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Is it just me or is London a bit sh*t these days???
It's largely become a big office with a pret on every corner. People come in, do their days work and go home again, it's a city that serves a purpose but increasingly little else.
Decent pubs (not gastropubs) are rare, decent but reasonably priced food/restaurants even more rare.
Homes for the rich but few else, gentrification (social cleansing) of areas is driving out any semblance of character or independent traders.
The infrastructure is at breaking point, crossrail etc is supposed to help but all it actually does is bring more people into already crowded areas rather than spread business into other areas.
Vanity projects (Emirates Air Line, Garden Bridge) take priority over much needed river crossings to the east of the city.
Venues closing all over the place, soon you'll only be able to go to the o2 to see live performances, where's the opportunities for people not on the x factor to perform.
Uber threatening to kill off black cabs.
Tourism, retail and offices make a rather bland city, and that's the direction London is taking in my opinion. It's lost character, maybe because it's an international city now rather than an English one but working and spending time in London no longer excites me, am I the only one?
No problem with UBERs. The black Cabbies priced themselves out of the game. Also refused to adapt with technology, creating the gap that UBER exploited. I agree with the sentiment of your post however. Still great places to go and eat/drink and sights to see but it hasn't got the same character as other northern cities.
I spent a couple of hours in Putney on Saturday afternoon and it has changed so much since I used to live there.Every other shop is a coffee bar or a hairdressers. I hadn't been there for about 20 years and it was a real culture shock.I even saw some Fulham fans drinking pints. What has London become?
London I still great for music but yeah I agree lots of venues are shut and good boozers are rare.
London in the 90's was much more fun.
Not trying to pick an argument but quick question were you younger in the 1990's? I know I was and therefore it was awesome! The older you get the better the 'good ol days were'.
I still love London especially the parts who's postcodes begin with a W.
Not trying to pick an argument but quick question were you younger in the 1990's? I know I was and therefore it was awesome! The older you get the better the 'good ol days were'.
I still love London especially the parts who's postcodes begin with a W.
Yes, but there were more venues, more pubs, you could smoke in them and the bar staff never refused to serve you.
Beer and Beef has made us what we are - The Prince Regent
I spent a couple of hours in Putney on Saturday afternoon and it has changed so much since I used to live there.Every other shop is a coffee bar or a hairdressers. I hadn't been there for about 20 years and it was a real culture shock.I even saw some Fulham fans drinking pints. What has London become?
It's shocking to discover you're from Putney not Battersea!
I always lived by the motto of "When you're tired of London...you're tired of life" saying. That was until I hit 40 years old and I had a bit of a sea change.
Nothing. And I mean nothing. Is as good as it was in the 90's. For all the technology advances the world has given us nothing really seems to have enhanced society. The only exception I'll make is the advances in medical science and travel to a certain extent.
Now I'm looking forward to spending time away from London but I could never describe it as "sh1t", it's probably the greatest City in the world as it has been forever. Despite huge areas of poverty and deprivation it's still hugely wealthy, and I dont just mean the suits and the bankers and the meejah luvvies. The city is steeped in history, there's an ambundance of culture, going out is fantastic with still almost any entertainment of any description you want and transport links covering almost everywhere. Yes it's expensive. Yes it's over-crowded. Yes you need your wits about you in places and Yes it can be a dirty, lonely place.... but as an all round City I can think of no better.
As for the ladies well we have some absolute crackers in this city.
Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal
Very sad to say that in my opinion, London as well as England is finished as we once knew it. Pubs closing down at an alarming rate, even my favourite Indian food in most restaurants has lost its kick and zing that it had back in the 80's, as it now all seems the same. I used to love a nice ruby 24/7 .I don't get that craving now. If you go to any Town or City in England these days, all the shops in the high streets will have more or less the same things. i.e, Nail bars, Bookies , Charity shops, Fast food chains, Bargain Stores and large Supermarkets. Gone are the old family run Butchers, Grocers, Bakers, Chemists ect. Its all the same. Dreary blandness of the highest order. As for London Taxi drivers. (Thankfully not all of them ) Well, I have had many a night out turned sour by some with a surly and miserable attitude, and you should see their faces drop if you want to go South of the Thames late in the evening. If they don't like doing that kind of job, then maybe They should stick to playing Golf with their pals and maybe Uber have given them that little kick up the behind that some of those grumpy ones may need. I can't see things ever improving sadly. Maybe its my age but that's how I see things these days.
