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Original poster

What do non-Londoners think of London?

387 replies

savedbyanalien · 09/04/2022 12:31

We live (just inside) zone 1, so very central. We're very much "big City people" and couldn't imagine living in the suburbs or the countryside, or even a provincial town.

I was at London Victoria station earlier today and saw reams and reams of day-trippers (Hen and stag do's etc) and tourists getting off the Gatwick express with their luggage.

I wonder, what do you think about london when you get here? Big, noisy, busy, pretty, exciting?

OP posts:
JuliaDomna · 09/04/2022 16:52

I love it. I have lived in other cities in the UK but love London. I love the history access to cultural activities, the museums and the multicultural vibe. It's a pity I can't afford to live there.

nervydote · 09/04/2022 17:11

The only thing I don’t like isn’t in London itself, but is the attitude of some Londoners to the rest of us. I have some friends from the town we all grew up in that now live in London who have an irritating tendency to preface a lot of what they say with ‘in London’ as though we couldn’t possibly understand their experiences. They were telling me once that because they lived in London their house was old with high ceilings - we were sitting in an old house with high ceilings at that very moment! You can find them outside London!

I think the snobby attitudes generally comes from people who move to London. Born & raised Londoners are generally down to earth.

nervydote · 09/04/2022 17:16

@33goingon64 agree with you.

I would prefer to move to another city with loads of amenities on my doorstep then some of the outer zones which don't have much.

MySecretHistory · 09/04/2022 17:17

Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I love London so

Well, maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I think of her wherever I go
I get a funny feeling inside of me
While walking up and down

Well, maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I love the London town
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I love London so

Well, maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I think of her wherever I go
I get a funny feeling inside of me
While walking up and down

Well, maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I love the London town
When I'm away from London
I can't help thinking of some of my favorite places
Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden
Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace
And late at night, the fog that settles softly over London Bridge
I get a funny feeling inside of me
While walking up and down

Well, maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I love the London town
That I love London town
That I love the London town

No fog/smog over London Bridge any longer!!!!!

OneOfTheGrundys · 09/04/2022 17:22

Love to visit. The energy and bustle are an incredible ‘injection’. Glad not to live there. Bit like rich food. In moderation.

Lightning020 · 09/04/2022 17:22

I lived in London from age 19 to 44 apart from a year in Turkey. I was desperate to leave. Not homely enough and too expensive. The outlook and people are dead cool but the lifestyle and high cost of it sucks. Now live back in the provinces and a much calmer lifestyle. Though I lead a very busy life even where I am now I feel the stability everywhere is more healthy.

Hostaswordwoman · 09/04/2022 17:37

I've only been a few times in my fifty years but I remember thinking how huge the buildings were and how there were so many people, how come they didn't walk into one another

isthatanotherbastardgrey · 09/04/2022 17:54

I love it, but it's a pain in the arse

WeSellAnyBra · 09/04/2022 18:10

@D0lphine

Busy and expensive. Full of cross looking people barging around. Loud, dirty. Extremes of wealth. Not a nice place- feels like a capital city of a foreign country and entirely different from the rest of the UK.
‘Feels like the city of a foreign country and different to the rest of the UK’

…and this is EXACTLY why I love it! It’s like New York or Rome or Paris more than Manchester or Edinburgh. There is nothing comparable in the UK.

Glorious London ❤️

Original poster
savedbyanalien · 09/04/2022 18:18

@Apandemicyousay

Really?

Yes?

OP posts:
Original poster
savedbyanalien · 09/04/2022 18:19

@Apandemicyousay

(My ‘really?’ was in response to the comment about being flashed in a London park everyday)

Oh! Yes I was Hmm at that too. In the 15 years I've lived here that has never happened to me.

OP posts:
Tsuni · 09/04/2022 18:20

Noisy. Toxic tap water. Grey. Bit ugly. (I'm talking about central London before some smart arse tells me they live in a green leafy London suburb.)
Good museums, good restaurants.

southlondonerhere · 09/04/2022 18:21

@SmellyWellyWoo

That they think everyone in the north is thick/uncivilised etc, that it's a cultural waste land. Or they just don't think about us at all and think they are the centre of the universe.
Loads of northerners live in London, majority of Londoners are from elsewhere
Original poster
savedbyanalien · 09/04/2022 18:22

@LadyMacduff

I like the variety of things to do and the ease of using public transport.

It's funny to me when I blow my nose and it's black.

I find it enjoyable for a few days but i'm not interested in living there because the cost of living is not worth it for me.

I've also never had the black-snot thing in all the years I've lived here Hmm

I just looked at my air pollution rating on my weather app and it's 2 (low!)

OP posts:
LadyEloise1 · 09/04/2022 18:23

Love London as I said in my previous post but one thing I noticed - when visiting if I blew my nose the "mucus" would be blackish. This didn't happen anywhere else. I'd be doing touristy things, staying in a central London hotel.
Some pollution!!!

upinaballoon · 09/04/2022 18:26

In the 60s, up from the country on a school trip, we were at the Brit Mus at the end of a hot day, waiting for the coach to come and carry us home to the turnip fields. We employed our time by watching all the people going in and out and trying to guess their nationalities - He's Italian etc. Now I do that in my local country town.

