Londinium

When you come from way up North in York like I do, the question of "why on earth would you want to move to London?" is a question I expected, and have, been asked many times. So I think this is a good enough place to answer with some perspective, and try to clear up a few misconceptions. Firstly, I want to diminish the idea that moving to London was a mistake. Even living on benefits, desperately seeking work again, scraping the bottom of my overdraft (waiting for my first JSA payment), I can't honestly say that I wish I hadn't moved. Yes I could have stayed in Birmingham, or moved to Manchester, and probably had more money to spare, but I got tired of doing things that I didn't want to do. So...

"It's way too big" : I did discover a couple of days ago that it takes two hours to walk to Trafalgar Square, or just under and hour by public transport. But the term big is relative in terms of good or bad. Capital cities are big generally, because of the jobs available and the amount of people, meaning there is more to do, and if I were so inclined, would probably never have to go to the same place twice. I don't really know how to respond to this statement because I don't see it as a bad thing. I like being able to jump on a tube train and jump off at whichever station, and wander the streets, finding new districts, new shops, new bars, and add them to the growing list of places to vist in future. Birmingham is supposedly second city, so it isn't exactly small. But after the living there for over two years I felt that I knew it inside and out, and needed a change. I don't think I will ever get to know London inside and out, at least not all of it. The fact that there are so many towns and districts within the city limits, each with a completely different lifestyle, appearance and atmosphere, keeps it exciting. Breadth and variety are usually seen as a good thing.

"It's too fast-paced" : When you step off the bus or the tube in London, you fall into the stream of people who are rushing to be somewhere, and this is one of the things that I love most. I would agree that it's not to everyone's taste, but coming from Yorkshire, where no-one has a clue where they want to be or why, it's great to see people with direction. Yes it's fast paced, but I only have to wait a couple of minutes for the next tube train, and transport runs 24 hours. When visiting Devon I found places where busses run once every 30 minutes and stop running at 9pm, which was frankly mind boggling. I guess some people like a relaxed lifestyle, where they know their neighbours and chat to strangers at the bus stop. I guess I just prefer efficiency.

"People in London are rude" : I would say this is definitely a misconception. I was in Bradford a couple of weeks ago, which happened to be the same weekend that there was a BNP/NDL march. I am aware that the BNP/NDL have followers nationally, but that doesn't excuse the rest of the people in Yorkshire who I find to be overwhelmingly intolerant and closed-minded. There are higher levels of racism and bigotry, and people are far more likely to make comments if you look out of the ordinary. I am aware this can be seen as generalising, but it comes down to diversity. The capital has multitudes of different people, different races, different scenes, different opinions, so no-one is really surprised by anything. You can look however you like and people don't really look twice. I enjoy living in a city of acceptance, not one of stereotypes. Furthermore, that people keep to themselves and enjoy privacy here has it's good points; they won't insult you because of the way you look for a start.

"It's too expensive" : An assumption that is hard to disprove. I went to the Barbican a few weeks ago and spent £4 on a bottle of beer. And rent is very high. But it's to be expected when you have so much on offer. Countless museums, art galleries, theatres, restaurants, clubs, bars, shops, not to mention the history, and just being here. Rent may be expensive, but the travel is cheap, and there are plenty of places where you can buy a cheap drink. You just have to find them, which is half the fun.

I spend quite a lot of time on Skyscraper City looking through the forums, and one criticism I see mentioned with regularity is the skyline of London, or rather the lack of one. People have an obsession with comparing London with New York or Paris, or Los Angeles, and dismissing it on the height of it's buildings. Skylines seem to be becoming more symbolic of a city's status, so let's settle this rationally. Cities like New York and Hong Kong had limited land to build on, so were forced to build upwards, and their skylines have become increasingly iconic. London had no need to build upwards because it could sprawl outwards. I agree that this is a problem if you are in a rush to be somewhere (which would explain somewhat why Londoners are always running around), but the lack of skyline is no longer necessarily true. We have the Docklands developments, and the City is overgrown with cranes building taller, and more unique skyscrapers. I don't believe, like pompous conservatives, that skyscrapers ruin London's image. They are a necessity in a city which is ever expanding, and add diversity to an already diverse city, create more space and more jobs. The one thing that cities like New York and LA have over London is a skyline. They have none of the history, or the tradition, and before long, London will have it's own iconic skyline to counter this rather frivolous argument.