London: Lockdown aftermath

[lambrini]

Today, I visited town for first time since March and was shocked by its cleanliness and eeriness. Fortnum & Mason and the flagship Waterstones on Piccadilly were virtually empty; likewise, Piccadilly Circus, the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, and Green Park. Tube stations were spotless. No Roma beggars or hoards of annoying tourists. Many shops and eateries are still closed, though. Have you visited Central London yet?

[beingsoblase]

My first and only trip to that there London was back in 1988, I still have a hard rock cafe Xmas '88 top from that day out!

[Steve Hunt]

Today, I visited town for first time since March and was shocked by its cleanliness and eeriness. Fortnum & Mason and the flagship Waterstones on Piccadilly were virtually empty; likewise, Piccadilly Circus, the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, and Green Park. Tube stations were spotless. No Roma beggars or hoards of annoying tourists. Many shops and eateries are still closed, though. Have you visited Central London yet?

Not yet, Lucy.

I am sure it won'tbe long before I do, probably through work.

London will never be the same again after this. Office blocks will be vacated at the end of leases as companies embrace the idea of employees working from home. Places like Canary Wharf & The City will lose most of the businesses (cafes, restaurants, shops, pubs, hairdressers, gyms etc) that function mainly to serve office workers. Office blocks will be converted into residential flats, otherwise they will remain empty or simply be demolished.
The Tube & road networks will take an awful long time to return to pre-Covid volumes, if they ever do. Which is a positive, I guess.

London and all the other major cities in the UK will never be the same. Revenues these cities generate will reduce dramatically, which could be very bad news for those living in these cities. Local authorities/mayors/transport providers will want to make up the shortfall one way or another.

Overall, will this change be a good thing? I am not sure. There will be winners and losers. I suspect the losers will considerably outweigh the winners, sadly.

[Eaststand]

yup.

Hysteria killed an entire country.

[lambrini]

Overall, will this change be a good thing? I am not sure. There will be winners and losers. I suspect the losers will considerably outweigh the winners, sadly.

Great post, Steve. I will have to commute for work in due course and can't work remotely. Not sure how I feel about it, to be honest. Wearing a mask on public transport is a pain!
I also visited the City of London, which is usually very busy during the day. Dead as a door-nail. One Starbucks coffee shop was open with service-by-app only. Yikes.

[JimmyDee]

Today, I visited town for first time since March and was shocked by its cleanliness and eeriness.

It's interesting, isn't it? The amount of rubbish that people normally strew in the streets, presumably because "someone gets paid to clean it up, so I won't bother putting it in a bin". You only notice it when there isn't any

[lambrini]

Today, I visited town for first time since March and was shocked by its cleanliness and eeriness.

It's interesting, isn't it? The amount of rubbish that people normally strew in the streets, presumably because "someone gets paid to clean it up, so I won't bother putting it in a bin". You only notice it when there isn't any

Yep. Astounding. The Fountain is usually strewn with fag-ends and rubbish. Disgusting, really.