Anyone find London a bit overwhelming?

Mrwong said:
It worse than many western cities.
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Of course it is but is it worse than comparable Western cities? New York, LA? No. Worse than Paris? Probably. Worse than Tokyo? For crime and filth yes but Tokyo is way more crowded. HK is way worse.

Easy to knock London but it has a very effective transport system, traffic does at least move unlike LA or Bangkok or Manila. Homelessness isn't a massive problem unlike LA. It still has amazing art, architecture, food, entertainment, etc. It is arguably the most diverse city in the world.
 
MikeTimbers said:
Of course it is but is it worse than comparable Western cities? New York, LA? No. Worse than Paris? Probably. Worse than Tokyo? For crime and filth yes but Tokyo is way more crowded. HK is way worse.

Easy to knock London but it has a very effective transport system, traffic does at least move unlike LA or Bangkok or Manila. Homelessness isn't a massive problem unlike LA. It still has amazing art, architecture, food, entertainment, etc. It is arguably the most diverse city in the world.
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:cry: You kidding me
 
MikeTimbers said:
Of course it is but is it worse than comparable Western cities? New York, LA? No. Worse than Paris? Probably. Worse than Tokyo? For crime and filth yes but Tokyo is way more crowded. HK is way worse.

Easy to knock London but it has a very effective transport system, traffic does at least move unlike LA or Bangkok or Manila. Homelessness isn't a massive problem unlike LA. It still has amazing art, architecture, food, entertainment, etc. It is arguably the most diverse city in the world.
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You're wasting your time. As far as he's concerned, London is the worst city on the planet and anyone who says different is wong.

They're not.
He is.
 
I find it funny that London gets so much hate. It’s just because people actually see it, passing through, people actually visit and every nice area borders a not-so-nice area. Typical of a big city.

Yet I’m on a trip up north to see my other half’s parents. Decided to stop over at an unnamed Yorkshire seaside resort and my god it’s a ****hole. Most of the residents sound like they’ve smoked 40 a day for the better part of their lifetime and they haven’t eaten anything green for the last twenty years. People just shuffle around with their dogs, looking half dead between them. There was literally 3 decent looking restaurants (in a big town), the pubs look dodgy AF, there was two police vans called to a hostel round the corner from where we were staying on the first evening (a nice B and B actually, no complaints there) and 99% of the old Victorian houses look like crack dens that are totally falling apart. What a shame. If people actually went to the rough parts of random poor towns in the uk they’d be utterly shocked. The only reason London gets so much hate is because it’s actually visible.
 
If I did live there it would have to be a river view but my son in laws folks home is acceptable, near to the tube and a quiet area, view from the garden annexe



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There's not enough jellied eels & pie'n'mash in the world that'd make me want to visit London again, never mind live there.
It was kind of magical travelling from the countryside when I used to visit my father in the late 70's and 80's and visiting Hamleys and seeing the sights, but now, no chance.
I went back quite a few years ago for a funeral and have never felt so claustrophobic, too many people in too little space.
I'm happy being surrounded by fields and most importantly silence.
 
JonRGV250 said:
There's not enough jellied eels & pie'n'mash in the world that'd make me want to visit London again, never mind live there.
It was kind of magical travelling from the countryside when I used to visit my father in the late 70's and 80's and visiting Hamleys and seeing the sights, but now, no chance.
I went back quite a few years ago for a funeral and have never felt so claustrophobic, too many people in too little space.
I'm happy being surrounded by fields and most importantly silence.
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Suffolk/Norfolk is a beautiful area because it is on its own out of the way as everyone bypasses it to get to London but because of that it is mainly untouched.
 
Just got back from a day in the city. The amount of people who stop in the middle of pavements, or at the entrance to tubes/shop entrances is bewildering. Get out of the way if you need to do something ffs!
 
I was in London in April for the marathon, first time in 15 years. Yes it was a lot of stimuli and very different to my sleepy village . Im a country boy bu birth, but got accustomed to city life for 15 years before settling with a family.

Visiting London again i was pleasantly surprised. All the negative on GD is unfounded. I found london surprisingly clean and well maintained, safe, convenient, moderately priced and good transport. It was busy, and thing like British Museum seemed packed despite being told it was about as quiet as it gets.

I can't imagine living there mind, but as a city break it id definitely great. Planning how to take my kids there.
 
Mrwong said:
Berlin Madrid, Barcelona, Singapore . Paris, that is a dump as well
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Worked in Singapore a while back, very staid, organised, dull. No life whatsoever.

Berlin, can't say but knowing what I know about Germany multi-cultural it isn't. One third the population and half the area.

Madrid is tiny by comparison. Half the size of Paris which is half the size of London.

Barcelona is even smaller at one sixth the size.

So it's really hard to compare any European city to London. Only Istanbul and Moscow are bigger.

London's geographical and population size give it problems that the other cities don't have. It's easy to complain about travel but remember it has the oldest underground railway at >150 years old. It wasn't built as a single entity by a government but each line was independently designed and built and run separately for the first fifty years or so. It's no wonder it's so complicated.

It's the most visited city in Europe, and the largest urban economy. With over 300 languages spoken.

You may think it's a dump but I rather love it.
 
MikeTimbers said:
Berlin, can't say but knowing what I know about Germany multi-cultural it isn't. One third the population and half the area.
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Berlin is great if you are willing to let your guard down. Epic city, probably my favourite in the world. Had some epic times there.
 
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