Shaping London’s economic future

I would love to see the High Street used more imaginatively. There should be more community focus and ways for people to come together.  Start using the buildings that are left empty for years on end. There are so many ways these buildings could be part of the community.

 And I would like to see better architectural standards in the city. Everyone I know has commented on Charing Cross Rd being turned from an (admittedly ramshackle area) to a soulless eyesore. I would also like to see less buildings demolished - retro fit them, nobody wants to see London become the ocean of glass structures it is becoming. 

I have lived in London since the 80s and I have seen lots of changes, some good some bad. Overall it is a vibrant and busy city with excellent transport links. It is also a cash cow for the government but it also requires investment from them not just for business but for everyone to thrive and this requires affordable housing. However the amount of building is not matched by infrastructure in GP's, social services, transport, maintaining the roads and crime prevention. The mayor has ideas but he needs to deal with the basics and not silly schemes. In the case of housing he needs to clamp down on rouge landlords, stop people buying new builds for investment purposes rather than living in them. Besides local convenient shops my local high street doesn't really have anything to recommend it we need more bakers, butchers and fresh food businesses, lucky that Brent Cross is not to far away. In the West End he needs to take control off Westminster council so that business and the night time economy can flourish instead of allowing them to make bars and clubs stop at 11.00 just to pander to an entitled bunch who choose to live in the centre but don't want people to be able to enjoy themselves. 

As a retired person, my opinion shouldn't count as much as that of a younger person. However the constant increase in Coffee Shops / Charity Shops and constant closure of other retail outlets across London is a profound worry to me. Without a vibrant economy in the High Street, the future will inevitably mean more online shopping, at the cost of local shops and amenities. Please Mr Mayor, do what you can to address business rates to encourage local traders!

Whole local high st given over to eating and drinking.

GP practices under immense stress. Local A&E departments struggling to cope and very shabby.

Transport links generally good though.

The mayor and City Hall seem to have systematically done their utmost to destroy many of the great things about London. As a born and bred Londoner, it breaks my heart to see what my home city has become. The high levels of business rates combined with the anti-driver(car) policies such as ULEZ, expensive and woefully unreliable public transport, the litter of Lime bikes (and they are definitely that) mean that local high streets will ultimately become unviable (if they're not already). 

I am somewhat alarmed by the lack of care for our surroundings that is being shown by London's residents. This acceptance of the presence of rubbish in the streets is an indicator of the way people feel about their capital. I would really like see pride being returned to our streets. A recent TV programme showed a well-known personality visiting Ruwanda among a number of African countries and the comment was made about the cleanliness of the streets; it was explained to him that everyone that was free on a Friday morning turned out voluntarily to tidy their surrounding area. It only requires a small group of people to start such a trend.

Don't see much future for myself in London because my partner and I want to start a family and it's just too expensive. It's a shame - I love living in London, it's a dynamic, exciting and welcoming city and I feel really at home here. I love that my high street still has fish markets and independent tailors and international supermarkets (when so many are empty or full of betting shops & takeout), and the public transport & cycling infrastructure make it easy for me to commute, see friends, and visit other parts of London. 

But despite "good jobs", we just can't afford to start a family here. My partner and I both work in the public sector (local council, Dr) and pay just isn't enough relative to the price of housing, childcare, food and other essential living costs. In many ways our jobs are good & I feel very lucky compared to friends working in hospitality & care - I have regular hours and working from home helps my work/life balance, & although my partner has neither of those at least the out of hours pays better. But the only people I know with young kids in London have parents or other family here who can help a lot with childcare. For the rest of us, the sums just can't add up. 

None of us can benefit from economic growth when our rents swallow every single pay rise, and childcare costs are more than a salary. So support our local high streets & jobs - we need them! - but until there's housing reform and action on the other huge costs we face it just won't make much difference. 

I've lived in Newham for over 20 years and London for over 30. I've not been on East Ham High Street for ages. It is a thieves paradise with organised gangs of pickpockets nicking phones at the tube station and all along the High Street. Half of Londoners don't have a car but the tube stations in Newham are becoming no-go areas. Upton Park and Green Street are also surrounded by phone thieves. Canning Town is going the same way. You want people out of their cars to slow climate change but you need to offer a safe public transport alternative and it's not happening here. 

In the last few days in Newham - two men stabbed just off the High Street, and in Plashet Park near East Ham tube station, a fight which resulted in one person dead by stabbing, another injured by stabbing and another with head injuries. It wasn't always like this. The deterioration over the last five years has been particularly bad.

You want London to grow but the people with half a brain who could facilitate this growth are leaving because why would anyone stay in an environment where you and the belongings you work hard for are nicked out of your hands, where you and your family don't feel safe. I cannot wait to leave Newham. Labour have been in power here forever and have overseen its slide into despair. The main players at LB Newham are paid telephone number salaries with pension packages to match. They should hang their heads in shame. 

