How do you feel about the city or town you live in?

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AlanMooresBeard
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25 Oct 2017, 3:44 pm

thewheel wrote:
AlanMooresBeard wrote:
drwho222 wrote:
Well I don't think you have much else in the way of big cities do you? Your whole nation is the size of a small US state.


The only other city in the UK with a population of more than 1 million is Birmingham. The next biggest city would be Leeds which has a population comparable to that of Seattle.


That's only a city limits definition, going by city limits strictly speaking London has a population of a few thousand...

Both the West Midlands and Greater Manchester conurbations have a bit over 2.5 Million inhabitants.


That is true but I prefer city limit definitions anyway. I define London as being all 32 London boroughs plus the City of London which gives you a population of 8 million or so.



thewheel
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25 Oct 2017, 3:47 pm

AlanMooresBeard wrote:
thewheel wrote:
AlanMooresBeard wrote:
drwho222 wrote:
Well I don't think you have much else in the way of big cities do you? Your whole nation is the size of a small US state.


The only other city in the UK with a population of more than 1 million is Birmingham. The next biggest city would be Leeds which has a population comparable to that of Seattle.


That's only a city limits definition, going by city limits strictly speaking London has a population of a few thousand...

Both the West Midlands and Greater Manchester conurbations have a bit over 2.5 Million inhabitants.


That is true but I prefer city limit definitions anyway. I define London as being all 32 London boroughs plus the City of London which gives you a population of 8 million or so.


Then you are not using a city limits definition for London but are for the others. :lol: Apples and Oranges.


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Last edited by thewheel on 25 Oct 2017, 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

AlanMooresBeard
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25 Oct 2017, 3:49 pm

Well, I'm willing to bend the rules when it suits me! :P



Embla
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25 Oct 2017, 3:55 pm

Too much city.
I've always lived next to forests before, so I got really shocked by all the noise and concrete here.
Everyone loves green areas, but there are so few of them here, that they are all filled with people! There's no way to be alone, even in the "forests" outside of the city.



BirdInFlight
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25 Oct 2017, 3:58 pm

To thewheel --- the "City Of London" is not "London" --- it's IN London and it's only one very small borough of London.

It's called "The City of London" only because it was the original centre of London and the name stuck even though the WHOLE actual "city" that's called London became much larger.

There's the city called London, and then there's a thing with a name that is "City of London" inside the city (small c) called London.

You are not correct in thinking the City of London is....London, full stop.

It's IN London but it's not the only bit that's London, it's now only the tiniest bit in the middle. You're making that mistake because of the ancient name of one tiny part in the middle.



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25 Oct 2017, 4:06 pm

It's pretty dull and boring and there isn't much work for anyone, especially if you're disabled. I guess it's safer than a lot of other towns and cities. You can't go anywhere much that's even a little interesting without a car. I grew up in the country where it has pretty scenery but it's very isolated and there isn't much of anything to do. You need a car to even go do your grocery shopping, there's no bus and a cab is too expensive. That's the whole reason I moved to the city, but lately it's been getting more and more difficult. Or maybe I'm just getting old. :(



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25 Oct 2017, 4:10 pm

I live in Edinburgh. People who have never been here think it's a wonderful place to visit someday because its "full of history"..... well it's also full of traffic jams, badly planned road works, over crowding, half of the people you bump into don't speak English (or pretend not to) and are just plain arrogant. There are beggars next to every bank machine (most of them phonies). Charity workers try to suck money out of you every several metres and know how to make you feel bad if you don't cough up. Not to mention the general crime related incidents that tend to plague most western capital cities.

If you ever plan on coming here, please don't. :|



thewheel
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25 Oct 2017, 4:13 pm

BirdInFlight wrote:
To thewheel --- the "City Of London" is not "London" --- it's IN London and it's only one very small borough of London.

It's called "The City of London" only because it was the original centre of London and the name stuck even though the WHOLE actual "city" that's called London became much larger.

There's the city called London, and then there's a thing with a name that is "City of London" inside the city (small c) called London.

You are not correct in thinking the City of London is....London, full stop.

It's IN London but it's not the only bit that's London, it's now only the tiniest bit in the middle. You're making that mistake because of the ancient name of one tiny part in the middle.


I was making a Reductio ad absurdum. No one would say London has a population of a few thousand, which is strictly true based on the city limits, so why quote other cities populations based on city limits? In truth both Greater Manchester and Greater Birmingham are fairly large urban areas, among the largest in Europe outside the major capitals.


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Last edited by thewheel on 25 Oct 2017, 4:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.

BirdInFlight
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25 Oct 2017, 4:16 pm

To AlanMooresBeard -- I was born and raised in London. Years ago I actually LEFT it for a quieter city and I was glad to because I hated it even back then, and it wasn't even so intolerable as it is now. I'm 56 years old so I remember London from long ago; you're only 31.

I came back in good faith and was horrified to find London is even worse to function in than it used to be.

