London = Awesome / Rest of UK = Rubbish... Discuss...
Discussion
McWigglebum4th said:
MarshPhantom said:
OllieC said:
I think the rest of England should campaign for independence from London
Who would pay your benefits?As we will build a huge wall around the place and charge you a million pounds a day each to have drinking water, electricity and food
MarshPhantom said:
Blackheath, Greenwich, St Johns, Lee, Brockley, Forest Hill, Chiselhurst, Beckenham etc etc.
Must explain why the houses are so cheap round here.
Expensive property doesn't make a good quality of life or particularly nice surroundings. What causes high prices in London is far too much immigration. I used to live in Forest Hill. In May I drove from Heathrow to Crystal palace and had a look around where I used to live. It is dire in the Forest Hill area as was the complete stretch from Tolworth all the way to Crystal Palace. Ugly, filthy and depressing mildly describes the experience. Sorry but if you think these areas are fine then you haven't see the difference in quality and environment in many other European cities. Must explain why the houses are so cheap round here.
The issue in the UK and London in particular is that most people equate quality to property prices. That's always been a UK problem, everyone talking about property prices and basing their whole lives around what their place is worth whilst their lives tick on by and get wasted.
Silver993tt said:
MarshPhantom said:
Blackheath, Greenwich, St Johns, Lee, Brockley, Forest Hill, Chiselhurst, Beckenham etc etc.
Must explain why the houses are so cheap round here.
Expensive property doesn't make a good quality of life or particularly nice surroundings. What causes high prices in London is far too much immigration. I used to live in Forest Hill. In May I drove from Heathrow to Crystal palace and had a look around where I used to live. It is dire in the Forest Hill area as was the complete stretch from Tolworth all the way to Crystal Palace. Ugly, filthy and depressing mildly describes the experience. Sorry but if you think these areas are fine then you haven't see the difference in quality and environment in many other European cities. Must explain why the houses are so cheap round here.
The issue in the UK and London in particular is that most people equate quality to property prices. That's always been a UK problem, everyone talking about property prices and basing their whole lives around what their place is worth whilst their lives tick on by and get wasted.
Silver993tt said:
MarshPhantom said:
Blackheath, Greenwich, St Johns, Lee, Brockley, Forest Hill, Chiselhurst, Beckenham etc etc.
Must explain why the houses are so cheap round here.
Expensive property doesn't make a good quality of life or particularly nice surroundings. What causes high prices in London is far too much immigration. I used to live in Forest Hill. In May I drove from Heathrow to Crystal palace and had a look around where I used to live. It is dire in the Forest Hill area as was the complete stretch from Tolworth all the way to Crystal Palace. Ugly, filthy and depressing mildly describes the experience. Sorry but if you think these areas are fine then you haven't see the difference in quality and environment in many other European cities. Must explain why the houses are so cheap round here.
Ever gone for a drive outside of Manhattan, Paris, LA, San Francisco, Tokyo? L.A doesnt even have a centre at all!
But all the above are expensive and have the same features once you leave the very centre of the city. How is London an awful city because of it or do you just hate all cities?
Edited by vescaegg on Thursday 10th July 08:54
Why do people who like London get defensive if people don't.
I really like Scotland but absolutely expect everyone to assume it's a horrid drugged up gang-ridden wasteland but I don't really care.
I'd never say someone was lacking imagination, or lacking thinking if they don't like it.
I really like Scotland but absolutely expect everyone to assume it's a horrid drugged up gang-ridden wasteland but I don't really care.
I'd never say someone was lacking imagination, or lacking thinking if they don't like it.
Disastrous said:
Why do people who like London get defensive if people don't.
They get defensive because they realise that they've invested their whole life chasing property prices and are too weak to admit it. The real problems come when it dawns on them that they've wasted their lives if/when they see the quality of life they've missed out on in other countries. They'll keep denying this of course and keep their heads buried in the sand.Silver993tt said:
Disastrous said:
Why do people who like London get defensive if people don't.
