to think that some people don't realise that London isn't the only city?

[Undercovasanta]

I keep reading threads about busy roads, full schools, crime etc etc. The things all these threads have in common is that they are full of people saying 'oh I know all about busy roads too as I also live in London' or 'yes I live in London as well, so I know all about the problems with schools'.

It makes me just want to shout:
'WE HAVE BUSY ROADS TOO (and shit schools) AND WE DON'T EVEN LIVE IN LONDON!'

People in London do realise that those who live elsewhere have similar issues to them don't they? Or perhaps we just all live in little villages in thatched cottages?

I believe there are also places like Manchester, Birmingham etc who also have roads with cars on them etc.

HinnyPet, afaik when they stuck up the Angel

Edinburgh, Blu?

I av 'erd talk that in spite of the appalling state of the roads and the basic rail infrastructure and notwithstanding the pressure upon the school sytem, the roads be paved with gold.

Paggy! We are all waiting for you on the other thread (you know what one now don't you?)

LOL Stealth you never know that could be it! Just been a googling. Interesting that Newcastle and Gateshead are now apparently classed as the same place

London is exceptionally crowded though, so it figures that roads are busier and public transport more cramped. I've lived in Edinburgh as well as London and the pace is definitely less frantic there, and although the transport network isn't as extensive as London, it's no more expensive and very efficient. Plus, I think people are overlooking the fact that many other cities are largely accessible on foot, whereas in London you really do need to use some form of transport to get from one end to the other, and it's very over-stretched.

Also from the North West...

Londoners are spoiled with public transport options... subsidised bus fares, oyster card daily rate caps etc. Not round here!

I live in Norwich, the main route from London is still single carriageway in part.

Would love to live in Greenwich.

Greenwich is lovely. If I ever win the lottery I'll buy a place there. Great community feel, lovely buildings, beautiful park and very accessible from the City. We lived in very nearby Blackheath which is also nice, but do have a spot in my heart reserved just for Greenwich.

gaga - Edinburgh public transport is much cheaper than London. There's no way you could walk from the South of the city (near the by-pass) up to, well even to the City Centre (well you could but it would taking ages).

Emsyj - I almost had a heart attack the other week, as I had the first number in the £90 million Euromillions lottery. I couldn't remember the rest of the numbers but had convinced myself I had won. I was already dreaming of chucking someone out their house in Gloucester Circus!

I live in NW too.
My mum lives 5 miles away from me. During the day its two buses to get to her house probably a 2 hour journey most of the time wiating for the connection as the buses run every hour. After 6pm I can't get less than 2 miles away from her house on public transport.
The London Underground covers a huge area and there are night buses! OK its not cheap but its cheaper than getting taxis everywhere after 10. You don't realise how lucky you are!

London isn't the only city but it is the only city.

Blackheath and Greenwich are great but SE13's the place to be...

OMG you are a mind-reader FimBOW - Gloucester Circus is so beautiful. Apart from that random block of ugly flats in the corner. I can ignore that though - the other houses are so so lovely. ((swoon)) I also like Royal Hill, but Gloucester Circus truly is a little patch of heaven. I've lost count of the number of times I've said to DH, 'when you get rich, I'm going to buy a house on Gloucester Circus' - I search Rightmove for likely purchases from time to time...

also a north west person and I'd rather have a long public transport journey and actually talk to people than go on the tube where its silent

There was a beautiful house on GC up for sale last year a mere snip at £695k, don't know where the dc would have gone as it was only a 1 bedder!

We often drive down from Norwich to Greenwich for the day. Spent a week there at October half-term.

You're right Pippa. I was in London a couple of weeks ago and I asked a fellow passenger for some directions and he backed away from me like I was about to knife him. I was going to a work meeting so it wasn't like I was dressed like a crazy person .

And another thing. Ask someone where they are from and they just tell you the area like you're suppose to know, like "Green Lane, Crouch End, Bethnal Green", then look at you like you're stupid when you don't know where it is.

Funny people should say that it's unfriendly in London - I never really found it so. There are rude people everywhere, but I didn't find a greater concentration of them in London than anywhere else. People spoke to me on a number of occasions on public transport, including to tell me I'd dropped my Oyster card and to offer me a seat as I had heavy luggage etc.

I want the full town house FimBOW - the whole shebang. I saw one up for a couple of million a few years ago and thought it was actually not bad value considering the size of it and location. I think you become somewhat numbed to property prices once you've lived in London for a while, so that ridiculous prices that you could never in a million years think of being able to afford begin to seem like a veritable bargain.

See, as a Londoner, I am horrified by what seems to me like over-friendliness in strangers! Why why why would you want to talk to someone on the bus or train? What for? Isn't that what books and MP3 players were invented for, to stop strangers pinning you down with small talk? I also bloody hate it when people in shops start to recognise you and want to chat. I am an anti-social beast.

Horton - we don't know to read oop north or have any truck with those fancy southern gadgets. we have to make our own entertainment.

Haha! I am sure all those newfangled gadgets will make it up there eventually, even books. Did you get electricity yet?

I live beyond the cow-filled void and I can confirm that we do have roads, cars, the odd very expensive bus and even traffic jams. Hell, our houses are expensive too. But our schools are great, especially the ones with inside loos and electricity.

When I used to live in London I avoided telling people that I lived there as it seemed to offend anyone north of Birmingham. If it ever did slip out people would always make negative comments about the city and its people.

13 milion people inside the M25. not suprising lots of people talk about London - its simply huge.

and public transport is pretty good there, and though expensive relative to other places, not necessarily worse...