Part 4/14:
Moving focus to London, the speaker reflects on the city’s paradoxical decline. Once a vibrant hub, now it suffers from a population drain, with 700,000 leaving post-pandemic due to high costs and remote work. The city’s reputation for over-inflated property prices and relentless taxation — from council taxes to business rates — makes life increasingly expensive. There’s a shared sentiment that London’s ambiance has been “raped,” with unique character replaced by sanitized, cookie-cutter modern spaces. Nonetheless, London's core — Soho and entertainment venues like Ronnie Scott’s — remain iconic, resilient hubs of culture amid economic decay.