# London becoming THE city of the UK?



## skydive (Apr 24, 2008)

the country side in UK is very breath taking and beautiful, places like the Isle of Wight, Lake District, Yorkshire. The major cities on the other hand are just drab and depressing, crime, poverty and other social problems rule


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

^ Not really.


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## Blackpool88 (Nov 15, 2007)

WhiteMagick said:


> If London is becoming THE city of the UK then I can't imagine how more ugly, dull, boring and crappy are the rest of the cities!


did you have a bad experience in London?


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

WhiteMagick said:


> If London is becoming THE city of the UK then I can't imagine how more ugly, dull, boring and crappy are the rest of the cities!


Stop your lame attempts at flaming please


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

skydive said:


> The major cities on the other hand are just drab and depressing, crime, poverty and other social problems rule


That's rubbish. Have you actually bothered to visit any of the UK's other major cities lately?


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## krudmonk (Jun 14, 2007)

I'd honestly rather visit the other cities before London. London is everywhere I look. It has no mystique.


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## WhiteMagick (May 28, 2006)

Blackpool88 said:


> did you have a bad experience in London?


I've visited London many times. I study in the UK so I go to London quite often. Not a single bad experience. But I've visited a few other cities outside the UK and it is my opinion of London compared to other cities. 




Tubeman said:


> Stop your lame attempts at flaming please


It is my expression of opinion. Other cities in the UK like Oxford and Cambridge are magnificent and as if they were taken out of a fairytale!! I study in Nottingham and the city is quite pretty and fun. But I just think London is not that nice. I do like Ridgens Street in London which reminds me, for some unknown reason to me, of Paris. It is My Humble Opinion.


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## sarflonlad (May 13, 2005)

I don't understand this thread. 

London dictates so many perceptions of the UK to the outside world - and the UK is held by the mercy of London itself. No one in London (the majority of which aren't Londoners) really gives a hoot about the rest of the UK whilst the rest of the UK obsesses itself with matching London in one way or another (and having a selfridges doesn't quite cut it im afraid).

This has pretty been the case since London's inception. So why the debate?


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

WhiteMagick said:


> It is my expression of opinion. Other cities in the UK like Oxford and Cambridge are magnificent and as if they were taken out of a fairytale!! I study in Nottingham and the city is quite pretty and fun. But I just think London is not that nice. I do like Ridgens Street in London which reminds me, for some unknown reason to me, of Paris. It is My Humble Opinion.


There are ways of expressing opinions. Of course you're perfectly entitled to loathe London and everything about it, but this is not constructive criticism:

_"If London is becoming THE city of the UK then I can't imagine how more ugly, dull, boring and crappy are the rest of the cities!"_

If you can't see what is inappropriate about your statment then there's something wrong with you, but then again you think London is ugly, dull, boring and crappy so it may well be case closed.

London is in parts ugly, granted, (most big cities are)... But it is also in parts stunning... If you find London dull and boring then I suggest you're quite likely dead: it's one of the most vibrant and dynamic cities on earth with an almost inexhaustible repetoire of galleries, museums, restaurants, bars, clubs, sporting venues etc etc... As for 'crappy', well thanks for your input.


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## WhiteMagick (May 28, 2006)

^^ I haven't insulted anyone personally in this thread or even used the word 'you'. Your personal attack on me is uncalled for. Please calm down and relax. This is just a discussion and an expression of opinion in the spirit of freedom speech.


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

WhiteMagick said:


> ^^ I haven't insulted anyone personally in this thread or even used the word 'you'. Your personal attack on me is uncalled for. Please calm down and relax. This is just a discussion and an expression of opinion in the spirit of freedom speech.


And I'm challenging you to substantiate your comments and level some more constructive criticism than the use of the word 'crappy' in describing London.

Hey, I'm just expressing an opinion in the spirit of free speech!


