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fred - anything east of Tower Hill is null and void.
Might as well be living in Gravesend.
The only reason they extended Zone 2 out that way was to keep the cost of people commuting to canary wharf down.
And I wouldnt pay £1k per month for an Ex-council flat beyond wapping, when you can pay £1k-£1.2k for a decent 2 bed duplex in Hampstead or prim hill, or god-forbid clapham.
The only reason the far-east flats are coming down in rent is because all the bankers who rented them paid over the odds to be near the wharf. Now with a drop in employment out there no-one else in their right mind wants to rent that far over when the rest of the business world is 10 miles further west.
East Croydon, you turn right out of the station exit and straight into chaville. Turn left and straight into normaldom. My one regret was not moving to East Croydon sooner. I always thought it was some sort of 'Watford of the south' when I passed it on the train. Trains pass through there every minute of the day into Victoria.
You've got the Blacksheep bar (they have break dance nights!) with Marco (top lad). Addiscombe riders club, The Ship (air guitar metal pub), etc etc etc. Just the right blend of grit with London 🙂
Blimey, Stoner's Incredible Talking Arse!
Zone 2 was here long before Canary Wharf mate. What do you know, anyway, Commuting Boy? 😉
You know you're just digging a hole now.
And you're a ponce. Primrose Hill? Shows how little you know. You'd need a chunk more than £1200 a month for a lot of places round there! And Clapham? That's almost Surrey! 😆
When are you gonna get a life and stop trying to "educate" everyone in the "Ways of the RudeBoy"
The OP was asking for advice on possibly moving to London. As a Londoner, I'd like to offer him some positive advice. No harm in that. Had you tempered your statement with 'but there's loads of good stuff too', then fair enough. But you din't. So, I chose to counter that, with advice based on my own experience. Which, I'd hazard a guess, might be a little more deeper than most people on this forum, seeing as I was born and raised here, and have lived all my life here, not just moved here for work. therefore, I think it's safe to say, I probbly have a greater depth of understanding of many aspects of London life, than many people on this forum. I don't say this with arrogance; I say it because it's probbly true.
Educate? Just trying to offer some helpful advice.
I'm not on a 'wind up', If you have chosen to get wound up, that's your call.
whatever wideboy. you can have the last word, but Ill drop a tenner says that if the OP does move to london, it wont be further east than tower hill because its a crap option.
Leave East London to the posers and students.
Nobody wanted it before them.
Behave yourself, and get back to your white whine spritzer! 😀
Moving away from the practicalities and on to the happiness issue - if is entirely possible to be just as lonely in a big town as a small town. Do you know anybody in London that could help you meet people ?
The older you are the harder that is - at your age do you really want to be going out to the pub every weekend ?
As a fallback, you should listen to Oscar Wilde "it is better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done"
Go for it, but give yourself an escape clause. Tell everyone you will be moving for a year to see how you like it (er not your new employers obviously !). Rent your flat out, give it a year.
Good luck
P.S I worked out the other day that I had moved 6 times in three years, once to somewhere proper foreign - have settled on small town life near awesome biking with commute to great job
It's easy to make friends in London, especially so in the internet age.
There's lots of other lonely people, so you just need to locate them and ask them out for a drink.
Ultimately London will lead to the Hitman [b]and her[/b]
IGMC
London is the crappest of the lot - fact. Oh and remember buy a stab vest...
Oh, I don't know, I think Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool are worse, but then again every city has its good and bad.
As for buying a stab vest - what a load of toss spouted by an idiot.
Coming form West London I'd have to say the Germans didn't bomb the East end enough. 😉
Ive seen alot of violence in London. A womans body was kept in the boot of a Merc one road down from my flat. I witnessed two steamings of a wine shop at the top of my road, an armed robbery of the newsagents next door (yes why the need for weapons?!), Two yuffs stabbed outside West Hampstead tube station (we walked past the paramedics trying to stabilise them in the road), a guy kicked to death down the road on a Sat night, Albanians constantly having running fights etc etc etc. Even so. I honestly dont think London is anywhere near how rough Manchester can be. Not even close.
I live in the highest knife crime area in the UK so I know what I'm on about. A **** who pulled a knife on me a couple of years back has now thankfully been murdered himself. So **** you Sonor who's the idiot heh?
