London Versus Leeds

It was a rather large Yorkshireman who inspired me to write this post. A friend of a friend, he was grilling me about where I’d chosen to live and, more importantly, why…

‘So do you live down here then?’

‘Yes. I live in south London.’

He looked as if I’d said I had another six months to serve in Libya.

‘Oh, right. It’s pretty polluted, London, isn’t it? Have you ever been mugged? What are you paying in rent? You could afford a big house for the same amount in Leeds.’

I mumbled something about it not being that bad really and tried to catch the barman’s eye. But it did get me thinking. Why is it that London has such a bad reputation elsewhere in the UK? You often hear people say it’s dangerous, or dirty, or expensive, or depressing. Well, damn it, I’m going to stick up for London…

Let’s start with the pollution thing. People who live in London are actually responsible for less carbon emissions than their smug countryside counterparts. It’s not that surprising when you start to think about it. We make fewer car journeys and drive shorter distances. We use public transport more. We have smaller homes, which means we use less electricity and heating. So Londoners are actually greener.

What about crime? The recent riots haven’t exactly helped the city’s image and it’s true that most categories of crime have higher rates of incidence in London than elsewhere. But is the city really that dangerous? There were 125 murders in Greater London in the last 12 months. That might seem like a lot until you remember that the area is home to over eight million people. The likelihood of you being murdered next year is around 0.0015%. I can live with that.

The ‘depressing’ jibe is a rather more subjective one. But it simply doesn’t add up. London is steeped in history and culture. We have some of the best theatres, restaurants and music venues in the world. We have more parks and green spaces than any other capital. Whether it’s opera or art galleries or shopping you’re looking for, this is the place to be. Give us a couple of months and we’ll even have a ruddy great Olympic stadium finished too.

Ok, I can’t deny the expensive point. I’ve been working 10 hours a day here for five years now and my pension fund is still emptier than Arsenal’s trophy cabinet. But it’s worth it. Because this is London and not Leeds.

Image by Paul McGhie