Why is everyone hating on London

[greenwichvillage]

Recently a lot posts I read on social media is about how much people hate London. Its has been called all sorts of names - cesspit, dirty, crime ridden and the foreigners have taken over. They don't recognise London anymore and they are glad they have moved to whiter areas with cheaper housing.

For context, I have lived here all my life, lived in North West London and now live in Southwest London. I admit there are parts of London that have deteriorated, equally there part parts of London that are really nice. Yes it is expensive to live in and properties are expensive but that does not make it a cesspit.

I love living where I am and I love all that London has to offer. I'm not English but I am British and I'm not white and I feel really safe here in London. Yes there are problems with crime, but there is crime everywhere.

I have been to other areas in the UK and really none of it appeals to me, I have been to beautiful country side and small towns and cities and tbh I would get bored after two days there. But I would never go as far as insulting it which people seem to do quite a lot with London.

I think Farage/ Reform and Tommy have a lot to answer for.

There are grim parts of most towns and cities. I grew up in a northern town with some awful council estates - I lived on one for a while.
We visited Great Yarmouth a few years ago. Gosh that place was depressing. And I came across Jaywick Sands a few years ago too when staying nearby. Isn’t that the most deprived area in the UK? Oh and both of those areas are held by Reform, I believe.

Also our crack heads are polite! Have you ever come across the genuinely lovely crackheads that hang around at Brixton station. They look like they're going to mug you but they step out th way and apologise (as you walk through their chemical smoke) I've seen someone trip down the stairs and they went to help 😆

If they think like that OP then we are delighted they have moved out. Good riddance to the racist Reform voting twats! 👋

Any area - anywhere - which is populated by very poor people, and people living on the margins of society - including the mentally ill, and substance abusers - is going to have challenges.

It’s not the area which is bad - it’s the fact that poverty and marginalisation is so visible in those areas.

There have been huge cuts to addiction services over the past 15 years, and funding for services for seriously mentally ill people hasn’t kept pace with need - at all.

Throw in punitive changes to UC, the rocketing cost of housing and the unavailability of supported housing or long term hospital provision for people with severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar 1, and you start to see why things look so grim in some areas. A very high percentage of those people you see sleeping in the street and begging in the high street will be people with a serious mental health diagnosis, who very often develop substance abuse disorders as well. That’s what breeds petty crime and aggressive begging.

I live in Wandsworth and its lovely there, we have a mixture of expensive housing and social housing.
We recently went to Wiltshire for a wedding and the town we were staying in had nothing, it comprised of 5 charity shops, a couple of pubs and not much else. yes the scenery was nice and the air felt fresher but it just felt dead.

If you love it, why do you care what anyone else thinks?

London v The Rest Of The UK has been a thing for as long as I can remember and it’s not one sided. There’s a certain type of person, well represented on MN, who think London is the only place in the whole Britain with anything going on. I saw a poster refer to ‘the provinces’ the other day I’ve no patience for that level of twattery.

@mumofoneAloneandwell SEN schools provision is a local authority (so borough level in London) competency not a mayoral one and in fact many schools in inner London due to lack of pupils. City Hall has no powers to introduce rent controls - that would require national legislation.

There are free school meals for every primary school age child who attends a state school in London

I don't care if people don't like it, people can think what they like and live where they like. I've lived in many other places in the UK and London isn't the be-all and end-all.

I do object to having randomers who have been to London three times in their life calling it a "cesspit" based on a day-trip. I would never dream of going to Manchester or Leeds and then telling people a whole city was a "cesspit". It's just rude.

I also dislike the fact its being appropriated by the far right as an example of everything they think is wrong with the UK.

While I share your love be for London I disagree with your views on Sadiq Khan. I think the ULEZ and 20 mph zones are a good thing and a means to reduce air pollution. Most European cities had already introduced air pollution measures because these make cities more liveable and reduce incidents of heart and lung disease. Pollution from traffic also affects the development and brains of children. There have been improvements to public transport including the Super loop bus routes to compensate for restrictions on car use. I am a car owner and I fully support these measures. I have vastly reduced the use of my car as a result.

There have also been huge increases in the delivery of affordable housing
This contrasts with Boris Johnson who substantially reduced the targets of affordable housing in new developments when he became mayor. Boris Johnson also spent millions on vanity projects such as the feasibility study into a new London Airport aka Boris Island. Then there was the garden bridge and hand outs to mistresses and cronies in the guise of grants for economic development.

I don't agree with everything Sadiq Khan stands for but I would rather him being mayor until someone better comes along

But hey while I disagree with you I respect your right to voice your own opinion.

I've already acknowledged that schools are funded by la which is funded by govt

Sadiq khan ran on a promise of sorting london rents. Hes done nothing. Same with crime. Nothing.

Free school meals for everyone is a waste of money, when, during the summer holidays etc parents cant afford to feed their children. A better use of money, imo, would've been for food vouchers or schemes to ensure the poorest kids are fed three meals a day.

I am a leftie but I think hes not a good mayor.

