Why London is the world's greatest city.

[OATEK]

I regard London as a great city, and will be there again briefly in a week or so. But where it was once a real focus of our trips abroad, we now don't give it more than most of the cities we visit, just 3-4 days.

Our girls lived there for about 7 years all up, and in visiting them at least annually we probably covered all there is to see, and a few things most people don't get to see.

So while London is no longer our focus there is still enough attraction to bring us back from time to time.

 

[pauly7]

Just love London - probably because I know it well, I feel safe and the history is amazing and they speak English - New York has the same and I like it but just don't love it

Interesting! I feel the opposite, don't feel safe in London at all. On the other hand, for me - NYC is everything.

 

[amaroo]

Another vote for London.

 

[BettyB]

Just love London - probably because I know it well, I feel safe and the history is amazing and they speak English - New York has the same and I like it but just don't love it

Hmm, not sure I can agree with the claim of perceived safety in London.

The riots between 6 and 11 August 2011 certainly didn't leave me feeling safe!

 

[OATEK]

Hmm, not sure I can agree with the claim of perceived safety in London.

The riots between 6 and 11 August 2011 certainly didn't leave me feeling safe!

I was in the city centre during the poll tax riot in 1990, and it was uncomfortable as we made our way out of the centre of London avoiding the broken glass and burning cars. But this sort of potential unrest simmers under the surface of many cities from Paris to many in the US. I generally do not feel unsafe in London though, or Paris despite recent events (I am booked to be in both in June).

 

[Warks]

I lived in London on and off during 1989-90 and like Oatek was around for the Poll Tax Riots although not in the thick of it. I did share accommodation with a rabidly anti-Thatcher Welshman who got into the thick of the riots and reported back on how much fun they had smashing up the South African embassy (yes what relevance to the Poll Tax?) I did enjoy my time there but that's ancient history now. Money appeared to be the key to enjoying London to the fullest back then and I'm sure it still is now. I love the history of course but the dismal months (October-January) were too much to take for me. When the sun is going down at 3pm it's not my sort of place. Mind you the upside is the summer if (and it's a big if) the weather is good and the days are long.

Haven't been back since 1997 - it would be so different now.

Any survey of how great a place is to live needs to take the weather (climate, really) into account, in my opinion.

 

[BAM1748]

There are many great cities, I prefer San Francisco as one my favourites.

 

[Renato1]

How horrible,
Come to my City, Cairns, where the air is clean and the surrounds are green and the stars are always out to be seen. and lets not forget its nice and warm all year round and yeah we speak real English.

Thanks. We will be getting to Cairns at some time within the next few years.

Except for the sub-average food and high prices, we did love London.

We went back there six weeks after the bombing for an over night stay before flying to Melbourne with BA. Then the BA catering strike started, and we got "stuck" there for another four days in a five star hotel at Heathrow where everyone was at wits end trying to figure out how to get out there (e.g. people want to go to an athletics meeting in other countries). But we were unstressed - I just told my boss I wouldn't be back for a while - and we had another great time in London, and BA paid for the hotel accomodation. By this time I had discovered that if I ate from the "healthy food" section at McDonalds, it was much better than in Australia, as it was bread rolls full of big chunks of satisfying meat - just like Subway. And there was a McDonalds right next to our hotel, the Radisson Edwardian.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Boca68]

I like London, but not a favourite city. There is plenty to do and see, yes. Lived there in 1991-92 and enjoyed it. It was hideously expensive then. But recent visits, 2009 and 2013 , its about the same as Melbourne/Sydney for expenses now. Honestly can say, thee is not too much I dislike about it, but it doesn't float my boat, so to speak.

New York is great, but I'm more a fan of contintental European cities. Madrid, Paris, Berlin are top 3, then throw in some great South American cities in the top 10 like Bogota, Rio and Asian cities like Singapore and Hong Kong. Then , perhaps London

 

[Blackswan]

I much prefer New York. Feels more alive with more of a soul.

I felt London was too expensive food, accommodation and transport wise. Couldn't understand why the tube didn't run 24 hours a day (although, I understand it does now on the weekends?).

 

[Pele]

Gday

If you like cough food, warm beer, awful weather and ugly women then London is definitely the greatest city in the world for you.

Pele.

 

[marki]

Gday

If you like cough food, warm beer, awful weather and ugly women then London is definitely the greatest city in the world for you.

Pele.

Contentious reply but each to himself even if slightly overpriced

 

[cove]

We get regular email offerings from London hotels and restaurants and I can tell you the food is really good if you look in the right places. Even the high teas are pretty good.
Gone is the 1970's glug many moons ago.

 

[OZDUCK]

Don't disagree. I think I've mixed up my facts re Southall. I've been there around 5 times in the last few years (have reasons to be out that way), and I've probably blended my thoughts with somewhere else. I'll update my comment. I wouldn't live out that way though. Hayes & Harlington and West Drayton (also both on the train line) are other areas I wouldn't live in. The facilities for me just aren't in those areas.

I agree with you, we first lived in Hayes then moved to Southall. In Hayes we lived on a typical terrace housing street. It served its purpose for us then but it is not a place I would choose to live in long term.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Southall is still a very rundown area IMHO, and has a very predominant Sikh/Hindu/Muslim (edit!) population (so shops are mainly designed with them in mind) . Not really somewhere where I'd live, although it is slowly improving and being on CrossRail will help further.

Overall I find this article one of those puff pieces. Yes London is a great city, yes I love living here and I have no plans to return back to Oz to live for a long time. The nightlife is great, the public transport system is one of, if not the best in the world, and dining and entertainment options are extensive. Location wise it's in a great spot with Europe on the doorstep, and a short hop to America.

