London bashing

[CruCru]

Recently there seems to have been a spate of London bashing from friends and acquaintances who live elsewhere. I'm surprised that people think it is okay to totally slate the place that someone else lives just because it happens to be the capital.

I think London is awesome, possibly the bright centre of the universe but wouldn't dream of telling someone how ghastly, say, Lancashire is (I have never been to Lancashire, I am sure it is very nice, it is just an example).

AIBU?

yes i would rather live in a flat (lovely roomy flat) is on a busy road (would prefer a quieter road) with a shared garden (lovely garden all the children play together) area is not crime ridden. we are up the road from a lovely arty area and one of the most exclusive areas in london with one on the best schools in the uk and the other way is brixton which is great for shopping and has some nice bars and i never feel unsafe there. oh and i have my own parking space and a garage too :)

i know i could afford a house in suburbia for the same price, but i hated living in nice suburbia i found it incredibly dull and found the country was not for me either

i like that although i love a few local places i have so much choice where to eat, drink, shop, see and experience the fantastic history this is why i live here and why i would never live anywhere else even if that means i have to sacrifice living in a semi detached house as i know i will not have so much choice and diversity on my doorstep

mmm i do know people who like living in worcester because it is very white

but of course you get racists everywhere, but things have changed so much since Stephen Lawrence murdered. though there are some areas that still have a strong bnp support, thankfully the supporters tend to be too lazy and too thick to bother voting (lets hope that is the case today)

Oh, Jinsei, I wasn't trying to say The Countree is the same all over the country This is the only rural place I've lived ... and I won't be trying any of the others!

I could, however generalise by saying you need a car in The Countree (which you don't in London), the shops & jobs are less varied than London's and the main roads don't boast pavements or street lamps like they do in cities. Just 3 of the myriad reasons I prefer cities, and London in particular.

I don't like Oxford Street, either ... But I love London and miss it

Eh, Youattheback? I haven't read the whole thread but was just kidding.

"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."
? Samuel Johnson

I love London. Walking through the West End in the summer is just wonderful. I love the walks through the rainy streets at dusk, I love with the cabs and the buses driving past, I love the passion of the city and the hustle and bustle, I love walking past world famous monuments and sites and all the history that goes with it. Walking past places like Westminster Abbey, St Paul's and the Tower of London always makes me smile.

We moved out into the country and are now back in the Zones - best place to be. Although we are in the outer zones so have the best of both worlds - Country one side and City the other.

As usual it's descended into tit for tat petty insults. Because people can't bear that other people have different tastes.

And what's with 'countree' garlic? You don't like living in the sticks - no need to mock.

Youattheback, just for the record, the BNP has -

No UK MP's despite fielding 338 candidates for the 650 seats. I'm not sure why you think they only fielded them in London? ;
2 MEP's representing Yorkshire and the HUmber and the North West region;
In the 2011 local elections, the BNP defended 13 council seats losing 11 of these seats. Two councillors were re-elected, one in Queensbury, West Yorkshire, and the other in Charnwood, Leicestershire, but no new seats were gained.
0 london assembly representative (to be fair one did get in but shortly thereafter turned independent)

Research from Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin shows that the typical BNP supporter is a middle-aged, working-class male with low levels of educational attainment from the declining industrial towns of the North and Midlands regions of England.

I'm not sure how you make that add up to particularly strong support in London?

Is it really so shocking to think of a family living in a 2-bed semi? I thought that was fairly normal, both in and out of London .

We were in a flat until recently and are now in a semi. DD was telling me today how much she missed the flat. We had our own decent garden, OSP, etc, and it was bigger floorprint-wise than some houses. But what DD misses is the company. She misses the people in the other flats who all asked after her, and made a fuss of her, and greeted her each day. She thinks being in a house, just us, is a bit lonely.

TBH I've found Londoners are often rude about anywhere outside London. I've heard it a lot. Both when I lived in London, and since leaving.

Marmite isn't it. I don't generally open a conversation with a Londoner by saying how I can take or leave London, but if someone starts going on to me about how great it is compared to anywhere else I'm quite happy to tell them I was pleased to leave the place.

Kewcumber

"... the BNP has - 2 MEP's ... No UK MP's despite fielding 338 candidates for the 650 seats. ..."

