To think London is in a major decline?

"life in a huge fast moving city is not for everyone and there's no shame in admitting that." patronising much?

Brixton is way better than in the 80s

100% agree with this.

Our area of zone 2 has actually improved a lot in the last decade with more school streets so dropping kids off at school feels much safer and less polluted. Very few empty shops and lots of busy cafes and restaurants. Public transport is generally reliable, there have always been idiot teenagers messing around on buses at school finishing time so nothing new there.

I think sometimes people who are considering a move out of London feel they have to paint this picture of a dark, doomed city in order to justify their decision. Just move out if it suits you, life in a huge fast moving city is not for everyone and there's no shame in admitting that.

You don't have to live there, though.

Born and bred in NE London - moved out 20years ago and now wouldn’t go back if you paid me

I very rarely venture into London anymore other than the odd night out in Shoreditch/Clerkenwell then straight home again

I live in Zone 2 east London, in one of the shittier area - I dont see that. Its gentrification galore, new buildings going up, new shops everywhere. Amount of gangs, lingering men and dog shit has not been changed in the last 15 years, as far as I can see. Parks are open and full of people, terraced houses cost 3mln, business as usual.

I think you see what you want to see. A lot of people like to decry how the country is in decline etc, it seem to give them some kind of weird pleasure.

I can only speak as a tourist but it had been quite a few years since I'd been to London when I went last year. From social media etc I fully expected to be stabbed on arrival, robbed, see marauding gangs waving machetes or be caught up in a Palestine march.

Needless to say none of that happened. I felt really safe, even at night. It was clean as any capital city and my God, as someone from far up north, what I'd give to be able to get around on public transport the way you can in London!

Obviously that's only central London I'm talking about, not outside of there but nowhere is perfect.

When I went to Edinburgh before christmas I had the opposite experience, I didn't feel safe at all, drunks and druggies all over the place, got accosted by someone shouting about Palestine and then a man was demanding I go back into my hotel (as didn't have cash on me) to get him some money for a sandwich. Compared to the previous times I'd been to Edingurgh I really noticed a change for thr worse. I'm also sure that's not everyone's experience but it put me off.

All places have pros and cons but I thought London was brilliant.

It sounds awful. Do you own your property/ rent privately?

If so, move out, the commute isn’t bad from lots of areas and you’ll pay less and get more both in terms of space and lifestyle.

It’s one of the defining characteristics of London that everyone thinks it was better when they were younger. The older you get, the better it was.

Join any ‘I grew up in...’ FB group to see people my age - sixty-plus - moaning about how London’s no longer the London they loved. Which is why they moved to Marbella five years ago, having lived in Crawley since ‘92. My grandparents were talking the same rubbish during the seventies.

London, actually, is in a state of constant change. It has been for two thousand years. If it wasn’t upsetting people, it’d be because it was a museum, frozen in time and irrelevant.

Like Bath.

It’s not just London. I live in what would be considered a fairly decent area, not the best but not the worst by far. Semi rural. Yet the decline is very visible and drug use has never been so obvious. Some places you drive through and the smell of weed is strong enough to make you nauseous. Been here all my life and never known that before . It’s very sad.

I live outside London in the South East and this isn’t happening where I live. Local parks have all been renovated within the past 3-10 years and are clean and well looked after by the parish councils. No stabbings, no spitting.

Dog mess has increased undoubtedly and, as Londoners move out for more space, some of the yobby kids are coming out, but it’s nothing like OP is describing which sounds horrific. I think I’ve heard of 2 stabbings in the past year in a nearby town and both were adults.

There's a homeless hostel just off the Strand

TBF I no longer live in London, but visit often and think how much more affluent it is compared to the rest of the UK which is full of empty shops, rubbish-strewn streets and anti-social behaviour.

And compared to most European cities I've visited over the last 5 years, the UK looks even more bleak.

That's true of almost everywhere. I live in Bristol. Certainly true here.

That was more than 10 years ago. Damilola Taylor was murdered in 2000. I lived in Peckham 2009-2013 and it was in the process of being gentrified - that rooftop bar was open, the Bussey Building was doing all dayers and loads of bars and restaurants were opening. White middle class people were buying up all the nice houses, amazed at how cheap they were and being very smug about their edgy new location after Clapham or wherever.

Saying that I love London and can't wait to get back every time I leave it even for the day.

Last time I was walking down the Strand I noticed far far more homeless people than I did a few years ago when I used to work there every day.

I live in Lambeth and dog shit is a particular brand of cuntyness, excuse my French, can you tell I trod in some t.

I've started scowling at dog owners walking their mutts along the street.

Litter is terrible and fly tipping but I'm not sure it's ever been different.