Sick of London,

KKJale

Drew_TNBD said:

KKJale said:

intolerance to multiculturalism make me glad to leave.

That is also a completely insane thing to say! London doesn't have a monopoly on tolerance! If you think it does, walk through Tower Hamlets at 2am in the morning and see how you're treated.

Lols. I got shouted at a few nights ago in Peckham at 1am... "Oi white bwoi". By a white bloke. 

Nitefly

On the other hand:

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/if-youre-not-tired-of-london-youre-tired-of-life

  

Dominic

Yes .....the thing I really hated about moving a little way out of London was the Villagey type Gossip, busybodies,small town petty-mindedness and parochial attitude.
 Menus of local eateries were stuck somewhere between 1965 and 1972 and the local " chinky " as the locals happily call it closed at 8pm which is just as well because it served food that had escaped from a Vesta packet somewhere in the mid 1970s and bore absolutely no resemblance to any Chinese food (Cantonese, Szechuan or Shanghainese ) that I have ever seen.
 I swear;the day after we moved -in an old man came to the door to introduce himself as "the Crow Man " . I was polite and nodded as he mumbled and told me how long he had known Mr Atkins the previous owner. He said he would be back Thursday. I assumed he was a local character albeit a bit odd and never thought any more of it.
 On Thursday my wife phoned me at work aghast ......the old boy had come back on his bicycle from which hung a string of dead Crows .......For sale .........For eating !!!!!!!! I suddenly realised the significance of 4 and 20 Blackbirds when she told me that he had explained how "local folk" were partial to a Crow Pie ! This was 1980s .

robgilmo

I dont understand why the fuck anyone would want to live in London, we move out, went to East Sussex, that was worse! Never before have I ever seen as many plastic farmers and wannabees, everyone was driven by money, they would constantly talk about it, so we moved to Suffolk, massive change, very very old school here, lots of pikey types, but some good people too, no fucking hills though, not one fucking hill!

BRISTOL86

I genuinely can't fathom why anyone who isn't tied into living in London would do so voluntarily.

I know people who I went to school with who go through all the grind you describe to live in a dismal 1 bed flat for the same cost as buying a 3 bed semi with a huge garden down here, and Bristol's hardly cheap. 

capo4th

I love London and am just about to buy my final family house.
Mortgage payments are fat and the station is a 9 minute walk what's not to like? 

crunchman

To the OP, you mentioned an 8 mile journey to work taking 2 hours.  I used to cycle 8 miles into central London.  Quicker than public tranpsort even when it's working well, and you will save a fortune as well.

Having said that, I quite understand the desire to leave.  I'm pretty fed up with the place.

riscado

I find people are extremely rude in the transportation and have an overall lack of respect for personal space, no notion of what a buffer zone is. Especially in situations where there is plenty of room to have one. I'm sick and tired of being trampled when I'm trying to leave the tube carriage and people just can't wait to get in.

I don't dislike London, but the daily feeling of rudeness and complete abandon for overall respect from people in the city, does make me not like it more.

Lestratcaster

riscado said:

I find people are extremely rude in the transportation and have an overall lack of respect for personal space, no notion of what a buffer zone is. Especially in situations where there is plenty of room to have one. I'm sick and tired of being trampled when I'm trying to leave the tube carriage and people just can't wait to get in.

I don't dislike London, but the daily feeling of rudeness and complete abandon for overall respect from people in the city, does make me not like it more.

All commuters care about is getting to work on time, no consideration for pushing and barging others. I applaud those who do the commute in/out of Central London on tube 5 days a week.

capo4th

I drive to work 20 minutes but travel into town a few times a week for social and music activities. I find the transport system very good as a part time user. I could not use it every day.

equalsql

I used to have to go down to London a lot for work in my old job. I hated it so much. How loud and 'entitled' everyone was, especially noticeable at lunchtimes and early evening in the city pubs and eateries.

It was airless in the summer, smelly and too hot, the prices were insane and the service was crap. Too many cars, mad cyclists and litter. It never ceased to amaze me that you could drive for miles and never see the country-side, each suburb would just bleed into the next. It was like one of those nightmares where no matter what direction you drive, you keep coming back to the same spot. 

When I finally used to drive home, the moment I was north of the M25 was magical, it was like someone had lifted a huge weight of my shoulders.
Nothing is quite as nice as seeing London disappear behind you in your rear-view mirror.

Drew_TNBD

You old bastards.

mattdavis

I go back and forth about London. I live in suburbs, got on the property ladder in 2003 after 8 years as a student, and understand I'm lucky. I do worry how my kids will manage here.
But whilst there are definitely rude people and the transport can be unpleasant, it is a massively tolerant place - far more tolerant than the commuter belt Surrey town I worked in for 7 years, where, if you weren't white and Tory, you were regarded as very weird. The constant low grade racism and classism began to really grate. 
I admit the houses were (a bit) more affordable, driving was easier and it smelled less. But it was like living in a little bubble where you couldn't get away from people. Every time we get fed up of the crap bits, we take a trip into town, walk across Waterloo bridge and remember it's the worlds most exciting city where, for the price of a ticket into town, you can enjoy world class museums, street shows and walk amongst world famous historical landmarks for free. 

capo4th

If people don't like it please move back to where you came from as you are adding to the congestion.

robgilmo

My daily commute now takes 35 mins, I don't touch anything but country lanes, no shops, no petrol stations, just a few small villages and fields, lots of fields, no traffic, sometimes I get stuck behind a tractor and in the winter the roads/lanes never see a gritter so I like to leave a little early to avoid such things making me late, this alone is well worth getting out of bed for. Ill never , ever go back to city life. 

holnrew

You're all talking like it's a choice between London or Royston Vasey. There are other cities you know!

proggy

I was born in London and still live here, sometimes I get pissd off with it but don't think I could ever leave.

robgilmo

holnrew said:

You're all talking like it's a choice between London or Royston Vasey. There are other cities you know!

I think if you don't really like city life, London can drive a person to the other extreme, it did for me anyway.

thermionic

Dominic said:

Yes .....the thing I really hated about moving a little way out of London was the Villagey type Gossip, busybodies,small town petty-mindedness and parochial attitude.
 Menus of local eateries were stuck somewhere between 1965 and 1972 and the local " chinky " as the locals happily call it closed at 8pm which is just as well because it served food that had escaped from a Vesta packet somewhere in the mid 1970s and bore absolutely no resemblance to any Chinese food (Cantonese, Szechuan or Shanghainese ) that I have ever seen.
 

You lived in the same village as Phil?

Drew_TNBD

Chinese food is shit.