Why I Hate London

[frugalboy]

Is it true the average workweek is 60 hours long as opposed to 40 odd for the rest of the UK?

What's the point being surrounded by culture if you spend most of your time either commuting to/from work, in work, or tired from work?

Day to day London just seems to be depressing. Grey city filled with grey suits who have all have the same grey faces.

Yes you can quite easily spend Monday through Thursday exhausted and stuck in zombie mode but by the time Friday rolls around the mood lifts dramatically. And what do you think weekends are for?

Grey city? Assuming you're not referring to the weather (because if you were London would hardly be the only dreary place in the UK), you must be nuts. London has an abundance of large beautiful parks unlike any other city I've visited.

The people who get depressed by living in London are simply those that don't appreciate how lucky they are to live there. Why do they stay if they're so miserable? They should get the hell out and free up some space for those who would take their place (at the same time reducing the number of grey faces that everyone else has to look at - win win!).

[maxD]

Our last visit to London was due to turning up 1 minute too late for an easyjet flight because the car hire place was miles away from the terminal.. You know the one " sorry sir 1 minute but still cannot help you, going to have to rebook the flight". Feck Ok, so we were rebooked for 6:30 in the evening.

Next, purchase ticket on Gatwick Express or whatever it is called. Lots of money for a short journey for the wife myself and baby. We were off to Camden as our company has a short let apart business there where we could sleep for a bit. Also not been in London for a bit so decided to go for a look.

Navigating the tube with a pram was a complete nightmare, completely inadequate. Anyway, we got to Camden got a spare place that was not booked and had a sleep.

Afterwards decided to go and have a look around and TBH it was quite depressing. Rubbish, Kebab shops, mini cabs offices etc. The usual suburb stuff. Went for a Sunday roast in the local pub full of the indigenous population who were pretty...well it was like being in Easternders I guess. I mean the people were polite but just seemed pretty uneducated and took pride in not speaking English properly. A product of inner city education and the class system that is probably my biggest gripe with the UK.

The time came to go back to gatwick. Same old game with heaving the pram up and down stairs. The previous Gatwick train was cancelled so our train was full like the Tokyo metro. It was hot miserable, smelly, claustrophobic, sweaty grrrrr. Going out there was suburb upon suburb of the same houses that are completely overpriced, not that that bothers me as I do not live there, was just a thought. I remember thinking WTF are people doing living in this expensive, rubbish,overcrowded, dirty shipit.

London was great when I was in my 20's, of course I saw all the things I see now but back then they were exciting. Now they are just a pain in the ass

London really it is a dump. I was in Queens in New York in Feb. That is a complete dump too, nearly all the cab drivers I spoke to want to get enough money to leave New York.. All Suburbs pretty much suck in major cities.

[indirectapproach]

Ever notice how the people who bitch about London bitch about the tiresome practicalities of life?

Commuting, Prams.

These things are always tiresome, wherever you are.

Just like these people will always be tiresome wherever they are.

Anyone met their ilk in Singapore, Sydney or Vancouver?

I've met them in Geneva, Grenoble and Greenwich.

And i've met them in Huddersfield and Halifax but lucky for me, I've never yet been to Hull.

"I hate London because it's interesting and challenging ... wah ... wah ... wah ..."

"And in return for this interest and challenge, I have to break sweat and tread outside of my narrow comfort zone .... wah .... wah .... wah ...."

[Neil B]

That's what the byline "Tired of life" under my piccie relates to...I can't stand the place nowadays and everything it stands for.

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."

Samuel Johnson

When I left London this is all I heard... However it was from only those friends that have no escape. I saw London turn from a vibrant, exciting, safe, friendly, open metropolis that was the capital of the world full of happy people with opportunites for everyone to somewhere dirty, run down, boring (a huge number of bars, restaurants and clubs, cafes and shops have closed), unfriendly, bitter sad place, with no opportunities and property prices and rents that no one can afford, that tourists seem to shun and no one British wants to go to now. At one time you had to shuffle along Oxford Street - these days you can quite easily run. The infrastructure is starting to crumble: The number of tube lines closed, sometimes permanently is apalling. Theres no teachers left. Its impossible to find a doctor. Mini Cab drivers dont know London at all as they are all immigrants so you spend 4 x as long going from A to B and in the end you have to tell them where to go. The list is endless and it makes me quite sad to recall all the bad points but I really cant think of any good ones anymore.

Samuel Johnson was born in the 1700. Thats 300 years ago. Its quite sad to see mighty London die in only 3 years.

Edited April 14, 2010 by Neil B

[indirectapproach]

I don't quite know how to put this kindly so I'll put it straight.

Such catastrophic failure is more likely to be yours than London's.

[miko]

Ever notice how the people who bitch about London bitch about the tiresome practicalities of life?

Commuting, Prams.

These things are always tiresome, wherever you are.

Just like these people will always be tiresome wherever they are.

Anyone met their ilk in Singapore, Sydney or Vancouver?

I've met them in Geneva, Grenoble and Greenwich.

And i've met them in Huddersfield and Halifax but lucky for me, I've never yet been to Hull.

"I hate London because it's interesting and challenging ... wah ... wah ... wah ..."

"And in return for this interest and challenge, I have to break sweat and tread outside of my narrow comfort zone .... wah .... wah .... wah ...."

Spot on !!

Where in the world is it easy to take prams on any underground system , or any train system for that matter.

[Neil B]

I don't quite know how to put this kindly so I'll put it straight.

Such catastrophic failure is more likely to be yours than London's.

There are 6 million people in London. Its their choice whether or not London sinks or swims..To be honnest thats not my concern - I look after No 1

Edited April 14, 2010 by Neil B

[South Lorne]

Gibberish

...profound intellect ...but of course ...your from London....

