'When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life', as the well-worn quote of Samuel Johnson goes. But what happens when everyone else is tired of London? A report released on Tuesday shows that people in 16 cities around the UK are pretty tired of London.
The YouGov survey, commissioned by Centre for London and Centre for Cities found 1,700 respondents (from a sample of 2,478) think the capital is expensive, crowded and/or chaotic. To anyone living in London none of those adjectives will be unfamiliar, but when it comes to politics, the economy and media the perception is that London gets more of everything.
Unsurprisingly, the further north the researchers got from London, the less well-regarded the capital was — in Hull, Sheffield and Liverpool, fewer than one in 10 people thought that London has a positive effect on their local economy. When asked to pick five words to describe London, the top choices were 'expensive' and 'crowded', with 'dirty', 'elitist' and 'impersonal' also making an appearance. On the plus side, London is 'cosmopolitan', 'lively' and 'fashionable', so that's alright then.
You can see the Guardian's datablog here.
Photo by Mani Babbar Photography in the Londonist Flickr pool.
