London

krooton said:
I think the overground during rush hour is way worse than the tube.
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Yeah I think people are more desperate to get on the overland trains in rush hour since there can be a 30 minute wait between some trains. You see people running down the platforms like it's the last train out of a city about to be nuked. And they just ram onto the train no matter how full it is, even when people are jammed up the doors. I've seen people ramming in on the tube as well every morning since they are desperate not to be late for work. I never got that, I never force my way onto packed trains, if I am late for work who cares. There must be some really nasty bosses out there if people are that afraid to be late for work.
 
London has lot of bad points - the traffic, the tube at rush hour, the amount of people generally, sometimes feeling like you're in a foreign country, expensive etc.

But I moved away for 5 years and couldn't wait to get back. For all its negatives it's still a great city to live in, for the range of things to do, the ease of getting into London outside of rush hours, the events, the people etc. I lived in Maidstone (which I think was voted the 7th best town in the UK or something) but it was dull as hell.
 
I moved to London about 3 months ago with a dirty foreigner (my girlfriend) and we both love it. We found a good deal on a house in the north east. Not too far away from the centre, quiet with lots of parks nearby. I work by St Paul's carhedral as well, so not exactly the worst part to work in. Yes there are some dives, but thankfully I don't have to go there. It is bloody expensive though.
 
I still find these "sometimes feeling like you're in a foreign country" comments very Daily Mail'ish and uni-brow'd. Jesus H. Christ. You've never heard of cosmopolitanism before? Take a seat. Modern cities full of an international mix of peoples and cultures arrived about 120 years ago. Yet some people are still thuggishly complaining that "I feel like a minority in certain parts of town". That's the point! It's supposed to be exciting and eye-opening for you. Try some exotic cuisine, visit a theatre, go shopping in the markets. You might actually get something useful out of it-- better yet, you may learn something.

Ironically enough the people that often complain about Britain being "full of foreigners making it like a foreign country" are people that don't think twice about holidaying once a year on the Costa del Sol, in tiny little British enclaves...
 
Moved to London a few months ago, go London! Loving it.

Obligatory: I STOLE YOUR JOB! Whatcha gunna du abut dat bruv?
 
Been to London a few times but only for a day or two at a time, I must admit I did like it, even if people don't seem all that friendly :p

I'm moving there on Thursday for a month to volunteer at the Olympics. Will be living in Deptford, any advice to make sure that I come out the other side alive? :)
 
The thing is, there's two London's. One is cosmopolitan with world famous sights and attractions, shopping, tourists, open top busses and advertising boards as big as some of those busses. Then there's place like where I live in Hampstead which is quiet, leafy, beautiful , safe and green. If you live somewhere just outside Zone 1, maybe Zone 2 as well, it will feel like any town in Britain, but with a world famous city a few minutes away.

The problem I have with most British towns is that they all look the same. Chain shops/stores litter the high street. Throw in the obligatory charity shops, Asian cuisine, betting shops and the odd pub, you can be literally anywhere in the UK. Ugly and boring with nothing to do. No wonder teenage pregnancies and single council house mums are so rampant :p
 
krooton said:
Don't live in Deptford. :p
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Bit late to change it now ha ha. Had a look on google streetview and it didn't look /too/ bad. Will be incredibly useful being able to get the DLR straight up to the Olympic park and avoiding the central line, which I imagine is going to be rammed.
 
piggeh said:
I lived in Maidstone (which I think was voted the 7th best town in the UK or something) but it was dull as hell.
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Been to Maidstone. Dull and boring place that's also just .... there. Can't believe it got 7th place. The towns even further down the line must be pure hell :(
 
London's amazing; If I won the lottery I'd live there (couldn't afford to realistically else!). Place has a buzz about it, it just feels alive. It's very much like any big city in terms of "busy, cramped" but I don't notice it as much with London as I do with say Birmingham, or Manchester.

So much to do, so much to eat, lots of places to drink. It's vibrant, it's active, there's an energy about the place which just makes me love it even more.

Better stick some money on the lottery!!
 
As the man said;

"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."
— Samuel Johnson
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I've lived in a few towns and cities in England, but London is my favourite, I can't imagine bringing up my children anywhere else now, the facilities here are some of the best in the world. (Although I do live in the leafy borough of Richmond so am spoiled!)
 
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