what is it you believe that london offers that other places don't

[GrassCutter]

having just read a post that stated "and all that london offers". What is it you londoners feel the rest of us are missing out on. I lived in London for 5 years, children born there, but moved away and was wondering what it was that you think the rest of us are missing out on.

Yeah, igggi we have an ostrich farm down the road and I can get buffalo meat in the fishmonger in the next town... And I really do live in the back of beyond!

My circle of friends alone include, Kenyan, Ghanaian, Ethiopian, Somalian, Eritrean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Slovakian, Jamaican, Antiguan, Sierra Leonian, Iraqi, Turkish, Albanian, Nigerian, Zimbabwean, Spanish, Egyptian, French, Dutch, Mauritian, Malaysian, Columbian, Italian etc...

There are more nationalities I could mention. And these are just my friends.

I have also been aquaintances or met people from other places than these. And that is not including people of mixed heritage like myself, or the English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish and American or other Euro backgrounds I have met or know.

Oooh usualsuspect I was born in Leicester (left in 1974, I expect its changed a tad).
They had a big market and a clock with a blue face.
And they say book,look and cook funny. And bockle (bottle)
I love Essex because it has everything fairly near ( yes unfortunately that includes TOWIE folk).
I am glad my DCs are Essexonians but I do worry that they will still be living with me when they're 40

I don't understand some people's obsession with love of London. I appreciate it has a lot to offer in terms of multiculture and culture but most wouldn't take advantage of it anyway. I live in Birmingham and love it. You're never far from anything. The countryside is 10 minutes from me. City centre is 15 minutes. I find myself at all sorts of cultural events, places, shops, etc. I don't like the manic nature of London although I know some do. People are mostly rude and unhelpful. Your snot goes black. It smells awful! My londoner friends don't notice it but I find it disgusting. The Thames water is pretty disgusting although I like looking at the boats. The argument of high wages doesn't make sense because the cost of living is so much higher. It's not really proportionally higher. I like living in the middle of the country where it's easy to get anywhere. I can't imagine driving from London to Scotland. I'd have to stay in manchester for the night on the way! Basically, London=overrated, Birmingham=fantastic!

While there are lots of negatives, on a good day some of the lovely things about London:

Nearly all of the people you meet are not "natives" - the identity "Londoner" is implicitly about becoming, and choosing. Maybe because of that there is a really striking generosity amongst people -- on a good day!!

It is, at the moment, one of the world's great cities, and it feels it. So it feels very much as though it is cut away, in some respects, from the rest of Britain, and in some kind of space along with other C21 cities. There are good and bad things about that.

There is something quite amazing about wandering through it and just seeing the diversity. Not just of ethnic groups but also of wealth - that is quite something. There is something amazing about its geography of capitalism - the arrogance of the architecture in Canary Wharf and the City, the streets around Old Street and so on. And walking along the cnals and the river, and looking at London side-on, that's amazing too.

London has an enormous number of communities based on affectivity - that is amazingly warm.

And there are so many of us + all the "temporary" Londoners. That gives me a fuzzy glow sometimes.

The buzz. No other city in the world has a buzz like London.

More specifically, the things I miss (I live overseas now), the South bank, the beautiful bridges over the Thames, the shopping (It's brilliant- don't pretend it's not ), the wonderful architecture, stock picking cabbies, being able to pop in off the street and take in a few Turners at the National Gallery, the parks.

I know other cities have museums/art galleries/parks etc, but, without wanting to offend, with very few exceptions, they're not as impressive.

We probably wont move back to London when we come back, as it does have it's downsides, and your priorities change, but when I die, my soul will return to Tower Bridge

at LDNmummy and her multicultural competitiveness

London is not the be all and end all

just saying ....

The school thing is a big no no as far as I'm concerned ,comprehensive all the way here

would imagine proximity to HM... :)

I like London because of the American tourists.
They have me in stitches with their pronunciation.
I have been asked the way to Buckingham Castle...and "Ma'am,do you know the way to Lycester Square?"

No it definitely isnt, I have lived here ten odd years, I grew up in the west Midlands and still have siblings there. I enjoy the slower paced family life up north too.

I actually don't want to live in London nor Britain forever. But as it goes, I just don't think there is any denying London's multicultural superiority in comparison to other British cities.

Have lived in London nearly all my life. I LOVE LONDON! I moan about the grime and the 'always on the go' lifestyle BUT I couldn't live without it. London is so cool, hip, a melting pot, and there is ALWAYS something to do even when the pockets are empty, you will find something. I LOVE LONDON, BABY! whoop whoop.

London is great to visit(even though I dislike visiting), wouldn't want to live in the centre though. Surely once you have seen a museum/gallery or whatever you have seen it. Can I be honest and say I actually garner little to no pleasure from museums and aquariums and galleries, just wandering round, oh look a dinosaur I found the British museum dull, although we never did find the mummies. I only do it because my children tend to enjoy it.

