OV9

I've had to walk from Kings Cross to Fitzroy Square. A 30 minute walk.

6 Ambulances on lights and siren calls.

4 separate fire engines.

5 police cars

An obnoxious group of flag waving degenerates shouting at people.

It seems to be getting worse and worse every time I come here, it's getting a bit silly. Also, I grew up in Peterborough so it's not like I'm comparing it to the Seychelles.

Dave!

I might start screaming that dairy is genocide, will probably get a good group by the time I hit Westminster bridge

Dave!

I was in London last Tuesday. It was great - massive number of Lime Bikes parked up on Fenchurch Street but that reflects the ease of getting round by bicycle. Hearing sirens is something you get in any big city.

The Lime bikes are getting annoying - kids have figured out how to ride them for free and once that happens they emit a beep noise and don’t stop, even when abandoned at the bottom of your flat

I did the Bermondsey beer mile a couple of weeks ago, that was pretty decent.

Just sooooooooo much traffic everywhere.

Jobbo wrote: Mon Oct 13, 2025 4:08 pm I was in London last Tuesday. It was great - massive number of Lime Bikes parked up on Fenchurch Street but that reflects the ease of getting round by bicycle. Hearing sirens is something you get in any big city.

It's particularly good when opposite St Pancreas you can't cross the road at the crossing as that's where they dump them.

It's not a few sirens, it's a lot worse in general. I mean the rubbish alone and tent cities is growing remarkably quickly. Ive been going to the same few areas regularly for the last 22 years getting Visas etc and it's just a different place now.

But, you go to Camden and it was awesome.

Dave!

i go to London every couple of weeks - i really don’t see these issues! i usually ride a lime bike from waterloo to farringdon and it’s a lovely place to be in my experience. i walked to St pancras the other day and again, it was a nice pleasant walk.

Rich B is correct

I didn’t go to Camden but it’s probably as touristy as ever. I can spell St Pancras. Crossing the Euston Road at street level was always a pain so use a subway.

Camden isn’t as good as it used to be, the old markets and stores were way better. But people said that 10+ years ago too. I miss how busy London used to be midweek, now it feels like city of 1 million people rather than 10. Go out in the evenings and it feels pretty dead and everything closes way sooner. Weekends then end up weirdly busy but it’s more out of town tourists rather than Londoners so a different vibe.
Can’t even buy an ice cream at 1am these days

V8Granite wrote: Mon Oct 13, 2025 1:32 pm I've had to walk from Kings Cross to Fitzroy Square. A 30 minute walk.

6 Ambulances on lights and siren calls.

4 separate fire engines.

5 police cars

An obnoxious group of flag waving degenerates shouting at people.

It seems to be getting worse and worse every time I come here, it's getting a bit silly. Also, I grew up in Peterborough so it's not like I'm comparing it to the Seychelles.

Dave!

I think comparing London to a town with like 3% of it’s population is a little unfair on London

Twenty years ago the largest collection of scrap fridges in Europe existed just down the road from me and now it’s gone with a massive stadium which hosts some amazing concerts on one side and Sadler’s Wells theatre on the other.

Bring back the fridges!

ZedLeg wrote: Tue Oct 14, 2025 6:36 pm

V8Granite wrote: Mon Oct 13, 2025 1:32 pm I've had to walk from Kings Cross to Fitzroy Square. A 30 minute walk.

6 Ambulances on lights and siren calls.

4 separate fire engines.

5 police cars

An obnoxious group of flag waving degenerates shouting at people.

It seems to be getting worse and worse every time I come here, it's getting a bit silly. Also, I grew up in Peterborough so it's not like I'm comparing it to the Seychelles.

Dave!

I think comparing London to a town with like 3% of it’s population is a little unfair on London

Youve clearly never been to Peterborough. We sadly lost our crown as worst town in the UK this year, not even the best losers

Dave!

Peterborough isn’t great but there’s much bigger shitholes

Levels of shitholeness are weird. The Abbey Farm estate in Thetford is notorious around here for being a dump, in the top 10 most deprived places in England, yet street view it and it looks fine. I lived in the midlands for several years through uni and drove through plenty of far more threatening looking places. Most seaside towns have worse streets, seen places full of rubbish, dumped cars, boarded up houses etc.

I don’t really like London or see the attraction of visiting tbh.

My mrs went to new York a couple of weeks ago and said it had changed and made her appreciate how good we have it in the uk.

Yeah I think a lot of major cities have had it much worse than we have.

London is very much swings and roundabouts. There are certainly some aspects that have got worse / to epidemic levels such as phone snatching and car theft (though that's probably peaked and is reducing now). Some areas have got more grotty but some (e.g. Elephant and Castle regeneration) have improved.

I'd say overall post-Covid the general feeling of malaise and frustration has grown across the board from rough sleepers, violence, theft through to more menial things such as Khunt and his acolytes deliberate fucking up of transport to encourage "active travel" (personally I just walk out the front door each morning and passively end up wherever the road takes me...). In that respect though it is really only a microcosm (or macrocosm) of UK society as a whole... and the direction of travel isn't positive.

Oh I forgot lime bikes. You're right - its definitely, irredeemably gone to shit.

Mito Man wrote: Tue Oct 14, 2025 9:14 pm Peterborough isn’t great but there’s much bigger shitholes

Indeed. I’ve been to Luton.

Mito Man wrote: Tue Oct 14, 2025 9:34 pm Yeah I think a lot of major cities have had it much worse than we have.

Yeah, Los Angeles is fricking wild, if anyone thinks homelessness is bad here, they should see LA in the wintertime. The entire Skid Row neighbourhood - not just one street - is a campsite, far worse than anything I've ever seen in London