[ni'k]

i want to move. and will be able to do so soon. i have gotten my shit together finally and realised i am living in the wrong place.

so im thinking london, but i have little clue, and the internet is just jargon and confusion.


were in london are the freaks welcome and you can roam the streets anonymously and find good culture and art and fine company?

and were is it cheap as fuck to live because i cant afford much rent.

[uhler]

move to brooklyn and be my roommate.

[Cantankerous]

i might move here to london now that i've gotten MY shit together

i see my brethren (the freaks that you speak of) all over the place but there are quite a few in camden

i am excited for smash and grab on thursday

[demonrail666]

OK, I'm sure others here would give you different advice but here's my take on it:

Culture:

Shoreditch, Old Street, Brick Lane (uber-trendy and not that exciting at all, plenty of very cheap Indian restaurants around Brick Lane). If this area were a band it'd probably be Babyshambles.

Soho (less up itself, plenty of cheap-ish restaurants and (largely gay) bars, close to all the major sites). If this area were a band it'd probably be The Pet Shop Boys.

Chelsea (very nice in the village and close to the now rather anonymous Kings Rd. Still reassuringly eccentric as an area. Horrible football team). If this area were a band it'd probably be The Rolling Stones.

Camden (too easily knocked because of its now-tacky market, but still plenty of stuff to do, and still has a certain 'alternative vibe' - albeit in a bootleg Cure T shirt kind of a way - think NY's St Marks Place, but bigger). If this area were a band, it'd probably be The Pogues.

Notting Hill. (Not that fashionable these days but one of my favourite areas of the city. Not as young or 'cutting edge' a crowd as you'd find around Brick Lane, but far more character, better shops, restaurants and bars. Altogether a classier (and more expensive) alternative to Brick Lane and Camden. If this area were a band it'd probably be Portishead.

Living:

All the places listed above are VERY expensive - although you might be able to find a shit-hole dump in them for something bordering on affordable. (Not much of a chance even of that in Chelsea) Better to stick to areas further out in either East or South London. Avoid the cheaper areas of Tower Hamlets and Bermondsey and steer well clear of Newham, which is cheap for a very good reason: it's rough as fuck. Brixton has a bit of a bad reputation but is far nicer than people might think - but again not that cheap. The same goes for Hackney.

"were in london are the freaks welcome and you can roam the streets anonymously and find good culture and art and fine company?"

To answer that simply, I'd say anywhere in the centre and most places outside it have their 'scene' to some degree. you'd probably want to look around Brick Lane which is, for all that people like myself might mock-it, a good cultural centre (but can get a bit sketchy at night). Stay away from Tottenham, Plaistow, Bow, Mile End, Stepney and East Ham. You'll notice relatively cheap flats there, but those areas really aren't worth the hassle.

The bottom line is that nowhere in London is cheap, so you're better off looking for bargains in nicer, usually more expensive areas, than sticking with the so-called cheaper ones.

[Cantankerous]

i like shoreditch. but i like to shop in camden.

probably if i move here i'll move to islington or east london. demonrail is right about nowhere being cheap.

[demonrail666]

The problem with renting in London is that traditionally expensive areas (Chelsea, Clapham (home of Mr Melly), Highgate, Wimbledon (home of Mr DR666), Hampstead, Kensington, etc.) aren't that much more than cheaper areas like East London, and if you look hard enough, cheaper. So my advice would be to find an area you like then find a place there you can afford. So despite what I said in the last post, you'd be surprised to discover that you don't have to live in a ghetto-slum in order to save money. Also, note that London is HUGE. So transport links are absolutely essential when working out where you want to live (Hackney remains relatively affordable largely because it has no Tube link, and so is a bastard to get into/out of.)

As a rough indication of flat prices, expect to pay between £75-150 a week for a room in a dodgy part of East London. For this you'll be able to get to Shorditch and the West End quite easily but have to live with some real dodgepots for the 'privilege'. If you're talking about a one bedroom property then expect something upwards of £200 a week. Places like Notting Hill or Camden are even more expensive but, because they're less fashionable now, there's a far better chance of finding a bargain. Personally I prefer Notting Hill and Camden over the Shoreditch area, but that's just my opinion. Come over for a holiday, have a look around, see where you like, and go for it.

Cantanky: Islington is nice but I find it quite soul-less. Very expensive too, unless you find somewhere around Highbury and want a crack dealer as a neighbour.

I was brought up in East London and used to like it, but what with the infamous Number 25 bus (ask Sarramkrop, T&B) all the Pete Doherty wannabes and the Bengali gangs there now, I'm just glad to be out of the place.

