To think London is in a major decline?

[Phannyphart]

I’ve lived in London (zone 2) for 10+ years. It’s always been pretty ‘real’ here but since the end of covid really everywhere just seems so, so awful.
Dog shit everywhere, spit everywhere, council owned parks closed and locked, people littering more than ever before. Get on a bus and it’s just people screaming in to a FaceTime on top volume, people blasting TikTok. Kids being stabbed in broad daylight, people shooting up heroin near the nearby primary school. The area has a lot going for it but it really seems wherever I go there is an awful decline.
Has anybody feeling the same actually moved out? Do you regret it?

I think the same decline is happening everywhere, except outside London you also have to deal with crap public transport.

This is very true. I lived briefly for university in a northern town many years ago and yes, the transport was awful. I’m grateful for being so connected but I feel like I’m not connected to anything remotely enjoyable or useful anymore. There are so many more people crammed in to things and so much more dirt and filth. Our local parade of shops is completely empty and boarded up.

Gangs of men lingering in groups (not sure if gang or drugs?)
I’ve never really felt unsafe here but the last 2-3 years it feels like something is brewing under the surface constantly. You see a lot more visible drug users. I’ve never once seen a beat Bobby either.

Depends where you are - I’m in zone 2 as well - Camberwell - and I think it’s improved a lot (been here 25 years). It used to feel very sketchy, and nearby Peckham was almost no-go till about 10 years ago

The area has a lot going for it

doesn’t sound like it!! It sounds horrid frankly.

This is very true, I feel like SE has had a major boost. I have friends in Herne Hill and that is lovely (if I remember correctly).
We are East.

It's not London. It is post-Brexit UK.
Not that we did not warn it...

In terms of living so close to our capital city, it does. And in terms of ‘investment’.
But I see where you’re coming from.

Is this country-wide then? I don’t often travel elsewhere

I don't get this. I've lived in London since the early 80s (originally from Somerset) and it's so much better now than it was then. London was a very grey place in the 80s.
I live in Zone 3 and my bit of it is great. Public transport has always been good but now we have the night tube and the recent Superloop of buses. Food has got much better. Oxford Street is a bit rubbish but still...

Well it's lovely here in Greenwich and Blackheath

I notice none of that here

(Move)

Really? Some parts of Greenwich felt sketchy to me but haven’t been there in a while, admittedly. Maybe London is more sort of street by street than whole area.

I think it depends what area and the demographic of the areas too.

I have such a soft spot for London. I lived there for many years. My daughter was born there. I live in another European city now and it’s rare that I go out and don’t see a police presence. I never see police when I visit the UK.

Can you explain what the distinction is? I'm genuinely curious

Same here, SW London. Especially the drug use. There's a lot of dealing going on quite openly.

Yep I lived in Peckham when Damilola Taylor was stabbed, had my door kicked in and house burgled several times (when people were in the house - they didn’t care). It doesn’t seem half so bad now!

Interesting, that’s what we’ve noticed. Usually cannabis and it seems to be delivered by the Uber eats etc riders on bikes / motorcycles. It’s very very open.

I live in Lambeth and dog shit is a particular brand of cuntyness, excuse my French, can you tell I trod in some t.

I've started scowling at dog owners walking their mutts along the street.

Litter is terrible and fly tipping but I'm not sure it's ever been different.

Last time I was walking down the Strand I noticed far far more homeless people than I did a few years ago when I used to work there every day.

Saying that I love London and can't wait to get back every time I leave it even for the day.

definitely, I think because more shops and offices are empty so people are making huge camps in the doorways. There’s huge camps outside a lot of the hospitals too, UCLH has a massive encampment outside of it, maybe about 15 tents.

I love it too. I feel sad to see it like this.

That was more than 10 years ago. Damilola Taylor was murdered in 2000. I lived in Peckham 2009-2013 and it was in the process of being gentrified - that rooftop bar was open, the Bussey Building was doing all dayers and loads of bars and restaurants were opening. White middle class people were buying up all the nice houses, amazed at how cheap they were and being very smug about their edgy new location after Clapham or wherever.

That's true of almost everywhere. I live in Bristol. Certainly true here.

TBF I no longer live in London, but visit often and think how much more affluent it is compared to the rest of the UK which is full of empty shops, rubbish-strewn streets and anti-social behaviour.

And compared to most European cities I've visited over the last 5 years, the UK looks even more bleak.