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Original poster

Is anyone starting to feel unsafe in London?

83 replies

longestlurkerever · 31/12/2017 16:41

I've always loved London and defended London child rearing but a spate of moped thefts, a grisly murder on my doorstep and the background terror threat is starting to take its toll on my stress levels and I've found myself googling safe places to live in the UK. Is it in my imagination or does it feel more threatening than it used to? Part of me feels like it is related to the general instability in the world and maybe the rest of the UK feels the same.

OP posts:
Scabetty · 31/12/2017 16:44

There are parts I would avoid but generally I feel safe.

Pouffealouffe · 31/12/2017 16:49

I think living in a city can get to you after a while, but I love London and I can't think of an alternative I would prefer. I do sympathise though, especially if you've had a murder on your doorstep I can see why you'd be feeling unsafe. I usually tell myself these things are generally gang related and if you're not involved you should be ok. I also try to avoid flashing my phone etc. But I agree about the moped thing being a bit unnerving...

Original poster
longestlurkerever · 31/12/2017 16:49

Where would you avoid? I am close to Finsbury park

OP posts:
FanDabbyFloozy · 31/12/2017 16:52

Depends where you live..

Out here in the suburbs feels as safe as the villages we visit where friends live. There is car robbery of high end vehicles like Range Rovers and the like. But when I go into central London, even well off areas like Islington, there is an edge I haven't felt before.

Could be age though making me more suburban in fairness.

Original poster
longestlurkerever · 31/12/2017 16:52

Sadly this murder was nothing to do with gangs. A random attack on a young woman. Dh has narrowly avoided three phone snatches in a year and I witnessed a bike robbery in broad daylight. I love London too. It seems like such a negative reason to be considering alternative options

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RedL0rryYellowLolly · 31/12/2017 16:53

I work in the City. I always feel generally safe in central Zone 1 / the City. Obviously I’m aware of the terror threat, but don’t feel at risk of crimes like mugging / rape etc in the City.

I used to live in Zone 2 and didn’t feel safe walking from tube station to my house after dark. The area was considered ‘nice’ but there were a spate of sexual assaults on women walking home in the period just before I moved. In daylight I felt safe.

I now live outside of London and on the whole feel much safer, although realise crimes can happen anywhere.

FanDabbyFloozy · 31/12/2017 16:54

I lived in Finsbury Park a long time ago and actually think it has massively gentrified since then. We only went into the park in pairs and certainly not in darkness back then. I know the case you speak of.. Very sad.

TheLastSoala · 31/12/2017 16:55

London is always going to be more dangerous than most other places in the UK. So if anxiety is affecting your quality of life then moving could be an option.

But London is not particularly unsafe at the moment. 10 years ago it would have been mugging. 20 years ago guns. 60 years ago razor blades. 150 years ago garrotting. Panics about the latest criminal craze is an eternal part of London culture.

Personally I do not feel less safe in London than any other town or city.

Original poster
longestlurkerever · 31/12/2017 16:57

Yes it has gentrified. I've lived here all my adult life. But I have always felt pretty safe till this year. But my general anxiety levels are higher for a number of reasons so I might feel just the same elsewhere

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Bollooooooocks · 31/12/2017 16:57

Yes OP I start to feel really crappy for me and my kids. The worst thing that topped it is those fucking acid attacks especially in the one two days ago in Canary Wharf on a poor lady. The world is full of fucking cowards these days who don't have the guts to throw a punch they go for acid fucking idiots
So... I m with you

Pouffealouffe · 31/12/2017 16:58

Oh yes I know the one OP, and I'm not sure they've arrested anyone yet. I also know quite a few people who've had attempted phone robberies. I'm not sure though if overall crime figures have gone up in London or if it's just been more widely reported in the media. I certainly feel quite on edge in some areas so I don't blame you for feeling that way. But I also love the culture and the buzz of London, so at the moment I can't imagine living anywhere else.

mayhew · 31/12/2017 17:00

No. I am not complacent but I don't feel any less safe than when I moved here 30 years ago.
The moped crimes are a menace but seem to have reduced and people are careless with phones.
I don't think assault or murder by a stranger is still very rare.

mayhew · 31/12/2017 17:01

I meant "I do think"!

RunningOutOfCharge · 31/12/2017 17:04

London has its own topic!?!!

I adore London. And my eldest DD has now moved to Tooting Bec for her new job, so yes I'm more worried!

