crazy

I looooooove London, I´ve been there in 1998 and o not have that kind of money to go once again!! So please people of London, what do you do not like about living and working in London? Maybe yours answers will ease my pain!!!! (yes, i am a drama queen)<BR>Thanks a lot!

qqq

The negatives about a city from a living and working standpoint have little to do with tourist experiences. I can provide a list a mile long of what's wrong with my city (not London), but tourists seem to have a ball here.

crazy

I know that qqq, but still i am curious! Maybe i will accept better the fact that where i live is no London.

qqq

Crazy, the grass is always greener. But I hear ya.

Local

Here's one thing that Londoners hate about London - the tube. <BR><BR>London Underground must be the only organisation to take almost a year to get one escalator fixed (Picadilly Line, Earls Court). Absolutely ridiculous.

kavey

crazy<BR><BR>The tube. It's expensive, packed during rush hour, frequently delayed and a health hazaard. There's an email doing the rounds at the moment which talks about a survey carried out on a random carriage recently. The seat tested contained traces of urine belonging to at least 5 different people, as well as vomit, excrement, semen and animal hair. I don't know if it's true but it IS filthy. Once a few Londoners have a virus it tends to spread quickly because of the packed tubes and open plan offices...<BR><BR>The cost of living. Housing is very expensive in London, so is eating out and going out. You need to get a GOOD salary to be able to have a decent standard of living, for most of us it is a struggle, especially you love to travel, you have a lot less money for the home and for clothes and so on after paying your rent or mortgage and your monthly travel pass.<BR><BR>The weather. It's not as cold or dark as Scotland, but it's not exactly year round sunshine either... I love the seasons, and I don't mind the cold but I do hate the dark.<BR><BR>On the plus side, there's lots to do, fantastic work opportunities (says the woman who has just taken redundancy from her secure job, sheesh) and eating out is always a pleasure.<BR><BR>It's a wonderful melting pot of people from all around the world and, despite what people say about unfriendly locals, it's easy to make friends if you are proactive about it.<BR><BR>A plus for Europe in general is better annual leave allowances though this is not just London, obviously.

Vita

Thanks for the info, Kavey. I think I'll stand when I take the Tube in May!!

kavey

Vita<BR>LOL<BR>I just don't think about it too much, usually most commuters just want a SEAT!!!<BR>But I do wash my hands after travelling on the tube before I eat anything...<BR>Kavey

Londoner

Vita, my advice would be to stay well clear of the tube. You'll find that most tube stations are only a 5 min walk from each other but the tube makes the distances look a lot longer. <BR><BR>You can do a great walk from Picadilly via St James' Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and the backstreets to Holland Park and take in some of the best sights in town.

Vita

Thanks, Londoner. I'm going to try to walk and be above ground as much as possible. Funny thing is, I take the Tube (or Metro as we call it) every day to work. I don't think I want to know what's on those seats.

Joanne

Soryr, but the tale about the terrible unsanitary conditions on the tube has been proven to be a fabricatoin/urban legend. But do wash your hands as soon as you can! (I travel with those wipe packets.)<BR><BR>http://www.snopes.com/toxins/london.htm<BR><BR>crazy, why not just do everything you can to make your next trip possible? You say it's been 4 years. Well, if you'd been putting all your purchases on a frequent-flyer credit card, you'd be well on your way to your ticket by now. Between ff miles and home exchange, I took a trip to London almost for free last summer. You can, too!

kavey

If you want to visit anywhere in zone 2 or further out it's NOT walking distance so for most commuters, they haven't the choice.<BR><BR>For tourists, most stick to central London and can walk and use buses more easily...<BR><BR>Walking within central London is straightforward enough, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Charing Cross, Warren Street, all these stations are in a small central area.<BR><BR>

Londoner

That's a fair point. I live and work in central London luckily so can get away with walking to most places.<BR><BR>I wouldn't really advise any tourist to stay outside of Zone 1 though if they really want to see London... <BR><BR>

maybeits

Hate to say it but from June to October, tourists. They congregate at the entrance to tube stations, they stand on the wrong side of the escalator, they pee in Leicester Square. It's true, I think that London loves foreigners but hates tourists.

Patrick Wallace

I am a traveller, you are a visitor, they are [sniff] tourists.....<BR>I was born and bred in London, so how could I hate it? It can be exasperating for all the reasons already mentioned, which history suggests were common long before tubes and tourists were even dreamed of (hundreds of years ago visitors complained that Londoners were always rushing). It's a lot to do with mood and expectations. Yes, I hate dark winter afternoons, but I love the opportunity to close the curtains, turn the heating up and sit down with a pot of tea, a buttered something and a detective story. I hate the crowds (especially those immediately in front of me, and when will they bring back hanging for people who go through a doorway and then stop dead...) but I would miss the variety, of the people themselves and of all the shops and services that they attract. But if one more estate agent tries to persuade me to sell my flat....

Milly

Oh, Patrick, what a lovely response. Now I want to live in London, too......

lover

OH MY GOD! Just reading this makes me long for a ride in that crowded tube, a walk in the early evening to the local pub for a pint, being jostled by the crowds on Oxford street, a nice browse through the shops of Convent Garden, a stroll around Sloan Square...ah London, London, how I love you. What is there to hate? Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Shanna

Read Henry James. He wrote a million reasons to hate the city he loved.

M. Giggle

Patrick Wallace, your description of a dark winter afternoon in London almost made me cry with homesickness! I'm packing!

M. Giggle

Crazy about London.....this isn't working out quite as you had hoped, is it? LOL