13 *horrible* truths about living in London

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One thing that happens almost all the time when you tell someone that you live in London, who doesn’t live in London themselves is that they go, ‘oh but London is so… this or that, and people who live in London are so…. XYZ. There are so many opinions and myths about life in London that I have been doing my duty as a londoner for almost ten years, i’m going to truthfully answer the question, are all the horrible myths about london really true? Well, we’ll see.

I talk about:
- is london expensive?
- does london have bad weather?
- can you trust people in london?
- are people in london rude?
- is london crowded?
- the wealth gap.
- london is dirty.
- is london dangerous?
- is it hard to find friends in london?
- can you get tired of london?

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[akbender]

I am a German living in Ireland for 5 years now. I've lived in Rotterdam, Düsseldorf, London and Zürich and I always thought of myself as a "city girl". Turns out I am not! I would never ever trade this life, living in a small Irish coastal town, surrounded by the sea, mountains and so soo much green. Irish people are the kindest, friendliest and most caring people in the world (by my opinion) and I have never felt more at home anywhere else, not even in my hometown.

[raheltd]

"My kind of people: The Movers" ohhh I felt that! I moved to Southern Finland 4 and a half years ago, from polluted and noisy Italy... Today I was thinking of how much I love the peace and quiet but also clean air and nature of my neighbourhood 💚 I don't want to leave!

[susanking]

As a Londoner I would love to hear more about living in Sweden aand Berlin and the differences between the 3 countries

[jodywinter]

I am a New Zealander. I was born in Wellington and lived in London (and Bristol) from 1994 - 1996 on the under-30s working holiday programme. I now live in Auckland. London in the 1990s was obviously different to how it is now (pre-mobile phones, internet) but many of the things you mention were true back then. I loved my time in London (and have been back several times since) but I could never live there long-term. Auckland is a big city (almost 2 million people) but it's surprisingly not crowded and I really love it here.

[sarah.gabriella]

I'm an American living in London and have been here (on and off) for 12 years. When you said that to make friends in London, you have to be introduced by a common friend, it was like a lightbulb went off for me. I'm recently back in London after a few years away, and this is such a good reminder to keep reaching out to people. Thanks for a great video!

[shushuchan]

I expirienced almost a physical whiplash when you said you moved to London ten years ago because I still remember that move!! No way it's been this long already! I'm having a little freakout over how fast time passes.

[haiji]

I am a Japanese person living in Tokyo. Here in Tokyo, I think there is a lot of entertainment and culture that I enjoy, such as many art exhibitions and classical music concerts and fancy restaurants, which I appreciate. It is also safe and convenient here. But ideally, I would love to live in Paris that I love, because I am so much into French cuisine and culture, fashion, historical buildings, etc. I have visited London several times too, and would like to visit there again. I love the art museums and historical buildings of London.

[albiesspace]

I know this is an incredibly privileged thing to say, but. I can deal with busy, loud and overcrowded places and old apartments. But living my life among unkind people who lie, scam you, flake on friends and don't care about public space enough to take the trash that they brought to the next bin, and be expected to follow suit myself... I don't think I quite understand.

[gdok]

Very accurate assessment in my view. You can quite easily escape the crowds, even in central London with lots of big, beautiful parks where you can't even hear the city. London is made of 40% public green space, including 3, 000 parks totalling 35, 000 acres.

[DianaDang]

I just moved to London from Toronto over three months ago. I absolutely love life here. London has been nothing but wonderful for me (despite a slightly rough start at the beginning). I can't wait to see what life has in stores for the next couple of years for me.

[rafalinares]

I moved to Stockholm coming from Madrid. The shock is real. But at the point of my life I’m in, Stockholm feels like a perfect fit.
I’ve always found London a bit inhumane because of its size, crowds, prices and weather.
But I know all places have their charm. I’m glad you found your place.

[nadia.lewis.]

I'm in Vancouver, which is very green + lovely in some ways (lots of coffee shops), but there's too too many cars now, and it's so expensive. So I'm moving to Paris in five years after I build my businesses up.

I got a little choked up at the end, hearing how happy London makes you--I hope to feel that same way in my new city. :)

[katrinav.]

As a 7 years Londoner, 100% agree on all !!
First years are the most difficult- the city is testing if you will survive, literally. Every aspect of your life, financial, moral, social, health…
And as a proof to the last point- I’m on a holiday now and I have no a half thought to go anywhere as just stay right where I am, go for a walk in a park and grab myself a nice coffee on my way and enjoy the moment, because I still cannot believe I live in this city and feel so grateful for that opportunity!

[ЮлияСуходоева-ло]

Thank you for this video! I've heard so many awful scary things about London and it's so nice to listen to smn with a fair and honest perspective.

[elizarosalind.studio]

I’m a native Londoner, from Camden ❤ I bought a place an hour outside London a few years ago as I couldn’t afford to buy there…. Biggest regret of my life. Even though I’m only an hour away, I miss London, it is always my home❤ nowhere compares xx

[irinap.]

Agree 100% on every single point. We moved to London almost two years ago after living in Finland for 10 years, and I love London! It has everything that you need - the hustle and bustle of the center, the green areas, the quiet neighbourhoods… culture, food, cinema, the best concerts… Plus, if you want to travel, it’s so easy from London. What more do you need? And the weather is definitely not even remotely as bad as in the Northern Europe. The only thing I wish was different here is education system. I have kids and the way the whole schooling system works here is nuts. Other than that, a lovely place!

[auntyjo]

Class system is unsurmountable in the uk, if you are working class, hence the need for pride. If you are foreign you get a free pass on it all so enjoy!

[VerdenAvGlass]

I live in the village in western Poland, near German border. I bought old cottage house from 19th century with some land and this is my place on the earth. I used to live in southern Norway, in northern Germany, but now I am where I wanted to be. It's quite wild place, far from civilization, but it's extreamly beautiful. The forest, lakes and rivers, ruins in the woods, old german roads heading to nowhere. There is no second place like that and I love to be here.

[jimsteinberg]

What a lovely essay, mostly consistent with my experience; what also makes London truly extraordinary are the free museums, excellent transport and world leading theatre

[lilliangray]

I was visiting London for the first time ever when you uploaded this video! What an amazing city! It's incredible that despite the population you really can find quiet spots very easily. There's a gorgeous park in every corner!