I hate London

[stormbind]

The US has a Big Apple, and the UK has a Concrete Turd.

London is a vast metropolis with all the ussual fumes, noise, dirt, smell and disrepair except from which it is exceedingly hard to find a viable escape for frequent use.

Being British, and never having spent a great deal of time in the aforementioned monstrosity, I consider myself relatively lucky, but the future now looks far less comforting.

My question is, in which parts of London can one live that allows frequent and easy escape to more peaceful areas, what means of escape would they be, and which areas would you be escaping to?

 

[crystal]

A couple of good reasons why I would never want to live in a metropol city.

 

[samildanach]

When I first moved to London I rented a place in Hampstead so I could be near the heath. London is grimey as you say, and is also a city of savage inequalities. My idea was to use Hampstead as a sort of air lock while I got acclimatized to London. As I thought if I didn't acclimitize I would quickly hate London and wouldn't stick it out.

 

[MrPresident]

Stormbind, are you auditioning for the role of Alan Partridge?

Back of the net!

 

[AceChilla]

At least you can walk the streets without being herassed by drugdealers like in Amsterdam.

Psssst..... Cocaine?

No thanks.

 

[samildanach]

Stormbind, are you auditioning for the role of Alan Partridge?

Back of the net!

I've never watched Alan Partridge so I don't know if you are agreeing with him or not. I love London but I think it can be overwhelming at first as I think the negative aspects of London are the most striking. Stormbind needs to give it a chance before rushing to judgement.

 

[stormbind]

Hey, I visited more than once and about the only thing I enjoyed was leaving.

Sadly, the quip about Alan Partridge went over my head. I was never very good at tennis.

 

[Archer 007]

Stop bashing London and its scenic smog, ummm.......... fog.

 

[Mise]

It's odd that just 30 minutes ago I was walking through the Strand, on a lovely summer's day, clear sky, cool breeze, and thinking, "what a beautiful city". I have the fortune of having to walk through Hyde Park every day on the way to university, and it's great. I guess I'm only seeing one side of it though.

 

[stormbind]

It's odd that just 30 minutes ago I was walking through the Strand, on a lovely summer's day, clear sky, cool breeze, and thinking, "what a beautiful city". I have the fortune of having to walk through Hyde Park every day on the way to university, and it's great. I guess I'm only seeing one side of it though.

I've heard of rose-tinted glasses, but never before were they psychedelic! Where did you find them?

Some people love cities, they like the activity once the scent once background noise have faded with familiarity, and maybe those people have the constitution to accept rat on stick as being a local delicacy, but I'm not one of them!

I'm going to miss fresh sea air and narrow winding roads devoid of heavy traffic

 

[CurtSibling]

I love London.

Storm, you should try Glasgow - It is worse, and smaller!

 

[Mise]

Well, I don't like all cities. I hate Bristol (even the trees and grass are concrete), and I don't particularly like American cities (they seem like one big theme park to me). I come from South Wales, so I'm used to waking up to the smell of steaming piles of turd on the road outside my house. Fresh air, however, is something I desperately miss -- it doesn't matter where you go, you cannot get away from the close, clinging stagnant, polluted, tepid "air" from the burning of a vast array of organic matter.

 

[stormbind]

So, so far the advice is...

1. Live in Hamstead
2. Visit Hyde Park as frequently as possible
3. Take vacations in Glasgow

I'm writing this down. Seriously, there must be some decent advice for reducing the bitter blow.

If I remember right, Victoria Station offers escape in the directions of Guildford & Portsmouth. Used to live between those and there's some neat stuff, like.. erm.. *taps desk* ... Arundel! There, you see, that's my kind of place: Quite the inverse of London.

 

[CurtSibling]

For a rocker like me, London is the definite mecca!

In search of good Metal music and gigs - not for jihadism, of course!

 

[stormbind]

Well, I don't like all cities ... I come from South Wales

Some of the things I look for in a metropolis are a clean and organised city plan which London definately lacks, a wide selection of great shops preferably in one location and London lacks this aswell, variety of venues, and above all a number of 24/7 train stations for quick exit.

Living in big cities is whole other ball game. I like Aberwystwyth

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Stormbind, did you just move to London, are planning on moving there, are just visiting, or are just speculating on it? I couldn't stand not having any fresh air.

 

[samildanach]

So, so far the advice is...
If I remember right, Victoria Station offers escape in the directions of Guildford & Portsmouth. Used to live between those and there's some neat stuff, like.. erm.. *taps desk* ... Arundel! There, you see, that's my kind of place: Quite the inverse of London.

Victoria also offers an overland train link to Gatwick - so you can leave the country reasonably quickly. When going to surrey I tended to take the train from waterloo - I can't remember if you can get a train direct to guildford as I used to exit at brookwood and then go into Guildford later by taxi and get drunk. The war cemetary at Brookwood is very peaceful and its right beside the train station if you need somewhere to reflect.

 

[nonconformist]

I think Greenwich is rather nice.

 

[Free Enterprise]

The US has a Big Apple, and the UK has a Concrete Turd.

London is a vast metropolis with all the ussual fumes, noise, dirt, smell and disrepair except from which it is exceedingly hard to find a viable escape for frequent use.

Being British, and never having spent a great deal of time in the aforementioned monstrosity, I consider myself relatively lucky, but the future now looks far less comforting.

My question is, in which parts of London can one live that allows frequent and easy escape to more peaceful areas, what means of escape would they be, and which areas would you be escaping to?

What would you think about the living conditions in Tokyo? It would have some of those elements in even larger numbers.

 

[Marla_Singer]

London is much more open than Paris. There are tons of parks in London and streets are wider than in here. Personally, I enjoy living in a city so I don't bother that much. Anyway, I just wanted to say I like a lot London and the only thing I don't like about it is that it's hell expensive. How do you do guys to eat ?