Shaping London’s economic future

Increased policing on the streets not in cars.

More frequent public transport as currently over crowded

Limited shops in local high street and none are big - easier to go to retail parks locally 

Successful economic growth to me is where we see no boarded up shops, more independent and chain businesses, more council run community facilities i.e. swimming and leisure complexes, improved facilities in parks etc

I see my future in London being very good. 

The streets here seem much less safe than they were a few years ago. There is no deterrent to crime in our criminal 'justice' system so we are a honeypot for the world's thieves and robbers. The pavements are a patchwork quilt of tripping traps and the street lighting in residential roads much too dim. Paying high property taxes and still being asked to pay for green bins is an insult. Our once smart high street is now betting shops and cafes with men (never females) sitting outside all day long smoking and speaking in tongues. Foreign beggars sit in doorways. Shops falling vacant are unwanted by new occupants. New housing plans are making the density of population untenable and the nearby (sacrosanct!) green belt threatened with building upon. Parking is impossible, traffic jammed up, policing sparse and commuting fares prohibitive. All of these factors are a certain pathway to the doom of a city and London is falling faster each year.

Rubbish (especially plastic water bottles, junk food wrappers, fast food containers, beer bottles etc), fly tipping, too much traffic, and noisy vehicles (loud motorbikes, diesels) are the main things that bring down our quality of living (Lewisham North). Would love to see creative ways to tackle these issues and strongly deter those responsible, including noise cameras installed on all residential roads that are used as rat runs as unscrupulous drivers really affect sleep quality. 

Read the scale of the great psychologist Abraham Maslow, please google it, I would consider that London's economy is on the first rung. 

About public toilets? Oh no no no, providing public toilets will prevent people from entering establishments where they are forced to consume something and then use the toilet.

How do you expect people to be happy when they leave their homes if they are worried about finding a place to pee?

Ridiculous and inhumane, but this is London.

The mayor, together with the Council, is building boxes, calling them "affordable houses" that do not meet the basic requirements for human life.

If you live in one of these boxes, even worse if your house is on a high street, you are subject to some mental illness due to sleep deprivation, due to the poor acoustics of these houses, to having panic attacks due to sleep deprivation and other disorders due to the poor structure of these "affordable houses" that the mayor delivers to the community.

I know what I am saying. Unfortunately, even with a degree in psychology, I am unemployed and living under the Council's administration.

Large apps and websites post phantom vacancies every day, vacancies that don't even exist but need to appear in the searches when you look for work.

Jobs? That do not light any flame in people's hearts.

Anyone who has the slightest ambition to grow not only economically but spiritually knows what types of work elevate the soul and edify the spirit. This type of work has not been offered in this society.

A population full of ambition but without support, can you see a prosperous future for a society that does not even care about the basic requirements for good health? Eat well, sleep well, exercise every day and work on something or some activity that ennobles the soul and warms the heart.

When public managers are really willing to work for the well-being of the population (for real). By providing the population with homes and jobs that ennoble them, London's economy will take off.

Years ago high streets were filled with big name shops and be causes of the economy they’ve all closed and moved away or those businesses no longer exist. Where I live in Deptford the high street has improved with lots of new businesses opening up offering a range of services and places to eat and it would be nice to see that growth continue. 

What I do hate seeing however is the graffiti and tagging that seems to be everywhere which makes the place look unsightly.  I would like to see  more talks with young people to appreciating their neighbourhoods and keeping it tidy etc as well as these cleaned. I don’t mind artistic  Muriel’s that you see in some places 

I think ‘high street’ is hard to define… we definitely don’t have one in our locality (ie something you can walk to) it’s a couple of shopping centres … the idea of wandering there for a coffee is not something I would do. My high street is soho and that’s a tube ride away! 

To be honest with even that, the amount of cars and lorry’s are such it is sometimes not that pleasant.

Pedestrian only areas (maybe delivery allowed before midday for instance and allow there to be space for outside eating/coffee!

There are still too many cars driving around. And pedestrians seem to come last in all traffic schemes. Cyclists are rightly catered for, but a large majority of them ignore red lights/ride on the pavements etc making life dangerous for pedestrians.

Public transport is brilliant, but breakdown too often and delays are far too frequent

The Tory government starved my borough, Harrow, of funding for years, partly because it had a Labour council (spiteful or what?!) The grant shrank from around £52 million in 2013/14 to £1.6 million in 2019/20. This is blatantly evident in the borough, especially Wealdstone, which not only looks neglected and scruffy, but fly-tipping is epidemic because the council cannot/will not provide the resources needed for waste removal. I live in a converted house with three flats. We only had two household waste and two recycling wheelie bins to start with. One of our household waste wheelie bins was stolen last November, and instead of investigating and replacing the bin, the council said residents must BUY bins for £75. A friend said he knew of an identical bin which someone in a different borough wanted to get rid of which he could donate, but I asked the council if they would still empty wheelie bins not purchased from the council and they said no, all bins must be purchased from the council in order to be emptied. Bin collections are on a two week rotation here, with household waste one week and recycling the next. 