I have had reasons in my life to get to know London geography and the tube quite well, relations, college etc. and regular day visits, so it's huge and could be overwhelming, but super in small doses.

Perhaps it's time for a new railcard and a day trip.

Original poster
savedbyanalien · 09/04/2022 18:26

@suckingonchillidogs

When I visit I love to get up early and wander around before things get really busy. Love the history and beautiful buildings. Don't enjoy the tube, prefer to get the bus and sit on the top deck - you see so much more that way (obviously not as quick though!). Also suffer from the dreaded black snot after a while!

Love a mooch round Sloane Sq/the Kings Road

Me too. My DC go to school near Sloane Sq and we don't live far from there.

I'll never leave our little patch of london Grin

OP posts:
Tiddlesthecat · 09/04/2022 18:28

I find the place an utter mystery. I visit occasionally but mostly use the tube, so end up having no grasp on how places interlink or distances. It's so vast. Even when I try to plan the least amount of walking I still find out that I've walked 8-10 miles in a day. The scale of the place is huge and just hard for me to grasp. I therefore find it hard to connect with. I often wonder whether it seems this way to people more local and how it would feel for it to be familiar. After visiting there I return to my own city and can easily walk from the train station through most of the centre and to the other side in 30-40 minutes.

southlondonerhere · 09/04/2022 18:38

@WeSellAnyBra

As a Londoner, I find these threads funny. I think people base their opinions of the city on a day trip into the centre where they are trying to fit a lot of sightseeing in and dashing around like mad people shopping and battling the crowds.

I live in a Zone 4 suburb, like probably half of Londoners do. I imagine my day to day life isn’t that different to that of residents of any city or town in the UK. We have gardens, local parks, a local high street. It isn’t particularly ‘dirty and smelly’ Grin. It benefits from having much, much better transport, public services and amenities than anywhere else in the UK, but it’s probably not hugely different to living anywhere else (bar a rural location) on a daily basis.

There are a lot of strange attitudes towards London and Londoners on MN! There are about 9 million of us, living in one of the biggest cities in the world. It’s not one uniform place or population.

Agreed, I live in zone 3, I work in central but if it wasn't for work I would very rarely ever go into central London, where I live is like a little town, that happens to be in London, to be honest London is so big I do think it is like a collection of loads of towns
FlowerArranger · 09/04/2022 18:39

@Tiddlesthecat - next time you're in London take the No 11 bus from St. Paul's to Westminster Abbey, the No.9 from Kensignton High Street to the Aldwich, and the No. 24 from Pimlico to Hampstead Heath. Plus the river boat from Westminster Pier down to Greenwich.

Once you've done all that you'll have a better idea of the geography of London. You may even decide to venture South of the river... Wink

MySecretHistory · 09/04/2022 18:44

[quote FlowerArranger]@Tiddlesthecat - next time you're in London take the No 11 bus from St. Paul's to Westminster Abbey, the No.9 from Kensignton High Street to the Aldwich, and the No. 24 from Pimlico to Hampstead Heath. Plus the river boat from Westminster Pier down to Greenwich.

Once you've done all that you'll have a better idea of the geography of London. You may even decide to venture South of the river... Wink[/quote]
I love the number 11

Sometimes I do the whole route each way (I live next to the 11 route)
Don't get off at Westminster Abbey- carry on up the Kings Road- you miss loads if you get off at Westminster

I also did the boat yesterday from Millbank to Greenwich as I got up and didnt have a plan.

I love London! (south of the river- is that London?)

MySecretHistory · 09/04/2022 18:45

Plus get on the 11 at Liverpool Street you miss the City if you get on at St Pauls

Gowithme · 09/04/2022 18:47

I lived there for a few years and absolutely hated it. I think it's one of the most wonderful cities to visit as there is so much to see and do, but (to me) one of the most awful places to live. I found it incredibly unfriendly, I never even knew my next door neighbour where as here I practically know the whole village, it's grey, polluted, busy, awful traffic, packed tube, hideously expensive, huge divide been rich and poor, so much crime, drugs etc and I'd never want to raise kids there. Nice to visit on occasion but I'm never sorry to leave.

100problems · 09/04/2022 18:49

@savedbyanalien I got flashed in bloody Bournemouth! It was easy to miss.

whenwillthemadnessend · 09/04/2022 18:50

I'm Going to be honest as a Hertfordshire girl I get to go into london as much as I like

Day trips great
Museums too busy in holidays
Theatre over priced but you can get amazing ballet which I love for a very fair price.
Shopping good but it's just too big really so you can only do one area at a time. I prefer smaller cities to shop.

Inner london is beautiful and fantastic buildings clean etc
Some areas of Outer london are a cesspit and I would never want to live there
However the rubbish on the verges in Herts is a disgrace and an embarrassment to the uk and so I can't really be too harsh on outer london.

Poor and rich divide has got far far to big
Flats in Hampstead for 8 million is just ridiculous