London vs Toronto

I have lived in supposedly nice areas of London for the past 6 years. A sucker for punishment but glad to be leaving finally. The streets are dangerous at night for single women and men thanks to gangs, alcohol and drugs. I would recommend only walking on well lighted streets at night and taking transport when possible. During the day most people on the street are rude, unkind, racist and cold which I believe stems from a general lack of happiness. Don't expect a genuinely kind greeting or help from a stranger. The streets on the whole are either disgustingly dirty or disgustingly dirty and packed full of people in central London especially. They are old and not looked after. You need to watch your step as you walk or you will step in something horrendous. Pollution here is dangerously high. Look at the discolouration of the buildings and the black mucous from your nose for proof. I had never seen or experienced either of these things before moving to London. I hope to never experience them again. I would recommend wearing an anti-pollution mask if you do visit. When eating out expect to pay twice the price you usually would and for your coffee to be burnt and the food to be of low quality - that way you won't be disappointed. When eating in check the fruit and vegetables you buy for mold/quality. Also the water here is awful which makes sense as it come from the polluted, sewage filled Thames and many properties older than the 1970s (so most London buildings) still have lead water pipes. I would avoid drinking unfiltered London drinking water wherever possible especially if you have children. Accommodation here is disappointing and irrationally expensive for what you get. A multimillion dollar/pound property could be nothing more than a flat or a terrace house in a supposedly nice area. These houses are old or new build flats but either way they will come with multiple surprising problems from plumbing, to ventilation to terrible neighbours. I would recommend renting before you buy (if you do choose to move here... I don't know why you would). There are beautiful museums and galleries and you can come across very nice tourists and people but it's not the norm. London is bearable for a day or two but there are so many other beautiful places to see and live in this world full of genuinely kind people. I would not recommend London to anyone as a place to live.

Extremely surprised by some of the negative comments in one of the reviews on this site in particular. London is one of the most safest cities in the world and having lived in London certainly most of my life (apart from 5 years living in Sao Paulo, Brazil) I have to say they as a Gay man I have never experienced any feelings of homophobia, feeling unsafe when walking alone at night, or racism. In addition to this, London is by far one of the cleanest cities in the world and the water certainly does not tast polluted as mentioned by the reviewer below who obviously has no idea that the Thames is now one of the cleanest rivers running through a city anywhere in the world. As for the food, London is one of the most culturally diverse cities with amazing cuisine from all over the world - outstanding food markets from Borough Market to Covent Garden, expect to eat well in this city. Ofcourse it's possibly to eat poorly if you choose badly or try to find the cheapest options, like anywhere else in the world. London is the world's global city with more galleries and museums than any other city, which unlike may other cities does not charge tourism entry fees.