To wonder why London gets such a bad press?

[Campaspe]

I've seen a few threads on MN about moving house and living in or moving away from London. The general gist of them seems to be that London is awful, unfriendly and overpriced, whilst living up north is mostly cheap, friendly and just, well, better.

I'm not sure that's actually always the case. Disclaimer: I don't live anywhere near London, or come from there (and I promise I'm not shagging Boris too!). I love to visit it however, and I don't think there's another city anywhere in the UK that can hold a candle to it in terms of cultural offerings, history, excitement or attractions, even though I love most of the big cities of the UK. I do accept that being a capital city means that it is expensive and has lots of the social problems that beset all major conurbations.

It seems to me that in the end, it boils down to personal preference, but I don't really like the fashionable anti-city, anti-London pose that so many people like, particularly when it comes to a debate about north versus south. (It's like that other knee-jerk, ignorant anti-American prejudice that such people often spout). I find it puzzling that people denigrate the amount of money spent in London when it raises much of the capital that goes into projects over the rest of the country. And when I've seen worse poverty in London than anywhere else in the UK - and it somehow seems worse when there are very affluent areas just a short mile away.

So, why aren't people proud to have as a capital such a vibrant, diverse city such as London?

I live very close to London and absolutely love it, so much to see and do wouldn't want to live anywhere else

There are actually loads and loads of threads on here where people talk about how fantastic it is to live in London. There have been at least a couple in the past few weeks - I've posted on them.

I think it's mainly because London is the only city the Government really care about.

When there was that terrible flooding, people were forgotten about. Would that have happened in London? Absolutely not.

I love the city. Never found it unfriendly, but then I don't live there. I'd never be able to afford a house there. So I have a better way of life living else where.

I don't think it's that people are down on it, I think it's just that most people recognise that it's not all it's cracked up to be.

For most people the benefits of living in London, such as the cultural offerings are often outweighed by the negatives such as the cost, the crowding, the dirt etc.

I went to uni in London, found it overpriced, unfriendly, busy, smelly and insular. Couldn't wait to leave. I do the Moonwalk every couple of years and will take the kids sightseeing a few times but can't think of anywhere I would want to live less.
Certainly don't think its vibrant at all.

I loathe the busyness and expense of London, it's absolutely not a place that appeals to me. Nothing against London per se, I just feel that way about most large cities.

I live in central London and absolutely love it. Everything is right on your doorstep, lots of culture, it's full of life wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

A 3 bed house in our old borough would cost best part of a million pounds. That was the only reason we left . We would not have left otherwise.

I absolutely love London and spent many years living there, and there is no way I'd consider moving any further north than Watford. I cannot see the appeal of living up north at all, but I appreciate that other people think very differently.

People get jealous of how much is spent there without recognising how many people there are in London. If that large a number of people were concentrated in another other area, that area would get a lot spent on it too.

The expense mainly. I'm sure it's great to live there if you are wealthy and a lover of cities.

I'm neither of those things :)

I've never been to London as an adult but to me it looks amazing. I get a bit of the Dick Whittington streets paved with gold fantasy thing going on in my head when I see it. I've always dreamed of the experience of living there, but at nearly 40 that's not going to happen now. It looks like the most exciting place in the world to me!

PtolemysNeedle, I think people have just cause to be a little resentful actually. An equivalent house to ours in Southwark pays over £100 less in Council Tax for far far better services, and per head of population the South West (and I imagine large parts of the north too) get far less from central government too. That does piss people off.

And by streets paved with gold, I don't mean that I think I'd be financially rich. I just mean in terms of opportunity. The idea of there being job opportunities etc.

I couldn't live there as it is just not financially possible for us, but we loved our visit a couple of years ago and would happily go back. We had a weekend in Paris and hated it in comparison.

Have you got links about that? Sorry, I know it comes across as snarky when someone says that, but I'd genuinely be interested to see how much is spent per head in each area, taking into account tourists and visitors as well. It would also be interesting to see how much is spent on different areas compared to how much they generate.

report on spending per head in the various UK regions

London is the English region with the highest spending. The South East has the least.

I love London and live in zone 3 but rent I couldn't afford a house. my children go to a faith school in zone 4. I would only move to New York or Tel Aviv. we have a great time this week my dh has taken the children to science museum. queen Elizabeth park. museum of childhood and v&a.
as well as borough market and bankside where I work. couldn't imagine not having do much free stuff close.

I lived in London for a little while , a long time ago . There were things I loved about it and there were things I hated . I live in the North now , in a village , there are things I love about it and things I hate .
The thing I loved about London was the sheer enormity of it , the fact that if you were interested in anything , somewhere in that seething city would be like minded souls . We have the internet now so it isn't nearly as important to live with all those seething souls

Although more is spent per head in the nations than in any area of England.

Fabulous place to live, brilliant if you bought your house there 20 years ago. Try getting on the housing ladder now - you'd have to live so far out it can scarcely be considered London. Lovely to live in Chelsea or Chiswick or Ealing - try living in Heston or Hounselow (no offence intended to anyone who lives there). Great if you have plenty of money - try moving there there on a teacher's or nurse's salary today.

treaclesoda do you live in the UK?

Thanks CalamitouslyWrong, that's interesting.

Surprised to see how much less is spent on the south east that in some other areas.

i moved up north from london a long time ago. i lasted 6 months and came back. i hated it.

I love London and am very proud of our Capital City, it's an amazing place and I would live there like a shot if I could. I visit often and don't recognise this stereotype of uhelpful, unfriendly Londoners, I have never experienced that even during rush hour on the tube.

However, I do think there is a bit of "rest of the country blindness" exhibited by politicians, but that is not the fault of the people living and working in London most of whom are just trying to make ends meet and get by like the rest of us.

It is often quoted on the local news. And I just googled and this came up www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/aug/07/london-gets-24-times-as-much-infrastructure-north-east-england (though this concentrates only on transport)
www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/MPs-say-transport-8216-inequality-8217-hurting/story-21176498-detail/story.html (transport again, and the disparity is huge)
I also found a pdf which said Among the English regions, public spending per head was lowest in the South East at £7,638 (13% below the UK average) and highest in London at £9,435 (7% higher than the UK average but I can't seem to link it.

A lot of searches reveal the disparity between the different UK nations which is whole other thread. However if we are just talking about English regions, it's another matter.

Plus the other issue in the South West is the disparity between housing costs and wages. And something which really annoys people is the enormous water bills compared to London - as a 2 person household on metered water DH and I pay something like £750 a year, and we're pretty frugal. This is far less than my sister pays in London for her larger house and two children. Water bills should be the same across the country.

As for the council tax, that was just a question of a quick search.

No doubt there will be people who disagree with pretty much everything I have said though.