I have the perception of someone who did go away from it for long enough that I was shocked at the changes for the worst that is has become. This city was a bit of a nightmare before but I can tell you with confidence that it has changed greatly and is even more of a nightmare.

The noise isn't even only about construction noise -- the noise is everywhere in the form of fast-flowing traffic on any main thoroughfare.

I live right on a main thoroughfare. It sounds like you at least live on a quieter residential street maybe? I live right on a main road that has traffic flowing through it literally 24 hours a day. I have double glazed windows and even with them all closed, I still hear the constant noise of the motor vehicles outside.

It's also a red London bus route and the nightbuses run all night. My building is over a Tube line, and even though I'm on the third floor, the rumble of the tube transmits up through the building, and you can hear it -- one is going by as I type this, even though it's underground beneath me and three floors.

But it's not even about my home -- there is constant noise as soon as I step outside to just go anywhere. Everywhere I walk as soon as leave my building, it's a main road and I also live right next to the next thing down from a motorway but not quite a motorway (freeway in the USA).

I have to walk next to that almost-motorway all the way to the shops, and they are on another loud, noisy trafficky roadway. Basically there is nowhere I walk or cycle that is actually peaceful or without the rumble of motor traffic.

I'm surrounded by noise in my home and I'm surrounded by noise outside just going from A to B.

Even transportation is pure noise. The buses these days have unbelievably loud engines -- what the EFF is that about? The airport coaches regularly use my road and they sound like Concorde is coming down the street.

Get on a Tube? Bring your ear plugs. There's a lot that is completely intolerable in this city.

You have probably never left it or felt the need to leave. I left it and got another perspective.

Sadly I'm in no position to move anywhere again at present, so I'm stuck with my reality here. Or I would move.

I live in the East End and I too have fast and easy access to central areas. Except that I hate being on a tube train. Autistic sensory problems -- I have them.



Last edited by BirdInFlight on 25 Oct 2017, 4:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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25 Oct 2017, 4:18 pm

LMAO!

Um --- perhaps YOU should go back and read what I said.

Because I was not the one who quoted the populations of other cities.

And despite what you say, your post did indeed read as if you truly believed the only "London" was "the City of London" and that you actually thought that's all there actually is to London. A population of a few thousand. LOL. London is THIRTY TWO BOROUGHS.


thewheel wrote:
BirdInFlight wrote:
To thewheel --- the "City Of London" is not "London" --- it's IN London and it's only one very small borough of London.

It's called "The City of London" only because it was the original centre of London and the name stuck even though the WHOLE actual "city" that's called London became much larger.

There's the city called London, and then there's a thing with a name that is "City of London" inside the city (small c) called London.

You are not correct in thinking the City of London is....London, full stop.

It's IN London but it's not the only bit that's London, it's now only the tiniest bit in the middle. You're making that mistake because of the ancient name of one tiny part in the middle.


Perhaps you should go back and read what I said. I was making a Reductio ad absurdum. No one would say London has a population of a few thousand, which is strictly true based on the city limits, so why quote other cities populations based on city limits? In truth both Greater Manchester and Greater Birmingham are fairly large urban areas, among the largest in Europe outside the major capitals.



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25 Oct 2017, 4:20 pm

The "City of London" is basically Westminster. A bunch of upper class toffs who make millions pretending to care about the fools that keep them in their "jobs". What you never see on TV however is the larger part of London. The slums, the people who barely have a home to live in, or no home at all. I know university students who live in their cars/caravans, some even live in boats because they can't get affordable housing. A false image has been painted of London. When you think London, you picture a nice big clock tower with well preserved historic buildings surrounding it. But that's like 5% of London, they never want you to see the rest.



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25 Oct 2017, 4:26 pm

The younger people are open and tolerant of different people and cultures. The older people are a mixed bag. Many are tolerant and inclusive, but a few aren't. Old, white men seem to be the least tolerant. It's a nice place to go for a nice little walk, especially on Welfare Wednesday when I get my disability pension. There's lots of hippies in my part of town. I tried to be like them, but God has a different plan for me that I've been following for a while. There are lots of shops in my city, two strip malls and a traditional mall that has a roof over all of the stores. There's also a casino that I never go in. There are 5 McDonald's restaurants in my city as well.


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25 Oct 2017, 4:29 pm

Fraser S -- yes! Thank you!

What most people get wind of regarding London, are the tourist attractions, the posh bits, the museums and all the nice stuff. The greater part of what they don't get wind of is the underbelly of it that the ordinary people have to deal with.



thewheel
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25 Oct 2017, 4:32 pm

BirdInFlight wrote:
LMAO!

Um --- perhaps YOU should go back and read what I said.

Because I was not the one who quoted the populations of other cities.


I didn't say you did. The line "No one would say London has a population of a few thousand, which is strictly true based on the city limits, so why quote other cities populations based on city limits?" was not directed at you, it was a general statement about the logical argument i was making with AlanMooresBeard.