I went in to a little bar in Mayfair on Friday night and it was like the Winchester club in classic minder - blokes in mohair coats and pork pie hats. Asked the barman for a Jamesons and he decided to finish the bottle into my glass- it was practically a quarter bottle. There still are pockets of old London- sometimes in unexpected places- but the OP is right about the gentrification- especially around the Bush which i thought would never change.
Yep, dying on its derriere, yet another victim of our failed belief that trickle down economics works.
I've just moved to Walthamstow and I have to say, I really like. Good community feel, lots of stuff I like (pubs of all kinds, greasy spoons alongside decent indy restaurants doing affordable food). But then there is The Village darling. Took a trip up there yesterday. Might as well have had a sign at the top of the street saying "No Blacks, No Irish". Unbelievably exclusionary - I earn a pretty decent salary but I didn't feel like it was meant for people "like" me at all. Which is the big problem of gentrification - stuff getting better is good, but it so often doesn't serve the whole population, just those with the cash to spend £9 on an English breakfast or £6 on beans on toast (not even making that up).
London's success was that it was a city for everyone. Now it is a playground for the 0.1%. If it wasn't for my entire industry being based on 4 streets in Fitzrovia, I'd be off to Leeds or Manchester in a shot.
I just spent 5 years away. Now returned and can definitely say it is not the same place I left. Totally agree with the OP and take no pleasure in saying so.
It's shocking to discover you're from Putney not Battersea!
I was born in Battersea,but we moved to the Alton estate Roehampton in 1968 when our old house was demolished to make way for new blocks of flats.There wasn't many pubs there,but there were plenty of buses to civilisation elsewhere. I was in the middle of 3 football teams within 5 miles distance.Guess which one I chose?
Agree on a lot of your points - but in some respects it has driven a lot of the best things about London underground.... which is quite good in some ways. I think we all know great cheap places to eat - and drink, I'm glad that they remain untouched and unblemished by the corporate hand. I have first hand knowledge about venues disappearing - I've been running music venues for many, many years. there are still small enclaves of sanity but living in central london is just not affordable... the cool music scene based on exclusive genres is going, which is really sad. Social media has killed off all the secret sub-cultures and word of mouth places to visit - everything is just to immediate now and has no longevity - fashions that are really just based on past trends seem to come and go within a short space of time - nothing is ever given the opportunity to develop and nuture into something good. There are still great things going on in London - but you have to seek them out and catch them early before they are swallowed up whole.....
London in the sixties was brilliant - 3 bob to watch Rodney, a shilling for a pint, two bob for fish and chips on every street corner, half a crown to get in the Marquee to see Yes, Colosseum, the Animals etc... and free dentists, health, education, no Diabetes, fatties, no McDonalds, Costas, KFC, Starbucks, and all that bollox.
I hate going down there now. Dirty, nasty, aggressive place, no one speaks English and no one queues.
Why does it feel like R'SWiPe is still on the books? Yer Couldn't Make It Up.Well Done Me!
I lived in Brixton for a lot of my life. Went back last year and its pretty much a white neighborhood now. I was shocked how trendy it has become. No edge anymore. My mate bought a place down in loughborough junction and I was like whoa that's pretty sketchy but blow me its not anymore either. Even Peckham is nice now. Still love London the best in all the world though as far as cities go.
I lived in Brixton for a lot of my life. Went back last year and its pretty much a white neighborhood now. I was shocked how trendy it has become. No edge anymore. My mate bought a place down in loughborough junction and I was like whoa that's pretty sketchy but blow me its not anymore either. Even Peckham is nice now. Still love London the best in all the world though as far as cities go.
