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I know that when I was in London 8 (almost 9!) years ago, I walked around the city all day in black J.Crew flip flops and my feet were nearly as black as the shoes were by the end of the day, from all of the dirt/soot/exhaust from cars! Although I don't wear flip flops much in NYC now that I live here, my feet NEVER get as dirty as they did that day in London.
weird.
Nonetheless, I absolutely adore London and think its one of the most beautiful, exciting cities in the world.
You should have been to both cities. London is very dirty and strange smells are common. The rundown buildings makes the experience worse. Even nicer parts of the city leaves a lot to be desired compared to other major European cities. NYC must have improved a bit compared to a few decades ago.
I don't see how it can become like Vienna any time soon. Then again you have to consider the size and diversity. After all, the people make a city. There's only so much sanitation departments can do.
Of course. It's all relative. London isn't too bad compared to Liverpool. The congestion charge will remove some of the pollution in the inner parts of London. I just wanted to know how NYC compares to London. I know London quite well having worked in the city as a real estate agent. It's in a terrible state except for very few parts.
I've been to Vienna as well. I know every city has dirty sections. I'm speaking of the overall impression. Vienna has much less than London - the bins aren't overflowing with rubbish. There's no need for cities to be crime-infested, dirty, badly run and decaying.
It's also cultural, for a lack of a better world, It's difficult to imagine that Austrian and Swiss cities, even if they would get as large (which they won't any time soon), can become as unhygienic places to live.
It's a northwestern European (excluding the Nordic countries) thing as well. You cannot say it's just because London has so many visitors. I visited Mechelen (Belgian town), and it looks scruffy too. You just don't get that in most of Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Then again some seem to believe you cannot have both a vibrant and clean city. I beg to differ.
I hope the new mayor of London, Boris Johnson, can clean up the London, in the same way what Rudy Giuliani did for NYC.
That's great! I used to work in Maida Vale and St Johns Wood in northwest London. Don't get me wrong. There are nice places in London. My aunt lives in Hampstead which is quite nice. But you get very little for what you pay for in London. When you get there it would be cool if you could compare life in NYC compared to London.
Oh, those are some of the nicer places in London. At least they are relatively chav free compared to most areas. Hampstead is very nice, but as you say, very pricey. I own a 3 bed semi detached house at the top of the Northern Line and am moving to a 1 bed apartment on the UWS so it will be a big change for me, but a good change. Where are you from? How did you end up in Northwest London?
I think that most cities that are worth spending time in are a little dirty. Part of what I remember most about Paris, too, was the overabundance of dog feces on the sidewalks and my surprise that the Metro isn't really any less gritty than the NYC subway. The only clean cities that I have been to are the ones that people don't really live in.
Of course. It's all relative. London isn't too bad compared to Liverpool. The congestion charge will remove some of the pollution in the inner parts of London. I just wanted to know how NYC compares to London. I know London quite well having worked in the city as a real estate agent. It's in a terrible state except for very few parts.
I've been to Vienna as well. I know every city has dirty sections. I'm speaking of the overall impression. Vienna has much less than London - the bins aren't overflowing with rubbish. There's no need for cities to be crime-infested, dirty, badly run and decaying.
It's also cultural, for a lack of a better world, It's difficult to imagine that Austrian and Swiss cities, even if they would get as large (which they won't any time soon), can become as unhygienic places to live.
It's a northwestern European (excluding the Nordic countries) thing as well. You cannot say it's just because London has so many visitors. I visited Mechelen (Belgian town), and it looks scruffy too. You just don't get that in most of Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Then again some seem to believe you cannot have both a vibrant and clean city. I beg to differ.
I hope the new mayor of London, Boris Johnson, can clean up the London, in the same way what Rudy Giuliani did for NYC.
The bins are overflow because there is a lot of traffic in London. Same problem in New York.
In general, New York City looks cleaner than London, but London's Tube is much cleaner and more modern than New York's subway.
This is a fun discussion. Like Sahona, I have dual citizenship and have spent years back and forth between the US and London.
Having lived in London for 6 years as an adult I know exactly why my parents emigrated to Texas 20 years ago. I didn't like NYC when I visited in the 90s (because I was coming from a dreamy master-planned community in Houston), and I know it's changed a lot since then, but it's really living in London that toughened me up enough to handle NYC.
So, impressions - YES, London is much dirtier than NYC. In London you're walking on cramped and crooked pavements - I have weak ankles and they twisted in every direction every day. In NYC, the sidewalks are spacious and the slabs are large and unbroken. In London you step on all sorts of rubbish, food, spittle, unexplained dust and grime. Granted, NYC has its smelly piles of garbage bags, but there's also more room on the sidewalks to avoid them. I couldn't get over the feeling of spaciousness when I first moved here a few months ago.
I prefer the neat layout and cleaner platforms of the London Underground, but not the cramped quarters and extremely littered Tube carriages. Also, the upholstery is nasty. In NYC, I prefer the large and very clean subway cars - it amazed me when I first came to see people not eating on the subway, and not dropping litter as they exited. However, I am discouraged by the state of the subway stations themselves. I will say, though, I am pleased that when I blow my nose after a day of commuting in NYC, it is not black as it was in London.
Before this gets any longer I will stop and submit my 2.5 cents!
Last edited by Artmeliana; 01-10-2009 at 12:55 PM..
Reason: added a point for clarity
Grass is always greener. I sometimes envy people my age who have settled down and have the car, the house, the dog...that's the way I planned it but somehow ended up a bit of a nomad!
As an American who's never been to Europe, I always thought EU cities were far cleaner and crime-free compared to American cities (as do most Americans). I will say that NYC isn't too bad except when people don't take care of their trash cans/bags and the graffiti. Philly (where I live now) is far worse in those regards).
I do read BBC.co.uk pretty regularly and everytime a youth is stabbed the socialist/mulitcultural apologists always seem to scream "CRIME IS DOWN IN LONDON!!!!IT'S ALL LIES!!!11!!"
So which is it? Is crime going down in Britian or is it all hogwash?
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