BirdInFlight wrote:
And despite what you say, your post did indeed read as if you truly believed the only "London" was "the City of London" and that you actually thought that's all there actually is to London.


Clearly not to everybody since AlanMooresBeard understood what I was getting at. It isn't my fault if you do not understand a logical argument.


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25 Oct 2017, 4:40 pm

I'm out on the prairie.

My "town" is a settlement with a population of about 70. There is only one family who lives here that I have not known members of their family since I was a little kid. Of course, many of those I knew as a little kid have passed away from old age and the ones there now are their children or grandchildren or great grandchildren or even great grandchildren.

We have a church. During one church service about five years ago, I noticed that there was nobody there from one notable family. That struck me odd because that was the first time in my entire life that I went to church here that there weren't at least one member of that family in attendance. That includes not only Sunday morning church services, but also weddings and funerals. It hasn't happened since.

Other than that, there are no stores or restaurants. It's not a big deal because we can just go to a nearby town.

There is so little crime that it is rare to see police in the area. The two major exceptions I can think of were:

1) A police chase from a nearby town passed through one afternoon a few years ago. They were chasing someone who had held up a convenience store. I had dozed off in a farm building about 1/4 mile off of the highway and their sirens woke me up. He finally crashed about 30 miles away and was taken into custody.

2) More recently, a fugitive tried to hide in a nearby field (about 1/2 from the farm) and the police showed up en masse when someone sited him and called in. He wasn't very hard to catch because he was stuck in the mud and couldn't drive off. All he could do was try to wallow through the mud. When the police picked him up, he was so wore out that he was nearly happy to see them.

There was a murder about six miles to the south, but that was more than 100 years ago.

If I wanted to lock the house, I'd have to install new locks because I haven't seen the house key in years.

It's wonderful.



AlanMooresBeard
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25 Oct 2017, 4:53 pm

BirdInFlight wrote:
To AlanMooresBeard -- I was born and raised in London. Years ago I actually LEFT it for a quieter city and I was glad to because I hated it even back then, and it wasn't even so intolerable as it is now. I'm 56 years old so I remember London from long ago; you're only 31.

I came back in good faith and was horrified to find London is even worse to function in than it used to be.

I have the perception of someone who did go away from it for long enough that I was shocked at the changes for the worst that is has become. This city was a bit of a nightmare before but I can tell you with confidence that it has changed greatly and is even more of a nightmare.

The noise isn't even only about construction noise -- the noise is everywhere in the form of fast-flowing traffic on any main thoroughfare.

I live right on a main thoroughfare. It sounds like you at least live on a quieter residential street maybe? I live right on a main road that has traffic flowing through it literally 24 hours a day. I have double glazed windows and even with them all closed, I still hear the constant noise of the motor vehicles outside.

It's also a red London bus route and the nightbuses run all night. My building is over a Tube line, and even though I'm on the third floor, the rumble of the tube transmits up through the building, and you can hear it -- one is going by as I type this, even though it's underground beneath me and three floors.

But it's not even about my home -- there is constant noise as soon as I step outside to just go anywhere. Everywhere I walk as soon as leave my building, it's a main road and I also live right next to the next thing down from a motorway but not quite a motorway (freeway in the USA).

I have to walk next to that almost-motorway all the way to the shops, and they are on another loud, noisy trafficky roadway. Basically there is nowhere I walk or cycle that is actually peaceful or without the rumble of motor traffic.

I'm surrounded by noise in my home and I'm surrounded by noise outside just going from A to B.

Even transportation is pure noise. The buses these days have unbelievably loud engines -- what the EFF is that about? The airport coaches regularly use my road and they sound like Concorde is coming down the street.

Get on a Tube? Bring your ear plugs. There's a lot that is completely intolerable in this city.

You have probably never left it or felt the need to leave. I left it and got another perspective.

Sadly I'm in no position to move anywhere again at present, so I'm stuck with my reality here. Or I would move.

I live in the East End and I too have fast and easy access to central areas. Except that I hate being on a tube train. Autistic sensory problems -- I have them.


I actually live on a main road too but I live in an apartment block and my home is on the other side of the building away from the road. However, there is a railway line directly opposite which has trains constantly going past but I'm quite used to it now so the noise doesn't really bother me. I also have to walk along a main road to get to the nearest rail/tube station and shops but there is a riverside area for at least part of the way that I can walk down for a more pleasant route.

I agree with you about sensory issues on public transport. I don't use the tube unless I need to but when I do, I just put up with the noise and do something like read a book to take my mind off it. I find this easier to do on the sub-surface lines than the deep level ones as the trains on those lines are more spacious and tend to be less noisy in my experience.

You're correct that I've never left London or ever felt the need to. Everyone I know is here and I have a great support network so there's no reason for me to live anywhere else. I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have that and I am very grateful that I am in that position.