To hate what's happening to London?

[AWholeLottaNosy]

I moved to London in 1989, it was a great place, full of interesting, arty people, lots of cheap things to do, festivals, clubs, shops, museums. I loved the quirky nature of so many different areas, Camden market, Soho, Notting Hill market at the weekend, the urban grittiness of places like Brixton, Hackney etc. however I can't afford to live in London anymore and feel so sad that all these great places are slowly and surely just becoming one homogenised mass of chain stores, 'luxury flats', unaffordable to most Londoners and the things that made London a great place to live in, shops, markets, clubs, music venues, diversity etc are just vanishing. Boris Johnson obviously not only doesn't give a shit but is actively encouraging this, especially the building of flats just to be bought ( and not even lived in) by foreign investors.

I guess this can't be stopped but I do feel sad about it and wondered how other Londoners felt about it..?

Minttey, I'm a Londoner, I say hellhole with affection. Trust me, from my perspective London was a hellhole. I couldn't wait to leave the place.

I did love our bit of hellhole, but poor DS strapped in his buggy breathing in the fumes really did start to suffer with dark rings under his eyes and a nebuliser.

Heart
which areas are no go for the Jewish if you dont mind me asking?

it may be a shithole, but, by god, I'd rather be here than in the PROVINCES........

yeh people like you itchylegs were a bit offputting tbh.

I had a friend who lived in Highgate ffs and was always banging on about how she lived in the big mean city and had no idea where East Anglia was.
Yawn.

Now you can't move without tripping over an artisan loaf or an upcycled table.

Am normally intimidated by areas like this and have one close by (Queens Park - we live in Willesden Green) but all that hipster / bugaboo / up and coming stuff is actually fake and meaningless.

Think the price of property in London is shocking and that there are areas of London that I would feel uneasy in at night (some streets of Harlesden being an example but then the son of the family who used to live next door to us was murdered there last year and the place will always be associated with that for me).

Lived all over south London in my 20s and bought an ex LA flat in Streatham. When I sold it a few years ago it was still quite affordable. I adored living in Clapham, Stockwell/Vauxhall areas prior to that but that got too expensive. But as a young 20 something it was fabulous fun. I left in the end as it was too busy and too big for me. The cost of travel even in zone 3 was just ridiculous for what I considered a relatively poor quality of life.

On a recent trip back I was in awe of the changes around Vauxhall and Kings Cross station is amazing. I worked in that area for years and it was such a dive. It is fantastic to see how these kind of places are being transformed for the better. Also London really does have brilliant transport. So I think yabu but I do agree the price of some areas and travel is beyond a joke.

I moved to Brighton after leaving London though and although am now overseas, we recently had a look at moving back there (I adore Brighton). Now that is a city that has gone bonkers with regards price! It is not just London that is affected, it's a whole ripple effect across anywhere that is remotely commutable.

I should add I enjoy London far more as a visitor now than when I lived there. It is a wonderful city to just mooch around and you can still do so much for free.

Ah, I grew up in Brighton livingzuid, it's amazing how much that has changed. It used to be grungy, down at heel and has been gentrified beyond all belief,

Sorry, I know this thread is about London. But I do think the knock on for the satellite towns and cities is important - Sevenoaks, Harpenden, Brighton etc. these areas were always "nice" I think but they never used to be so insanely expensive.