Born and bred Londoner here.
I think many areas such as Brixton and Herne Hill are unrecognisable versus their time in the 80's. Though they've seen much improvement, they have lost much of their soul and individuality, but are unaffordable to many Londoners.
The relentless stream of pointless chicken shops/nail salons/barbers and phone shops is depressing, in that so many areas are just now duplicates of each other.
Agree Greenwich & Blackheath are great- though this overlooks neighbouring Woolwich which is my idea of hell to visit. So much money has been poured in there, yet it gets worse daily. But there's never ever any thought as to why this is.
Homelessness, drugs/knife crime and gangs are a worry often discussed amongst friends. Many have or will leave their part of London when their children reach teenage / secondary years. We don't have that option as this is where our family is.
I do think there has been decimating change to East London, very detrimental to the community that was so brilliant, inspiring & fun before. I have big roots/connections there so this is deeply sad to see. Shoreditch is a cesspit mostly, though Spitafields has vastly improved.
I do think there are many conversations which should be positively held, but most are just afraid of saying the wrong thing and local councils too keen to be seen as doing the right thing, the result being a real decline in community cohesion and also safety.
I would never leave, but am sad that our children are unable to explore London as I did unhindered at q young age. Everything needs planning, risk assessing and generally just loads of consideration.
We have a mayor failing but knighted- and a police service unable to cope, too low in numbers and calibre to be effective. It's so sad.
Having said all this, I have no desire to leave and cannot think of anywhere else in the country I would want to live.