I just got back after 10 days in London and what I've observed:

+ for London
- People are way friendlier and more polite, not just natives, but immigrants too
- People are way better dressed
- There are no hoods, at least not like in the US, nothing even close to it
- I've heard NYC is the city that never sleeps, but I think London has way more stuff open late. I remember a lot of parts of NYC felt dead after 8 pm, London on the other hand is insanely busy. I've never seen anything like it.

+ for NYC and Chicago
- Public transportation is a lot cheaper
- Cheaper and nicer hotels for the money
- More bang for your buck in general
- You can use a hairdryer in the bathroom

GJDM UK brahs, it seems like your people and country is pretty based. I was very impressed.

I really liked the UK when I was there

I lived and worked in London for a while, and have in NYC too. They are 'too different' to compare, really.

London: much more dignified, friendly, less crazy/homelesscels. So shopping at Ozwald Boateng and bumping into Jay Z while buying suits and having a drink is a thing.

NYC: gritty, hustle, a feel of desperation in some parts. But yeah, compare coming out of a nice place in Knightsbridge with coming out of a similar place in Greenwich. Hint: no comparison.

I don't have much Chicago experience yet, but the next evolution in my career might take me there.

Same brah, I hope to go back and see more of the country.
I was walking around a hipster area covered in graffiti at like 6 am thinking to myself that if this was Portland or Chicago the only other people that'd be here would be the homeless, who can be pretty aggressive. Tbh it wouldn't be all that safe.

Meanwhile in London, I didn't see a single homeless person in this area, just people out early jogging and walking their dogs.

Btw I tried to walk around as much as I could, I didn't just hit the main areas, and it felt safe everywhere I went, and the politeness is what really surprised me. Maybe I just had a really bad experience in NYC, but the people were awful.

I've spend a ton of time in Chicago, it's where I'm originally from, and it's a hard city to deal with too. Chicago is full of black people that have an extreme hatred for you if you're white, and you can feel it in everyday interactions out there. This is true in a lot of the US actually.

So you 'visted', not lived there, for 10 days and it's better?

I've not lived in either one, I'm just saying based on my 10 day experience in both cities. I was actually only in NYC for like 7. So it is what it is m8

I lived in London for couple of years. Can confirm people dress better. And British hbbs

For real man, and mirin the fact that you got to do that.

Why are you comparing London to two chit holes?

Where would you compare it to?

Where did you go during the trip?, We call the touristy bit 'Central' (Westminster/Covent Garden/Leicester Square/South Bank/London Bridge ect)

Did you spend a day touring the delights of Enfield Industrial Estate or West Croydon? Both are very culturally important.

Yeah. That's a general thing here, and why wealthier folks tend to like living higher up (above the riff raff) or in heavily controlled (as much as that is possible) neighborhoods like Greenwich. Whereas in London there was none of that in any neighborhood I have ever been to, and I lived in Mayfair when I was there for work.

It's a sort of "dignity" difference. I've said it before elsewhere here, but elements of the USA are embracing a sort of "ratchet" culture, as if they think life needs to be like GTA or something. It is fundamentally undignified, the sort of thing you would only see in the UK in the most chav-prone areas. And even then, not shooting someone in the back over a parking space dispute at a grocery store right.

Loved in London all my life and it has gone way downhill last 20 years. Way too many people now and homeless beggars everywhere where there weren’t before. Also in 20 years it will be third world as the schools are 90% black or Muslim/Indian

Toronto tops the lot

lol @ london.

busted women **** food **** weather

SoCal mogs all

I've witnessed so much crime firsthand in Chicago, it's a crazy city.I went to all of the places you mentioned, I guess that's like the tourist core. I walked further out a few times, but mainly stayed in this main area:



I had to look up the other areas you mentioned, and idk if those are like your Englewood in Chicago? But they don't look too bad on streetview. If I had stayed longer I probably would have made my way out there too. I like hitting up areas where tourists don't really go. I've spent days walking around cities like Cleveland, St Louis, and Detroit, so I'm no stranger to that kind of thing. I don't like putting myself in danger, but once I'm out walking, it's sometimes hard to stop, and I don't know every area of a city like a local would.
Yeah it's really crazy here in some cities. I haven't traveled much internationally, I've only really been to Canada, Italy, and Poland, most recently in Poland, and I loved Poland a lot too, but over there everyone is Polish so you don't really get to see or experience the racial dynamic. It seems like it's a lot better managed in London than it is here in the US.
It's a thousand times worse in the US in this regard.

I don't mean to sound like I'm trashing the US. I still think this is the best country in the world to live in, it's just some of our cities are completely ridiculous. If I had to pick a big city to live in and my choices were NYC or London, I'd pick London in a heartbeat.

Because he's trying to compare 3 chit holes to each other obviously.

I liked Toronto a lot too.Where else have you been brah?California is cool, but much different.Lol

There's literally tons of women and restaurants from all over the world in London. Usually people who say this, have never set foot in London and base their opinion off of stereotypes.

Another dummy who knows nothing about London or England. Or anywhere on Earth for that matter.

Remember when places in North Africa and the Middle East were also considered "forward-thinking" and "progressive" and "middle class" and "stable"

Hm....what now?

Libya was alright a minute ago too. Hmm...what happened?

Agreed! So much of everything there. Honestly the climate isn't that bad either, I saw palm trees growing outside.
Damn

I grew up in NW London and go back occasionally. Definitely agree with this, most areas seem to be on the slide.

nah looks too gloomy and sullen and bad weather

no a/c in the summer

Most large american cities are complete chitholes now.

Failing infrastructure, outdated transport, aggressive people, way too many homeless, dirty and unkempt streets

Go to actual developed countries in europe or south east asia and you'll realize what Im talking about.

Never been but not surprised.

Commonwealth countries seem to invest in their urban cores way better than we do in America. People actually want to live in the cities instead of scrambling out to the sprawling suburbs and leaving our downtowns as decaying war zones full of homeless schizophrenics and section 8 housing.

I notice this difference every time I’m in Canada. Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal all have extensive public transit, an abundance of modern housing, walkability and, most importantly, clean and safe streets. They have families and the professional class flocking to their inner cities.

In the U.S. we basically only have that in PARTS of New York City, Boston, D.C., Miami, Chicago and Seattle. Maybe a handful of others but the VAST majority of American cities are chitholes that have been left to die.

I don’t envy a lot about Europe, but American cities could learn a thing or two from their example.

Hard to pick London vs NYC. Both have their charms. Would go with London though, if only because the rest of Europe is on the doorstep.

Good call. I used to travel for work a lot. One time I was in London for a week and went straight to NYC for a week. It felt like NYC was just a dirtier, sketchier version of London. My coworker said the same thing. I’ll take thr food in NYC over London anyday though. But yeah from London you can fly to other countrys for under $100, its like cheap Southwest flights

drier than miami actually

Biggest culprit is the urban design of american cities, which are centered around cars and freeways. Almost every city has massive highways running through the urban cores.

Which makes it impossible to setup any sense of cohesiveness or community within these areas. There are almost no strictly walking or biking districts anywhere.