The reason for the disparity is that the MEPs were elected by a PR system, MPs and councillors are elected by FPTP.

The BNP won 2% of the 2010 UK vote which in a PR system would have given them 13 Westminster seats.

"... the typical BNP supporter is a middle-aged, working-class male with low levels of educational attainment ..."

if that's true then a fair point although you go on to say...

"... from the declining industrial towns of the North and Midlands regions of England ..."

which is actually far more more relevant.

You then compare this with a lack of support for the BNP in London where there are huge financial and economic benefits and no legacy of economic devastation.

Are you really claiming that Londoners are inherently less racist than people from the north or midlands?

As another comparison, although the economy here (Cornwall) is also very deprived - our fishing and mining industries have suffered dreadfully; we do not have the immigtation pressures of the north or midlands. I read on the government's website that the Duchy is 99% 'white british.'

There is almost no support for the BNP here so perhaps we are natural non-racists - like Londoners (or the reality is actually far more complex that you imagine).

Is it really so shocking to think of a family living in a 2-bed semi? I thought that was fairly normal, both in and out of London confused.

Yes. I live in a three bed semi. And that's me and DH and my friend who is studying here. the annoying lodger from hell

Where I lived a 2 bed semi was seen as positively palatial.

I know one family that until very recently were in a one bed flat with 5 kids, and a number of friends that have their kids (mixed sex) sharing a room with no hope of moving to something bigger.

I grew up in London and I love London. I wish I lived further in, to be honest (suburb dweller, here). I cant imagine living anywhere else in the UK. I am scared of rural areas, with no transport or shops. Each to their own, eh?

We have had several friends leave and morph into London-haters virtually overnight. They seem to have to think of all the bad bits and slag them off repeatedly, so that they don't think about all the brilliant tings they left behind

In my experience, the vast majority of people that leave London don't do it because they hate London, but because they cannot afford the cost of living, particularly housing, in London. Most of our friends have left because for the price of a flat in London they could buy a house with a garden elsewhere. I do sympathise with that, but to then say London is a dreadful place is a bit rich. If you had a million pounds to spend on a house, you'd be back in a flash [wink

Apologise for wading late into the debate, I have not read all 12 pages, so if I am repeating an existing post then I am sorry. Just wanted to point out that when I was living in the SW of England, I got into a conversation on a train with a Londoner. We started talking about the price of houses, and he was absolutely astonished that prices were so high in the SW, remarking 'Why would anyone pay those prices to live there. You are all just farmers anyway.'

Ignorance and bigotry are found in all areas. I would just like to point out that I do not have a barley in my hair, and unfortunately a lot of our lovely green fields in the SW are being built over- farming? A chance would be a fine thing.

Well of course they have a hope of moving somewhere bigger, Valium. They could, yunno, pove out of London?

That Londoner was an ignorant tossed, doesn't mean all londoners are!

I know one family that until very recently were in a one bed flat with 5 kids, and a number of friends that have their kids (mixed sex) sharing a room with no hope of moving to something bigger.

That is horrendous. My house has been commented on as being 'quite small' . My best friends have a lovely victorian terrace with 3 beds (two large double and a decent box), two receptions, a kitchen diner and bathroom. jealous

I live in London. Not central so perfect for me as i can nip in or out.

My house has 3 beds, hopefully 4 soon with a good size garden and garage, drive to park on and 2 reception rooms.

It is worth less then 300.

Not sure where the ideas on here of everyone living in tiny houses costing 900 come from!

Last time I was in London (november) there was a studio flat advertised in central London for £2000 per week. DH and I were boggling at how much you'd have to be on to afford that!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-22848306.html

I was trying to find equivalent of mine - this is way better spec in terms of finish, but the bones are the same. (3 bed semi with garden etc).

Whhhhaaaaatttt???! Mines worth approx £130,000 as opposed to 2.8 million. Arf.

I am clinging to the edge of London and trying not to fall off and end up in Bromley

I love it. Mostly. It's chatty and fun, and above all easy

in summer, though, we will be off camping lots int Countryside...but that's the best thing about it- easy to get out, easy to get back in again

I have friends who moved away 10+ years ago and still bitch about what a shithole London is. I think they protest too much, and just smile smugly

which must annoy the shit out of them

My garden is also bigger.