyday Londoners).

Again - why do you assume that lolloping around the West End with a copy of Time Out under your arm (and no doubt a bluetooth atop your shell-like) is a 'main feature' of London life? Just because a few jackasses like you (and those who read/write for the Evening Standard) do it, doesn't mean it's better.

[ICB]

London forum?

[exosculate]

I note that you only take issue with the generalisation - but you don't seem to have any counter argument with examples of born-londoners who spend any of their time experiencing or contributing to the cultural life which most the rest of us associate as a main feature of living here. (Ok, Robert Elms - an exception to prove the rule, but he's hardly one of your everyday Londoners).


It is you who makes the assumption about millions of people - not me. The onus is on you to make the case. Which you have not done. You have just stated an amazingly large generalisation based on who knows what frankly.

[exosculate]

Again - why do you assume that lolloping around the West End with a copy of Time Out under your arm (and no doubt a bluetooth atop your shell-like) is a 'main feature' of London life? Just because a few jackasses like you (and those who read/write for the Evening Standard) do it, doesn't mean it's better.


I also agree with ernie. Why is one aspect of London life more important than another anyway?

[Dr. Furface]

Again - why do you assume that lolloping around the West End with a copy of Time Out under your arm (and no doubt a bluetooth atop your shell-like) is a 'main feature' of London life? Just because a few jackasses like you (and those who read/write for the Evening Standard) do it, doesn't mean it's better.

Time Out, Bluetooth, Evening Standard - tell me ernesto, what else do you find so abhorrent about London life? Restaurants selling funny food you can't pronounce, people talking on mobile phones - often in languages you can't understand, those ipod thingies everyone's wearing?

Really, what an awful, decadent place this is (no doubt just what those bomber chappies think too).

[ViolentPanda]

London born and bred, and I love it for loads of reasons;

the history,
the modernity,
the low, middle and high culture,
the fact that it draws people from all over the UK (even moaning minnies like ern the mythical celt),
the Thames, walking on the foreshore and getting a sense of thousands of years of trade.
South London, and southwest London in particular.
the best pie and mash shops in Britain,
"London Pride" and Youngs' "Special".

and loads of others.

The only other city I'd contemplate (for a few seconds) living is Berlin.

[ernestolynch]

Time Out, Bluetooth, Evening Standard - tell me ernesto, what else do you find so abhorrent about London life? Restaurants selling funny food you can't pronounce, people talking on mobile phones - often in languages you can't understand, those ipod thingies everyone's wearing?

Really, what an awful, decadent place this is (no doubt just what those bomber chappies think too).

Why are you trying to insinuate a racist sentiment in my opinions? You have yet to explain your classist posts which insulted w/c Londoners, who deign to live and work in your playground.

You sound like Madonna who said the worst thing about London was the council estates.

[Badger Kitten]

It seems the majority of proper Londoners can't wait to get out, and all the ones who are gushing are Henriettas from small villages who have come to 'find themselves'! Possibly that was aimed at me? In which case I'd just like to point out that I came to London to work. Like most people I know. I've worked here since I was 23 and I'm now 34. It's the place I have chosen to live in, buy a flat in. It's my adopted city and my home where I have spent most of my adult life.

[ViolentPanda]

Possibly that was aimed at me? In which case I'd just like to point out that I came to London to work. Like most people I know. I've worked here since I was 23 and I'm now 34. It's the place I have chosen to live in, buy a flat in. It's my adopted city and my home where I have spent most of my adult life.
Why are you justifying yourself to ern the mythical celt? You're as much a Londoner as he is, possibly more, as he's a suburban "Surreyite" Londoner.

He spends so much time fulminating against the "Englische" I'm surprised he has the stomach to stay here and not piss off to some Celtic paradise.

[treefrog]

He spends so much time fulminating against the "Englische" I'm surprised he has the stomach to stay here and not piss off to some Celtic paradise.

Yeah, Aberdeen would welcome his dour, humourless rantings with open arms...

:p

[ernestolynch]

Why are you justifying yourself to ern the mythical celt? You're as much a Londoner as he is, possibly more, as he's a suburban "Surreyite" Londoner.

He spends so much time fulminating against the "Englische" I'm surprised he has the stomach to stay here and not piss off to some Celtic paradise.

An Englischman like you telling me to piss off is akin to Custer telling the Sioux to piss off to a reservation. :mad:

[ernestolynch]

Yeah, Aberdeen would welcome his dour, humourless rantings with open arms...

:p

As opposed to the shit you serve up on that U75 radio debacle?

[ViolentPanda]

An Englischman like you telling me to piss off is akin to Custer telling the Sioux to piss off to a reservation. :mad:

Did I tell you to "piss off", troggy boy?

Don't think so, my pseudo-Celtic little ball of impotent fury.

I was merely letting Badger Kitten know the score re: your "london-ness".

And likening yourself to the Sioux? Shoddy, even for you.

[ernestolynch]

I'm not a Londoner - never will be. Been here over 8 years, and I get more Welsh by the day.

