London

pros
natural epicentre of cultures
tons of great venues, galleries, museums, bars, clubs, shops, restaurants, landmarks and naturally beautiful areas
exciting place to be because of the variety of people and things happening
easy to meet people

cons
expensive living, with many things over-priced
pollution
temperamental and knackered public transport (the DLR is a modern marvel tho)
traffic
density of population can be so annoying at times
easy to feel alienated and detached from people

I heart London - actually on my first visit a few years ago I think I seen pelicans in a public park. I may be tripping, I could have dreamt it, but I'm so sure...

And it wasn't the zoo. Can anyone put me right?

Except the one time when I bought people there to see the pelicans and suddenly, there were no pelicans.

It doesn't rain every day, and there are at least 40 of us posting here if meeting up and sitting in pubs is your kind of thing. Steve generally OTM.

Anyway, you should move to London. It's nice.

I'm most likely moving to London. I'm currently looking at universities.

Wondering whether living around King's Cross is a good idea (I've lived in Koreatown and Echo Park in LA before it became completely safe and family-ish so I'm notnecessarily panicky about relatively dodgy neighborhoods). I think I like east...I stayed in a flat in Columbia Road before but might need something more central.

I don't know East London very well. If you're willing to go South, the Brixton/Stockwell/Herne Hill area's lots of fun, and seems to be where loads of first-time Londoners move to.

My friend sold her 2 bed flat in Stockbridge for £260,000

How long ago? I'd think something like that could well go for double that now.

(And London weighting, when it is available, is a piffling amount of money compared to housing costs; it hardly approaches the 77% gap in house prices highlighted by Madchen).

So

Average house price in London is 1.77 x that in Edinburgh
Average salary in London is 1.32 x that in Edinburgh

But I'm rubbish with statistics so somebody else can manipulate the figures to demonstrate what they think about them.

This is the thing I really love about London.

Londoners...how does one report a black cab for refusing a fare? I've been googling but can't find a way to report it. Also he was driving while eating a kebab.

http://www.london-taxi.co.uk/taxi/complaints.htm

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/contact/pco/

thanks guys...i've reported him. let the powers of official justice deal with him!

http://i.imgur.com/AkNgf.jpg

i am going to london in late april to visit some friends and 'hang'

anything i should be doin' there? fun things cool things?

day trips?

You should be planning a FAP

And possibly seeing Lauryn Hill in concert

i wonder if lauryn would 'fancy a pint'

srsly tho i have never met any london ilxors i dont think

you could try some auction rooms. criterion on essex road do weekly sales on a monday afternoon, you can view all the lots from thursday the week before. lots of tat but some ridiculous bargains too - we got a very nice, huge sofa in perfect condition for £60. plus it's fun sticking your hand up and bidding for things.

sign up to islington east freecycle there's always stuff going all the time

there are probably other freecycles that are the same

camden south has nothing though, unless you like filing cabinets

get 6 cans of lagers for £5* from an offie

I've been away for a year, I get back and it seems to have gone up to £5.50. Bleak times.

I'm sure it's Cameron's fault.

It's still possible! You just have to be prepared to buy something fairly grotty from somewhere fairly grotty.

I need a driving instructor. Is anyone able to recommend me one?

17:00 go to a sam smiths and drink the cheap alpine lagers (you'll be pissed enough to stomach those by now)

warning – you'll have to drink a lot of it – abv cut to 2.8% last autumn.

WHAT? Country's gone to the bleedin dogs mate.

I had four driving lessons as a refresher last year. 10 years no driving left me rusty. I went with Mutual (E London). Didn't really get on with the first guy, he told me I was rubbish and grabbed the wheel off me at one point. For the second and subsequent lessons I had a big scottish guy, into football, who was great. Laid back and helpful. I can't remember his name now though. Finding a decent driving instructor is tough.

Sam Smiths pubs are now close to full price. Therefore, no point ever going to one again.

I still think some of them have their charms, I'm a big fan of the Cittie of York and old faithful Glasshouse Stores, even if I haven't been in the latter in ages.

There's been mad beer inflation in London of late though (blame craft beer, the_recession, whatever) - SS beer is probably as far behind the top end as its ever been.

I don't mind the cock tavern off regent street tbh but I've definitely reduced my visits. Their stout isn't a bad alternative to guinness imo - not similar, obv, just not horrible.

Otoh although I've been a student again for nearly eighteen months now it was only two weeks ago that I went to the University of London Union bar for the first time. Five pints for £7.50 is just ridiculous.

Price aside, SS pubs still tend to have a better atmosphere than the vast majority of West End boozers.

get 6 cans of lagers for £5* from an offie
I've been away for a year, I get back and it seems to have gone up to £5.50. Bleak times.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 12:52 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I'm sure it's Cameron's fault.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 12:58 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha! the * after £5 was actually going to be the footnote saying exactly that!! something like (* more likely to be £5.50 - bloody Tories innit)

Bring Back Brown's Broken Britain

it's true about Sam Smiths - dearer than ever before, but then so is everything else
the lager is good and distinctive
so are the specials like cherry beer
and yes, they do have a different atmosphere which I still tend to like.

is the beer really now 2.8%??

swap sam smiths with a wetherspoons, then

xp

yeah - pointed out to me just before leaving the bricklayers a few weeks ago, feeling surprisingly sober.

These people seem to be up on it all

It was about 2.20 in Sam pubs pre-Christmas, it's now at least 3 quid, at least for a lager. For me that jump means I'd rather go somewhere with decent food, better beer, and nicer atmos. They're not bad pubs but at 3 quid I reckon it's about 80p or so cheaper than a pint of something decent; in somewhere that's definitely nicer.

Mind you the one I frequented most was The Rising Sun near Barbican, plenty of nice alternatives around there.

Drinking round the Barbican and not going to the Old Red Cow is straight-up wasteful IMO.

always too busy imo. it is small.

or just bring a six pack into the barbican?

a six pack of toilet duck

when it's payday

la dee da

time was you would joke about drinking a six pack of toilet duck in the street

really cleaned up the street

Is this the London thread?

Did you see this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/magazine/china-mieville-london.html?emc=eta1

/\/\/\

Say something about it

i read that and wasnt sure what to think

what should i think

should i cancel my trip

Definitely, you don't want to hang out with racists and alcoholics.

"eyes roll with the duh".

Say something about it

it's not interesting enough to, really. mostly it reminded me that i don't get along with miéville's prose at all.

the fluff piece that ran alongside it (what are the LDN equivs of these NYC things iirc) was actually more interesting

"The mayor is a ninja of bumptiousness"

Lex otm, esp re: the fluff. Such an effort to read and although I recall vaguely agreeing with him I can't remember a single specific thing that he says.

read the first page and had no idea what thesis he was attempting to expound, beyond a few 'pensions! strikes! olympics!' handwaving signifiers.

It's not written for Londoners really though is it? I mean most of us will be familiar with most of the arguments and issues in it.

/Say something about it/

it's not interesting enough to, really. mostly it reminded me that i don't get along with miéville's prose at all.

this x 1000. absolutely convinced he dictates his novels, and what interested me about the article most was how its prose hobbles along.

Are you all posting from the banlieues of London? Is there anything I can do to help?

suggest banlieu

Haha very good

ty

banlieuy jagger

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6330354186_ec8974ff10_b.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicohogg/

that dude gets london p much

yeah thats great