Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...The mass migration means it's really no longer a British city it was 30 years ago. The demographic changes are staggering...just not British any more.

But the museums are still excellent, if a bit woke these days....

Come on, say what you really mean. You know you want to say it. It's only 14 words.

What do you want me to say? That large scale migration of non-native British people have changed the character of the city? Absolutely. It's neither here nor there because it is what it is and it also means it's not the London of the past. It's taken on a different history.

As for the 14 words what are they?

Okay, I am gonna assume a little good faith here- the tone of your post sounded a bit like racist dog whistling, but sounds like it's more just like you are commenting on the change, not bemoaning it, per se. I would argue that big cities like London, Paris, NYC are always in flux, and that if you go back through history there are constant waves of migration (not always international, London saw huge numbers of people from northern England, Scotland and Ireland (which was the same nation then!) in the 1800s), and there have been constant worries of "these new people are overwhelming us". It's the nature of things in big economically strong cities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...The mass migration means it's really no longer a British city it was 30 years ago. The demographic changes are staggering...just not British any more.

But the museums are still excellent, if a bit woke these days....

Come on, say what you really mean. You know you want to say it. It's only 14 words.

What do you want me to say? That large scale migration of non-native British people have changed the character of the city? Absolutely. It's neither here nor there because it is what it is and it also means it's not the London of the past. It's taken on a different history.

As for the 14 words what are they?

Anonymous wrote:...The mass migration means it's really no longer a British city it was 30 years ago. The demographic changes are staggering...just not British any more.

But the museums are still excellent, if a bit woke these days....

Come on, say what you really mean. You know you want to say it. It's only 14 words.

I have a complex relationship with London. I lived there in the 1990s and a again for a few years in the early 2000s and loved it. These days it's changed so much, some for the better and others in just different ways. The mass migration means it's really no longer a British city it was 30 years ago. The demographic changes are staggering and I don't think I've see any other place undergo the same scale of population changes. So the neighborhoods I once loved aren't the same any more, they're either colonized by the very rich and boring, like Mayfair and Kensington, or well, just not British any more.

On the other hand, it is safer and cleaner. Massive gentrification has cleaned up large parts of London but it's also meant London is extremely unaffordable.

It's always been very expensive. And it's always been a widely criticized city for lack of charm. But the museums are still excellent, if a bit woke these days. The shopping can be great. Dining out is more expensive than it's worth it but my friends still in London are excellent cooks and have access to excellent ingredients.

I don't have much of a desire to revisit London for longer than a day or two to see old friends before going elsewhere. London is the one place that makes me feel "no country for old men." But I readily recognize that for others it's still a thriving and fascinating city.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being able to find good food in London is a special talent in itself, but bonus comedy points for thinking food scene is better in DC/ DMV.

NP. But this is possibly the dumbest post in this thread. And there are several elite contenders.

Yeah yeah, everyone knows the South Asian and other immigrant food in London is good. (Sort of. People oversell this all the time, but fine.)

So what? Pretty much any large city on earth has good options if you want authentic, cheap, ethnic food and go to the right neighborhoods to find it.

Beyond that, the London food scene is absolute trash. Utterly mid Dishoom gets talked about like it’s some world class destination. It’s McDonalds. The turbot from Brat? Meh. There isn’t a single decent steak in the entire city.

I could go on but won’t.

Please tell us which restaurants anywhere in the world you like, so we can gauge how worthwhile your opinion is.

She probably likes Chick-Fil-A and Cracker Barrel.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being able to find good food in London is a special talent in itself, but bonus comedy points for thinking food scene is better in DC/ DMV.

NP. But this is possibly the dumbest post in this thread. And there are several elite contenders.

Yeah yeah, everyone knows the South Asian and other immigrant food in London is good. (Sort of. People oversell this all the time, but fine.)

So what? Pretty much any large city on earth has good options if you want authentic, cheap, ethnic food and go to the right neighborhoods to find it.

Beyond that, the London food scene is absolute trash. Utterly mid Dishoom gets talked about like it’s some world class destination. It’s McDonalds. The turbot from Brat? Meh. There isn’t a single decent steak in the entire city.

I could go on but won’t.

I’ve never been to Dishoom or Brat.

London restaurants are top in the world and it’s not that hard to find good ones. Good Food Guide and Michelin have loads of them listed. If you have a modicum of ability to research you can’t go wrong. If you just stumble in from Leicester Square to the closest kebab shop you may be disappointed.

I really can’t believe how many troglodyte provincial simpletons are trashing London.

Im not reading this whole thread but OP is awful. Food in London is amazing, parks are great, you don’t have to drink to be at the pub, 2M in Mayfair is probably a shack which is why it’s uninsulated and maybe doesn’t have indoor plumbing?, you’re not going to get stabbed, the tube is not expensive and is one of the top transit systems in the world.

This great experience is being wasted on you who’s complaining about the beer intake of British people and the subpar insulation in your below market rate accommodations.

You’re not a tourist, an aristocrat, or a Russian oligarch, what are you doing in Mayfair?

I love London

OP it sure sounds like the feeling is mutual

Anonymous wrote:Op - I’m also a brit and I don’t want you to hate london. Here some ideas:

- volunteer at one of the galleries: my friends mother did that (also at the zoo with the gorillas!) and made a ton of friends (she made friends at the gallery not at the zoo 😂

- my friends still in london have this club where they go cold swimming. Sounds awful to me but they like it and they hang!

- financial times has a book club and weirdly a lot of ppl I know made friends through that

- yoga retreat

- the pub! I love lansdowne and engineer in nw1, wells in hampstead, the cross keys in Chelsea.

-next time you hate it, climb to the top of primrose hill, look at the view then take yourself to lemonia - super yummy Greek food right there with lovely proprietor that you literally cannot hate.

- gl - I am rooting for you to love my home town one day like I do

Op here — thanks. Will take some of these up

Anonymous wrote:You’re seriously an insufferable wench and wrong

Wow, you must be British!

You’re seriously an insufferable wench and wrong

Anonymous wrote:I’m here to say that to you, yes. Be shocked. Even before retiring 7-8 weeks if vacation. I can choose between the US health care or NHS or private here as I wish. Central, better than Mayfair property, excellent schools etc.

I think you hate the UK on some sort of Commonwealth lines and the OP sounds like a whingy moron

You’re conflating the government pension which at max pays 203 GBP per week with an employer provided defined benefit. Fuzzy on the details, pp.

London is amazing.

You’d have to be a yokel to not think so

I’m here to say that to you, yes. Be shocked. Even before retiring 7-8 weeks if vacation. I can choose between the US health care or NHS or private here as I wish. Central, better than Mayfair property, excellent schools etc.

I think you hate the UK on some sort of Commonwealth lines and the OP sounds like a whingy moron