Is London a dump?
I was bored and surfing and I came across a discussion about whether London was a dump or not.
Truthfully I was suprised because the general opinion was in favour of the statement - yes London is a dump.
I am lucky, I live in SW7 and as such all the good things in life are on the doorstep waiting to be served to me. Supercars, Michelin star restaurants,world class museums, world class shops and, touch wood, a low crime rate. I regularly walk back from Gloucester Road tube very late in the night and never feel threatened.
The London I occupy is bordering on decandent, yet when I exit my haven and cross to East London and Excel, from Canning Town onwards (Hoodie Town as I call it), I am continuously looking over my shoulder - now that area is a dump - why would anyone want to live there ?
So… bloggers - when calling London remember that maybe its just the little bit that you live in. It could be worse, you could be living in Rochdale or even Canning Town!
Hey I live in Canning Town. The whole borough of Newham was badly bombed during the blitz and it destroyed the industrial infrastructure of the area. There was a slow painful decline and people started to move out, around the same time people from other parts of the world started moving in. Many of these people worked in the factories, many of which started to close in the late 70s and early 80s, causing widespread unemployment. With the people most well off either having left or died, the poor were the only ones left, and the area went into a terrible decline. In recent years, there has been a lot of development, and with the Stratford area being built up for the Olympics, it would be interesting to see if the rest of the borough reaps the rewards of government investment.
I would still not call London a dump. I think the city gets used a lot but it is very comfortable because it has an international flavour and is buzzy and exciting. I also think it is very liberal and has terrific opportunities. People who do not live here do not understand that London is very diverse and I don’t just mean culturally/racially. You meet people from all walks of life, and there are very few cities that offer the best of architecture, entertainment, educational and historical sites, all within a short distance. If only the British stop putting themselves down, it would be even better. People from all over the world come here (not just scroungers from the third world, as the tabloids would have people believe), and we have some of the most intelligent people in the world. I think London has a lot to offer and in these times of economic instability, being in a city like London is a lot better than being in a dead town where nothing much happens. I was born and raised in London and since the year 2000 a lot has changed, most significantly, a lot of Londoners have left the UK to chase dreams elsewhere. That is fair enough. It has destroyed the community feel of the place. The people of the future will be international, and the major cities will lose their unique character. Sadly that is the way things are going. The people who remain in the city have little love or connection with it, so I guess we just have to hope the governments preserve this place.