They get defensive because they realise that they've invested their whole life chasing property prices and are too weak to admit it. The real problems come when it dawns on them that they've wasted their lives if/when they see the quality of life they've missed out on in other countries. They'll keep denying this of course and keep their heads buried in the sand.
tty little flat I live in London and really like it. Sure, there are some nasty bits (all big cities have them), but it has improved a lot over recent years. Just look at the number of cranes to see how many new things are being built. I went to Paris for the first time in many years and was amazed at how run down it all felt.
City vs country is an entirely pointless argument. Surely the advantages and disadvantages of both are obvious.
Every big city everywhere has unpleasant parts, that's how it works.
Every big city everywhere has unpleasant parts, that's how it works.
Silver993tt said:
They get defensive because they realise that they've invested their whole life chasing property prices and are too weak to admit it. The real problems come when it dawns on them that they've wasted their lives if/when they see the quality of life they've missed out on in other countries. They'll keep denying this of course and keep their heads buried in the sand.
Ha. So you're bitter because you couldn't afford to live in a decent part of town - would be interesting to see how you qualify "quality of life". Your immigration argument is pretty ironic too given the issues your beloved German cities have.NomduJour said:
City vs country is an entirely pointless argument. Surely the advantages and disadvantages of both are obvious.
Every big city everywhere has unpleasant parts, that's how it works.
Bogus argument anyway given the thread is about London vs the rest of the UK.Every big city everywhere has unpleasant parts, that's how it works.
Silver993tt said:
They get defensive because they realise that they've invested their whole life chasing property prices and are too weak to admit it. The real problems come when it dawns on them that they've wasted their lives if/when they see the quality of life they've missed out on in other countries. They'll keep denying this of course and keep their heads buried in the sand.
Ha. So you're bitter because you couldn't afford to live in a decent part of town - would be interesting to see how you qualify "quality of life". Your immigration argument is pretty ironic too given the issues your beloved German cities have.NomduJour said:
City vs country is an entirely pointless argument. Surely the advantages and disadvantages of both are obvious.
Agreed in principle.I think the London vs everywhere else in the UK debate is a little different in comparison to many other countries because we have such a heavy bias in terms of the size, GDP etc of our capital city, compared with our second and third cities and so on.
I can't help but feel that too much of everything is London-centric to the detriment of the UK as a whole, and in some ways to those within London itself, housing costs for example.
If you’re a postman or a bus driver or a shop worker – or even a police officer, teacher or nurse – you will have a better quality of life outside of London than inside it. London is great for the super-rich, students and young, childless professionals who want to live like students.
It can also be okay for the poor – if you’re going to be a poor you then you may as well be poor in London as opposed to being poor in the middle of nowhere.
For the rest of us that want to live a ‘normal’ life, London offers little that can’t be found elsewhere.
It can also be okay for the poor – if you’re going to be a poor you then you may as well be poor in London as opposed to being poor in the middle of nowhere.
For the rest of us that want to live a ‘normal’ life, London offers little that can’t be found elsewhere.
I suspect it just comes down to what sort of person you are. I don't think one will ever convince the other.
For instance, I very much fancy living in this part of the world, and waking up to a view like this every morning:
It's where my family come from and I feel at peace every time I'm back there. The idea of having a RIB instead of a car, popping over to Oban or Tobermory for a beer by boat, and spending my weekends exploring the sea lochs in a wee boat sounds utterly perfect and unspoiled by so many fking people all around me.
And yet I expect the Londoners on here regard that picture with mild horror. No 24hr Thai/Swiss fusion restaurants, pop-up cinemas or champagne bars within 200 miles.
That said, I love the theatre, music scene and so on that comes with living in a city but I can't shake the feeling that the bits I like about cities are just things that distract me from living in a city. I stay in Glasgow just now and like that I can leave the office and be in my boat on Loch Lomond in an hour come the summer evenings. But as I said to my gf at the weekend, we spend all our free time escaping the city to do watery things. Why don't we just move??
Different strokes, I guess.
For instance, I very much fancy living in this part of the world, and waking up to a view like this every morning:
It's where my family come from and I feel at peace every time I'm back there. The idea of having a RIB instead of a car, popping over to Oban or Tobermory for a beer by boat, and spending my weekends exploring the sea lochs in a wee boat sounds utterly perfect and unspoiled by so many f
king people all around me.And yet I expect the Londoners on here regard that picture with mild horror. No 24hr Thai/Swiss fusion restaurants, pop-up cinemas or champagne bars within 200 miles.
