London after COVID

[pbsmooth]

Iwe'll find out how many people really were in London just for a job, and how many of those jobs go remote. But London is so busy and expensive that some mild change is unlikely to make much impact and maybe positive as mentioned

 

[marty21]

I think when the pubs/restaurants re-open this month (nearly there ) there will be more flexibility over drinking / eating outside, at least until we can go indoors again in mid May, I'd like some of this to be a permanent thing , closing roads to traffic (apart from essential deliveries, emergency services) . Some parts of Soho did last Summer , there are plenty of places this could happen in.

 

[ska invita]

BUMP

I have to say Im enjoying London possibly more than I ever have...its bcome a much mellower city, theres more rooms on the train, it just feels better to be in. still got energy but lost some of the manic edge it had.

That said Ive seen lots of shut down businesses still and looking around the office space exodus is yet to fully hit - .., I rode through Farringdon the other day and it was wall to wall To Let signs. I think the hotdesking speculators are going to lose millions.

Throw in a house price crash and I would guess its only going to accelerate that (maybe)

 

[marty21]

BUMP

I have to say Im enjoying London possibly more than I ever have...its bcome a much mellower city, theres more rooms on the train, it just feels better to be in. still got energy but lost some of the manic edge it had.

That said Ive seen lots of shut down businesses still and looking around the office space exodus is yet to fully hit - .., I rode through Farringdon the other day and it was wall to wall To Let signs. I think the hotdesking speculators are going to lose millions.

Throw in a house price crash and I would guess its only going to accelerate that (maybe)

My regular train (Clapton - Liverpool St) is usually pretty packed at peak hours , apart from Friday when wfh is clearly more of a thing. My office is getting busier (Like Picadilly circus today ffs) but local pubs still haven't recovered - they only seem busy at the weekends now - but that's more due to the cost of living crisis - a cheeky pint after work has to be sacrificed when your rent/mortgagte/energy bills are out of control.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

BUMP

I have to say Im enjoying London possibly more than I ever have...its bcome a much mellower city, theres more rooms on the train, it just feels better to be in. still got energy but lost some of the manic edge it had.

That said Ive seen lots of shut down businesses still and looking around the office space exodus is yet to fully hit - .., I rode through Farringdon the other day and it was wall to wall To Let signs. I think the hotdesking speculators are going to lose millions.

Throw in a house price crash and I would guess its only going to accelerate that (maybe)

Wow that feels like you are living in a different city to me!
My experience is it is more packed with people than ever. My busses to work are an absolute shit show. Always absolutely rammed and I have to go 2 stops earlier on the route just to get on one to get home. In the morning, I have to be at the bus stop 15 mins earlier than I used to be able to physically get on a bus. My daily commute is now awful and extremely stressful.

 

[ska invita]

Wow that feels like you are living in a different city to me!
My experience is it is more packed with people than ever. My busses to work are an absolute shit show. Always absolutely rammed and I have to go 2 stops earlier on the route just to get on one to get home. In the morning, I have to be at the bus stop 15 mins earlier than I used to be able to physically get on a bus. My daily commute is now awful and extremely stressful.

sorry to hear that - what route is that?

my commute is two trains each way

but commuting aside the mood and space on the streets feels different to me -at least in places i go

 

[ska invita]

My regular train (Clapton - Liverpool St) is usually pretty packed at peak hours , apart from Friday when wfh is clearly more of a thing. My office is getting busier (Like Picadilly circus today ffs) but local pubs still haven't recovered - they only seem busy at the weekends now - but that's more due to the cost of living crisis - a cheeky pint after work has to be sacrificed when your rent/mortgagte/energy bills are out of control.

i dont think nightclubs as a sector re doing that well either - certainly not what it was before

 

[Mrs Miggins]

sorry to hear that - what route is that?

my commute is two trains each way

but commuting aside the mood and space on the streets feels different to me -at least in places i go

133 to London Bridge. It's bloody awful! Worse than before COVID. I feel like the frequency of the bus has been cut. Not by much but enough to make it impossible to get on one in the morning at the time I used to.

 

[pbsmooth]

agree with all of the above - sometimes it feels trains are at a normal level of busy, which is much nicer than the old days of squeezing on and far too busy. but sometimes on the busy weekdays, due to cut services, some peak trains are packed again. but I do worry for small businesses. rising rents and people having less spare cash is a disaster.

 

[Callie]

Rush hour is busy, less so on certain days eg Fridays due to WFH

I'm pretty much working full time near Russel Sq or South Ken...however I was no working in town before the pandemic so don't know how busy it was in before times.

I would guess trains/buses/tube services were reduced with the pandemic and possible not reinstated to prior levels

 

[Pickman's model]

133 to London Bridge. It's bloody awful! Worse than before COVID. I feel like the frequency of the bus has been cut. Not by much but enough to make it impossible to get on one in the morning at the time I used to.

sometimes i need to get the 30 and that's definitely less frequent than it was, sometimes there's a half hour gap between buses

 

[Numbers]

I don't go into the office the same days every week so it can be very different on the Jubilee line travelling East to West, it can get absolutely rammed or be near empty.

As for out and about socially, we were up in Bermondsey St last Saturday evening/night and it was busy but not rammed rammed busy.