I never thought Denmark Hill and Dulwich Hamlett would swallow up Brixton!
Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal
I moved away 20 years ago...miss it like hell and would move back tomorrow if I could. Hope to move back some day...if I can afford it.
Still visit regularly (not just Rs matches)...yes it's changed...no I don't like all those changes...but it's still one of the world's great cities, and certainly not $hit imho..
Of course it changes, and so much is about your age / circumstances at the time, eg I loved it in the 80s - the yuppie bollox completely passed me by, I was too busy clubbing, which I thought was brilliant that whole decade but sure others would say 70s, 90s or even now was better.
Don't live there any more and haven't done for 25 years nearly, don't work there apart from the odd seminar to attend but love visiting, especially a walk along the South Bank. No other capital, other than Rome has such history attached to it, and none in my book has as much diversity and culture. As for decent boozers, during our Xmas lunch had a few pints in The George in Borough High Street and a few more in Old Doctor Butlers Head in Coleman Street. The place Is still full of great boozers if you want to find them and some great, affordable restaurants aswell. The city houses 12 professional football clubs, plus thus knuts down the road, two international cricket venues, numerous professional rugby grounds, a national football ground, a fantastic Olympic Park, numerous theatres, large and small, a fantastic river dividing into two, an unrivalled, believe or not transport system, which is probably a victim of its own success, great parks and some fantastic architecture, both old and new. Some great markets and even though Cooke's is now closed still plenty of Pie and Mash shops to be found. And compared to many large cities similar to London, I suspect that in comparison crime is probably quite low. London is still a fantastic city.
Yep, dying on its derriere, yet another victim of our failed belief that trickle down economics works.
I've just moved to Walthamstow and I have to say, I really like. Good community feel, lots of stuff I like (pubs of all kinds, greasy spoons alongside decent indy restaurants doing affordable food). But then there is The Village darling. Took a trip up there yesterday. Might as well have had a sign at the top of the street saying "No Blacks, No Irish". Unbelievably exclusionary - I earn a pretty decent salary but I didn't feel like it was meant for people "like" me at all. Which is the big problem of gentrification - stuff getting better is good, but it so often doesn't serve the whole population, just those with the cash to spend £9 on an English breakfast or £6 on beans on toast (not even making that up).
London's success was that it was a city for everyone. Now it is a playground for the 0.1%. If it wasn't for my entire industry being based on 4 streets in Fitzrovia, I'd be off to Leeds or Manchester in a shot.
Walthamstow Village used to be great and then it wanted to be gentrified. Did you cycle there? The mini-Holland initiative has made it almost impossible to drive to now - a destination venue that people can't get to.
Avoid Eat 17 and go over the road into La Ruga - the food there is excellent.
I fully appreciate site moderators dont want inflammation or this place to become a political platform but...... The constant treading on eggshells in respect of the points posted will eventually NOT bring this country to it's knees; instead it will cut it off at the hip sockets and push it overboard like the rotten carcass it will become.
Shame....
But anyway. London. Yeah. Love it. Mostly
Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal
I fully appreciate site moderators dont want inflammation or this place to become a political platform but...... The constant treading on eggshells in respect of the points posted will eventually NOT bring this country to it's knees; instead it will cut it off at the hip sockets and push it overboard like the rotten carcass it will become.
Shame....
But anyway. London. Yeah. Love it. Mostly
Love London, stand on the millenium bridge and look towards st Paul's,the mixture of old and new,one of the best views in the world.
favourite cheese mature Cheddar. FFS there is no such thing as the EPL
London in the sixties was brilliant - 3 bob to watch Rodney, a shilling for a pint, two bob for fish and chips on every street corner, half a crown to get in the Marquee to see Yes, Colosseum, the Animals etc... and free dentists, health, education, no Diabetes, fatties, no McDonalds, Costas, KFC, Starbucks, and all that bollox.
I hate going down there now. Dirty, nasty, aggressive place, no one speaks English and no one queues.
Love that post shotknees.. Apart from the.. 'to see Yes'.. Eek! No Ta!
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