Things that are pretty good about London: A List

haha aw

the bus is only 90p

i have gone on abt this far too often i doubt but i love hackney's specific clash of turkish, vietnamese, west indian, west african, polish&russian, east-end jewish and plus smidges of all the other locals and transients (not so many squat-crusties as once were, or spanish goths: currently loads more cuet young french teens of all gender)

The diversity of food and most of it is good.

mark s do you think that diversity of the area we live in extends to an exciting interaction between all those people or is that not actually happening in any meaningful way and is this bad?

Despite its problems, still possibly the most successful multicultural society in the world.

^ Yes.

I am having trouble coming up with something specific because for me there are just so many things great things about it. This is going to sound strange but it has an energy that I just haven't found in that many other cities.

There's a 24 hour Tesco just down the road but I don't ever need to go in it.

rarely waiting more than 4 minutes for a subway train

depends what you mean by exciting steve! street-corner knife-fights = exciting but bad, friendly nods at the corner shop = excellent but not terribly exciting

Great parks, and lots of cool free festivals.

It has pubs! Proper pubs! Loads of them, and loads of them are great. One thing I miss more than anything about London when I'm in cities in other countries is the comfortable feeling of being 'in the pub'. New York bars just don't cut it for me in the same way.

It doesn't matter as much that things start to close at 11 because we can start earlier and no one thinks you're a dangerous alcoholic basket case.

It does matter. It's particularly annoying when you've just seen a movie and then want a drink.

Mind you, in Australia until the sixties, pubs closed at 6pm. Now that must have been frustrating.

Hampstead Heath, Greenwich Park, Primrose Hill, Blackheath, Victoria Park, Richmond, Wandsworth Common, Dulwich Park - London has more awesome big green spaces than any other city I've been to.

Not to mention the big swathe of parkland that runs through Zone One from St James's right through to Kensington Gardens and the top of Hyde Park almost unbroken, and no one ever advocates building over any of it.

well, a Queen's gotta breathe

depends what you mean by exciting steve! street-corner knife-fights = exciting but bad, friendly nods at the corner shop = excellent but not terribly exciting

sorry yes by exciting i just mean social interaction really. i feel there is multicultural proximity and tolerance but not a lot beyond that - could just be my own bubble view/limitation. the proximity and tolerance do prove something good tho.

Proximity and tolerance is a big thing though - obviously nationalist rivalries and hatreds still exist (Turks/Kurds on Green Lanes etc) and it would be wrong to bury heads in the sand when we now have a BNP London Assembly member but the city still feels overwhelmingly like an easy-going multicultural mix.

It's generational as well, these things tend to break down or at least dilute when you have second-generation kids from different backgrounds in the same class, and when people work together, as well. This is what terrifies the BNP obviously.

I mean, how much does anyone socialise or interact with their neighbours of whatever background really? Notion of 'communities' as sold to us by EastEnders is kind of outdated if it ever existed.

everything asbout london is good except the tourists and aspirational people from the rest of the country quibbling about travelcard zones

oh and the astronomical cost of living but i blame the above for that

I'm born and bred here but one of the things that keeps london alive is the sheer churn of people living here.

The Globe! Teh National Gallery (one of the best collections in the world)! THE PROMS! Wigmore Hall. Charity shops. Pubs!

well i suppose someone has to fill crap pubs in clapham xp

obviously nationalist rivalries and hatreds still exist (Turks/Kurds on Green Lanes etc)

Can I just say that I live just off Green Lanes and everyone seems to get along fine, although your point still stands yes.

Anyway, good things about London:
The massive series of reservoirs that cuts all the way through East London down to the Thames.
Churches! They're everywhere, and always look good (unless they've been built in the last 100 years or so).
Loads and loads of ethnic food shops, of many persuasions.
Hopper buses.

I mean, how much does anyone socialise or interact with their neighbours of whatever background really? Notion of 'communities' as sold to us by EastEnders is kind of outdated if it ever existed.

it's not so much a knowing your neighbours thing, more a general who you mix with thing. living where i do i've become more aware of the divides between people despite the impressive range of people around.