@Wonderwendy

Also our crack heads are polite! Have you ever come across the genuinely lovely crackheads that hang around at Brixton station. They look like they're going to mug you but they step out th way and apologise (as you walk through their chemical smoke) I've seen someone trip down the stairs and they went to help 😆

The Brixton station crackheads have been a fixture in my life for many years. I don't know if I'd go as far as to describe them as "lovely" but they are definitely benign and harmless. 😊And no worse than a pissed up bloke staggering towards you at kicking out time in a rural market town.

I couldn't care less if racists hate London. Move out then. Or most of these haters probably don't even live there.

It's a massive city with lots of different areas with different vibes and there's always plenty of multiculturalism.

If someone wants to live among only white people or fluent English speakers and the wealthy then go buy a house in the middle of nowhere in a gated community. They'd probably still find reasons to hate their neighbours.

Affordable housing benefits no-one, as it isnt affordable for the boroughs poor and requires a surprising wage to 'afford' to rent these. I remember when I was pregnant with dd and my 30k wage was barely enough to rent a 1 bedroom, with a long waiting list.

We need social rented housing.

London is a big city. People need to be able to drive, especially disabled people, and its much harder now.

I understand the ulez was aimed at phasing out diesel cars, and eventually petrol ones, which is understandanle, but thats sadiq khan's legacy, and when I think of all of the many problems in london, i dont think its a great one.

Ulez is a hot button topic, i'm not bothered to debate it, but i dont think that sadiq khan is that great, unfortunately

Neither was Boris, although his bikes are everywhere, which those who like the anti car ways probably appreciate

Edit - you seem like a very polite mumsnetter - i'm a bit shocked thanks to the responses I usually get 😳😄, I appreciate you xx

yes but all the other things you mentioned are country wide, rent is through the all over the country, crime is nationwide and school places are the same in all major cities in London. This is all the governments faults not Sadiq Khan. I would ask why he has been voted in 3 times, he must be doing something right.

Every crackhead I've met has been harmless and of a polite disposition 😄 - which is amazing when you think of the treatment they recieve from some people

I am one of the people! I don’t really like london, sorry!

For me it’s too busy, I find it dirty and people are rude. I’ve been to other cities so it’s not a city thing. It’s got lots of great things but just never feels very friendly, welcoming or clean

Off topic but where has “hating on” something come from?

I’ve seen “loving on” as well- as in “I was loving on my dog” or “my dog just wants to be loved on” and for some reason it’s nails down a blackboard.

i think it conjures up an image of a one way activity- a recipient that may not want to be “loved on” or indeed “hated on” .

could just be my slightly odd brain of course.

Rent and police numbers in london are down to sadiq though - I remember rent being something he ran on in one of his elections

There's a labour government now, we've heard nothing from sadiq about rent or police improvement

He got in the last election, with something like a 50% turnout, because of the racism he was getting, sorry - i'm no racist, but it definitely helped!

That and the tory candidate was shockingly shite

He doesn't deserve much of the criticism he gets up and down the country, which is because of his skin colour and faith, but he definitely deserves some criticism

Fingers crossed he won't get a fourth term - i voted green

Just the current slang, I think.

I support ULEZ as well. The awful stories of kids dying of asthma attacks due to the shit air quality we used to have show it's a no brainer. If you're disabled (or not!) and need to drive you CAN you just need to get a ULEZ compliant car. Seems fair enough to me.
Doesn't have to cost a lot either. My car is a 2011 one and it's worth about £1,500. Not out of the reach of most people who can afford a car.

Me too. The country literally and mentally makes me itch (hayfever is my nemesis).
I've lived in south east/west London for over 30 years. Love it.
Love the culture, diversity and excitement.
I am sad that key workers can no longer afford to live here. Much of this is driven by foreign investors buying up properties and never living in them. That's what needs to be fixed.
Boris was a dreadful mayor. Sadiq was good at the start, but has gone awry.

Not any ruder than Londoners who imply that those of us in ‘the provinces’ are toothless yokels.

Perhaps your energy would be better spent objecting to those who call it a cesspit directly, instead of quoting me.

Very few need to drive in London...If you have a Blue Badge, you are not subject to charges

I grew up in the north and left at 18 to come to London. I have now lived here for 35 years. I absolutely love it. It is a massive city with 9 million people. If you find the bit you like, that’s all you need.

I live in a borough that’s not too rich and not too poor. It flies below the radar and it is not crime-ridden. Thankfully, my young adult kids come back from central London on their own all the time safely.

I love that my kids have grown up here. Don’t bat an eyelid at whoever gets on the tube. My daughter is always at the west end getting cheap last-minute tickets to stuff. I work with a multicultural academic group and we learn from each other. Despite going to unis outside London they both claim they want to settle here one day. If they can afford it…

I don’t mind if people hate it here though! It’s not for everyone. I love it like an (imperfect) family member.

Yes!

Not quite sure what the purpose of the thread is. OP asked why some people hated London. Some people told her. OP then wants to get into a back & forth with them & try to argue about how wonderful London is ...😅

Some people seem to think the whole country is London.

I personally think there are many beautiful places in the North of England, Wales & Scotland, and would much rather live there than London (and I'm a southerner). It's just personal preference.