My London, my concrete jungle - one year on

London, view from Trafalgar Square (Image: Geolocation)

The 7th December we embraced very recently marked a personal milestone as it was exactly a year since I moved to London. I say it's a personal achievement because if you told me this time two years ago that I would move to the capital, I'd have laughed at your face.

Here I was two years ago looking for a job after University literally anywhere. By that point, I attended interviews in Rochdale, Chelmsford and Oxford. I was willing to move anywhere that wanted me. But it was originally Taunton that lured me to the world of employment. But living in a town with 80,000 people quickly turned to moving to a jungle with 10 million people walking at 'London pace', which in my terms translates to five paces faster than any other place I have ever been to in the country.

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since I packed my bags to the big city. 2014 has certainly been an interesting year exploring London as a resident, and not a tourist. In this process, I have adapted to living as a Londoner, although one is relieved not to have developed a Cockney accent - no offence. But to sum up the past year, I am grateful to be still living in a delightful city like London. The city has a charm not many places have and the culture is rich. One corner has a Lebanese feel, while another turn close by would get you thinking you're in China, and that is wonderful to see.

There are so many great things I can say about London, and for anyone planning to move here, you would appreciate it more if you live in the city's suburb. Where I live for example, in Tooting, you can enjoy the similar luxuries in nearby Clapham Junction as you would in Oxford Circus with the difference of there being much less tourists at the former.

What I also love about London is that there is a genuine belief that opportunities and possibilities are endless. So much money has been injected here and this investment has been spread far and wide across the city. I kidded myself when I saw for myself how much change places like Shoreditch and Stratford has seen in recent years - they are both *the* places to visit when only a few moons ago they were the parts of London to avoid. Developing these parts of the city have been a great boost to tourism, image and residents' needs and desires.

London, as Frank Sinatra crooned before about New York, is a city that never sleeps. There is always something happening somewhere. You can enjoy a West End show and sight-see at night. Honestly, I am happy about moving here and have no regrets.

Tooting Bec tube station (Image: JulianaBel Photography)

Of course, London has its downfalls. I can rant about the rush hour all day, for example. You wake up first thing, thought you were being clever by living in Zone Three and catch the tube at the crack of dawn. But little do you realise is that thousands more from Zone Four and beyond also thought of that cunning plan. And if you think "Okay, this train is busy, not to worry, the next train is due to arrive in a minute or so" - you have to think again because that train could be just as busy, and time would start going against you. You and dozens of others behind are fighting for that minimal space you have to breathe in the carriage, and some oddball would have the audacity to say "Can you move over a bit?" Evenings are just as bad - after a long day at work, the last thing you want to deal with is a train congested with equally exhausted commuters counting down to the weekend, until the driver says "Please do not lean and obstruct the doors".

Another thing that bothers me in particular (even though many Londoners don't notice) is the pollution. As a Welshman, raised around the fresh green, green grass of home, it was somewhat of a shock to smell the concrete jungle where dreams are made of (another New York reference, I know and I am sorry). I suppose you don't notice it so much if you stay in London for long periods, but the moment you leave the city, and in my case, take a cheeky trip to Cardiff for an odd weekend, it is where you notice the difference.

The third issue for me has to be the affordability of London, or lack of it. Tube commute costs a lot - the Transport for London (TfL) daily spending limit is four times the cost of a return bus journey from Cardiff to Swansea every day. A sandwich here costs £5 which you can get better value (and taste) from a Greggs (which London has several, but you have to know where they are to find them), or an independent bakery. Then if you want to enjoy yourself during evenings or weekends, a West End ticket will cost you around £30, dinner at any restaurant costs £20 for two courses (no simple pleasures like Harvester here, I'm afraid, unless you like your fast food chains). When all is considered, just even thinking about the charges and you are bled dry.

I suppose, however, the people of London can afford the luxuries. The average wage here is well above the UK average. A graduate gets £26,000 on average compared to about £18,000 in Birmingham, Britain's number two city. Also, the millions of tourists who visit London don't mind splashing the cash - for those who live abroad visiting London is like visiting somewhere which is out of this world. To be honest, many Brits feel this way.

So much investment is put into London, it is difficult to identify many places to see outside the city. Sure you can visit Stonehenge or climb up Ben Nevis but if you list the things to do in London and compare it to the things to do outside London, you feel there may be more to do in the former. I do find it sad, especially when you talk to people abroad about it. I recall visiting Sweden three years ago, and a bunch of young innocent lads asked where I was from. I struggled to identify Cardiff for them. They didn't recognise Cardiff as a city, Wales as a country - but when I said "It is 250 kilometres away from London," I got "Oh London! I love it there" as a reaction.

Welsh valleys (Image: Flickr)

Obviously it wasn't the lads in Sweden's fault that they failed to identify Cardiff. It is just the way London has been raised - likewise Paris in France, Istanbul in Turkey (although not a capital) and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (again, not a capital city) where we associate a country with one city. To me there are far too many countries that inject so much money into a city, the other deserving towns and cities don't receive the recognition. If you look at Cardiff for example, you would only be familiar with the Welsh capital if you're a rugby union fan or your national football side happened to have played there once.

For Wales, Cardiff has the investment equivalent to London for the entire UK, but you can never imagine the Welsh city to ever reach that level. People in Cardiff even find it difficult to move to London and start a new life there while it is incredibly rare for anyone who was raised in a small town in the Welsh valleys move to a city like London.

London and other parts of the UK are worlds apart and I never noticed that until I started to settle here. Part of me thinks it's great to see London having that influence, but there is another part which prefers the fact that there are tranquil parts of the UK that I can go to should I need the peace. That only inspires me to perform the best I can at what I do and enjoy the balance of buzz and silence.

Here's to another year, London.