London

Home & Away?

Heartbreak High, even.

...Living on an island would send me stir crazy.

so you are crazy then!

A rather general and often cited reason, but the sheer diversity of london

london of course has areas noted for their wealth, however, you will rarely be in a rich street without a council house in the mix. wonderful osmosis in postcodes, for me making a constant wonderful and exciting sight on london streets.

Also the number of parks in london is great and the river at night (ALbert bridge ftw!)

Heartbreak High, even.

Bolton and Drazic FTW

Bolton and Drazic FTW

Bonzer!

There are too many Australians here. It's like living in a fucking episode of 'Neighbours' or 'Sons & Daughters' or some other antipodean shit.

There are too many whinging poms here.. especially the pasty veggie types.. why can't they piss off to Spain with the rest of the English and leave London for the immigrants?

I blame the immigrants.

You've been reading too much of RPMs shit, bastard. :P

You've been reading too much of RPMs shit

Like tea leaves?

Like tea leaves?

Apparently RPM's stools can predict the local weather with a 17% accuracy.

YouTube - Spac Hand Luke - London

YouTube - It's A London Thing

YouTube - Wiley - Bow E3

Mostly I think I hate it, I really really hate it but can't imagine living in any other British city. I came down South to be a student and now I feel like I'm a prisoner serving life with no chance of parole.

....melancholy and sense of failure and decay....

Will... man, sounds like you need to get out of London for a while.. and maybe England. It's all out there in other countries to be enjoyed - what's the point of hating your surroundings?

This thread yielded some positives about London that other people feel..

http://www.londonfgss.com/thread10298.html

edit: there's a right bunch of crap in there too unfortunately, but some people are sincere...

I love London.
It's a big, cultured city with all the variety that I need & its still small enough to cycle around. I like the massive green parks & I like the built up, crowded inner city areas. I like that it has a medieval buildings in the middle of some great contemporary architecture. I love crossing the river (but only when I'm heading norf). I quite like the climate, well, I like the change of seasons. And I love standing outside a pub, on the pavement, in the summer, drinking pints.
But I'm still moving to California.

Change of seasons? Drizzle, Rain, Snow, Cold are the four seasons here, right? :)

No, thats always night, mostly night & a week in august.

It's all out there in other countries to be enjoyed -
..

What is?

What is?

You know, the thing you are looking for.

erm.. well not feeling like a prisoner serving life with no chance of parole for a start..

I live in Northants, commute to London every day, get here about 6.15am and ride through KX, Clerkenwell, Farringdon and City. I fucking Loves it. Crack of dawn rolling through Smithfields as I was on Friday, there's nowhere I'd rather be in the world. I get paid to drive around one of the world's greatest cities all day, watching a representation of all human life going on around me, and that includes driving north over Waterloo bridge every single day, which is a view I will never tire of.

Unless you have lived in the provinces I think you would struggle to appreciate the vibrancy and feeling of opportunism inherent in the city. There's much political wrongdoing, but this is far outweighed by the people of London Town. I'm getting married this year and planning on starting a family ASAP so moving here is not really viable (I have a nice comfy 3 bed house with garden for less than the price of a zone 1 bedsit) but if I were a younger man.....

London is truly magical.

. I'm getting married this year and planning on starting a family ASAP so moving here is not really viable** (I have a nice comfy 3 bed house with garden for less than the price of a zone 1 bedsit)** but if I were a younger man.....
**
London is truly magical.**

Doesn't the first sentence contradict the second?

I love not having to pay over £100 a month for a shitty underground service

The city is a magical place. The cost of living is shitty. I guess as a commuter I can take advantage of the first without being inhibited by the second.

So no.

I love not having to pay over £100 a month for a shitty underground service

I love that shitty underground service.

Try catching a train in some car loving shithole.. like Melbourne.

London Underground fucking rules!

Doesn't the first sentence contradict the second?

Magic and domesticity are easily separated.

Magic and domesticity are easily separated.

Quite. It's easy to be all romantic about the place being here for only 10 hours a day 5 days a week, but it's a shame people become so jaded with a city which has such an enormous amount to offer.

Quite. It's easy to be all romantic about the place being here for only 10 hours a day 5 days a week, but it's a shame people become so jaded with a city which has such an enormous amount to offer.

Well said.

It is all the easier to keep it magical when you don't have to do your dirty laundry here/there.

born and bred in London from immigrant parents (Devon and Calcutta), i just can't resist chipping in on why i love this city and am always excited to see what it will offer up next...

more than 2000 yrs of constant flux with communities springing up, leaving impressions on a landscape before fading to make way for the next wave to occupy the space left behind.. the endless layer upon layer of life in motion.. the incredible contrasts of abject poverty rubbing shoulders with unfeasible wealth and priviledge and every shade in between.. the tangible history of empires past and present that exist in the architecture and open spaces.. the emotional scope offered by the everyday drama created by the sheer mass of people condensed into one space - good and bad.. the dirt.. the beauty.. the sheer scale of this enormous, sprawling, organic mass.. and, oblivious to it all, relentless in it's tidal rhythm, like breathing in and out - the river that runs through it.

the late night kebab shop at the end of my road is pretty good too