London

[Shiny Star]

Well, I'm fine with Watford being part of London, because it at least has a Tube station (which Hemel notably lacks ). Then again, when I visited my uncle in Watford some years ago, I didn't feel like I was really 'in London': it still felt like a commuter town to me. 

I'm undecided on the matter, but I suppose it's "the gateway": once you leave Watford and go south of there, you're definitely in London.

Hmmm, still wouldn’t count it. West Herts College is in Watford. I think it’s on the very edge and doesnt look city like at all.

[Kyng]

Well, by sheer coincidence, a video which addresses this very issue was uploaded yesterday : 



Essentially, it states that, when Greater London's current border was drawn in 1965, they asked three questions to determine whether or not a place should be included in London: 

1) Is it easy to commute to central London from there? 
2) Is it 'independent'? (i.e. does it function as a suburb, or as a town in its own right?)
3) Does the local population look towards or away from London for its cultural identity?

The video actually addresses the Watford case in particular. It was excluded because of the second question: the people doing the study in 1965 found that, in spite of its proximity to London, it functioned more as a town in its own right (and it probably still does, based on the one time I've visited it, which I'll admit isn't much to go on !)

Of course, if the study were to be re-done today, I wonder how different the results would be?

[Kyng]

Well, it turns out that London's border is even more arbitrary than the video in the previous post suggested. Here's a prime example:



Yeah....it cuts a pair of semi-detached houses into two, so that one of them is in London and one isn't . Here's a page with some more info (which is where I found out about this):

https://www.citymetric.com/politics/most...earth-1179

(Though, if they're calling this "the most ridiculous border in the world", then the people of Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog would like a word )

[Kyng]

Here's an article about some of the population trends in London over the past decade: 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47529562

In short, the population of the city (and the surrounding urban area) has increased by 1.1 million since 2008, to a total of 10 million. This is as a result of the following: 
 

• There's been strong natural growth: there were 790,000 more births than deaths during this period;
  
  
• Foreigners have been moving to London: there were 860,000 more of them living in London in 2017 than there were in 2008;
  
  
• However, the migration pattern is reversed when you look at UK citizens. Over the past decade, 550,000 more Brits moved out of London than moved in.
  

There's also a graph in the full article, which shows which age groups are moving into London, and moving out. Basically, the only group that are moving into London in large numbers are people in their 20s, who are going there in search of jobs. Then, they move back out when they're in their 30s and 40s (likely due to the high cost of living) - and, if they have young children, then obviously those children will be leaving with their parents.

I don't blame these people for moving out, though. It's a nice place to visit, but I really wouldn't want to live there!

[Moonshroom]

It does make sense.

No-one I know in the UK want to live in London, blaming living costs, transportation mayhem and insecurity for it. One of them travels to compete in the marathon and does not stick around.

Very interesting article, CJ.

[Lurkerish Allsorts]

Well, it turns out that London's border is even more arbitrary than the video in the previous post suggested. Here's a prime example:



Yeah....it cuts a pair of semi-detached houses into two, so that one of them is in London and one isn't . Here's a page with some more info (which is where I found out about this):

https://www.citymetric.com/politics/most...earth-1179

(Though, if they're calling this "the most ridiculous border in the world", then the people of Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog would like a word )

Meh owning a house in two cities, that's nothing, how about two Countries? (also the business on the left its property is on US and Canadian soil too)

[Kyng]

So, how do they decide who the occupants pay their taxes to? Whichever country the front door is in? That's what they do in Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog (and there was a time when one person switched countries without moving house simply by moving their front door across the border: it'd be interesting to see whether that'd work for the US/Canada situation !)

Anyway, to get back to London, here's an animated history of the Tube map, in case anyone's interested: 



Just three things that aren't shown in the video, which I ought to make clear: 
 

• The Circle Line was shown as a separate line (in yellow) from 1949 onwards;
  
• The Hammersmith & City Line was shown as a separate line (in pink) from 1990 onwards;
  
• It doesn't cover the various other parts of the network (e.g. DLR, Overground), which technically aren't part of the London Underground, but do appear on the full Tube map.
  

Other than that, though, it seems to cover everything !

[Kyng]

So, apparently, there's a plan for a "London Resort" on the Swanscombe Peninsula (which is just outside Greater London, in northern Kent). The project began in 2012, and it's hoped that it'll eventually grow to rival Disneyland:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48831741

It's had a tumultuous history, though, and several prominent backers (including Paramount and Aardman) have pulled out - so, don't expect it any time soon!

[Shiny Star]

It does make sense.

No-one I know in the UK want to live in London, blaming living costs, transportation mayhem and insecurity for it. One of them travels to compete in the marathon and does not stick around.

Very interesting article, CJ.

The only people that want to live in London are foreign or were born and raised there. I agree that I would never want to live there but I don’t mind being so close.

[Kyng]

It does make sense.

No-one I know in the UK want to live in London, blaming living costs, transportation mayhem and insecurity for it. One of them travels to compete in the marathon and does not stick around.

Very interesting article, CJ.

The only people that want to live in London are foreign or were born and raised there. I agree that I would never want to live there but I don’t mind being so close.

Well, some of my university classmates did move there, to get bank jobs in the City of London, but that didn't appeal to me at all.

But, yeah: what I've seen of the surrounding area has been nice. One of my grandmothers lives in Windsor, so I've been around that area quite a bit - but I haven't seen much of Surrey, and I've seen even less of Essex and Kent .