After this experience I understood why there is so much fly-tipping and why the borough is like one giant sh1t tip in general. 

Although I have lived in my flat for 7 years now, all the flats are rented under 1 year contracts, so even the residents who produce the most waste will not purchase a bin. I only need to put out a small binbag every two weeks so I will not be purchasing a wheelie bin, but the bins are right outside my window so it falls to me to sort out the mess or put up with the stink and flies. 

This situation has been caused by the Tories, but now is the time to get this sorted! Ironically, the council fell into Tory hands earlier this year so it is still at odds with the government. I truly hope Labour will not be as spiteful and petty as the previous administration so that we can finally start cleaning up the borough and keep it clean. 

Getting around London by car - essential to my work - is making business life in London for me and others like me unacceptable and feeply frustrating. Almost permanent road works, pedestrianised streets, dangerous cycle lanes, terrible standards of anarchic driving and riding by frustrated travellers. I have lived in London for almost 80 years. It used to be plesant. It is now a dangerous cesspit.  

The problems that London faces are part historic and part futuristic. Housing and lack of affordable social housing and unaffordable rents has created a growing number of London residents who are paying rents far in excess 50 to 60% of there disposable income. 
Climate change is the next great challenge as we all need to change our lifestyles, public transport will need to be subsidised and become much more efficient. The use of public spaces, parks and woodland must be viewed as natural treasures. Community’s need to educated on value of tree lined streets and not view as risk to property values.

For me the main issue that bothers me in my local area (Hackney, Finsbury Park) is the rubbish in the streets and parks.  It's a constant source of blight and makes the place feel like a ghetto.  The mentality of some folks seems to be that it's okay to trash the streets and parks, and there don't seem to be enough resources to keep them clean.  Thus the rest of us who would prefer living in a clean and rubbish-free neighbourhood are forced to accept this extremely unpleasant fact of life.  Quality of life starts with local, city and national authorities looking at the small things, which, if addressed properly, consistently, and over the long term, will have a positive knock-on effect.  But the opposite is true - if local authorities continue to ignore this issue, we are all essentially at the mercy of those who trash the streets with impunity.  It's a terrible quality of life issue for me.  I've tried cleaning up our block myself but it's a losing battle.  There are no bins.  There's seemingly no effort on the part of the local council to regularly keep the streets clean.

Your survey fails to ask the correct questions.

The current plans fail to address the current underlying problems of high density population, the lack of use of common sense and learning from past mistakes.

Plus action to cut crime and anti-social behaviour along with action to protect the rights of pedestrians and for example efforts to stamp out pavement cycling along with major improvements in the maintenance of the footpath to prevent falls and trips.

Locally, the Mayor has (apparently)  granted planning permission on green belt land in our local park. This will reduce the benefit of the local residents - a space where we can walk and relax. ~Living in a town centre, we need this open and natural space. This will set a precedence for future green belt erosion. The relevance for this topic is that it will put more pressure on local infrastructure and services. Yes it will create jobs and expansion but there are other locations - not green belt. The infrastuture must keep up with development. This decision suggests the Mayor doesn't care 

Transport. One other thing - I normally use public transport to get to work. Train,tube,bus and walk. The system simply isnt reliable enough - poorly managed. In addition I had to drive the other day- i was in early and the trains dont run  - 20mph speed limits throughout - this is strangling London 

I will leave London mainly due to the hostility of a vocal minority and very dangerous driving.

Bromley could be a good place to live, but the recent vandalism of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings makes many of us feel unsafe.

There is also far too much motorised traffic which also drives far too fast and quite recklessly.

Surprised not to see certain features in the survey about my local high street

For instance public safety is crucial. Shoplifting and violence against shop workers is rife in my local high street. Businesses don’t invest in the local shops or stock a lot of quality products as stock loss is so high. It’s not nice to shop on high streets with aggressive begging. 
Parking and ease of transport is another one. I will spend more if it’s easier to park without extortionate tariffs or difficulty finding a space. It’s just much better fitting a big shop in a car and not have to juggle it back on the bus or bike massive difficulty.

My local high street is on a TfL Red route. They do an appalling job of maintaining it, the pavements are in a really bad way and the road is ugly. When it rains huge puddles build in the road meaning you get soaked by passing traffic. This is reported but never actioned. They force changes on the local community despite significant opposition from the general public. They don’t engage at all with requests from local people. When the council puts requests forward they don’t engage.

Unless the UK rejoins the EU, London and the rest of the country are utterly f*cked. Furthermore hate preachers like Farage, Braverman and the rest need to be jailed. Immigration, diversity and interconnectivity with its wider continent are the lifeblood of a major city like London, along with quality, affordable housing and decent public transport. Finally, for safety and wellbeing 20 mph speed limits should be enforced on all residential roads in London.