I was a police officer there in the 90's but still feel safe enough

sparechange · 31/12/2017 17:46

I don't think it's becoming less safe but I think Facebook local groups, Nextdoor and schools FB groups mean we all hear about bad things an awful lot more than we ever used to

Before I was ever on these groups, I had no idea of the amount of car crime, attempted muggings and burglaries in our area. Now I get an email every day listing them and it definitely adds to the level of fear we all have

And I think there is a LOT of exaggeration going on. We seem to get a notification at least once a week about an attempted kidnapping yet I've never seen a single report of an actual kidnapping.
So either we have the world's most ineffectual kidnappers operating in SW London, or there is a lot of hype and hysteria about cars slowing down to ask directions

AnotherDunroamin · 31/12/2017 19:08

I'm in London and didn't feel unsafe until I got caught up in that false alarm on Oxford Street in November. Even though it turned out to be nothing, at the time we didn't know that and it was terrifying. It sounds stupid but I'd never previously thought about how utterly helpless you are if you get caught up in a terrorist attack. Sometimes at a really busy tube station other crowded event I now think about how easy it would be for someone to unleash some horrific event amongst the crowds and how we'd all just be trapped there.
DH and I are watching the fireworks tonight from one of the bridges near our house in SE but I do feel quite terrified uneasy about it.

TimbuktuTimbuktu · 31/12/2017 19:59

It has felt a bit rough round fp recently. Noticeable over the last year I think with the mugging and increase in people sleeping under the bridge.

It is weird though as at the same time gentrification is going on at a pretty fast rate. Feels like the gap between rich and poor is increasing.

I have been getting the bus if I have been back late this winter, even though it's only a couple of stops.

Original poster
longestlurkerever · 31/12/2017 21:49

Timbuktu maybe it is just fp. I agree the gap between rich and poor is getting very stark.

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HerBigChance · 31/12/2017 22:03

I'm near Finsbury Park too, and I'm not sure I'd agree that it has massively gentrified. There has always been an edge to the area.

I've lived in London around 25 years and there has always been the larger overall terrorist threat, but this has been added to in the last year or so with moped and other crimes that have, for me, started to make it feel unsafe as a city. It's as though high-level randomness that you might get caught up in (terrorism) has moved a few notches closer (mopeds, acid) and shifted territory from central to suburban London.

I also agree that the gap between rich and poor is becoming very stark and it increasingly feels less of a 'people's city' than it was. I think it's also becoming bland as a city, particularly in the centre, but that's probably another thread.

HundredMilesAnHour · 31/12/2017 22:12

I've lived in London for the last 20+ years and never felt particularly unsafe, although I've always careful walking on my own at night (especially in the days when I used to wear a suit and carry a laptop). I've narrowly missed multiple bombings/terror threats and live in a fairly rough area (it's slowly gentrifying but there's still a rough element / some gang activity).

Yet for some reason, for the first time ever I'm actually a little nervous/apprehensive after the acid attacks in Canary Wharf. I always thought the Wharf was SO safe (in fact we were told at work that the Wharf is the safest place to be if there's a terror threat). So two attacks so "close to home" is making me nervous. I'm currently tucked up in a cottage in Suffolk but am really not looking forward to being back in Canary Wharf on Tues morning.

ChristmasTablecloth · 31/12/2017 22:18

I watched a really interesting programme on Sky Arts the other night, all about terrorism in the 70s. We were so massively under threat then and it's like it's all been forgotten about.

I don't feel that things are getting worse or more scary in London, no. The acid attacks are hateful though.

Bloodybridget · 31/12/2017 22:20

Yes, I've lived in London all my life (as did both my parents) and just recently I've felt uneasy, slightly worried, about levels of violence, antisocial behaviour, terrorism, etc. Not to mention air quality! I think for me it probably is to do with getting older, I'm in my 60s, and it's not even that I feel particularly anxious for my own safety, I reckon I'm unlikely to be attacked or burgled. Perhaps I'm just losing my nerve. I do still really love London.

marblemallow · 31/12/2017 22:29

I've lived in London for over 30 years and I've never felt unsafe. I'm aware of more violence as it gets reported in the local news (including local gang violence, acid attacks, sexual assaults and murders) but for whatever reason I never think of it applying to me and it doesn't cross my mind when I'm on my own walking home. I am fairly relaxed about taking night buses and short cuts in the dark, and I am almost always on my phone. We live very centrally (zone 1) so that might make a difference. It's always very busy and brightly lit around here - lots of rowdy people, drunks and homeless but I feel safer amongst them than on a silent dark suburban street.

ThomasRichard · 31/12/2017 22:31

There was an acid attack last week near a DLR station I use frequently. It’s made me very nervous about being outside after dark.

TeachesOfPeaches · 31/12/2017 22:32

I live in Blackheath SE London and it feels very safe, almost boring. I used to live in Finsbury Park and loved it there but wasn’t quite the right place for me to have my son. Originally from zone 5.