Ridiculous question about living in London

[Skunkandnancy]

I’ve just come back from a few days in London. We stayed in Paddington (Sussex gardens), just across the road from the station.

I LOVE London and when I get back I’m always a bit fascinated and think about it a lot. Where we stayed there appeared to be ‘normal’ flats just along from Sussex Gdns where people were just living.

I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous but I can’t get my head around being able to live right in the middle of London like this. Surely it must cost a fortune. It was noisy at night (all night partying it sounded like) so how do people just live alongside this.

We walked up Whitehall, around Covent Garden, Fleet Street, St Paul’s etc and am just fascinated at the thought that people live amongst this. I look at people on the tube and imagine just being able to travel around like this so easily.

London history is so fascinating too, so much to see everywhere. Do ‘ordinary’ people live right in the centre like this? How is life? I bet it must be amazing 🤩

My MIL lives in Westminster and my BIL in Notting Hill.

They both live in council flats and use the local normal supermarkets. My MIL also buys all her cheap fruit and veg from Church Street market as it's within walking distance.

My friends and I used to call him the "sinnner winner man" He always used to be outside Oxford Circus station. Wonder what happened to him, I've not seen him for years.

pS I was always oddly fascinated by the flats around Postman's Park and around the Tate Britain. Not sure why though.

I was going to say Sussex Gardens was a red light district when I worked there in the 90s... must have changed a lot.

I grew up living in a terrace house right on the edge of a major roundabout in Manchester, so the on-going noise of traffic is quite soothing.

I don’t live in central London but I do work there and I’m a bit bemused by your comment about being able to travel around easily. Are you all stuck at home where you live? Surely even if you don’t have public transport you can travel around easily by car?

I live just off Bishops Bridge Road going into Royal Oak and you can guess the footfall and noise levels tonight...people on way to Notting Hill and its carnage! Nice vibes though...

Years ago I had friends who lived in a huge flat (4 bedrooms?) off Oxford Street. They had rented it for years and because it was owned by a national charity ( not a housing charity) the rent had been fixed low with a fixed annual increase. They paid about 1/3 of the going rate for a regular flat, never mind the huge one they lived in.

Yes helicopters, hair ambulance and police helicopters all the time. Occasionally the big Chinooks land in the Honourable Artillery Company grounds - Window shatteringly loud. But not as loud as when Trump visited in Marine One to meet the Queen, surrounded by Osprey gunships and attack helicopters.

I live in zone 1, in an ex-local authority property, not particularly rich. It's pretty quiet where I am and it is great to be able to walk or cycle everywhere including work and never worry about how to get home. I don't actually get the tube very often.

Sussex Gardens and Norfolk Square all appear to be hotels now. They all looked nice from the outside (ours was really nice). Apart from the road opposite the station looking a bit scruffy the area all seemed quite nice and we had a lovely meal in the Monkey Puzzle pub. Up there were the flats with people in (Hyde park estate) and I was just so envious of having all this on your doorstep (apart from the noise tho)

I grew up in Covent Garden, went to one of those schools in a "house" 😍 and now live in one of the areas mentioned. All of these areas are full of social housing, although of course it's being sold off and areas like Fitzrovia have been affected by social cleansing, where residents were forcibly moved to southeast coastal towns.
We have very strong communities, many families have lived here for generations (I grew up next door to someone who was a Covent Garden flower girl in the 30s and was living with her children and grandchildren nearby, for example, while in my new area are elderly people who survived the Blitz and worked in the hotels).
The local communities, so often unseen by visiting tourists or commuters, are behind creating and maintaining these wonderful places. We had local communities campaigning, local architects designing and people getting together to save Covent Garden as we know it, back in the 70s and 80s. We have built community gardens, set up nurseries and we hold festivals and events throughout the year. The locals also run and work in the shops, pubs, cafes and galleries.
They're great places to live in because we have a strong network of family-oriented services (community-organised drop-in centres, crèches, after-school clubs), elderly people's community centres and get-togethers. Of course there are a lot of students, academics and doctors and other NHS staff in the area due to the hospital's and universities based here, as well as a high proportion of actors, writers and artists in Soho, Covent Garden and Bloomsbury especially.
The downsides are the heavy traffic and pollution and the crowds (my mother used to go out in the streets after pub closing to ask tourists to be quiet so the baby could sleep — and the responses were always sweet and obliging!). Central London has always felt very safe and friendly to live in. Lockdown was actually really nice for us because we got to enjoy our local parks and streets with other locals (albeit at a distance) rather than crowds of strangers. It gave us a village-green feel for a brief taster. And the quiet was blissful!
A problem of course is that children living here are unlikely ever to be able to afford to remain in their home area when they grow up. The problem of not being able to afford a house has long been the norm here. But on the flip side, children and teenagers here grow up with amazing resources, services, cultural activities, etc. etc. on their doorstep.

I remember Sinner Winner man! What happened to him? He had a broad Scouse accent.

It still was until relatively recently. Lots of hotels where you can rent a room by the hour! For obvious reasons it’s known as ‘Sex Gardens’… 😁

If you live in zone 1, where do you do a big shop?

We live rurally, a car is an absolute necessity and everywhere is bloody miles away.

The tube is the most brilliant thing ever!

Hair ambulance 😁

I don't live near any big supermarkets in London, I get everything locally it's never an issue

I answered this above. There are some medium sized supermarkets, like the sainsburys opposite Holborn station. There are also bigger supermarkets a short bus ride away in places like Camden and Kennington. And (though this facility didn’t exist when I lived there) these days you can also get online deliveries as well.

Around Paddington is a particularly noisy area, due to the station but also being in zone 1 - loads of hotels and split/multi use accommodation.

There are more HA properties in each borough than you would think, and equally loads of properties that were bought 20 plus years ago when prices were way more reasonable. Not everyone central is minted. Most people who live very centrally share with others, and actually SOME of the zone 1 places can be cheaper than the nicer areas in zone 2. There are also lots of ex-HA properties which are less desirable, and more affordable.

Oddly i've found central places no noisier really than suburbia - because in central places ppl tend not to have outdoor space of their own, and therefore don't have parties anywhere near as often!

In central London I rarely used the Tube. I could work, do and get everything I needed (and I mean everything!) within walking distance or a bike ride. Buses were often easier too. You only need it if you are crossing London to do something in particular. My whole life was lived in 3 tiny postcodes.

Yes, most Londoners avoid the tube unless absolutely necessary. In central london I walked or got the bus everywhere.

Wow. I live in Dublin and those prices are actually cheaper than we pay for rent (shit show here and no properties available).

I lived on the zone 1/2 border for several years (the Notting Hill carnival parade came down our street!) and now live a bit further out in zone 2. I love it here - so much is right on our doorstep and I love that my DD is growing up with friends from loads of different cultures and backgrounds. You do have to get used to sirens and helicopters, though.

Zone 1 is quite a big area. There are some larger supermarkets in it and lots of smaller ones. And still some remaining street markets. There's a Lidl on Tottenham Court Rd now. As it isn't really an area to drive in, though, I do daily smaller shops, use a mix of supermarkets and local shops, or get Tesco deliveries.