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## WhiteMagick (May 28, 2006)

^^ A challenge is not an opinion expressed in the spirit of free speech. 

chal·lenge –noun 
1. a call or summons to engage in any contest, as of skill, strength, etc. 
2. something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc.: Space exploration offers a challenge to humankind. 
3. a call to fight, as a battle, a duel, etc. 
4. a demand to explain, justify, etc.: a challenge to the treasurer to itemize expenditures. 
5. difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it. 
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME chalenge < OF, var. of chalonge < L calumnia calumny] 

o·pin·ion –noun 
1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty. 
2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal. 
3. the formal expression of a professional judgment: to ask for a second medical opinion. 
4. Law. the formal statement by a judge or court of the reasoning and the principles of law used in reaching a decision of a case. 
5. a judgment or estimate of a person or thing with respect to character, merit, etc.: to forfeit someone's good opinion.


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

re: free speech, I was referring to my 'personal attack' on you, smartarse

Better luck next time


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## Blackpool88 (Nov 15, 2007)

sarflonlad said:


> I don't understand this thread.
> 
> London dictates so many perceptions of the UK to the outside world - and the UK is held by the mercy of London itself. No one in London (the majority of which aren't Londoners) really gives a hoot about the rest of the UK whilst the rest of the UK obsesses itself with matching London in one way or another (and having a selfridges doesn't quite cut it im afraid).
> 
> This has pretty been the case since London's inception. So why the debate?


haha don't be so narrow minded. If we were so jealous of London, what is stopping us from just moving there? I've lived there and all my family live there and maybe one day I might live there but for my current age I think Manchester is a much more manageable vibrant city, especially since you are less then an hour away from Liverpool and Leeds, open your eyes and go and explore the rest of our great country.


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## trainrover (May 6, 2006)

Blackpool88 said:


> I think Manchester is a much more manageable *vibrant* city


Hmmm, it seems little must've changed these past 35 years...


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## Zenith (Oct 23, 2003)

skydive said:


> the country side in UK is very breath taking and beautiful, places like the Isle of Wight, Lake District, Yorkshire. The major cities on the other hand are just drab and depressing, crime, poverty and other social problems rule


Yawn...we shall rise above as is the norm.


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## Pickle33 (Feb 7, 2007)

I've lived in quite a few cities in the UK and I don't think anyone in thses cities is under any illusions about the extent of London's influence. That's not to say that people in UK provincial cities should not strive to compete with London....despite the incredibly uneve odds stacked against them.

I love London because its "good, bad and ugly", but the UK has a really diverse and rich range of cities from the historic gems like Edinburgh to modern dynamic metropolises such as Manchester. The thing I really like about UK provincial cities is that they are a real mixture of old and new and I love the fusion of industrial legacy and cultural heritage you find in cities like Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow and Birmingham. The regeneratation of UK provincial cities has been astounding over the last 10 years...they're unrecogniseable from the state they were in some years ago. I'd recommend anyone to venture out of London. London's a foregn country to most Brits anyway....is so huge and full of tourists and foreign workers.


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## Republica (Jun 30, 2005)

I would definately agree with the london being a foreign country bit. 

Its as much a foreign country as Scotland, if not more  Its the only place where you just know you arent going to be able to walk far enough to see the fields!


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## Veinticinco (Sep 13, 2005)

It used to be that every city competed, with london being step ahead of the rest. Liverpool was a bigger port than London, Manchester and Birmingham were huge manufacturing hubs, Glasgow was competing with Liverpool for '2nd city' status. 

But since WW2 I'd say, when the (London based!) government rebuilt the country, London has dominated completely, during recession all the jobs are in London and so post-graduates have to move there to find work, which means there are less skilled workers in the other cities, so less companies will want to invest in these cities and will go straight to London instead, which attracts more graduates, it's a cycle which works for London but leaves the rest of the cities fucked. So the gap between London and every other UK city just gets bigger and probably always will.

London's local competition is Paris.


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