However, the downsides are underplayed in the article. Price of housing/rentals for anything decent is crazy. Immigration is too high (and yes, I'm saying that as an immigrant!), leading to stress on infrastructure and traffic woes. The massive amounts of apartments being built, mostly aimed at very rich overseas investors (who never live there, and don't rent them out) is seriously stuffing up the property market. There is a massive disparity between classes and it is quite easy to see. Cost of living is going up, with restaurants getting a lot more expensive over the last few years, although groceries are still well priced. Pollution levels is still a major concern. It is not a good place to bring up children.

You do need a decent wage to live in London comfortably, and unless on extensive Government benefits or some other subsidy (living with parents, or in a 6 person share house), will struggle earning < £40000 pre-tax IMHO.

Like Australia, it isn't the land of milk and honey that many people incorrectly think it is.

I particularly echo your sentiments about London's serious issues regarding Cost of living pressures and infrusture that realistically can only Adequately cope with 50% of the city's current population. These are certainly major setbacks to living in swinging London.

I lived in London from 2005-2009, and needless to say that I loved the fast paced nature of London.
Most notably going out with my work colleagues on a Tuesday evening midweek ' session' warming up before the 'big, messy Friday night session', where the entire workplace comes out to socialise.
Wash, rinse, repeat, literally three-four times a week, every week of the year.

The buzzing London Workplace social life phenomenal is something that I dearly miss, in Australia it's something we haven't quite figured out how to muster IMHO.

 

[Mal]

Gday

If you like cough food, warm beer, awful weather and ugly women then London is definitely the greatest city in the world for you.

Pele.

Food is much better now if you're prepared to look.
Beer is only warm if you like Ales (and there are some good ones). Chilled International lagers are on tap now.
Weather is still average, but is better than a lot of cities. At least it doesn't usually go below -5 in Winter! (Although the last few winters have been mild)
Ugly Women, well that is subjective. Remember many Australians come from UK heritage, so that is a bit of a slight on many Australians.

Each to their own. My views are earlier in this thread of course!

I much prefer New York. Feels more alive with more of a soul.

I felt London was too expensive food, accommodation and transport wise. Couldn't understand why the tube didn't run 24 hours a day (although, I understand it does now on the weekends?).

Tube isn't yet 24 hours. Gradual rollout starts later this year, and it will only cover weekends anyway. The night bus network is very good, but that's subjective of course, and I have many odd stories from my time on them!

Transport is expensive, but Australian cities are catching up. When I see the Hilton in Sydney being advertised for $A800 a night at times, I think Australia can equally compete on the expensive accommodation too !

 

[Cheatah]

Gday

If you like cough food, warm beer, awful weather and ugly women then London is definitely the greatest city in the world for you.

Pele.

Evidently you either a) haven't been to London recently, or b) if you have visited you spent your time in a small coughpy hotel, in winter, with a coughpy pub next door which happened to be full of ugly women!

I've been here since early 2006, and even since then London has improved. A decent cup of coffee was too hard to get then, not an issue now. There has actually been an outburst of "Australian style" cafes offering decent coffee and brunches over the last 5/6 years. Old British stodgy food has long gone(it could never compete with all the foreign food influence in London so almost by necessity its had to improve), and you can eat out without spending a fortune.

As previous posters have mentioned the London transport system is probably the worlds best, and its a huge advantage. Where London fails is in property - a decently located place with average quality is hard to get at an acceptable price range. Of course areas like Mayfair and South Kensington will always be expensive but their is a lot of coughpy dog boxes around, anything better in zones 1 - 3 is going to cost a small fortune. Its a big issue, not only for young people and low earners, but high earners have to spend a considerable amount of their net income renting or on a mortgage if they want to live in a decent area not too far out.

Excepting the property issue(and its a big issue!) London is a great place to live. You'll never get bored, plenty of socialising & travel opportunities, in addition to career opportunities which are just not possible in smaller cities(I'm originally from Perth so no real contest there!)

And there is plenty of beautiful women in London(and probably men too!).

 

[dajop]

I'm not sure I'd definitively say that London is world's best city. It's all in the eye (well perhaps not the eye, but more likely the tongue) of the beholder (as in the languages they speak). London is one of my favourite places to visit, but hard to say London is better than New York or vice versa. Then there's cities like Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Buenos Aires etc which tend to pretty good but for many of us are more difficult (but not impossible) due to language difficulties, and this means we can't fully appreciate the subtle charms ... and then there's place like Tokyo and Seoul.

I think if I had a Babel Fish on me I'd probably rate Tokyo at or close to No 1, often said that visiting Tokyo would be like visiting New York, if only I spoke Japanese ... unfortunately no Babel Fish's yet.

Food is much better now if you're prepared to look.

That is definitely the case, and it need not be expensive,, and there are some gems around in different places. Accidentally discovered - and joined the queue - to have salted beef rolls in Brick Lane a couple of visits ago was delicious on a coolish winters day. Not to mention various other types of ethnic food and updated takes on traditional British food that are less stodgy. And of course the stodgy food is still nice to have once in a while too, nothing like a bit of comfort food if you grew up on meat + 3 veg.

As previous posters have mentioned the London transport system is probably the worlds best,

That's a big call ... Tokyo has a pretty extensive and impressive transport system too, and Paris has quite a good network as well. New York, IMHO a bit behind all three though.

 

[JohnK]

Most cities are lovely to visit. One thing I don't need is culture. Couldn't stand to live in New York and same goes for London. One of the biggest problems of both cities is they are both over populated.

Sydney is by far the greatest city in the world. Only one complaint. Stop building high density housing and selling to criminal money launderers who will end up living here one day.

 

[junbugging]

I find it way easier being in a crowd of thousands in Tokyo than hundreds in Sydney. So overpopulation is relative too.