London - A Tale Of Two Cities

[Ruffneck]

the more third world immigrants from africa london accepts the more 3rd world london becomes

i fail to see how others cannot grasp this

[Tonkers]

Oi! I am a Londoner and their shit stinks, meanwhile my favorite cockernees are living it up in Barcelona.

London is it's people, wherever they are from, have faith in us

[dissident junk]

I lived in London for a good 13 years before I left in 2005. I still go back regularly as I have close friends still living there (and the number gets smaller every year).

London is dramatically different today to what it was back in the late 90s. Huge swathes of people that kept the city on an even keel and gave it a soul, particularly proper Londoners and the old settled migrant communities that put down roots in the 60s and 70s, seemed to have disappeared. When they say that 250,000 Londoners have moved out of the capital in the last ten years, well, I believe it. The middle ground has almost completely disappeared. There's the super-rich, the struggling and the poverty-stricken. London has atomised in a way that feels dangerous.

Because I am now the age I am, I am seeing a lot of flight from London, and all of it can be put down to three interlinked issues: the cost of housing for people without children and whom cannot claim any benefits, the state of education in the capital for those that have children and could never afford to go private, and the poor quality of life for those on average to fairly okay incomes. I know a lot of people who have relocated hundreds of miles from London because of the state of state secondary education in the capital.

I personally think that London is going to go the way New York did in the 80s, and it is going to take a hellova lot to bring it back. In some respects, this is a great thing for some regions because a) 30 and 40-something culture and art bods are moving into our towns and villages and doing some magnificent stuff once they get here, which is really reinvigorating areas and giving them a sense of life again, and it will possibly stop the regional brain drain to the capital that has been a problem since the mid 90s.

One of my close mates believes the real problem is that wealth is being sucked out of the capital by the non-dom super-rich. She feels that London is becoming like LA, where everyone works for somebody else, and at the top of the tree, there's either a Russian oligarch or Hedgie raking it in. I don't know enough about the present situation to comment, but I must say that when the Evening Standard is now free and owned by an ex-KGB man, it should give people far more pause for thought that it seems to do.

[miko]

London is a place of diversity and boundaries. I live right on the outskirts of the Canary Wharf estate - just a couple of minutes walk to the office - in a wonderful large £1m+ house on a lovely villagey street, next to a park, by beautiful old pubs, local shops, river etc. etc.

50 yards behind me is a grotty council estate which regularly introduces gang warfare up and down my road.

Interesting times...

Glad I'm renting

Yes lived there myself , very mixed , go into Asda on the Isle of dogs and you see the difference in the people , the very upmarket and the bottom end all in the queue together.

[Chugger]

[South Lorne]

...and...?.....

[Cinzano Bianco]

Welcome to the main artery of free market capitalism.

Haha. You said free market.

[Frank Hovis]

I lived in London for a good 13 years before I left in 2005. I still go back regularly as I have close friends still living there (and the number gets smaller every year).

London is dramatically different today to what it was back in the late 90s. Huge swathes of people that kept the city on an even keel and gave it a soul, particularly proper Londoners and the old settled migrant communities that put down roots in the 60s and 70s, seemed to have disappeared. When they say that 250,000 Londoners have moved out of the capital in the last ten years, well, I believe it. The middle ground has almost completely disappeared. There's the super-rich, the struggling and the poverty-stricken. London has atomised in a way that feels dangerous.

Because I am now the age I am, I am seeing a lot of flight from London, and all of it can be put down to three interlinked issues: the cost of housing for people without children and whom cannot claim any benefits, the state of education in the capital for those that have children and could never afford to go private, and the poor quality of life for those on average to fairly okay incomes. I know a lot of people who have relocated hundreds of miles from London because of the state of state secondary education in the capital.

I personally think that London is going to go the way New York did in the 80s, and it is going to take a hellova lot to bring it back. In some respects, this is a great thing for some regions because a) 30 and 40-something culture and art bods are moving into our towns and villages and doing some magnificent stuff once they get here, which is really reinvigorating areas and giving them a sense of life again, and it will possibly stop the regional brain drain to the capital that has been a problem since the mid 90s.

One of my close mates believes the real problem is that wealth is being sucked out of the capital by the non-dom super-rich. She feels that London is becoming like LA, where everyone works for somebody else, and at the top of the tree, there's either a Russian oligarch or Hedgie raking it in. I don't know enough about the present situation to comment, but I must say that when the Evening Standard is now free and owned by an ex-KGB man, it should give people far more pause for thought that it seems to do.

