nobbystylus wrote:There is loads of great areas to live in London.... some can be very expensive, some can be more affordable.. The problem is everybody wants to buy their tiny little own bit of london, so affordable rents/mortgages are getting more scarce.. that said you have the equivalent of about 10 small cities in one town (its a collection of villages after all), so there is something for every one.
Brixton, Camden, Clapham, Stoke Newington, Notting Hill, Islington, Shoredtich, and obviously Soho etc are all pretty expensive (but great places to hang out)
other cheaper options in zone 2/3 include Finsbury Park (yeah!), Mile End/Bethnal Green, Balham, Peckham, Kilburn... all darn good for transport and with their own vibes and bars etc...
well said
ive lived in stoke newington for ten years now and in london since 1989 and it is obviously getting more expensive. people are starting to look in the nearby places for cheaper accomodation, like clapton, homerton, manor house, seven sisters. and those are just the places i know about near where i live.
the thing ive always thought about london though is that it can be as expensive as you want it to be. if you want to pay top dollar for a meal in a restaurant or for food in a supermarket then you can (i prefer not to) but if you want to eat cheaply, or do whatever cheaply for that matter, then you can do that too. me and the mrs normally go for a turkish meal locally and we wont spend 25 quid between us with wine.
transport - i have always cycled to work, so thats free. my longest trip was when i worked in kensington which was 8 miles and took 40 minutes. i work in the city at the moment, it takes 20 minutes. london is pretty good for cycling. the bus is cheap, an oyster card means you pay a quid per trip. i hardly ever use the tube, stoke newington doesnt have one
the weather is good, on average london gets the warmest weather in the uk. which maybe isnt saying much though, but i can leave my windows open about four months a year.
there's so much to do that you'd have to be a right miserable wanker to get bored. and if you're worried about expense, just go for a walk and look around the place : the river, parks, architecture, free museums and galleries, markets....
congestion - yes, sometimes the traffic is bad, london was here before the car was so the car has squeezed itself in. but my last job involved driving around the centre delivering a/v equipment 5 days a week and it was normally fine. you just learn the hotspots and avoid them. from what i often see, the major cause of congestion is roadworks, not too many cars.
violence - guns and knives are becoming more prevalent but its nearly always dickheads fighting amongst themselves. you'd have to be stupid and/or very unlucky to end up being involved in that sort of nonsense.
there's over 12 million people live in this city from every corner of the world, of course its going to have its problems and it maybe isnt for everyone but i would highly recommend it. i was shitting myself when i came down here from my little yorkshire town in '89 but ive had (and am still having) a great time.
i hope you get over here. if you need any more help or whatever, drop me a line.
you make nice tunes too
x
