Bad vibes in certain places in london

[stevens27]

Does anyone else just get a horrid feeling in certain places in london?

The only one that particularly freaks me out is Russel Square tube station. I feel so much sadness and get quite on edge down on the platforms and I don't know why! Does anyone else feel this way about anywhere in London?

I don't get feelings about anything. I always find these threads confusing!

I don’t mind Croydon - it’s synonymous with Ikea for me, and the excitement and novelty of a recently-moved-into new home and all that comes with that. There are some grimy bits but I’ve never felt unsafe there.

The Whitgift Centre is its own worst enemy, though. It closes at some ridiculous time like 17:30, so misses out on all the trade it might get from people going shopping after work, so the good shops have inevitably ended up closing and staying closed or being replaced by pretty shoddy budget offerings.

I think most people feel this way.

One of the weird things about the redevelopment of Stratford is that it's removed quite a lot of the third spaces from the area - new developments are all gated so you can't hang around outside your friend's buildings kicking a football, you have to be in an increasingly crowded park. Many of the places that are left are busy thoroughfares instead of sheltered/ enclosed ones. It's probably good for crime but not for community.

Westfield Stratford is an example of a third space which is open all hours so it gets well used. But, it's at so many crossed purposes that it's not comfortable for anyone.

I am a North Londoner and feel exactly like you do, but about South London, particularly places like Streatham and Brixton!

Someone mentioned Belvedere earlier which made me think of Blackfen and Welling. Soulless places. I live in South London but I’ve always hated both of those.
Only time I got shivers down my spine was coming out of Narrow Street in Limehouse. It was London Marathon day a few years ago. Felt an awful nasty vibe from the locals gathered outside a particular pub and couldn’t get past quick enough

I get like that about parts of Acton. I associate it with the Oxford Tube when it took diversions to avoid roadworks. Just endless houses, an occasional parade of shops, mostly bookies and chicken shops, then houses again. Also, I’m sure Hillingdon has things going for it, but where the Oxford Tube stopped, by the Master Brewer, always gave me a sense of total despair.

It wasn’t the Grapes was it? It is a bit strange there - but I don’t think there is really any trouble.

That area of London can be a bit strange - still very local, off the tourist trail and everyone who lives there seems to love it and never leaves!

Archway Road has some brilliant little shops and cafes. It's impossible hard to block out the traffic & grime but I always enjoy dipping into it while out and about.

We went in The Grapes and that was fine. It was a pub sort of on a corner under a railway bridge as we were walking up to Whitechapel

Back in our courtship era, DH and I would often find ourselves at Canning Town station waiting for a bus after a night out. The area was being prepared for redevelopment so was just surrounded by rubble so it kinda gave WWII blitz vibes. It was really eerie as you'd come up from the relatively fresh jubilee line to this barren wasteland but could see the rest of London in the distance. We haven't been back there in years - hope it has all been spruced up now.

I think that is part of it, for me. It feels sort of transient and without community. And close physically but so far in spirit from the brilliant bustle of most of Central London.

I'm curious now! Was it the White Swan, as you go up towards Limehouse DLR? It's a gay pub with dancefloor so maybe they were coming off some supremely messy all-nighter?

Abbey Wood/Belvedere/Erith. Its only saving grace is the beautiful woodland, but its really deprived, smells like sewage and burnt peanuts from all the factories along the thames. Everyone looks like they would appear in ring doobell footage for nicking amazon parcels.
Whats annoying is there has not been an ounce of gentrification in Abbey Wood despite the Elizabeth Line, and yet rents and housing prices have shot up over 50%.

Brixton used to feel rather edgy and that I had to have my wits about me. Though I went more recently and it didn't feel like that.

I don't like London Bridge and around there, Tooley St etc. It's a massive wind tunnel and always cold near the station. It sometimes feels oppressive and that I can't catch my breath. I looked up the history of the area and a huge bomb made a direct hit on the shelter in WW2 and dozens of people were killed. Plus it was a very poverty stricken and run down area at one time.

Lol I’m here in Euston right now and yeah I hate how they announce it last minute. Train service in this country is a shambles and not very disability friendly. I’m carrying luggage plus I’ve injured my leg so I’m not really looking forward to a last minute dash.

Hmmm not sure. I don’t know that side of the river very well at all. No don’t think it was a gay pub. Love the sound of the messy all-nighter tho. We walked out of Narrow Street onto the main road. This pub was sort of on a corner under some sort of bridge. We were walking up to Tayyab in Whitechapel

I had to go to Wood Green for a work-related meeting a few years ago. Got on the tube in lovely bustling central London, got off at Wood Green and turned left as instructed leaving the station. No idea what was going on, it was just a normal Wednesday morning as far as I know, but the street was full of scruffy staring men hanging around doing nothing. Very menacing vibe. I lived in London for 20+ years and am not easily unsettled but this was something else.

Fortunately the man I was there to meet was already waiting and looking quite spooked. He rushed me to a taxi rank and we went to Muswell Hill for coffee and our meeting because, as he put it, we'd have both been keeping an eye over each other's shoulder if we'd stayed in Wood Green.

When I got home afterwards I kept looking for news of a major incident kicking off there, but there was nothing. Someone I know whose daughter is renting in that area said it's always like that.

@OldHabitsDieScreaming Where did you live in South Croydon ? I was up by Selsdon Road.

I feel unsafe in Wimbledon and the surrounding areas

DS lived in Haringey and we always thought it was so much friendlier than its snootier neighbours. I liked the vibe. We're both very white looking if that's relevant.

That's what is so great about it. One minute you are in the brilliant bustle and the next you are in the quiet. It deffo has a community if you live in it (although the dog poo is something else, tbf).

Add Knightsbridge and Chelsea and Bond Street. For me, it's any area with conspicuous and often tacky displays of wealth that makes me deeply uncomfortable.

Battersea, Brixton and Northolt I found to be very depressing.

I completely forgot my hatred of Westfield in Stratford. It feels like it’s going to all kick off any second, the gangs of young men, scantily clad girls and it’s just got an awful vibe. Look close and you’ll see it too. I honestly feel like it needs knife arches, a ban on face coverings and hoods and maybe, just maybe it would feel safer. In the meantime, I avoid it like the plague.

Caledonian Road. Holloway.