Best cities in the world to live in

[bobspud]

The E is the grubby side of London by design. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the prevailing winds blew the smog from west to east, so the wealthier developed in the west which is why all the nicer parks, theatres, palaces etc are towards the west.

But don't forget that the east side has Epping Forest and Victoria park on its side so the west doesn't get it all their own way. And today we have replaced smog with Jet fuel.

Most of London is still very cool though even with the arseholes.

[doodab]

When you say it's a tip, do you mean rubbish lying in the streets? Because I definitely don't see that. As others have mentioned, it's a pretty clean city. I remember being surprised when I lived in Berlin at the amount of graffiti all over the city. I thought it made it look far more untidy than London.

Fag buts, litter & gum on pavements & in gutters, bins overflowing, cars / sofas / fridges / unwanted building materials dumped in front gardens and communal areas of blocks, bicycle frames minus wheels chained to railings, and a general patina of grime. It's not the filthiest place in the world, and I'd say it's improved considerably in the recent past, but it's hardly spotless. The state that most parks end up in after a sunny day is often fairly abysmal as well.

[sasguru]

Fag buts, litter & gum on pavements & in gutters, bins overflowing, cars / sofas / fridges / unwanted building materials dumped in front gardens and communal areas of blocks, bicycle frames minus wheels chained to railings, and a general patina of grime. It's not the filthiest place in the world, and I'd say it's improved considerably in the recent past, but it's hardly spotless. The state that most parks end up in after a sunny day is often fairly abysmal as well.

Feck me you need to get out of the ghetto.
Nowhere I've lived in in London fits that description (except maybe parts of E).
Everywhere else has been green and pleasant, clean and tidy.

[sasguru]

The eastern half of the metropolis is mostly a tip, as is more or less everything due south and large swathes of the north, north west and west. I'd say that was most of it. The pleasant bits are definitely in the minority.

Now I definitely know you're talking bollux.

[d000hg]

Central London may be kept tidy of rubbish, but the pavements and underground are still full of smelly trash.

[doodab]

Now I definitely know you're talking bollux.

Are you having a laugh? Which of Kennington, Brixton, Streatham, Thornton Heath & Croydon would you say are nice areas?

[sasguru]

Are you having a laugh? Which of Kennington, Brixton, Streatham, Thornton Heath & Croydon would you say are nice areas?

What of Sanderstead, the Webb estate, Dulwich, the Abeville Road part of Clapham South, Furzedown in Balham, the Toast Rack (where I used to live), Wimbledon village, Putney, Sheen, Kew ? I could go on ....

Oh yeah, forgot the all time favourite place that I lived in in London: Barnes.

PS there are even parts of the areas you listed I would be happy to live in.

[doodab]

What of Sanderstead, the Webb estate, Dulwich, the Abeville Road part of Clapham South, Furzedown in Balham, the Toast Rack (where I used to live), Wimbledon village, Putney, Sheen, Kew ? I could go on ....

Oh yeah, forgot the all time favourite place that I lived in in London: Barnes.

You mean what of the south west corner, which I explicitly excluded from my list precisely because that's where most of the pleasant bits are? Yes, it's quite pleasant. That is why it wasn't on the list.

Outside of that, you've managed to come up with Dulwich, to which I would add a large chunk of the centre, Hampstead, Greenwich and perhaps a few other small oases such as Muswell Hill. That still leaves most of London, hence my assertion that most of it isn't great.

[sasguru]

That still leaves most of London, hence my assertion that most of it isn't great.

Yeah but that's like saying most of Paris isn't great (everything outside the centre), or most of Berlin isn't great (most places outside of the trendy Mitte)
One of London's saving graces IMO is the fact that even in your list of Kennington (Cleaver Square), Streatham (Streatham Hill/Common), Brixton* (most of it is gentrifying at the fastest rate in London) there are nice enclaves.

*Brixton is going through what Notting Hill went through in the 70s/80s: a central, black area with good housing stock being ethnically cleansed with money.

[doodab]

Feck me you need to get out of the ghetto.
Nowhere I've lived in in London fits that description (except maybe parts of E).
Everywhere else has been green and pleasant, clean and tidy.

You need to guard against the usual CUK IT geek flaw, generalising from your anecdotal experience. Your experience of places you have chosen to live doesn't extrapolate well to the 90% of the capital you have avoided.

Marylebone is fairly clean but you still see litter on the pavement.

In Wimbledon Village, the moment we have a sunny day the village green gets covered in cans, bottles and food wrappers, plus the bins frequently get torn open by foxes. The end result is a bit of a mess.

Not sure I'd describe either of those as the ghetto.

As for Streatham, Brixton, Clapham, Balham, Croydon, Forest Hill, Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Neasden, Rotherhithe and various other places I've either lived or had long term partners living, most of them are fairly shabby.

You don't see it because you're so used to it, not because it isn't there. I didn't particularly notice it until I lived somewhere else for a while.