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Original poster

To think London is in a major decline?

642 replies

Phannyphart · 17/01/2025 12:07

I’ve lived in London (zone 2) for 10+ years. It’s always been pretty ‘real’ here but since the end of covid really everywhere just seems so, so awful.
Dog shit everywhere, spit everywhere, council owned parks closed and locked, people littering more than ever before. Get on a bus and it’s just people screaming in to a FaceTime on top volume, people blasting TikTok. Kids being stabbed in broad daylight, people shooting up heroin near the nearby primary school. The area has a lot going for it but it really seems wherever I go there is an awful decline.
Has anybody feeling the same actually moved out? Do you regret it?

OP posts:
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Original poster
Phannyphart · 17/01/2025 12:20

ThePolarBearWhoLostHisCrown · 17/01/2025 12:18

Same here, SW London. Especially the drug use. There's a lot of dealing going on quite openly.

Interesting, that’s what we’ve noticed. Usually cannabis and it seems to be delivered by the Uber eats etc riders on bikes / motorcycles. It’s very very open.

OP posts:
Saschka · 17/01/2025 12:19

SmugglersHaunt · 17/01/2025 12:13

Depends where you are - I’m in zone 2 as well - Camberwell - and I think it’s improved a lot (been here 25 years). It used to feel very sketchy, and nearby Peckham was almost no-go till about 10 years ago

Yep I lived in Peckham when Damilola Taylor was stabbed, had my door kicked in and house burgled several times (when people were in the house - they didn’t care). It doesn’t seem half so bad now!

ThePolarBearWhoLostHisCrown · 17/01/2025 12:18

Same here, SW London. Especially the drug use. There's a lot of dealing going on quite openly.

User09678 · 17/01/2025 12:18

ThatMerryReader · 17/01/2025 12:15

It's not London. It is post-Brexit UK.
Not that we did not warn it...

Can you explain what the distinction is? I'm genuinely curious

W0tnow · 17/01/2025 12:18

I have such a soft spot for London. I lived there for many years. My daughter was born there. I live in another European city now and it’s rare that I go out and don’t see a police presence. I never see police when I visit the UK.

Original poster
Phannyphart · 17/01/2025 12:18

beguilingeyes · 17/01/2025 12:15

I don't get this. I've lived in London since the early 80s (originally from Somerset) and it's so much better now than it was then. London was a very grey place in the 80s.
I live in Zone 3 and my bit of it is great. Public transport has always been good but now we have the night tube and the recent Superloop of buses. Food has got much better. Oxford Street is a bit rubbish but still...

I think it depends what area and the demographic of the areas too.

OP posts:
Original poster
Phannyphart · 17/01/2025 12:17

LaurieFairyCake · 17/01/2025 12:16

Well it's lovely here in Greenwich and Blackheath Grin

I notice none of that here

(Move)

Really? Some parts of Greenwich felt sketchy to me but haven’t been there in a while, admittedly. Maybe London is more sort of street by street than whole area.

OP posts:
LaurieFairyCake · 17/01/2025 12:16

Well it's lovely here in Greenwich and Blackheath Grin

I notice none of that here

(Move)

beguilingeyes · 17/01/2025 12:15

I don't get this. I've lived in London since the early 80s (originally from Somerset) and it's so much better now than it was then. London was a very grey place in the 80s.
I live in Zone 3 and my bit of it is great. Public transport has always been good but now we have the night tube and the recent Superloop of buses. Food has got much better. Oxford Street is a bit rubbish but still...

Original poster
Phannyphart · 17/01/2025 12:15

ThatMerryReader · 17/01/2025 12:15

It's not London. It is post-Brexit UK.
Not that we did not warn it...

Is this country-wide then? I don’t often travel elsewhere

OP posts:
Original poster
Phannyphart · 17/01/2025 12:15

StillweriseLH · 17/01/2025 12:14

The area has a lot going for it

doesn’t sound like it!! It sounds horrid frankly.

In terms of living so close to our capital city, it does. And in terms of ‘investment’.
But I see where you’re coming from.

OP posts:
ThatMerryReader · 17/01/2025 12:15

It's not London. It is post-Brexit UK.
Not that we did not warn it...

Original poster
Phannyphart · 17/01/2025 12:14

SmugglersHaunt · 17/01/2025 12:13

Depends where you are - I’m in zone 2 as well - Camberwell - and I think it’s improved a lot (been here 25 years). It used to feel very sketchy, and nearby Peckham was almost no-go till about 10 years ago

This is very true, I feel like SE has had a major boost. I have friends in Herne Hill and that is lovely (if I remember correctly).
We are East.

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StillweriseLH · 17/01/2025 12:14

The area has a lot going for it

doesn’t sound like it!! It sounds horrid frankly.

SmugglersHaunt · 17/01/2025 12:13

Depends where you are - I’m in zone 2 as well - Camberwell - and I think it’s improved a lot (been here 25 years). It used to feel very sketchy, and nearby Peckham was almost no-go till about 10 years ago

Original poster
Phannyphart · 17/01/2025 12:11

Flyingtonight · 17/01/2025 12:08

I think the same decline is happening everywhere, except outside London you also have to deal with crap public transport.

This is very true. I lived briefly for university in a northern town many years ago and yes, the transport was awful. I’m grateful for being so connected but I feel like I’m not connected to anything remotely enjoyable or useful anymore. There are so many more people crammed in to things and so much more dirt and filth. Our local parade of shops is completely empty and boarded up.

Gangs of men lingering in groups (not sure if gang or drugs?)
I’ve never really felt unsafe here but the last 2-3 years it feels like something is brewing under the surface constantly. You see a lot more visible drug users. I’ve never once seen a beat Bobby either.

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Flyingtonight · 17/01/2025 12:08

I think the same decline is happening everywhere, except outside London you also have to deal with crap public transport.