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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog/2013/jan/29/who-loves-london-and-who-doesn-t
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| Who loves London? And who does not? | Who loves London? And who does not? |
| (30 days later) | |
| For all the Olympian boost Brand London received last year, and for all the mayoral rhetoric about "the best big city in the world," Londoners themselves appear far from unanimous about the capital's appeal according to a YouGov published last November (pdf). | For all the Olympian boost Brand London received last year, and for all the mayoral rhetoric about "the best big city in the world," Londoners themselves appear far from unanimous about the capital's appeal according to a YouGov published last November (pdf). |
| While 48% of respondents said they'd choose to stay here if given the option to leave, 52% said they'd rather live elsewhere. Asked to pick two issues the London mayor should concentrate on, 39% put tackling crime at the top of their list, 37% the cost of living, 31% affordable housing and 30% creating jobs. Invited to pick three characteristics that best describe London life, 65% went for "expensive," which topped the list by a vast 23 points. Londoners weren't too cheerful about the future of their city either, with 43% saying they thought it will become worse in the next 25 years compared with only 30% who thought it will improve. | While 48% of respondents said they'd choose to stay here if given the option to leave, 52% said they'd rather live elsewhere. Asked to pick two issues the London mayor should concentrate on, 39% put tackling crime at the top of their list, 37% the cost of living, 31% affordable housing and 30% creating jobs. Invited to pick three characteristics that best describe London life, 65% went for "expensive," which topped the list by a vast 23 points. Londoners weren't too cheerful about the future of their city either, with 43% saying they thought it will become worse in the next 25 years compared with only 30% who thought it will improve. |
| This largely gloomy picture contrasts sharply with the rather positive one that emerged from a poll conducted by Ipsos MORI in 2004. It found that an overwhelming majority of Londoners (69%) were either very or fairly satisfied with living in London or the London area. Seventy-three percent strongly agreed or tended to agree with the statement that "London is a place I like living in," and 75% said the same in response to the statement that "London is a place I identify with." However, there's some similarity between the polls in that the Ipsos MORI respondents placed high cost of living and crime second and third (after traffic/traffic congestion) from a selection of things about London they didn't like. | This largely gloomy picture contrasts sharply with the rather positive one that emerged from a poll conducted by Ipsos MORI in 2004. It found that an overwhelming majority of Londoners (69%) were either very or fairly satisfied with living in London or the London area. Seventy-three percent strongly agreed or tended to agree with the statement that "London is a place I like living in," and 75% said the same in response to the statement that "London is a place I identify with." However, there's some similarity between the polls in that the Ipsos MORI respondents placed high cost of living and crime second and third (after traffic/traffic congestion) from a selection of things about London they didn't like. |
| It would be less than scientific to infer from these two, differently-framed, polls that there's been a steady slide in Londoners' contentment with life in the capital over the past eight years or so (or a sudden one). But both are interesting in the context of population outflow from the capital over roughly the same period. Even though the population of Londoners has been growing at a terrific speed thanks to its high birth rate, the number of people who move out of the capital to other parts of the UK has remained greater than the number who move in from elsewhere in the UK, despite problems with the housing market making it more difficult (see this 2010 GLA report (pdf)). | It would be less than scientific to infer from these two, differently-framed, polls that there's been a steady slide in Londoners' contentment with life in the capital over the past eight years or so (or a sudden one). But both are interesting in the context of population outflow from the capital over roughly the same period. Even though the population of Londoners has been growing at a terrific speed thanks to its high birth rate, the number of people who move out of the capital to other parts of the UK has remained greater than the number who move in from elsewhere in the UK, despite problems with the housing market making it more difficult (see this 2010 GLA report (pdf)). |
| All of the above raises big, difficult questions about who moves out of London and why, how to address those areas of discontent with life in the capital, whether it would be better for the city if there was less population turnover and, if so, how to go about reducing it. There are a few answers floating around and I'll be digging into those another time. Meanwhile, you may have a few of your own. | All of the above raises big, difficult questions about who moves out of London and why, how to address those areas of discontent with life in the capital, whether it would be better for the city if there was less population turnover and, if so, how to go about reducing it. There are a few answers floating around and I'll be digging into those another time. Meanwhile, you may have a few of your own. |
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