Rose-tinted spec wearing ****s
I have lived in central London on & off since 2004 and moved away November 2008 (redundancy victim!), mate just do it, I've lived a fair few places city and country in the Uk and a little overseas and in my opinion its one of the best. Theres more than a dozen people can do in a lifetime, its exciting and vibrant, great fun and reasonably full of opportunities.
I think your £50k will be fine, many down there are on way less! The big considerations, accomodation & its location has a huge effect on costs obviously But commuting on the public transport in rush hour is truelly Grim, if you can avoid the rush hour its better, If i were you i'd look for a room in a shared house or apartment with people who are like you ( a good start for the social life) and with an easy commute. Round Hoxton is uber cool and young, Isle of Dogs is good for the city or greenwich park, you could cycle if you like.
Good luck if you go and enjoy, I think you'll love it.
[i]I live in the highest knife crime area in the UK so I know what I'm on about. A **** who pulled a knife on me a couple of years back has now thankfully been murdered himself. So **** you Sonor who's the idiot heh?
Rose-tinted spec wearing **** [/i]
Someone pulled a Tech 9 on me last week. He/his whole family, his milkman and window cleaner all subsequently disappeared.
No one messes with Capo Hora 🙄 😆
Blimey.
S'a bit much, all this.
Hitman; please, don't be put off by the negativity of some individuals. I won't pretend London is perfect, because it quite clearly is not.
But for all it's faults, it is an amazing, fantastic place. I love it to bits, and I've seen a fair bit of it's seedy underbelly!
You know you've at least got a few oher STWers to hook up with; as I said before, why not come up for our urban pootle next Sunday, meet a few bods, get a feel for the place? We'd be happy to show you around.
It's my Home, and I'm chuffed that people want to come here. And it's my responsibility, as a Londoner, to try and help them have a positive experience of the place.
I live in the highest knife crime area in the UK so I know what I'm on about. A **** who pulled a knife on me a couple of years back has now thankfully been murdered himself. So **** you Sonor who's the idiot heh?Rose-tinted spec wearing ****
So you're going on what happened to just you? Yeah, everyone in London should wear a stab vest, because they've all had knives pulled on them. The figures would clearly show that thousands upon thousands of people in London(out of a population of millions) have been stabbed. Get real.
If anybody here honestly believes your drivel that everyone in London is carrying and you should wear a stab vest, then I offer the following phrase for them to contemplate:
"He who writes for fools are assured of a large audience."
I've lived here for 8 years and like you I moved here for the money, a 50% pay rise to about 35K at the time. Earning that money in my early 20's I was in my element. I had planned to move back North now we have a family but we have stayed and I don't regret it at all. There is loads to do, choose the right suburb and its more villagey feeling than the equivalent in many other cities, the next steet to me has local pubs restaurants, cafes and a dozen or so independant retailers. I ride on the Surrey Hills most weekends, 35 miles & 45 mins away, and the only other place in England I like riding more is the Lakes, it takes years to get to know the cheeky stuff but once you do its a bloody great riding spot.
The downside is the cost of living though, with 2 kids in childcare and a 3 bed house, my outgoings will be >4K a month. 😯
Hitman
I moved to London 1996 I think it was, when I was 26, and left when I was 33.
I personally would not move back again, as yeah, I would miss the countryside too much. I ended up in Leeds in 2005 and that city has a very vibrant night life, plenty to do, plus you can be in the countryside in minutes and north, south, east and west within an hour or so drive you have amazingness everywhere. Leeds is not the only city with a real mix like that obviously.
I see you have a job offer in London, and that may well change things, but yeah, just something to throw into the mix. Is it really London you are after, or would somewhere smaller be better for you? I have no idea, just something to think about really.
BTW - I was living in Hampton at the time if that is of any significance.
I could never live in London. I live pretty comfortably oop north on 17.5k a year and don't have to work full time.
Spose you could always give it a go though.
Do it, throw yourself into it and you'll never look back. It's not called the greatest city in the world for nothing. Also the women in the summer are a sight to behold
Wow, just checked back to find 65 posts and some minor disagreements!
