2 Urban ang rural Hestyles 12 The city My home — love it or hate it! by Ali Khazan liven Blackheath in South London. London’ one of the largest and most exciting cities in the world, and there are advantages and disadvantages to living here. The main advantage is that there's alot to do and see. In the centre of London ‘there are tourist attractions like Madam Tussaud's and the Science Museum, and there are all kinds of parks and historic buildings. I suppose that we don't always amake the mostof it. We only visit places like the Tower of London when one of our relatives comes to visit! Secondly, London is a great place for entertainment: All the new films come here first, and if we want to go to a pop concert or abig sports events, there’ allways Something right on our doorstep. And of course the shopping is great ~ there's everything from department stores like Harrods to Camden Market. Another advantage of living in London is that you can travel easily and quickly across the city on the underground. And we've got railway stations and airports to take you anywhere in the world Lastly, London is truly cosmopolitan. Kids at my school are from lots of different cultures, but that doesn’t stop us being friends. Its good to mix with people from different abackgrounds. It stops you from becoming anarrowminded. But there are some major problems f you live in London. Like mest other capital cities, itis noisy polluted and congested with traffic. The traffic problem isso bad that they have recently introduced a congestion acharge for central London. Drivers now have to pay if they want to take their cars to the city centre. Hopefully that will improve the sitvation. Secondly, things are very expensive here — apparently its more expensive to live here than to live in any American city. For example, if you go to the cinema in the centre of London itcan cost you £12. And to go just one stop on the underground can cost you nearly £1. But the worst problem about living in London is that, in general, people aren'tvery friendly. Nobedy vill talk to strangers or help people inthe streetif they are in trouble. They don't tust each other, and] think that's because they are scared of becoming victims of crime. London has the highest crime rate in the country. Butain spite of these negative points, still wouldn't want to live outside of London. Its my home — love it or hate it!