Why is everyone hating on London

I had no clue about this I thought there must be a reason I said it!

Haha that’s fair enough you think that but it’s a saying me and a few people use! A bit like idiolect :)

The Museum of London disagrees with you

https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/why-is-london-called-the-big-smoke/

Incorrect: London is aka “The Smoke”, not the smog and absolutely not “The Big Smoke” 🤣

I grew up in South London and left fully at 20. I occasionally visit but can't say I miss living there with the exception of choice of ingredients easily from all around the world.

I don't think it's changed that significantly since the early 2000s but living elsewhere in the country and now rural Scotland makes me realise the behaviours I learnt growing up (especially around vigilance, walking around as a female, or active avoidance on buses or transport) are not the norm everywhere.
We occasionally take our children to the museums but wouldn't choose to stay in London as I never fully relax.

Flip side I still have friends who find where I live to be too quiet and boring!

I've never felt unsafe in London as far as I can remember. I don't live there and I'm always pleased to leave, but that's more because I like to go home to a more peaceful environment and I'm not a fan of cities for more than a day. I do enjoy visiting it though (and I work there twice a week) and really don't understand the 'dirty cesspit' comments. In fact, I was talking to a friend about it recently who was visiting from the States. She said she couldn't believe how clean it was compared to New York, and even commented on how people are far friendlier. I know she'll have been visiting the tourist spots, which may make a difference. The biggest issue for her is that over here you can be pretty confident that the person you meet isn't carrying a gun.

Mental.

💛 ULEZ
Miss EU 🇪🇺
💛 Sadiq

Farage, Reform & Tommy ought to be locked up!

Born and bred here, now raising my teenaged kids here OP. I have met so many polite teenagers, one of them shook my hand and called me m’ame recently.

I love bringing my kids up here in this big melting pot. They have friends from all over the world and every teenager that has entered my home, has been polite and sweet and respectful.

My youngest plays football in the park with Brazilian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Somali and Turkish kids. Then they come round for tea and are super polite and respectful kids.

Best city in the world ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Let them.
We’ll keep it for ourselves OP 💛

I thought of this thread today. Got on the bus (in north london) with a heavy bag of shopping, young guy, probably about 18. Jumped up out of his seat and said to me "have a seat" with a beaming smile! Maybe he just wanted me sitting down before he stabbed me 😂

People who want to drive everywhere

Reform don’t want ULEZ.

Or any other traffic calming or anti-pollution measures.

ULEZ is great. Who doesn't want cleaner air?

I love london
only because you don’t get restaurants like you do in other parts of the country

no Harrods/ selfridges / variety of places

the jazz bands at the mayfair restaurants are incredible

Bar Hopping in Mayfair

Borough Market

Choice of food

there is no place like it

I agree

The Far Right / Reform / Faragers are whipping up xenophobia and using the racist tendencies of their supporters and would be supporters to use the small boats issue to attack Starmer. The Muslim Mayor gets drawn in as a useful target.

Look at the Facebook comments under any tabloid news story about the RNLI rescuing some clueless holidaymakers cut off on a sandbank. Straight away they are attacked as a taxi service for ‘Starmer friends’ or Khan’s relatives and other nauseating vitriol. Worse on TwitterX.

It's right-wing propaganda. A lot of it is coming from America/ Trump supporters. It's probably because we have a Muslim mayor. I went to London recently, having not been for some time, and actually thought it seemed a lot better than before. I'd actually like to live there now and I've never wanted to before.

Implemented the ULEZ. And then extended it.

A Boris Johnson initiative.

And also replicated in many other cities.

There are Londoners who take issue with the Mayor’s policies (conveniently ignoring the fact that ULEZ was a Boris idea and invention that Khan implemented)…, but the barrage of racist, xenophobic, anti-Muslim vitriol that floods social media comes from people all over the country who probably couldn’t even tell you the name of the London governing structure that the Mayor heads up. All driven by Farage’s mob and the far right.

This is the ‘hating on’ phenomenon that the OP references.

It is naive to be an apologist for this. Unless what you want is Farage in charge.

What has he done? I asked this earlier and didn’t get a response.

@MrsVino

You clearly haven’t looked at the comments about him on social media. He’s been targeted with thousands of Islamophobic slurs and threats on social media. A sitting Tory MP made a speech where he accused Sadiq Khan of being under the control of Islamists.

"The number of Islamophobic posts aimed at Sadiq Khan has more than doubled in a year, according to fresh analysis that suggests the London mayor remains a lightning rod for racist abuse.
Almost 28,000 social media posts referring to Khan included a key Islamophobic phrase last year, a huge increase on the 12,000 sent a year earlier and a more than eight-fold increase from 2022, according to the analysis commissioned by the Greater London authority (GLA)."

Yup, everyone on the 8.10am from Orpington to Victoria is packing a blade for protection on their way to their boring office jobs. You have to literally fight your way to the falafel place at lunchtime. Pistols at dawn outside Pret.

People like that annoy me, moaning, complaining and talking about a place that they have never ever stepped foot in or experienced.

I refuse to engage with such people.

Same with people who met a small amount of a group and decide the entire group is bad because they had one or a few bad experiences.

The fear of crime in London some people have is ridiculous. It's far bigger than other UK cities - bigger than some countries. Of course you're going to hear about crime. I'm from a small town, and felt perfectly safe traveling around London.