Moving to London to attend Escape studios, need information

Kuledo

Okey people, i need lot of advice of people who live in London:D
I will go at Escape studios this summer in London, so i would like to ask, how much coast accommodation. Other than that is London safe at all? I don't expert to be super safe, in every city, even where i live, they are rubbery, murders, pocket steal. all that thing, also there is place where is more dangerous and police avoid it too

Saman

What country are you moving from? London is a large city so of course there are more of whatever there is in smaller cities. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to walk around and be super-extra-careful-paranoid all the time though. Just don't go to dodgy places, stay away from obviously dangerous people and keep your cool. I lived in London for a year and I saw some shit happening around me... People had a tendency to randomly flip out in Kilburn but I guess it was kind of normal there so I just ignored them and walked on. Don't get involved and just be as careful.
Also, congratulations!

Vio

Use google street view for routes to work and so on, then you can know what areas to avoid without getting a cap in the ass nah don't worry its not Compton.

Fomori

Yeah it's perfectly safe unless you get involved in drug dealings or gangs.
You will probably want to look for a shared house and rent a room to live in as apartments cost a lot of money.
Try Gumtree: http://www.gumtree.com/c/flatshare/london
Google is your friend:
http://www.spareroom.co.uk/
http://www.londonflatshares.net/

Pix

As a Londoner my advice to you is developing a good emotionless face, that way you bring less attention to yourself, just like most people in London, things happen around, poker face all the time.

Tenchi

Try to pick somewhere close by to live, they let you stay in the studios to work on whatever you want till late, so utilise that. The area around Shepards Bush was always busy and I never felt I was ever in danger - very busy area. I would advise you to just be smart as you would anywhere you haven't been before.

Vio

Pix wrote: »

As a Londoner my advice to you is developing a good emotionless face, that way you bring less attention to yourself, just like most people in London, things happen around, poker face all the time.

What a world where you actually have to think about making sure you have a poker face everywhere you walk just to stop someone going "what you looking at I iz gunna cut you"

I live in a village in North Wales, you can walk around like a grinning idiot and get away with it lol

Pix

Vio wrote: »

What a world where you actually have to think about making sure you have a poker face everywhere you walk just to stop someone going "what you looking at I iz gunna cut you"

I live in a village in North Wales, you can walk around like a grinning idiot and get away with it lol

Well it's London, and many times you walk by weird people, so better keep poker face, but sometimes you just have to grin.

Ruz

dunno I live in leyton which is a bit rough, but have never had any trouble. Any big city these days you have to be careful, but don't get paranoid about it.
Not sure about this poker face business, I just tend to act normal, but don't go looking for trouble ie get drunk and walk home through hackney at 3 am:)

Kwramm

London is a great place - hope you enjoy your time there! Just use common sense - don't get involved if it doesn't concern you and if it does, better call the police than getting hurt. Muggings, pickpocketing can happen just as in most other cities of that size - avoid dodgy areas, don't draw attention by wielding around flashy gear.

Transportation is great (get an Oyster card! ...and yes, people moan and whine about the tube, but there's many cities in the world where it's much worse), great pubs and also great food (even though the UK used to have a bad rep). When looking for housing, don't just ask how much the rent is, ask about the council tax too

Saman

Oh yeah, I forgot; Be careful when looking for housing. People try to rip others off all the time so make sure the guy you're renting from has a contract and all that. If he/she still seems dodgy then don't leave valuable stuff lying around at your home. I've heard a few nightmarish stories about fake landlords running away with the rent and deposit money as well as stories where the landlord keeps visiting the renting people's rooms and stealing stuff(sometimes everything!).

almighty_gir

london is MASSIVELY diverse, culture wise. there are people from all parts of the world who're now calling london their home.

there are entire districts dedicated to regional shopping habits (chinese markets, indian deli's etc.) and you don't have to go too far to find something familiar to you, no matter where you're from.

HOWEVER, it's a bloody expensive place to live. and get used to feeling extremely unsafe as a pedestrian... london motorists are absolute cunts without exception.

Kuledo

I have been in London just one time, 3-4 years ago. Only for a week, because i need to do a surgery. And i didn't have a change to walk, only saw London eye and Big Ben before the surgery. And yes, i were in Italian restaurant. And true, everything you can go is on foot. I also read, when the tube comes, the buses and so on. And i always wanted to live and work in London. But i am worried of the criminal there.

I am from Argentina, Buenos Aires , many times i have trouble, with rubbery, and people pointing on you with gun, and want your money. I also ignore people who do drugs and do criminal.

I also wanted to move to Canada, Vancouver, to attend Think Tank school.

cptSwing

pepperspray is always useful (not sure wether legal in the UK though)

Pix

almighty_gir wrote: »

london is MASSIVELY diverse, culture wise. there are people from all parts of the world who're now calling london their home.

there are entire districts dedicated to regional shopping habits (chinese markets, indian deli's etc.) and you don't have to go too far to find something familiar to you, no matter where you're from.

HOWEVER, it's a bloody expensive place to live. and get used to feeling extremely unsafe as a pedestrian... london motorists are absolute cunts without exception.

True about motorists, I was hit by a car three times, fortunately not too hard, but it took me three times to learn the lesson of being extra careful.

@cptSwing I am sure pepper spray is illegal or at least you need documents for it, usually they would give you a piece of crap plastic alarm, which is loud, but it's only there to make you imagine feel safer.

Chimp

It's a great city. If you need any advice, feel free to PM me

Kuledo

I would like to thank all of you for the great advice. To be more clear, i would like to stay in Soho, where VFX houses are there. I have look at Google map, what's around, and it's seems great place, they are close to each other, there is good restaurants around. Is it safe?

Chimp

to be completely honest you're going to want to get a house out of the center otherwise prices will be absurd. north london is (generally) safer than south but both are fairly dangerous. I have always meandered about these areas:


Finsbury park - fantastic links to city, reasonable prices.
Hornsey - reasonably cheap, safe area, good links to the city via bus/tube
Camden - also fairly cheap, not as safe but better links to city.
East London - very cheap, not as safe but not terrible.
Tottenham - not bad, very cheap.
Etc.