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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Apr 26, 2008 7:27:32 GMT
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Post by legios on May 1, 2008 20:01:31 GMT
Apologies, I meant to reply to this earlier on but I had some problems getting the report to play without killing my Firefox install. Seems to be sorted now though.
There were some interesting statistics there though, but I'm not sure whether the comparisons were actually the right ones to be making - comparing London's economic performance and demographics to an aggregated "rest of the country" (For that matter how are we defining that? Is it the usual BBC news "the country" - England and Wales or the continental UK? Are they including Jersey?) strikes me as potentially misleading. Might it have been more edifying to compare London to other urban centres in the UK (Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff, Belfast)?
Some of the demographic figures were interesting though. It seems as if the UK is skewing in the same direction (although in a less extreme fashion) as New Zealand, where around half the nations entire population live in one conurbation (Auckland in that case).
That said, I would agree with one thing that was inherent in the report - having passed through London in recent days - London does feel like a completely different nation to anywhere else. There is something about the "feel" of London (and I can't define it more precisely than that I'm afraid) which is dissimilar to any of the cities near to where I live. It feels like a distinctly foreign enviroment to me.
Karl
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on May 2, 2008 18:35:53 GMT
And now... Boris Johnson for Mayor?
Brian Blessed hosts Have I Got News For You tonight. Maybe if he plays his cards right he'll be Mayor a few years from now.
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Post by legios on May 2, 2008 19:30:17 GMT
And now... Boris Johnson for Mayor? Brian Blessed hosts Have I Got News For You tonight. Maybe if he plays his cards right he'll be Mayor a few years from now. Now that would be a sight to see. Brian Blessed as "MAYOR OF LONDON!". He'd certainly be able to dominate any meetings he had, should he feel the need. Karl |
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Rich
Protoform
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Post by Rich on May 2, 2008 21:49:30 GMT
Boris as mayor scares me even more than Ken staying in does, unfortunately I didn't get to vote as I fell of the electoral register while I was away. The ever-hilarious Charlie Brooker wrote a great piece on it a couple of weeks ago: www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/14/charliebrooker.borisI think Karl makes some excellent points about the stats, but it was indeed an interesting report. All I can say as a Greater Londoner (who'd love to live more central) is that London can be as great or as shit as it's possible to be. That said, I always feel a strange frustration when I meet people who hate the place, I always want them to come back and let me show them it on a summer's day. From what I've seen, the only European cities that come close to London are Barcelona and Berlin (personally, I find Paris a bit of a myth) and I'd take a night out in London town over Bangkok, Jakarta, KL or any SE Asian city. Sydney's a lot smaller, but of the places I've been it comes closest to London's 'feel', but their weather does show us up and maybe, just maybe, gives them the edge. But yeah, despite often despairing of some (make that many) of the people who live in this city I do feel proud of the city, which is kind of daft I know. Not sure if these ramblings are what this thread was about, but there you go. |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on May 3, 2008 7:35:48 GMT
Well, Boris is in. Boris and Ken were both very friendly towards one another in their victory/concession speeches. We shall see! BNP also in the London Assembly - means they got 5% of the vote, I understand. I love visiting London. Went there the week before last for a meeting (there and back in one day from Cardiff is fine, not much more than two hours on the train each way). Got to Westminster early, sat by the river reading in the sun, very nice. Mentioned this to my colleague in the London office. He looked out through a grimy window and shrugged. As I said, love to visit - parks, theatres, museums, etc. - but would never, ever live there. The pace of life is wrong for me. So many people, men in suits and ties, more like ants than individuals. I've seen the tube in rush hour. I value being able to walk from my house to the city centre in twenty minutes (and seeing mountains from my office window) too much to consider a change of lifestyle. And I do prefer Paris. Off-topic: Brian was mighty last night on HIGNFY! Martin |
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Post by The Doctor on May 3, 2008 16:12:39 GMT
I too like visiting London but have no urge to live there at all.
And Boris Johnson as Mayor? Fuck sakes. The man is an imbecile.
-Ralph
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Post by karla on May 3, 2008 20:11:45 GMT
noooooooooo he isn't  I live just outside of london and am not allowed to vote! I think its most unfair for those who have to go to work there but don't actually live in london as whatever the outcome will supposedly affect them and they can't do anything about it! london is alright, but after a day there when you blow your nose all the innards are black with the soot  I would like to visit no.50 Berkeley square though! |
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Post by legios on May 3, 2008 20:52:59 GMT
I'm never sure whether Boris Johnson is an idiot, or just feels he doesn't need to be diplomatic and can say stuff that he actually thinks. Either way his politics are more than a little different to mine so we will never see eye to eye.
I'm afraid I am going to have to sully the thread and admit that I don't actually like London all that much. It isn't so much the city itself though. It's the people, or more accurately the density of them. London is far too busy and bustling for my tastes - too many people in too much of a hurry. I'm not a big fan of urban environments in any event, and London has all the characteristics that I'm not fond of writ quite large. I can see why folk do like it, but it isn't for me at all.
Karl
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Post by andrewbcalculating on May 7, 2008 9:13:12 GMT
I have to agree with Karl in parts with the people aspect of London, if there wasn't certain people in London who break the law then maybe I wouldn't have left. London would probably be a great place if certain people weren't there making it uncomfortable for others.
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