The business in the area i live a severely impacted by the closure of the broadmead road closure less accessible to customers and staff as well as emergency services in particular the fire brigade.

Lack of infrastructure investment can be seen across London 

Small businesses need support with business rates

Too many qquestions don't have a not aapplicable buttons - I'm retired so can't answer for example, questions about getting to work.

As to London, despite Mayor Khan's efforts, London could have been better if the ladt government had not been so obstructive.

We need more Hopper buses to take people who are disabled to bus routside. This is achieved elsewhere.

London is the best city in which to live. It has one drawback, though this is not unique to London, and that is the cost and availability of housing. Some transport links are also capable of improvement but on the whole London is well served. I found the survey a bit amateurish as having established I am retired it asked me questions that were not applicable without an NA option. Sloppy. 

Recent high density housing developments are not involving any visible increase in 1) transport, 2) GP surgeries, decent new shops. They cause more problems in parking options  and traffic congestion in residential areas around such developments.

I won't be able to afford living in London much longer which is really sad as I enjoy living in London. But the service charges I have to pay to my Housing Association has reached a level I can no longer afford.   It's a shame that normal, hard-working, good people are being priced out of London.

As with most things in this field, there is too much chat and not enough action. The plan always seems to be, let's set up another layer of local government to look into and oversee this plan, by the time that has happened there is no money left for any action.

What a biased survey. Born in Havering over 50 years ago. Worked in the City all my life. Cannot wait to be able to move out of the cesspit this once great city has become . Where do I start .. Ulez, crime, I don't feel safe as a woman walking round here at night or on the tubes stations are filthy reeking of urine, being harassed by strange guys who have no respect for women . My borough was green.  Now it is overdeveloped with new slum flats being built everywhere. The infrastructure cannot cope. Nice small 2 3 houses near me they type that used to be bought by respectable working class people are turned into HMos with landlords that cram people in. The stupid parking standards for new builds mean not enough parking so the cars overspill. People build beds in sheds I gardens and nothing is done by planning. Nice houses are ruined with poor flat conversions.   Basically too many people and too poor 

All this green transport does not take account of real life. I drive because it's the only time I feel safe as a woman at night and also because like most real people I have friends and family who live outside London in rural Essex with no public transport  the planners work on the basis of a fit 20 year old male who cycles everywhere never leaves their 25 minute radius has a narrow social group no children and never carries heavy shopping or work tools all of which need a car or taxi 

And the huge elephant in the room that shows the unconscious bias of Coty Hall yoh ask about job opportunities for young people. No one ever focuses on job opportunities for mid life and older people. We face constant ageism which is why there are so many economically inactive people in their.   50s.  You have a climate where governments of every complexion hit the self employed

I was once proud to be a Londoner. I hate this city with a vengeance now 

I like my local high street (Upper Street Islington) because it still feels exactly that, local. I'd like to see more creative ways in which the high street can become a community hub. I'd also like to see further measures to curb traffic, improve air quality and promote active transport.  Successful economic growth provides opportunities for all, is inclusive and doesn't come at the expense of the environment. We need to question the role of some of the big high street players - like the supermarkets - as custodians of our environment and countryside.  I'd like to see more support for small and green businesses like Hackney/Islington's 'Top Up Truck'. It currently faces punitive rates which challenges its very business model. Let's plant more trees... and make sure we water them!

London is corrupt. The Planning system is based on the premise that applicants tell the truth. In Newham foreign corporates (many offshore) to supply misleading information information on planning applications to allow them to bypass planning regulations, local and national plans. If local objectors point out obvious facts, this is ignored. Newham is effectively lawless. The legal system is as corrupt as when asked to uphold lease covenants to resolve these obvious breaches where either no planning has been obtained or planning had been obtained which does not comply with local laws, the objections are discounted. Any large organisation can do what they want regardless of the effect of local people, communities or buildings. Best option for anyone with a functioning brain is to leave and go somewhere where laws apply. Newham is lawless and corrupt. Neither the Mayor of Newham, Sadiq Khan not the local councillors care. All documented and awaiting public airing. Thugs in suits, for sale to the highest bidder. I'm looking forward to escaping. The planning and housing issues are as a result of offshore companies being allowed to game the system for decades. A mess created by corruption and incompetence on a grand scale.

This survey bats on about the local High Street. We had one. Thriving. Market stalls and shops. Now?? Pizza shops - East African coffee shops / couple of restaurants - 3 stalls on Saturday.  Awful. Folk open a business because they were told it has good pavement passing trade. There is none. We don’t even boat a charity shop any more. Even they left. 

Going out after dark?? Seriously??. Police are only reactive - never proactive. All that changing to

Labour at Wandsworth council did?? Award themselves a 172% pay rise.  Nothing improved. 

Too old to move now but i mourn what was