What do you think of as “London”?

[CruCru]

On another thread I got into a discussion on which places are London and which are actually somewhere else. I think that only places with a London postcode are in London, otherwise they are in the Home Counties. However, quite a few people disagreed with me as they said that they lived in an outer London borough. I didn’t want to derail that thread (which was about something else) so thought I’d start my own.

To my way of thinking, if I sent a letter addressed to someone at 123 Their Street, London, Their postcode, it would only be sensible to do so if they actually live in London. If I did that for someone who lives in Harrow, Croydon or Kingston, doing so would cause confusion (but it might still arrive if the postcode was correct).

What do you think?

Chelmsford is Essex. Guildford is Surrey. Def not London.

I think most people would consider Ealing to be in London!

Some people seem to feel that the suburbs 'don't count' as really being part of London. I think they do and they are just part of the sprawling, jumbled character of our capital. Londoners are used to commuting vast distances on the transport network and feel very 'at home' in quite different parts of town from where they live.

Administratively not.
But when viewed from where I live....!

To me london is zone 4 maximum. In the 90's we would laugh and call zone zones 5 wannabe Londoners.
I still kinda think that. Generally I would say 1-3 is proper london. 4 is suburbia but it seems to be ever expanding.
I remember a northerner trying to argue with me once that Wandsworth wasn't real london. Twat 🤣

No one who grew up in London thinks the city ends at zone 2. It's literally not true!

London = all the current London boroughs. It's quite simple.

Yes!!

London = all the current London boroughs. It's quite simple.

Not for all the people who don't live near London and have no clue about what a London Borough is or is not. I mean, I can name random areas inside the M25 (Hounslow, Dagenham, Ealing, Kingston on Thames, Uxbridge) but would have zero clue whether these are a "London Borough"

I remember when I moved back in the day and we actually gutted my new phone number wasn't 071 but 081. That was too far out! 🤣

• Generally I would say 1-3 is proper london. 4 is suburbia but it seems to be ever expanding. I remember a northerner trying to argue with me once that Wandsworth wasn't real london. *

My bit of Wandsworth is pretty suburban as was the bit of Lambeth I grew up in. I don't see much difference between z3 & 4 tbh.

Yes, Ealing is definitely, 'London'.

I don't think the home counties are London as they are different counties.

@Westfacing THE Elephant?? Lived in London my whole life and never heard it called that 😂 but thanks for the geography lesson! Was just thinking of places that are minging but unarguably London.

Some people seem to feel that the suburbs 'don't count' as really being part of London. I think they do and they are just part of the sprawling, jumbled character of our capital. Londoners are used to commuting vast distances on the transport network and feel very 'at home' in quite different parts of town from where they live.

Even though I see myself living in the London suburbs I still class it as London. Every city has suburbs where people live & commute to the city.

Was just thinking of places that are minging but unarguably London.

Ouch! 😆

@wipeywipe sorry 😂 the bit I grew up in is minging too if that helps (dull and rough zone 4 lol)

If you are eligible to vote for the mayor, you live in London.

Yes, it is pure Surrey, it's so Surrey like Reigate is!

Royal Tunbridge Wells had better watch out !

@Hotmess101 It's fine I don't like E&C even though it's apparently gentrified.

I live in Richmond (zone 4) and we very much consider ourselves to live in London.

Everyone here has moved from an inner borough however, so we may all just be collectively deluding ourselves.

The inner london boroughs. More or less zones 1 and 2. The rest is the home counties and nearly foreign.

Same here. The deciding factor in whether people lived in London or Essex was whether you could get priory tickets to the V Festival (given to people who lived in Essex) or not.

Those outer London boroughs have the worst of both worlds. Part of the London land grab without actually being in London.

Well according to Ryanair, Luton is in London 😂

Well, I once had someone from London confidently tell me how near Yorkshire is to Aberdeen, so it cuts both ways 😆

I live the Surrey side of the Sutton/Epsom border and I would term london as the boroughs for which you get to
vote for the London Mayor
free travel card etc at 65 and all the perks of living in london

in Covid we had different rules to the London side as well briefly (Dec 2020) when all London followed certain rules (including school closures)

geogrphically and politically there are London boroughs