That said, I love the theatre, music scene and so on that comes with living in a city but I can't shake the feeling that the bits I like about cities are just things that distract me from living in a city. I stay in Glasgow just now and like that I can leave the office and be in my boat on Loch Lomond in an hour come the summer evenings. But as I said to my gf at the weekend, we spend all our free time escaping the city to do watery things. Why don't we just move??
Different strokes, I guess.
I've not been to London in more than a decade now but much as I enjoyed it I wouldn't want to live in the city.
I think the reason London has become attractive to companies is related to UK tax law which tends to favour the type of firms based in London (finance and related businesses). However while some types of industry found political favour others outside of London have often struggled (manufacturing etc.)
It appears to me what has really made the city so expensive has been poor development planning and transport. However this could be said of most major cities as the world becomes increasingly urbanised and households become smaller. Would London drive UK economic growth faster with more investment in transport and planning laws incentivising building and/or relaxing regulation on high density housing? Probably but it wouldn't be popular over the short duration a government remains in power.
I think the reason London has become attractive to companies is related to UK tax law which tends to favour the type of firms based in London (finance and related businesses). However while some types of industry found political favour others outside of London have often struggled (manufacturing etc.)
It appears to me what has really made the city so expensive has been poor development planning and transport. However this could be said of most major cities as the world becomes increasingly urbanised and households become smaller. Would London drive UK economic growth faster with more investment in transport and planning laws incentivising building and/or relaxing regulation on high density housing? Probably but it wouldn't be popular over the short duration a government remains in power.
Silver993tt said:
MarshPhantom said:
Blackheath, Greenwich, St Johns, Lee, Brockley, Forest Hill, Chiselhurst, Beckenham etc etc.
Must explain why the houses are so cheap round here.
Expensive property doesn't make a good quality of life or particularly nice surroundings. What causes high prices in London is far too much immigration. I used to live in Forest Hill. In May I drove from Heathrow to Crystal palace and had a look around where I used to live. It is dire in the Forest Hill area as was the complete stretch from Tolworth all the way to Crystal Palace. Ugly, filthy and depressing mildly describes the experience. Sorry but if you think these areas are fine then you haven't see the difference in quality and environment in many other European cities. Must explain why the houses are so cheap round here.
The issue in the UK and London in particular is that most people equate quality to property prices. That's always been a UK problem, everyone talking about property prices and basing their whole lives around what their place is worth whilst their lives tick on by and get wasted.
a sad decline I agree.
i still like dulwich park.
my dad still lives by horniman school , in the house i grew up in, and his house is now a million quids worth crazy huh...
rover 623gsi said:
For the rest of us that want to live a ‘normal’ life, London offers little that can’t be found elsewhere.
So where offers similar business and leisure opportunities? Arts, culture, eating/drinking etc?Or are people genuinely happy to drive to the Harvester once a week, feeling smug that their house cost less?
Disastrous said:
And yet I expect the Londoners on here regard that picture with mild horror
Not sure why it has to be a one-or-the-other thing.I was having this discussion with my Cousin, she's just bought her first house in a posh part of London for £720k, a nice 3 bed semi. I told her she was mad, i have a 5 bed detached that's not far off half the price and the house is triple the size. It's in a small village that's crime free & quiet.
What did make me laugh is that i can get to central London quicker too, the East Mids train is under an hour to St Pancras but it takes her over an hour to get to Waterloo, so she'd als have a faster commute by not living in London.
She works damn hard for what she has, but for £700k outside of London you can get some very nice houses or use the money she would save and have a very extravigant lifestyle, it's madness to me but she's happy, so horses for courses i guess?
What did make me laugh is that i can get to central London quicker too, the East Mids train is under an hour to St Pancras but it takes her over an hour to get to Waterloo, so she'd als have a faster commute by not living in London.
She works damn hard for what she has, but for £700k outside of London you can get some very nice houses or use the money she would save and have a very extravigant lifestyle, it's madness to me but she's happy, so horses for courses i guess?
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