To think London is in a major decline?

It was shit well before Brexit so that really can’t be blamed for it

I agree, knife crime which is huge now is primarily down to foreign criminality and is much more prevalent in some communities than others

@jokeynever I have personally witnessed a drug dealer called, came by car and two guys jumped him with machete and robbed him and stabbed him. 4pm 😅 I quickly legged it. He survived I heard.

All aspects of dealing suck. The people who end up smoking it suck, plus the drama that can occur. In true London fashion I see nothing, I mind my business 😶

I want to pick up on the whole ethnic minorities argument. I live in Birmingham which most people will know has huge ethnic diversity, there are areas which are filthy dirty and it has no bearing on white, black or brown to be honest…it’s usually down to poverty. The poorer areas are grim, with high unemployment levels, high crime and generally a population that don’t give a shit about the area.

The suburb I live in is quite a high white population, and the town centre is dire-I’ve been up today and there were two drugged up individuals engaging in a fight which included spitting and then about 10 minutes later another bloke screaming and people outside McDonald’s!

Anyway the general decline is obvious in the 13 years I’ve lived here and the gap between the poor and the rich is growing.

And do ethnic shops not mean an area cannot be nice?

I agree with Flyingtonight, it's not just London, it seems to be happening everywhere.

Giant potholes everywhere too.

It's less about different communities being more likely to litter etc and more about the fact that having insular communities living side mmby side erodes social cohesion and makes people from all gommunities generally less responsible for the things they share. For example in Japan where they have an extremely low immigration rate, everyone feels responsible as they feel part of the general culture. That's not to say Japan doesn't have issues as it certainly does, but it helps explain why people in the UK ate feeling less and less like they're part of the same culture.

That's an absolutely reasonable objection, but it wasn't the OP's point that I replied to. The OP objected simply to people dealing cannabis openly. There's no smell from dealing it, and no way of knowing whether the people buying it will then go and smoke it considerately in private, or inconsiderately underneath your bedroom window.

There's not really any reason for seeing openness about buying cannabis as a problem in an area. The vast majority of people buying it aren't going to be made violent by it, or need to commit crime to fund it. They could legalise it tomorrow and it would be no different from anybody buying anything else.

Combination of economic failure, austerity, failure to protect british assets from overseas ownerhip and completely rampant immigration.

Children are good here, they even try to do posters to tell adults about dog poo with their own campaign.

If only adults would buck up

Litter, dog poo and knife crime

It’s so depressing to here of another stabbing on a bus somewhere etc

Now that stabbings are happening in broad daylight, on public transport where I could be with my young children, it makes me feel like it’s probably tome to start looking at other places to raise a family

I don't think its ever been considered "acceptable", its just one of those things and you get used to it. I actually feel like people are more considerate about this now than they were when I was a child. Area dependent of course.

Hawking phlegm in the street though is another level of evil. People do it absolutely casually. I'd almost prefer dogshit to that.

@samarrange @Thepeopleversuswork

Well, I was around in the 60s and 70s but it's a long time since that level of fouling was considered acceptable. I would say for most of this century expecting to pick up after your dog has been the norm. That's fallen apart in the last couple of years.

We also need to be honest about the cultural differences (IE litter dropping, sanitation) and start to educate communities in how we ‘operate’ in this country.

In the area where I live - roughly a 50/50 mix of people from ethnic minorities and white working class - I see people of both communities working to keep the area clean and organising litter picks etc. It's a slur to blame litter dropping, sanitation etc on "cultural differences". I see people from both communities anxious about the environment where we live, and about anti social behaviour.

We used to live next door to a couple who constantly smoked cannabis in their home and garden. Even when we kept the windows shut it leaked through the walls and our kids were inhaling it. Our clothes smelt of it.

It did not make them violent. As far as I could tell they spent most of their lives in semi comatose in bed, or on the sofa. They certainly did not work. Just lived off those who did.

It is a Class 2 restricted drug and those who buy it (as distinct from growing their own) are financing illegal drug dealing which exploits vulnerable youngsters and contributes to knife crime.

Cannabis smells, especially when neighbours kid smokes it day and night right next to your bedroom 😭
As a non smoker it's genuinely offensive, smoke is bad as is but kind of airs out once its been smoked, but weed - they smoke it over hours every evening. Then wake and bake 😂 god I kind of feel awful as my friends and I used to smoke too as teens, god, the neighbours must have hated it!

Tbh Stoke Newington and Hackney were grim in the 70s onwards.

I know there must be some nice areas

Coral, the quotation is actually: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford".

Samuel Johnson would not have said, 'bored of'.

Chessor, I wholeheartedly agree with you about London. It's amazing. Just don't go to the dodgy bits. If you were in any other city, town, sometimes even a village, you would be advised about some areas and avoid them, at least in the evening. London is no different in that respect.

Not sure why it's such a problem then. Cannabis doesn't generally make people violent - if anything, the opposite.

I can see the problem with smack etc. in terms of the public health hazard from used needles, and increased burglary to pay for it. But I can't get excited about people smoking a joint in public or being open about dealing in it.

“Failed to assimilate” is quite accusatory and strong. Are you familiar with the story behind Altab Ali park and the experience of Bangladeshi families in the area over the decades? How about “tried to assimilate got murdered or assaulted for stepping out of line but still managed to form strong communities”. I’m not denying there’s a deep problem of poverty and education in Tower Hamlets, and it is segregated between ethnicities, I wanted to pick up on your statement. There’s a reason those communities are insular.

The Swadinatha Trust, annual “Season of Bangladesh Drama” local to you, Oitit-Jo, Rich Mix all hold events to share Bangladeshi culture. If you’re worried about integration and a self proclaimed liberal leftist perhaps reflect on your own part in whether it succeeds?

https://socialistworker.co.uk/in-depth/we-won-this-place-uncovering-bengali-migrants-fight-for-housing/

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2024/jul/09/from-protests-to-dancing-in-the-street-east-londons-bengali-community-in-pictures

I agree with PP that Greenwich is lovely but the local council does a lot to value all cultures.

The spitting and the rubbish are disgusting - and come from a specific section of society. I sold up and moved to Surrey a year ago because of it and the constant mopeds.

Brent in the 80s was awful, pre Brexit and all. It is much more liveable now. Queens Park, Kensal Rise and Willesden have changed lots, for the better.

Having said that, I'd love to see:

less dog shit
less rubbish in front yards
more police
more street cleaners
less gangs hanging around

I live in London and completely agree

Waltham Forest.

My local boots and tesco has been stormed by gangs twice in the last month.

And phone snatchers are everywhere. We had a workplace session run by security to make us aware of thieves operating on ebikes outside of the office and how we shouldnt have our phones out on display.

We also have a railway bridge crossover point which is now a no-go area for anyone not in a gang. Took over 5 muggings before we got CCTV.

We have some flytipping hotspots. Dont know why the the council arent installing CCTV.

It has always been bad, I definitely remember lots of dog shit in the 70s/80s when I was a kid, but I do think it's worse now. There are more dogs, for a start.