Don't believe what people are saying about London – it's much safer than when I was a kid

Finding myself with an afternoon to kill in the centre of London, and the tedious daily target of 10,000 steps to complete, I decided to take a walk from Oxford Circus to Holborn, via Soho. Usually, I am running late for something. On this particular day, I took the opportunity to slow down and pay a bit more attention to the city I love. I was born in London and have lived here my whole life but it’s easy to take it for granted. 

As I ambled through the streets, I thought about the ways in which it had changed over the course of my lifetime: some of the independent shops and cafes I used to love have disappeared, replaced by generic chain stores or iffy-looking vape outlets. Other places have changed for the better.

On the corner of Tottenham Court Road and Charing Cross Road stands Outernet: a vast, shiny arts compound that, since its launch three years ago, has become the most visited tourist site in the city. Its centrepiece is the NOW Building, featuring wraparound digital screens that showcase an ever-changing series of arts installations and cultural events. 

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Some people moan about the glow-up this part of town has had, as if it’s a betrayal of its bohemian past. They’ve forgotten how grim it used to be in decades gone by, when drug dealers and sex workers dominated the streets. I liked the colour and grit of old Soho, but I didn’t love being aggressively offered blow jobs or crack every time I nipped out for a sandwich on my lunch break.

I grew up in ugly council buildings, so I quite like the city being cleaned up a bit, especially when it means ordinary folk can get access to free arts events. 

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London, like all cities, is constantly evolving. On the whole, the spirit remains the same: while the pace is frantic, it’s also a place of warmth. People aren’t friendly in the same way they are in small towns, but they are nevertheless welcoming.

Regardless of your accent, skin colour or the way you dress, you can roam anywhere in the capital without anyone batting an eyelid. Londoners take you as they find you: the unusual is usual. You can be as visible or invisible as you like.  

I’m aware of what a privilege it is to have been born and raised here. It is by fluke of birth that I’ve been presented with numerous possibilities that I wouldn’t have otherwise enjoyed. Some people say London is a fallen city where criminals are free to do as they please and danger lurks on every corner.

But the truth is it’s a much safer, less violent place than it was when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. Not only do the statistics support this, but the experiences of real Londoners do too. 

Back when I was a kid, violence was commonplace. You’d see aggro on public transport, inside pubs, on the street. The lead in the petrol made people angry and aggressive. In the 80s, poverty was even more prevalent than it is today; streets were poorly lit and social division was rife.

I was mugged several times when I was a teenager and it wasn’t pleasant. Central London is largely sanitised now, and while that might disappoint a few inverted snobs, it makes it a happier and safer place for the rest of us. 

Yes, there is still some violence, just like any city. When poverty coexists with wealth in an urban atmosphere, crime is often born out of desperation and opportunity. If you want to eliminate crime, eliminate inequality.

But the idea that my beautiful, ever-changing home city is crumbling into a state of lawless mayhem is a crock of shit peddled by scaredy cats who are too terrified to get on a bus in case they get their trousers dirty. Don’t believe a word of it: London is better and brighter than ever.

Read more from Sam Delaney on his Substack.

His new book Stop Sh**ting Yourself: 15 Life Lessons That Might Help You Calm the F*ck Down is out now (Little, Brown, £22) and is available from the Big Issue shop on bookshop.org, which helps to support Big Issue and independent bookshops.

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