[marty21]

Any of you wafflers actually Londoners or are you melodramatic blow-ins?

i'm a blow in, just like yourself ernie, I've lived here for 16 years so i am a londoner

can't imagine living anywhere else, can't be arsed putting my feelings about london down

i just luvs it :)

[montevideo]

I'm not a Londoner - never will be. Been here over 8 years, and I get more Welsh by the day.

you're a croydonite. And not a very good one at that. You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!

[ernestolynch]

you're a croydonite. And not a very good one at that. You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!

Never lived in Croydon, boss.

How's the accent coming along? Did those old Eastenders tapes I sent you help?

[Arik]

Nicely said Marty21! I've been here 5 years and although I could bang on about how much this city has given me, in the end it's hard to quantify.

But I come from someone much sunnier and apparently more desirable and I can tell you London shits all over it. (Eloquent as ever me) :)

[ernestolynch]

I live here because I earn twice as much as I would outside of London, and we'll fuck off to the Costas or a Greek island as soon as the finances allow. Or a big house on the coast.

[marty21]

I live here because I earn twice as much as I would outside of London, and we'll fuck off to the Costas or a Greek island as soon as the finances allow. Or a big house on the coast.

retire to your second home then ernie?

[ernestolynch]

retire to your second home then ernie?

flog this one and cash in

[E. Coli]

Originally Posted by Badger Kitten
It is very beautiful.
It is rammed full of interesting places and however long you live here there's always something new.
You can do anything, be anything you want here.
It's genuinely mixed and massively tolerant in the main. People from all over the world want to come here.
It's exciting.
It has fabulous parks.

Italics posts from MmmSky scraper trolling person

Hmmmm. I don't imagine that the 1000's of homeless people in London feel any better knowing that the Tower of London or St. Paul's is just a few tube stops away.

Actually, they do. Ask some. Just because you are homeless doesn't mean you can't appreciate beauty. How patronising.

I don't suppose that someone living in a rat infested council estate takes any comfort from the fact that there are magnificent residences off Sloan Street.Well, dear, I lived in Wood Green for 5 years, one of the poorest areas in London - complete with mice - until I got a cat - and I still loved London's sense of opportunity. Don't patronise me. Or the majority of us who live in rented/council/ 1-bed accomodation. Actually no-one mentioned posh houses off Sloan (sic) Square apart from you. It's irrelevant.


I wouldn't have thought that someone living on floor 26 of a decrepit tower block is that impressed that Hyde Park is a fantastic inner city green space.Actually, yes, it is impressive. It really helps to have free green spaces to hang out in. Most of us don't have gardens but we can all use the parks and get there on public transort. And they are open to all of us. Whether we live in tower blocks or not. When I lived in Wood Green I spent much time in Alexandra Palace park; really helped.

I doubt that someone afraid to go to the chippy cos there are gangs hanging round on the corner, selling drugs and stabbing innocent children, takes any pleasure from knowing that the Ivy has an early bird menu.

Gangs - just cross the road. They're interested in other teenagers in other gangs, not me. Selling drugs? No, if you want drugs, you need to know the right people, just like anywhere else. Stabbing children? WTF? Anyway, you just learn which chippies to go to , and when they are safe to visit. Like, not visiting the chippy outside the roughest pub at closing time. (Something I learned when a young teenager in a Norfolk village.) It's called being vaguely streetwise. Fortunately London is full of shops and food outlets open 24 hours a day, so it's much easier to get late night chips without being harrassed by drunken youths than when in, say Norwich.

Or you get a take out.



I suspect that a foreign tourist, stabbed for their wallet, doesn't take much consolation from the the fact that London has fantastic tourist locations as they are slumped in the street, Londoners scurrying past too busy to care.

I think you are confusing London with the roughest parts of, perhaps, South America? Stats please. Or admit you are talking shite. Its a big crowded place, so you get crime, but I have yet to read of stabbed tourists slumped and bleeding in the street as we trample over them to get to work in 12 years - even in the Evening Standard. Which if it had a story like that, make no mistake, would run it for weeks.


Face facts - as cool/beautiful, historic as central London is, the suburbs where 90% of people spend their time, are filthy, grimy, drug infested slums.

Well, as someone who has lived here for 12 years, mostly in suburbs, in some of the poorest ares of London - Haringey, Hackney etc - zone 2 3 and 4 I'd beg to differ. Slums? No. Poor? Yes. But hey, do feel free to carry on spouting fact free bollocks, I'll take your opinion over personal experience any day


(Oh, one other thing - this post contains no personal abuse, just an opinion of a city. Before you lovely, lovely Londoners go apoplectic, try and remember that.)
I'm amused. YOu know so little about London. Look, no-one forces you to visit. Or to hang out on a London talk board. It does look like you have a teeny weeny bit of an agenda, doesn't it?.

Anyway.

I really was bored. Couldn't sleep. I'm now off to bed.

Just wanted to say well said. :D - Fact is that London has everything most other cities have and a lot more. Which why explain why so many people choose to come and live here for a long time. So :p MrSkyscraper.
BTW have you ever been here?

[treefrog]

As opposed to the shit you serve up on that U75 radio debacle?
ooh, touched a nerve there, did we? :D You'd think after living in London for so long you'd have developed a thicker skin...

[liberty]

It’s the one place I don’t feel claustrophobic I like the convenience. If I was to leave I would go to another country