Having lived in London for ten years, IMHO Cardiff is by far the better city. The only thing that lets it down is public transport.
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Having lived in London for ten years, IMHO Cardiff is by far the better city. The only thing that lets it down is public transport.
ThisOriginally Posted by bobh
And no top flight football or any decent clothes shops
By far the better City? you really need to elaborate on that statement. London is a Mega city, Cardiff is a village in comparison.
No it’s not !!!!!!!!
In just 1.12 square miles, the City of London counts around 8,000 residents, 513,000 daily commuters and 10m annual visitors. The City of London boundaries stretch from Temple to the Tower of London, on the River Thames including, from west to east Chancery Lane and Liverpool Street.
I was last in Cardiff around March-June 2021....coming out of Covid restrictions. Queen street had gone down, with quite a few vagrants.....St. Mary street was just sad in the daytime but bustling at night. I actually found the public transport (had no car with me) quite decent (then...). My favourite area was the municipal centre/museum and the greenery there. Overall I think Cardiff is a lovely city.
OK, I will.
I lived in Leyton, about 6 miles from the "City of London" which is the equivalent of a borough (there are may boroughs in Greater London, Leyton being in B of Waltham Forest.
I used to cycle to work, as the tube was overcrowded and smelly during rush hours. Rush hours were about 6-9:30 in the morning, 4-7 in the evening. Nobody spoke on the platforms or trains. My cycle route took me down Mile End Road, which was a wide road, but had stalls set out on the pavements, spreading into the road itself. These were mostly fruit&veg, as could be seen by the amount of spoiled fruit & veg on the ground.
The air smelled dirty, a white shirt was grubby by the end of the day. My wife is London-born, and after we moved to Cardiff, once over the initial culture shock she found London dirty and smelly when we visited back there.
You get a" London Weighting" allowance in your pay, but this doesn't compensate for the extortionate prices of buying or renting property, nor the cost of food &clothes. Don't start me on theatre prices.
Yes, there are great places to visit around London, if you can afford them. Most visitors who go shopping go to Oxford St, which has all the big department stores, but contain exactly the same stuff that can be bought in the provincial branches of these stores (or online), at less cost.
Crime is rife throughout, you only have to see the news to confirm that.
Is that enough for you
Cardiff is a good size and near the coast, you've got all the facilities you need, plus Beaches, Mountains, and Countryside, overall it's one of the best places to live in the UK.
Yup, it's enough. I was back and forth their for six years, admittedly not living there but spent considerable time in London, all over. There's not much point debating with you when all you can do is pick up on the negatives. It begs the question why did you stay so long. London has it's problems, logistically it's a nightmare on times and you have to be organised, I learnt that quickly. But there's a whole lot of fun to be had on every level. Maybe you should have got out more.
I totally agree with you.
Samuel Johnson once said, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford".
I lived in Hounslow for two and a half years. On the weekends I would get on the Piccadilly line and travel into central London, a fantastic place!
I will visit Cardiff this June; my first time back in more than five years, and only my second time back in fifteen years.
My friends in China are blown away by the photos of Cardiff that I show them. One thing that I noticed on my last visit (sometimes it takes a prolonged absence) was how friendly and helpful people in customer service roles were.
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