Born and bred Londoner. Live in the Square Mile now, lived in and went to school in zone 4 and zone 2.
Have noticed London steadily decline over the years but never really though much of it, after all, cities change, they are constantly reinventing themselves, gentrifying etc. As I've got older, my tread has got smaller. There are parts of London I simply don't go to any longer. Those I do, some are nothing like they used to be. The West End in particular is a shell of what it used to be.
It was only when I was in New York a few years ago that I was dazzled not only by how clean Manhattan was, but how one could almost smell the money, something I hadn't really felt about London since the early 2000s. Indeed, when I returned to London, it really hit me just how much of a shit hole huge swathes of it now are. And it's parts one would expect more from - for example, I live in the Square Mile and my local high street (Cheapside), once bustling with all the shops in use. Now, almost half are empty and two floors of One New Change (the shopping centre) are completely empty. Hobbs is the last store standing in the basement. Councils just don't seem to want to help themselves. They charge high business rates and building owners charge too high a rent. Often the former are also the latter (in the case of City of London/Bridge House Estates). Landlords would rather buildings stand empty than rent them out at a reasonable rent. (Much like many housing landlords).
Was in SW1 for the first time in a while last November and saw even Sloane Street has many vacant stores. Given the current financial climate coupled with Brexit and also the fact tourist no longer get tex-free shopping, I can't imagine London returning to being a global destination just yet. There's a lot of work to do. Allow tourists to shop tax-free would be a huge step in the right direction.
Capitalism isn't working. We need a change of attitudes and be more community minded. What I have always found so maddening about living in the Square Mile is the council are only interested in businesses and the business community (even though many have upped and left for Europe, particularly Ireland). They don't give a stuff about actual residents and what we need. I do feel that across the country, many councils have lost site of what their own communities need but at the same time, local councils just don't have the funding. (City of London has no such excuse as it's the richest council in the UK). This is decades of neglect that are creating a perfect storm and downward spiral. Without serious financial investment, I can't see how this will improve.