Eastenders idea of community is actually true to some extent but obv they've failed to reflect the true cosmopolitan range of such areas.

walking through the square mile late at night or on a weekend morning

The Barbican

The Southbank (RFH, BFI, NT)

RIBA

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1157_art_deco/img/about/p_riba.jpg

The Rio in Dalston, the BFI, Clissold Park, Osterley Park, Richmond Park, the parks in general, Kew Gardens, the public transport (I have never lived anywhere with transport so good), the place that sells Spanish food in Portobello Road, Mangal II (a Turkish restaurant in Dalston), a billion other things and, finally, its general atmosphere of 'yes, this is all fine'.

views from Parliament Hill, Beckton Alp, Horsenden Hill and Crystal Palace

Tesco Express and Pret are good lunch solutions for those on a budget

The view from Waterloo/Millennium/Tower Bridge

Public transport

The sheer size and density of the place

i like buses more than i used to. no really

i especially like the ones with snazzy displays :)

The view from Waterloo/Millennium/Tower Bridge

Waterloo is the winner. Looking east. At night.

Churches! They're everywhere, and always look good (unless they've been built in the last 100 years or so)

Wrong!
See this fellows photos for examples of fine 20th century churches.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecadman/sets/72157604537601493/

London is a dream for walking in, surprises round every corner, and so many streets packed so tightly together that you can always find new routes even to familiar destinations.

The river, duh!

And don't get me wrong I love the old churches too. Especially any of these...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecadman/sets/72157600218797284/

The manager of Warwick Avenue tube station who writes amusing and quite endearing messages on the travel information board in the morning.

Examples: "No sooner do you get back to work than you have start planning for the weekend again!" and "You're doing really well! Keep going! Only two days til the weekend!"

Dude rules.

The grotty high-ceilinged pub at the end of my road. It used to accomodate only the local ageing Irish population who would come into watch the racing but has seamlessly accomodated the influx of Ghanaians and Somalis who all now drink Guinness and moan about their bets with the rest of them.

It has pubs! Proper pubs!

Amen

Public transport

Ditto

London is a dream for walking in, surprises round every corner, and so many streets packed so tightly together that you can always find new routes even to familiar destinations

Listen to what the man says

Also, noteworthy: constantly renewed supply of attractive women

The buses are great! I used to get around Glasgow by bus and it was hell, generally. In London, sheer joy. Unless I meet too many of the people I just described on the rate-people-on-public-transport thread and unless they are horribly full. But at least they SHOW UP and go places you want to go quite quickly (these days).

You no longer have to listen to James Whale.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/06/commercialradio.radio

I know that applies to the whole country but still...

...some good has come out of the BJ election already.

everything asbout london is good except the tourists and aspirational people from the rest of the country quibbling about travelcard zones

-- DG, Sunday, 4 May 2008 17:27 (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

TRUTH BOMB~!

in your face

Can drink outside with impunity (OK this is all of the UK and only in the context of having been in the US and it been a non no to crack open a beer in the park, outside a bar or on your front porch)

OK this is all of the UK

Not in Glasgow

Unless they've changed the law recently

Not in Canterbury either.

The manager of Warwick Avenue tube station who writes amusing and quite endearing messages on the travel information board in the morning.

Examples: "No sooner do you get back to work than you have start planning for the weekend again!" and "You're doing really well! Keep going! Only two days til the weekend!"

Dude rules.

-- Upt0eleven, Tuesday, 6 May 2008 09:54

haha the manager at clapham north does the same, but with quotes from famous folk and so on.

The postal service is pretty good!

You can still get window cleaners and milked delivered!

There are many ways to get around!

Great Victorian and Edwardian housing. Loads of it. (more than the rest of the country put together?)

Between Tottenham Court Road and Liverpool St, particularly at the weekend.

The South Bank.

The Pubs.

Belsize Park/Primrose Hill/Maida Vale.

Pimlico

Nunhead