To wonder why people increasingly refer to places not in London as 'in London'

[redpipe]

I genuinely don't understand why people say they live in London when in fact they live in a town within the M25.
Croydon is not in London is it? Nor is Kingston. I never remember people referring to these towns as London years ago. Is this a new thing?

"Pink is actually London"

I don't see the word "Inner" which is a subjective term anyway. I don't agree that Hacklney and Leyton are more or less suburban than each other.

All the coloured parts are in London.

Half of Richmond is assuming you're talking about the borough. As explained up thread, most of LBRUT is north of the river and therefore Middlesex (which no longer exists!)

Someone up thread said that if they can use their Oyster card, then they consider it London but in parts of Herts, we can use our Oyster and we're definitely not London!

Richmond town is historically Surrey as its south of the river. Twickenham was historically Middlesex as north of river. Both now in London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

redpipe You're confusing matters by calling them suburbs because there's so such thing. There are greater London boroughs though.

people might mould the word "suburb" according to their taste.

It might mean anywhere outside the EC and WC postcodes, or it might mean somewhere outside the London Boroughs.

Suburbs are connected to the 'urb'. They don't exist on their own.

Bromley is a suburb of London, but anything over the border with Kent, e.g. Sevenoaks, isn't.

I'm happy to say I live in a suburb of London, but not that I live in Kent. Kent is quite different.

Well if you going to get picky surely only people who live in the square mile should claim to be Londoners? That is after all the City of London or am I mistaken? ( totally possible)

No because the city of london is a city within a city.

I lived in Zone 2 for nearly 30 years (Putney) and felt that I lived in London. I have just moved to Wimbledon (Zone 3) and I feel it is in the suburbs.

If you can legitimately put the name of a county in the address, ie, Richmond, Croydon, Enfield, Harrow, Twickenham, etc., then I don't think it really counts as London.

What are people's opinion on Enfield? It is known as 'The London Borough of Enfield' and if you live there you get to vote for the London mayor etc. But the postcode for some of enfield is EN (which is the same as parts of Herts) and also the address is 'Enfield, Middlesex', not 'Enfield, London'.

Is Middlesex still a recognised county or is that just historical? There is no 'Middlesex County Council' is there?

I don't think Enfield is London; it's a suburb of London.

I moved to Enfield for a year when I was 18, and, despite being 10 minutes from home-home, my address was Middlesex and I had no tube stations nearby, so I gave up my right to say that I lived in London!

Middlesex is odd. I went to Middlesex University, in Hendon which is definitely London (although in the borough of Barnet...)

I think someone should get on the phone to Boris and ask him to confirm.

boundaries change, places get bigger and expand. The population of London has almost doubled since I was a kid. hence, I am quite happy to accept that Croydon is a place within the London Borough of Croydon, which is in London. It's 15 minutes on the train from London Bridge people! And it's in zone 5. As far as I am concerned if you are allowed to vote for the London Mayor you're in London (Kensington, Islington, Peckham, Croydon, Coulsdon etc). If you're in the disputed neck of the woods and you're not, you're in Surrey (Caterham etc)

I realise that this means sanderstead is in Croydon which is in London which is a bit bonkers, but there you go.

"If you can legitimately put the name of a county in the address, ie, Richmond, Croydon, Enfield, Harrow, Twickenham, etc"

You shouldn't any more. The Post Office discourages that because it causes (just that sort of) confusion.

If you are in a London Borough, or the City, then you are in London. If not, not.

Counties are not part of official addresses. I don't think many people would argue that Cornwall is a county yet it is not part of our address. Someone living in Newquay would be:
House Number and road
Newquay
TR3 etc

Many people may choose to add Cornwall to the address but that doesn't make it correct. The DVLA use official addresses, if you check your paperwork then it won't contain a county.

Also in Cornwall we have 3 postcode prefixes. TR for the west of the county, EX for the north or PL for the east. PL is Plymouth which is in Devon as is EX for Exeter. We only have 1 city in Cornwall and so our postcodes are tied to the next county over.

Hmmm, but if you are talking about, say, Southgate in Enfield then that is an 'N' postcode, has a tube station (!) and is known as being in Greater London. I would think of Southgate as London, but its still in Enfield?

Agree about ringing Boris!

We live opposite WarnerBros Harry Potter tour London, yet I live in Leavesden just outside Watford
Apparently for PR, WB insisted it be badged as such!!

mistermaker ahh Southgate is definitely London, even if it is in the borough of Enfield. The 'N' post code and tube station give it that badge of honour. Edmonton too (although they are without tube station).

Postcodes do not cause London-ness.

I agree. I live in surrey. Richmond is surrey. Croydon is not London.

I have just driven past a sign that said:

London 19
Croydon 9

Hmmm. So on the one hand Croydon is only 10 miles outside of Central London. Nothing in the size of a city like London. On the other, it implies they are 2 separate places.

So why are people in Croydon asked to vote for the mayor of London?

Anyway, people will be happy to have it in London once the Westfield opens I'm sure.

Any voter in a London Borough can vote for the Mayor of London, because they are in London.

Even if they choose to have "Middx" or "Surrey" or even "Glamorgan" printed on their notepaper.

Oh and one other thing. A PP referred to Lords being the home of the Middlesex Cricket Club but MCC actually stands for Marylebone CC.