Shaping London’s economic future

What an odd survey! You ask many questions about 'impact', but impact can be positive or negative. This makes your survey too general to be of any use.

I think London is becoming a more transient city. People come in from elsewhere in the country to find work when they are young and have no intention of staying. They are Londoners for a few years. But I think you need people to live in a city for longer than that to make it a truly wonderful thriving place to live. So although I am an older resident, I think you need to do more to help young families stay in London and to support very young Londoners to access the opportunities. Rent controls would help, more social housing would help, but also big businesses need to work harder to engage and employ young Londoners. The centre of the city is already virtually child free, which is a tragedy, let's not let the whole city become a playground for rich adults. 

Business growth in London is being severely hampered by the increasing difficulties in driving around the city. Every year more and more road space is taken away and parking spaces reduced. For example, Haverstock Hill in Belsize Park, where many shops, restaurants and services have closed down since the removal of all the parking spaces in order to install bike lanes. Even taxis can't stop because of the posts. This is not only a nightmare for local residents, but very bad for local  businesses. 

Please remember that not everyone can a ride a bike or walk to their destination. 

The future in London is not a promising one.

The Central line is vile. We don't have the wait times that we had earlier in the year but it is an uncomfortable ride. 

Driving is London is extremely stressful due the amount of road closures and road works.

The amount of building is insane. Thousands of flats are being built and sold to buyers overseas yet we have a housing crisis.

How do you see your future in the capital? What do you need to thrive?  

I have lived and mostly worked in London since 1986. As I get older (now 57), I find myself pondering leaving the capital for a more relaxed pace of life, less people and a bit more greenery. I know though, that if/when I leave, very few come back. If a life changing momentus decision to take. 

I have run my own consultancy, training and research business for 22 years as a sole trader. I sub-contract associates to codeliver on big contracts from time to time. Every 5 years I have retrained to keep my skills, expertise and interests fresh. Over the last 18 months it seems harder to make ends meet and I have struggled financially to meet my outgoings. Not what I expected as I move closer to 60! I seem to have to work more to break even, although having a big mortgage doesn't help. I suddenly find myself asset rich and income poorer. It is tainting my joy for London which is sad. 

If I sold the house and leave town I could be mortage free, have a nice house in a county of my choice and add to my pension pot. Many of my friends and work associates have already retired and in a fewcases died, making it harder to collabrate on contracts with trusted people. 

Caring my an eldery mum in the midlands, an older partner with long term health conditions and starting to experience health issues myself, the factors at play in a decision about my future work/life balance, home and friendships. 

South Lambeth does not have a high street, so loses out on a focal point. Since Nine Elms was redeveloped I see that area as my high street now and enjoy the mix of new shops, cafes, restaurants and entertainment options.  

Successful economic growth would include longterm investment in those people currently excluded from the labour market due to disability, health conditions, skills/interests with less market value, or a patchy/non-existant employment history. We are missing local talent by failing to develop our people.  

Accommodation costs like rents are still far too high, and becoming unsustainable. Transport costs are also extremely high, why can't we subsidize transport like other major cities around the world?

But overall London is still a great place to live, if you stay in all day and avoid going out. Every time you go out you end up spending at least £25, even if you don't do anything. Amazing fact, but true! :)

I live in a bubble - I've been working for the same company for 17+ years and mortgage paid off and just living alone quietly without any family, trying to save as much of my small admin salary as possible for my retirement. I have a sad little loner life but I recognise even this is a fortunate position when I see the dire situation in the real world. People seem desperate for jobs. How do people survive now with such extortionate rents?? I could not afford to rent the same 1 BR flat I rented back in 2009 now, it's more than my salary!!! Obviously all greater Londoners should be on a living wage, not minimum wage but even before that there should be drastic changes to the residential property market. E.g. Limit on landlord property ownership to 1 per person, stop foreign investors buying residential properties for sole purpose of renting, banish mortgages for landlords, stop businesses buying residential accommodation. Profiting from rentals should be banned. LISA thresholds increased. There is so much change that could happen, why won't they? Because the elite rich will not profit from the poor if they do that.

Sorry, going back to my high street, it has everything I need (I miss Wilko's though), excellent public transport (Lizzie line), excellent diversity (depending on your perspective) but has become Extremely overcrowded in 10 years. It's more dangerous with children with knives and no visible police. I wouldn't dare to go in after dark unless I was with other people.

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• What do you like most or least about your local high street, and why? 

The never ending stream of cars as they rush down from the A200 on their way elsewhere, smack down through a conservation area with way more tourists and pedestrians than the narrow pavements can handle. 

Also, chauffeur driven luxury cars mounting pedestrian areas with impunity. 

Brexit is a big issue for the city of London where i work. 20 to 30 years ago you could get a job with decent qualifications and work your way up, it’s much harder for youngsters these days.

At a local level, the environment of the high street is so important and unfortunately, Morden’s is full of traffic. I avoid the area unless absolutely necessary and certainly do not take my kids there. I understand there are limited funds available for council’s to try and improve things so I’m not sure what the answer is.

I’m reluctantly pessimistic for the future and hope I’m wrong as London is a great city. Creating opportunities for youngsters who want to work hard should be a priority for the council, after all they are the future of the city.

• How do you see your future in the capital? What do you need to thrive?                                                    I am already the future, I empower people to create a culture of self-sufficiency through skills training, counselling, advice and advocacy. I have strong belief that people, given the opportunity and resources, can thrive and be interdependent, contributing positively to better the capital, now and tomorrow.

• What do you like most or least about your local high street, and why?                                                      I like my local high street because it is really local, people know each other and are protective of one another. The snag about that is that no one wants to pay for the service they need, due to familiar relationships. I do not like is that the real businesses, only three of them on my local street, are family businesses by non-locals. They do not employ any local resident and their sales are very expensive, so they come and cash-in on us.

   

• What does a good job or good place to work look like to you?                                                                   A good job/ good place to work is one in which the worker is happy to be, and salary/wages can pay for their livelihood and have some savings for holiday or family enjoyment without getting into debt.

   

• What does successful economic growth look like to you? What would make you feel like you’re benefitting from it too?                                                                                                                           Successful economic growth is innovation with adequate resources, operated by good governance, and resulting in shared wealth and public benefits.

London is a playground for the rich and survival for the rest.

We need less estate agents, less chains, more independent business, more incentives to small business owners, less business rates, less junk food 'restaurants' (ie. fried chicken and similar junk), less betting shops.

Jobs in London don't match the absurd high prices. And trains are a joke, great for the owners, terrible for passengers. 

Also, toilets, we need more public toilets, London Bridge station is ridiculous, after a major redesign they favoured more shops than toilets. 

ULEZ and CC are exaggerated. Cycle paths are great but poorly planned. 

And generally speaking London doesn't feel safe.

We need significantly higher housing density in the first 3 zones of London. There shouldn't be 2/3 storey buildings in the central part of a city with 10million+ people in it. Maybe worth considering minimum density requirements for all new builds and rebuilds in the central part of the city.

We should be considering a land tax on the unimproved value of land to encourage more efficient land use. 

Council tax should be levied on 2024 property values, not on values from decades ago. 

Public toilets and water bottle refill stations should be available at every tube station, or somewhere very nearby.

Wireless phone chargers should be installed into seats at tube stations, bus stations and stops etc. so that people can charge their phone for urgent situations.

We should give priority to locally owned and or independent business over multinational and venture capital back chains in high street stores.