Evaluating A City

[drjohnnyfever]

So... a friend of mine said:

"80% of London is a dump, and you don't realize it because you only go to the nice areas".

Obviously, I defended our fine city and said that just because he's too much of a snob to live in certain neighbourhoods, doesn't mean they aren't perfectly fine for the good, hard working, people of London.

But... it did get me thinking. How DO we evaluate what percentage of ANY city is a "dump"? Is it strictly a measure of wealth in certain areas? Is it a measure of actual cleanliness? Is somehow a calculation of vacant homes / commercial areas?

I'm just curious of how everyone else forms their opinions.

[manny_santos]

So... a friend of mine said:

"80% of London is a dump, and you don't realize it because you only go to the nice areas".

Obviously, I defended our fine city and said that just because he's too much of a snob to live in certain neighbourhoods, doesn't mean they aren't perfectly fine for the good, hard working, people of London.

But... it did get me thinking. How DO we evaluate what percentage of ANY city is a "dump"? Is it strictly a measure of wealth in certain areas? Is it a measure of actual cleanliness? Is somehow a calculation of vacant homes / commercial areas?

I'm just curious of how everyone else forms their opinions.

A "dump" to me refers to an area with a lot of garbage. There are parts of London that I would refer to as dumps, but not the majority of the city by any means. I live in a middle-class area, but just two blocks away is a big dump where there is always garbage lining the side of the street (in addition to the municipal garbage collection day). On one occasion I complained to the City about it and they made sure the property owners had it cleaned up very fast. Some of the neighbourhoods near Western and Fanshawe are dumps as well.

[SlickFranky]

However you measure it, 80% is not even close to reality. The majority of London is sprawlish suburban housing, and empty space. There are plenty of crummy neighborhoods sprinkled throughout the city, but they make up a very small portion of the overall area.

London may not be 80% trash, but it's at least 80% boring. No big deal though...most cities are.