Things you love and hate about London

[arabella2]

Yesterday I went to see a friend who has just moved to Berkhamsted from London. The view from the back of her house (all the windows) is absolutely stunning - even though she is on the edge of the town she looks over rolling hills and sheep I kid you not. Anyway, as I drove back to Willesden and its crowded streets and my own house looking over the block of flats at the back (though nice small garden so not moaning) I was thinking:
I LOVE the mix of people here - the fact that my children who are half Indian fit in, the fact that everbody fits in because there is so much diversity here - the fact that I don't think people are over judgmental of or nosey about each other because they all have to get on in this crowded sometimes stressful environment - the parks and playgrounds near my house...
I DON'T LIKE - the houses all stuck close together, the traffic, the lack of fresh air, the stress of never seeing any rolling hills with sheep on them...

I live in London during the week and I love the business and bustle and diversity and dirt and noise and shops and anonymity. And the salaries, I like them too. Don't like the house prices.

i love london. i only live a couple of miles out but its still a real culture shock for me....we have different buses and no black cabs..i miss the grime and morning fog.

I lived there for a few years.
I loved: the theatre (had never been before and i adored it)
: the hustle and bustle alot of the time
:the way people pronounced my name

I didn't love : nobody making eye contact or smiling at me
I like smiles from strangers, they make my day.

I love the huge mix of people and the lack of judgement and the freedom to express oneself.

I hate having to fight for your inch of space.

I love the parks.

I hate the sheer quantity of concrete.

I love the mix of people and that I feel welcome.

I lovw the salt of the earth characters you meet.

I love the fact that it's like a load of small town stuck together - variety

I hate the mortgage

I hate when there is a nice day the crowds appear in the parks although I didn't mind this before children.

I love not living there.
I love the culture,the views,the sea,the individual clothes(go to POLLY),not being concerned about my childs safety,drinkable tap water!!
I was in Woking(20 minutes from London)and now in Wales,its multi cultural here too would you believe
and daughters school is in Sunday Times good school guide!!!!!!!!!!

I love London because it's home. But I do miss horizons every once in a while, and I hate the fact it takes so long to get out!

love the diversity, the shops, the anonymity, the feeling that you are in the hub of it all. Love Hampstead Heath, love seeing famous people (i'm very shallow!), love that there is so much to do within such a small area.

Hate the house prices, the secondary schools, the violence and the materialism.

5 mins from my house you can eat Indian (3 different kinds) Sardinian; French; Thai; Turkish; Vietnamese; Japanese; macrobiotic; greasy spoon; gastropub; African; Italian; Jewish; Polish; bespoke bakery. Even better, at least 4 of these places do superb coffee! Hate the fact that I never get to go to any of these fabulous eateries as DH is always home too late! I've done country and I didn't like it (probably cos I was the only Guardian reader in the village)

I love my local Pie and Mash shop.

I HATE everything else.
I'm only in Sutton so I'd be climbing the walls if I was any further in.

Edam - I was going to post - the view from waterloo bridge.... I just love it.... Also, the range of theatres/entertainment and how many other capital cities can you drive from one end to the other and have to stop to let deer cross the road (as I did today, through Richmond park). An amazing place........

Although sometimes I hate it - but mostly, the price of housing and cost of living !!

oh, yes also hate, if you want to drive to see a friend who lives 12 miles away you feel pleased if it only takes an hour (even if you have to stop for deer !)

I love love love London.

I love the noise, the bustle, the life, the mix of people... pretty much EVERYTHING.

I suppose the only thing I hate is the prices!

Good post Pollyanna, totally agree, except my green space is Richmond Park. I love the fact that there are deer at the top of the hill and the District/mainline Waterloo line at the bottom.

love london to bits, wouldnt live anywhere else, i have venues/pubs/clubs/parks/shops on my doorstep (old street/hackney)
only thing i hate is the fact scumbags try to break into the car for the carseat!

also hate the black snot (yes I know it goes away after a bit if you live there, but that worries me even more...)

like the diversity of faces, the relatively easy transport options, the fact that there are so many different sorts of restaurants, the sheer big-ness of the shops.

don't like the fact that driving anywhere feels like a pain, the fact that everyone seems to be rushing around with raised blood pressure, that fact that you don't have long views and lots of sky.

Also think the museums are mostly over-rated. Yes they have the best objects, but they aren't particularly creative about interpreting them and front of house staff are there to act as security not facilitators. The best regionals are better imo.

Love to visit London - Tate Modern, ENO, the bridges, the fabulous shops and my favourite place of all, New Covent Garden flower market - but hate the fact that a pathologist aquaintance of mine (colleague from my previous life) told me that he sometimes couldn't tell the lungs of a moderate smoker from the lungs of someone who had lived in central London for a few years !