I must be a div because when reading "what's on" or whatever, 90% of it makes me snore in advance.

I would like to go to the Tower and on one of those duck tours, both of which we can't afford for the forseeable. We would also like to go to a few museums (war and transport) which we will do when we get round to it.

Tbh I would trade the culture and whatnot for the fact when I was growing up the seaside was a short ride away, we had plenty of parks and visited countless museums, both with parents and the school.

If you don't drive the ease of access to attractions is important, it takes at least an hour to get to the nearest soft play round here, never mind anything more interesting.

In no particular order: Fortnum & Mason, Claridge's Bar, the Dorchester, The Savoy, Mayfair, Bond Street, Selfridge's, Harrod's Food Halls, Berwick Street Market, Pie & Mash, Petticoat Lane, East Street, The Comedy Store, the Albany (Deptford), Brick Lane Music Hall, Ronnie Scott's, the Old Vic, the Donmar, the Royal Court, Sadler's Wells, the Groucho, the Ivy, Julie's Restaurant, Le Gavroche, Soho/Chinatown, Covent Garden, The High Courts and the Inns of Court, Waterloo Bridge, The Imperial War Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A, the Royal Albert Hall, the Serpentine, Speaker's Corner, the statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, the Eye, the South Bank, Regent's Park, the British Libarary, the British Museum*, Bloomsbury, Billingsgate, Smithfield, St Paul's Cathedral, the City of London, Highgate Cemetary, Camden Lock to name but a few.

Plus my friends, my house, my hairdresser.

The Egyptian Rooms are nos. 61-64 on the third level - take the east or west stairs BoiledFrog*. The mummies are in rooms 62/63 - I wouldn't want to spend the night there!

I love going to London for the dya the parks /museums/culture /the boats/thames .there is a lot to do there really is .But saying that as much a sI enjoy Ialso enjoy leaving and coming home am only 30 mins by train .

But if had pots of money and could afford to pick and choose where to live in Londona nd afford decent schooling I may well be persueaded to move there .But since thats not going to happen .So feel I have best of both worlds right now

TB,gang crime,overcrowding,pay as you use parks,noise,concrete,gated communitys,exspensive shops,commuter hell

I may live in a backward uncivilized town but I can be in open fields and woodland within 10mins walk of my house and smell fresh air and hear birds tweeting

I think Londeners have to keep reminding themselves how good london is because of all the negative points it has.

oops I mean Londoners

What I like about London is all the above mentioned museums, Thames, culture, transport, gigs, restaurants etc.

It also never ceases to amaze me the cultural difference between London and the other major cities as far as going out is concerned. In the main we don't go home from work get done up and go out straight from work and it's totally acceptable to go to a decent bar or restaurant in jeans not 'done up'. We also don't tend to do a bar crawl of the city centre but stay in one or two maximum venues of an evening.

Maybe it's just that I know where to go in London but I have worked in almost every major city in this country and the impression I get is that it is far easier to go out in London as a woman and not feel like you are in a meat market.

I live in London,I have to work in a city as I work in the arts and London is the best place for me.
Many friend's are starting to move further out now they are having children.I would consider it if I worked 9-5 but I don't want a long commute at 10:30pm.
I do love London but I do worry about schools a bit.Funny to think my children are londoners(I'm from near Bristol).

At least I we stay here rather than the countryside we won't have to become their taxi drivers

Can't say I'm as wild about multi culturism as other posters on here tbh and why it's SO great?

Day trip to London is enough for me. dirty, noisy, overpriced.
But hubby loves it.
Each to their own.
Not sure seeing a politician in street is such a bonus, i see our local Mp in our market town and don't make a big deal of it.
Some Londoners are narrow minded and never venture to other parts of the Uk to see what they have to offer.
I know you have dear Boris, that must be a bonus!

I'm not a big museum goer either Boiled Frog. In fact, I am a complete philistine when it comes to art galleries too. However, i love opera at Covent Garden and musicals in the West End, so whatever the thing is that you DO like you will find it here.

I love being able to walk everywhere, good public transport and the rivers and canals that are all around the city, even the invisible secret ones. Will be gutted when we have to move.

The river Thames, shopping (Knightsbridge, the West End), museums, galleries, theatre, opera, concerts, the tube, red buses, the financial centre, the buzz, the quality of restaurants, magnificent cathedrals, our home, our friends, proximity to places like Kew and Hampton Court, within quick reach of the main airports, the fact that it is a collection of villages with their own identities rather than a sprawling mass, ie, Putney, Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Fulham, Southfields, Pimlico, Westminster, Camberwell, Clapham, Balham, Dulwich, etc., etc.

I think the buzz for me is foremost, just the energy of the place. Definitely access to gigs/plays etc and museums. The history and the scale of it all. Really good public transport. Lots of open space, very accessible.

coccyx we actually try and keep that one quiet!