[Cantankerous]

dodgepot would be the UK equivalent of a sketchball wouldn't it?
i can deal with those kind. i get called a sketchball all the time.

in any case it will more likely be east london rather than islington because i know what you mean about the soul-less-ness and i would rather put up with the fuckery of east london than the soul-less-ness in islington. and i'll still have the apartment in new york as well.

[demonrail666]

 

Dodgepots, all sitting in a row.

 

Three dodgepots standing in a lift (elevator)

 

A dodgepot couple.

 

A gang of dodgepots sitting around, on and in a car - probably not theirs.

I've no idea what a 'sketchball' is, but a dodgepot is just an old term for someone whose always 'up to no good', as my dear old nan would say. Some people call them Chavs now, but that only really applies to white working class types, A dodgepot is less colour-specific. The media here sometimes refer to them as 'hoodies'. You've never struck me as a dodgepot, Cantankarous.

[Cantankerous]

yeah, exactly what a sketchball is.

i'm not particularly sketchy, like i don't steal shit to buy crack or anything like that. i just get called that because i'm generally pretty paranoid and always wandering around with my hood up.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Cantankerous

i'm generally pretty paranoid and always wandering around with my hood up.

You'd fit in perfectly in that case

 

Anyway, wouldn't want to give the wrong impression about the city. Chavs/hoodies/dodgepots/whatever are a genuine scurge of England in general and make certain parts of London very difficult to live in, but they tend to cause trouble among themselves. I've never had a run in with them because I seem to exist off of their radar. The Bengali gangs are a different matter though and, while I've never had any hassle myself, I know loads of people that have. To be honest, a big factor in me leaving East London after living there for 37 years was wanting to get away from them. I felt myself becoming increasingly rascist by being around them, which is not good at all. Now I live in Wimbledon, which is far more civilised (if a bit dull). But if you can deal with East London's shit, it's a fascinating place. It's just not the place for me anymore, I suppose. I'm sure that both Sarramkrop and T&B would give you a more balanced, less vested account of it than I could.

[Cantankerous]

well i don't suspect i'm as big a douchebag as that guy, but yeah

anyway i've been up all fucking night and being that i've long since sobered up i need to nap awhile before i go anywhere

[demonrail666]

I'm sure you're not as big a douchebag as David Cameron, but what about the guy to his right?

[Pookie]

Go to London! I guarantee you'll either be mugged or not appreciated. Catch the train to London, stopping at Rejection, Disappointment, Backstabbing Central and Shattered Dreams Parkway.

[_slavo_]

ew, the chavs. There was a whole lot of them in Liverpool and Birkenhead too, as I remember.

[demonrail666]

Aren't they called scallies in Liverpool?

[_slavo_]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Aren't they called scallies in Liverpool?

who knows, i was minding my own business pretty much and was lucky to be living in New Brighton, which was a small peaceful town just across the Mersey.
Anyway, the Liverpool FC vs. Everton rivalry was pretty fascinating. I soon learnt the ability of guessing which team is a person supporting before starting a conversation.

[Danny Himself]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Aren't they called scallies in Liverpool?

That word is kind of dying out in place of Chavs, or the less subtle Knobheads. Plus, it's sort of a broad word. Everyone in Liverpool is a scally whether they like it or not, we all get up to the same things, just in varying degrees.

There is a big problem with it all in Liverpool as Slavo noted, the north end of the city being much worse off in places like Norris Green and Walton where people are regularly being shot up because of a gang war or some sort of other tedious street rep nonsense. The south end of the city, where I am lucky enough to live, is a lot safer, having been a collection of old victorian gated communities and mansions. Still, the neighbourhood of Speke, Halewood and Garston around the airport are very dodgy decrepit council estates. Oh and in the city centre area, don't go into Toxteth (still a riot area) or Dingle (Toxteth 20 years ago). Ah, scenic Toxteth..

 

I don't want to give the city a bad name or anything, but it is a city in rapid moral decline despite economic upturn. For some reason we have a Liberal-Democrat city council who are all in it for the money- think Mayor Quimby on The Simpsons. But at the end of the day I'd rather live here than London, it's much smaller and the dodgy areas are much easier to identify, whereas in London you can unwittingly wander from a trendy and sorta-safe area into a crack hood in seconds.

[luisxvi]

Council
Housed
Anti-social
Vermin

[Danny Himself]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28TeUbYvXS0

Further evidence that culturally britain was richer when we were economically poorer. Luckily, with this recession it looks like we're heading back into this way, which is great, it gives everybody an excuse to riot.

[luisxvi]

I recently saw a thesis by a University bod who claimed that the English upper classes had higher IQ's than people from working class backgrounds. Looking for the link.