Comments on: In The Empty City Of London https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/05/01/in-the-empty-city-of-london/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Wed, 31 May 2023 08:17:44 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: John Cunningham https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/05/01/in-the-empty-city-of-london/#comment-1510788 Wed, 31 May 2023 08:17:44 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=195571#comment-1510788 I believe that over time the people will come back as employers find that business is all about people interacting, not hiding away in a home office or bedroom.

]]> By: Rupert Neil Bumfrey https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/05/01/in-the-empty-city-of-london/#comment-1508442 Mon, 01 May 2023 14:13:43 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=195571#comment-1508442 Best wishes for this new venture #TGA

On my weekends in the 1970s I would interchange strolls around The City, with furtive walks around the #EastEnd, quite the chalk ‘n cheese! Reached from my Wimbledon home by the quite excellent District Line, which, of course, was really the only link between the areas of fortune and poverty.

#Brexit has also contributed to the decline in working population, but as this remains an apolitical blog I will collect my coat?

]]> By: Jennifer Newbold https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/05/01/in-the-empty-city-of-london/#comment-1508436 Mon, 01 May 2023 12:29:28 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=195571#comment-1508436 If any of the landlords of those lovely eighteenth-century buildings would like to lease an apartment to me at an affordable rate to keep their buildings from standing empty, I’m ready to move in. 😉

]]> By: keithb https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/05/01/in-the-empty-city-of-london/#comment-1508430 Mon, 01 May 2023 09:46:26 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=195571#comment-1508430 In Birmingham a couple of 1960s vintage mid-rise office blocks have been converted into flats. Also one 1930s vintage one (posher flats).

Could be a way of making reasonably priced rented accommodation available to the ones who bring vitality. (The artists, musicians, science students, theatre people, journalists, and yes even people who work in ‘tech’).

Otherwise you’ll have a large museum with old rich people living in it moaning that they can’t get the staff.

]]> By: Christine Swan https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/05/01/in-the-empty-city-of-london/#comment-1508425 Mon, 01 May 2023 08:17:56 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=195571#comment-1508425 It would be wonderful to think that these beautiful old properties could once again be dwellings occupied by those sympathetic to their conservation and care – fat chance! London property prices can only now be afforded by the uber-rich many of whom, want the property only for the land value that it sits on and won’t sell because they don’t need to or want to. There may be attempts to convert offices to penthouses for even more rich people. At the moment, I cannot see any change in policy. That said, it’s still good to see that the social housing that I lived in IS still just that and has not been sold off to a billionaire. Dad was able to cycle to work and I was often wheeled around St Paul’s Cathedral Gardens bawling my eyes out in a vain attempt to get me to fall asleep. I think I also had prime position at a Lord Mayor’s Show but I wouldn’t remember that.
These beautiful old buildings need someone to love them. I confess that I don’t really care what happens to the faceless slabs. They could be demolished and turned into gardens. Thanks for the wander around in photographic form. As I’m currently stuck in one room isolating with Covid, planning future escapes is all I can do at the moment. If anyone has not visited the City to have a close look around , I heartily recommend the GA’s tour.

]]> By: achim https://spitalfieldslife.com/2023/05/01/in-the-empty-city-of-london/#comment-1508421 Mon, 01 May 2023 07:17:20 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=195571#comment-1508421 In these odd times, you have to expect EVERYTHING to change. What better commentary on the images of inner London than that of the Rolling Stones: Living in a Ghost Town.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNNPNweSbp8

Love & Peace
ACHIM

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