Thanks to all those who posted to help me with my decision
To clarify, I'm not moving for the money, more to be around more people,as its so isolated here
Am thinking also about more of a halfway house move - smaller city but closer to countryside/coast, but job opportunities are limited at the mo
Would say that if I hadn't visited London recently the stories re: violent crime would really put me off but found from the short time I spent there that Londoners were really friendly people and I didn't feel overly threatened
Don't want to sound -ve although suspect I might to you, and am only putting this forward as a counter to all the "go for it" postings, but have you considered that you might be having a bit of a mid life crisis? I suspect that if you move to London to immerse yourself in the social scene there that you will just end up feeling old and even more lonely. Instead of burning all your bridges, how about starting a campaign to track down the things you are after nearer to home? There are bound to be sports you can do regardless of any injuries you might have had - plenty of adrenalin in dinghy sailing, parapenting, diving etc, any of which can be done after your knees/ hips or whatever have packed in. Not sure of your inclinations, but also loads of socially orientated groups everywhere e.g. charities, environmental groups full, kind of, almost by definition, with nice friendly people, and from experience there are definitlely plenty of nice women involved in all kinds of eco/environmental groups. On the other hand if you are completely lethargic/uninterested in organised activities, but still want to meet women, how about personal ads? Again from experience (met my wife through a personal add) it is possible to find someone, but I found that placing a very honest ad was the way to go, rather than answering ads, which was totally useless. Personally I think you might be better off giving that a chance rather than pulling up whatever roots you do have where you are, possibly for no benefit.
rightplace
no I don't, some very valid points there
I have tried some of the methods suggested but probably not hard enough, maybe its time to try again before such a move
Where do you live(ish) BTW
rightplacerighttime, some good points and a good counter. However you can still keep friendships/roots going back 'home'...as long as you don't rely on the trains ($$$) then you'll never see home again (or once a year!).
I say plan to do it for only one year. You've at least tried it then.
Either way, all the best. My price for my lowly advice is one pint of ale, collectable whenever I see you in the future 🙂
Live in Wales at the moment
the stories re: violent crime would really put me off
From personal experience, violent crime isn't any more of a concern than it is if you live anywhere else in the UK these days. Less so, in fact. I've lived in Manchester and Oxford and both those places had way more aggro. Violent crime does happen in London but it generally happens to violent criminals.
This is from a middle aged man that's never left Stoke-on-Trent. There are pros and cons for living in any area,not just London. If I was in your situation,with that job offer,I'd be there like a shot. It is one of the best cities in the world.....doesn't necessarily mean the end to the loneliness problem though.
Good luck with what ever you decide.
Ok. I often get accused of 'glossing over' the bad stuff. So...
London is a massive city, which will undoubtedly have many problems and social issues. Within certain parts of it's diverse culture, you will find poverty, hate, greed, fear, aggression and violence.. Aspects of these may indeed affect you, at some time or another. Such a wealthy city, and there are beggars on the streets. There is fear. There is hatred. There is racism. There is homophobia. There is possibly prejudice in every form. Only this week, a Sikh temple, right by my mum's, was deliberately set ablaze, and has been virtually destroyed. Every day, you may find something that may make you cry. Every day, you may see something that makes you really angry. The selfishness, the greed, the lack of caring, the insensitivity of people will astound you.
Traveling around at rush hour is a truly soul-destroying experience. The place stinks of fumes and all sorts of nasty smells. There is rubbish all over the place. Just trying to get about can be fraught with all sorts of difficulties.
During my life, I have been abused; physically, racially and culturally. I have been beaten up more times than I care to remember. Been in more fights than I can count. I've been stabbed, baseball-batted, hit with iron bars, had me face kicked in. Had bottles and bricks thrown at me. Had a gun pointed at me. Been deliberately driven into, whilst on me bike, and on foot.
London is not a place for the lonely soul. In a city of millions, you may never feel so alone, in your entire life. At times, it may seem that no-one cares, that you have been ignored, forgotten, discarded.
London takes no prisoners, yet can feel like the worst Gulag on Earth.
When you are at your lowest point, London can become your prison cell; incarcerating you into a darkness so deep, from which you feel you may never surface.
Trust me; I probbly know this shit more than most.
But (and yes, there's ALWAYS a 'but'...).....
It's STILL the Greatest City on Earth.
Given the choice, I woon't swap it for any place on Earth. Seriously.
Call me biased, call me deluded, call me absolutely insane!
It's still a ****ing incredible place.
And it's my Home, and I'm proud to call myself a 'Londoner'.
And anyone else can, too. Wherever you're from, whoever you are. If you chose to make it your Home, you are part of it. And it becomes part of you, if you let it.
And there's nowt wrong with that.