[indirectapproach]

"To be honnest thats not my concern - I look after No 1."

Which is sort of the vibe we get from so many of the London naysayers because they are too narrow and selfish to be a part of a genuine, cool urban groove.

Tant pis pour eux, je dis.

Edited April 14, 2010 by indirectapproach

[miko]

...profound intellect ...but of course ...your from London....

And thank f--k you are not , you don't like the place so just stay away and stop slagging it .

[South Lorne]

Which is sort of the vibe we get from so many of the London naysayers because they are too narrow and selfish to be a part of a genuine, cool urban groove.

Tant pis pour eux, je dis.

...are you on something....?....

[Neil B]

Which is sort of the vibe we get from so many of the London naysayers because they are too narrow and selfish to be a part of a genuine, cool urban groove.

Tant pis pour eux, je dis.

You miss my point - I lived in London for 10 years and loved it. There was nowhere in the world like London. But Im afraid all of that is in the past tense now. Paris, NY and Berlin have taken London's crown.

[South Lorne]

And thank f--k you are not , you don't like the place so just stay away and stop slagging it .

...keep calm old chap....we are all entitled to our opinion ...even you.....

[indirectapproach]

"...are you on something....?...."

Nothing more than usual.

Edited April 14, 2010 by indirectapproach

[Neil B]

"...are you on something....?...."

Nothing more than usual.

..and if the poster is in London that will be miaow - another bit of crap thats spoiled London that we can thank the east Europeans for

[Big Orange]

I've been to London last year quite recently and it still seems to be a formidable, vibrant city that seems OK to visit and work in, but rubbish to comfortably live in. There's a lot less cars, which can be seen as a good thing. How can London "die" when it was burnt down to the ground on almost a dozen occasions, hundreds of thousands of people lived in worse hovels before the 1950s, and the Themes was always a open sewer?

[miko]

...keep calm old chap....we are all entitled to our opinion ...even you.....

Gor I thought i had taught you something yesterday when I mentioned your constant use of the ( old chap ) you stopped using it , now you have started again , now try and learn the lesson again for tommorrow , STOP CALLING EVERYONE OLD CHAP !!

[indirectapproach]

"Paris, NY and Berlin have taken London's crown. "

I haven't been to NY but I have been to Paris, Berlin and London in the last 12 months and I disagree with you.

I think that for reasons best known to themselves, people often project their own failures onto London.

If I was from some shyte hole like Coventry or Liverpool or Dundee I would not bestir myself to speak up for my home town.

But I'm not.

I'm from London.

The capital of Great Britain.

And I will speak up for it because there is truth in that. London is one of the great cities of the world and one of the great cities of the history of humankind.

If the ignorant, the dishonest, the cowardly and the jealous want to talk London down, fine, just expect some back .... is all ....

And those naysayers will flounder because the facts will speak for themselves and only the tip of the tip of the iceberg has been shown so far.

If you fancy it, go on, just don't expect none back from London.

Edited April 14, 2010 by indirectapproach

[miko]

You miss my point - I lived in London for 10 years and loved it. There was nowhere in the world like London. But Im afraid all of that is in the past tense now. Paris, NY and Berlin have taken London's crown.

No they have not and I bet they never will .

[South Lorne]

Gor I thought i had taught you something yesterday when I mentioned your constant use of the ( old chap ) you stopped using it , now you have started again , now try and learn the lesson again for tommorrow , STOP CALLING EVERYONE OLD CHAP !!

...calm down young man....it's the big city that does it....

[miko]

...calm down young man....it's the big city that does it....

Im very calm ,if fact your stupidity is making me laugh

[Darkman]

Some other commenter was whining about the narrow roads and the traffic and wished that it was levelled during WW2 so that it could have been rebuilt with wider roads. As crazy an opinion that I've ever read on this site,

Come on, we can do better than that. I know it's an internet forum, but lets stick to what was actually said. I didn't say I wish London was levelled in WW2!

I pointed out the reason some other countries have far better infrastructure is their relative youth. London is an old city, designed with old transport in mind, and frankly it's getting left behind. Anyone who's travelled can see what's happening.

I don't whine about Londons narrow roads or traffic. I simply call it for what it is. Londons transport system is a bad joke. And if you think that's a crazy opinion, then there's little hope for change.

Like I said, I like London.

Edited April 14, 2010 by Darkman

[@contradevian]

"Paris, NY and Berlin have taken London's crown. "

I haven't been to NY but I have been to Paris, Berlin and London in the last 12 months and I disagree with you.

I think that for reasons best known to themselves, people often project their own failures onto London.

If I was from some shyte hole like Coventry or Liverpool I would not bestir myself to speak up for my home town.

But I'm not.

I'm from London.

The capital of Great Britain.

Hmm well I'm not one of the naysayers, I like London a lot however its success has mirrored the decline of the UK. At one time most of the wealth was created outside of London. The industrial revolution didn't start there, and London grew as the trade went through its port. Now the factories and mills have largely closed, down and I think some people think that London (or more correctly the "City" in particular) has had more than a little something to do with this. So yes l like London, but I can understand why there is a lot of resentment towards it by outsiders.

Edited April 14, 2010 by SirStirlingSlumlord

[indirectapproach]

And if you think that new cities like Vancouver, Singapore, Honk Kong, Melbourne or Buenos Aires or Dubai are better than London, as your post might suggest .... maybe you might like to reconsider ..

[South Lorne]

And if you think that new cities like Vancouver, Singapore, Honk Kong, Melbourne or Buenos Aires or Dubai are better than London, as your post might suggest .... maybe you might like to reconsider ..

......to whom do you address....?...