Do you feel unsafe in London?

[Sue]

I'm interested to know other people's experiences.

As in any urban environment, I'm careful. I try not to use my phone outside  unnecessarily, and if I'm coming home by myself  late at night I also keep an eye out for any potential threats.

But that doesn't mean  I "don't feel safe". It's just sensible.

The only time I have ever felt seriously unsafe in London was decades ago  when I was a teenager, and that was one specific incident which could have happened anywhere.

I do however try to avoid places with loads of right wing thugs getting drunk and waving flags.

[malumbu]

My perspective is the same as yours Sue.  

Biggest issue is road rage when I cycle, mainly drivers but once a Line bike rider I expect coked up.  But even that is rare 

Edited 3 hours ago by malumbu
Toads are cool as are reading glasses

[Sue]

2 hours ago, malumbu said:

My perspective is the same as yours Sue.  

Biggest issue is toad rage when I cycle, mainly drivers but once a Line bike rider I expect coked up.  But even that is rare 

Toad rage?

Crikey, what have you done to upset the amphibians?

How do you find the frogs? 😃

[beansprout]

Well let’s put it this way - certainly alot more alert when I am in town than I use to be . Don’t feel unsafe just a lot more cautious and aware of my surroundings. 

Tend to avoid walking anywhere in town as in London or Dulwich etc when it gets dark. Personal choice and certainly more people muttering or talking to themselves than before.

Witnessed road rage years ago on Ladbrook Grove in broad daylight - memory still haunts me!! 

 

[David Peckham]

Central London, partularly Soho and Fitzrovia, seems to be more about sneaky crimes like hugger-muggering and pickpocketing rather than anything violent these days. I'd never wear a decent watch if I went into town in the evening.

There are a couple of places, like Tottenham, Hackney'and Harlesden, I'm particularly on my guard in - mainly because I don't really know them too well. Bits of New Cross and Deptford can be a bit hairy, as well.

The parts of central London which were dodgiest twenty or thirty years ago, King's Cross or Shoreditch for example, have changed beyond recognition. 

Statistically, London is safer than it was thirty years ago.

Wobbling around the Elephant after a heavy night in the Ministry of Sound wasn't a great move around 2000; it wouldn't seem as idiotic these days. It's still not pleasant though and you have to keep your wits about you in Camberwell after midnight, even now.

Overall, most of London is far safer, statistically, than the smaller provincial cities and larger towns. Middlesbrough is genuinely scary after dark, which is strange because the people are lovely during the day. Likewise Bradford and Hull. Apart from the lovely people caveat, clearly.

5 hours ago, Sue said:

 

I do however try to avoid places with loads of right wing thugs getting drunk and waving flags.

Other than the 'Unite the Kingdom' march last week, I've never really seen the drunken flag waving you mention. Not in London, anyway. 

I'd avoid the Medway towns, if I was you.

Edited 3 hours ago by David Peckham

[malumbu]

Familiarity is important, I lived near Brixton in the old days and was fairly comfortable, but for many years avoided Peckham.  That has reversed in the last 15 years.  

I recall around Dalston and the A10 and burned out cars.  Now super trendy.

Pub violence has largely gone but that was groups of men getting drunk on Saturday night and brawling.  Similarly little football violence, East Dulwich/West Peckham was edgy last century.

[Sephiroth]

Generally speaking, some medium size market towns and lesser cities always seem more  prone to random violence and aggro generally than anywhere I’ve been in London 

[beansprout]

It is what it is - like I said previously, don’t make a habit of going out at night be it London or Devon. 

[David Peckham]

 

2 hours ago, malumbu said:

Familiarity is important, I lived near Brixton in the old days and was fairly comfortable, but for many years avoided Peckham.  That has reversed in the last 15 years.  

I was the opposite of you. I never felt particularly happy around Brixton late at night - I didn't know it that well. Do you remember the name of the late- night Irish pub opposite the railway arches near the BR station? Was it Mulligan's? Brannigan's?

To be fair, until the East London Line extension, Rye Lane walking south wasn't a favourite of mine after dark either. The only pub left on there was The Hope, which was in the other direction. It felt very bleak.

I think that makes a huge difference. When The Gowlett was boarded up, Adys Road felt very different. It's like a beacon now.

2 hours ago, malumbu said:

 

Pub violence has largely gone but that was groups of men getting drunk on Saturday night and brawling.  Similarly little football violence, East Dulwich/West Peckham was edgy last century.

Pub violence does seem to have had its day in inner London. Maybe it's a result of the disappearance of pool tables, flat-roofed pubs and cheap Stella offers. I bet you could still find a Saturday night kick-up in New Addington or the  Becontree estate in Dagenham.

2 hours ago, Sephiroth said:

Generally speaking, some medium size market towns and lesser cities always seem more  prone to random violence and aggro generally than anywhere I’ve been in London 

Definitely.

Pubs next to stations, kebab shops and ironically named nightclubs are all to be avoided in smaller places. The weirdest place I've ever had random trouble was in a club in St. Ives in Cambridgeshire.  I think it was called 'Options'.

It was the only club there. 

See also 'Jekylls' nightclub in Hyde, Manchester - a truly dreadful place where getting thrown out for fighting was infinitely preferable to spending the evening in there and coming out stinking of stale chip fat.

I took a kicking in 'Kingsway Kebabs' in Swansea after a night in 'The Aviary' (so named because it was 'full of birds') nightclub.

But that wasn't so random. It was a local girl, who gave me a leathering because I'd run off for a large chicken doner, rather than dance with her to 'Criticize' by Alexander O'Neal.

Sorry, Sue, I've digressed a little. 

To answer your question, I think London feels relatively safe overall.