Good post. New York in the 80s is a good analogy.

[kingsgate]

the more third world immigrants from africa london accepts the more 3rd world london becomes

i fail to see how others cannot grasp this

+1.

Every other weekend, there's another (usually broad daylight) stabbing and / or shooting.

And who is doing it?

Almost never actual white Brits, almost never.

It's usually "Officers from Operation Trident are investigating". Again.

[Ruffneck]

+1.

Every other weekend, there's another (usually broad daylight) stabbing and / or shooting.

And who is doing it?

Almost never actual white Brits, almost never.

It's usually "Officers from Operation Trident are investigating". Again.

it's all they've ever known mate

that and popping out at least 7 kids

[quine]

The most depressing city I have ever been to

it has everything but a soul

Well my friend if you really think this is the case I suggest you never visit the places that I've been living in over the past few years: Dubai, Brisbane and now Singapore. Now those cities are true definitions of soul-lessness.

[MinceBalls]

+1

IMPO London is now a home for the super rich and those who aspire to being super rich... and all the flotsam and corruptuon and prostitution and drugs, etc, to feed the super-rich. London does not appear to care who you are, where you come from, what you do - not matter how evil - as long as you are very rich.... in which case, London turns a blind eye to your evil...

..and this is our capital city...

London can't be evil, it is a PLACE.

It's a while since we did this 'I hate London', 'I love London' thread; I was missing it. Along with all the other Anthea Turner and Alien threads.

[bomberbrown]

http://www.thisislon...f-two-cities.do

I posted a similar observation on the Evening Standards message boards about 5 years ago. In essence, it went along the lines of there only being two types of people living in London; the mega rich and those in receipt of benefit.

[Guest DissipatedYouthIsValuable]

I like those electric trains they have in London which go through tunnels.

[Big Orange]

London has always been something of a foreign country within a country (like most other major cities) so whinging about non-white immigrants is pathetic; the Neo-Nazis here seem to blame London's downfall on the immigrants, while the Communists pin London's decadance on big business and the Russian billionaires. I visited London just last year and what got to me was the much larger police presence there was compared to even six years ago: Westminster is under total lockdown with heavily armed officers, more razor wire and cameras, massive black security barriers, and giant X-ray scanners set in the driveways. There were long parked convoys of police vehicles lurking along the side of the roads and armed officers brushing through the crowds.

Edited May 26, 2010 by Big Orange

[SHERWICK]

I lived in London for a good 13 years before I left in 2005. I still go back regularly as I have close friends still living there (and the number gets smaller every year).

London is dramatically different today to what it was back in the late 90s. Huge swathes of people that kept the city on an even keel and gave it a soul, particularly proper Londoners and the old settled migrant communities that put down roots in the 60s and 70s, seemed to have disappeared. When they say that 250,000 Londoners have moved out of the capital in the last ten years, well, I believe it. The middle ground has almost completely disappeared. There's the super-rich, the struggling and the poverty-stricken. London has atomised in a way that feels dangerous.

Because I am now the age I am, I am seeing a lot of flight from London, and all of it can be put down to three interlinked issues: the cost of housing for people without children and whom cannot claim any benefits, the state of education in the capital for those that have children and could never afford to go private, and the poor quality of life for those on average to fairly okay incomes. I know a lot of people who have relocated hundreds of miles from London because of the state of state secondary education in the capital.

I personally think that London is going to go the way New York did in the 80s, and it is going to take a hellova lot to bring it back. In some respects, this is a great thing for some regions because a) 30 and 40-something culture and art bods are moving into our towns and villages and doing some magnificent stuff once they get here, which is really reinvigorating areas and giving them a sense of life again, and it will possibly stop the regional brain drain to the capital that has been a problem since the mid 90s.

One of my close mates believes the real problem is that wealth is being sucked out of the capital by the non-dom super-rich. She feels that London is becoming like LA, where everyone works for somebody else, and at the top of the tree, there's either a Russian oligarch or Hedgie raking it in. I don't know enough about the present situation to comment, but I must say that when the Evening Standard is now free and owned by an ex-KGB man, it should give people far more pause for thought that it seems to do.

I've lived in London on and off since the early 1970's and, IMHO, it's far, far better now than it's ever been (and I'm by no means rich/wealthy and nor do I own a house!). I love it.