I've been here 10 years but since taking a job with a 5 minute cycling commute have all but forgotten what it's like having to brave the centre, which is a bit of a luxury i guess. In fact i barely leave SE15/SE5 anymore, it's a strange, near-village life, interspersed with the odd trip to obscure parts of north and east london to investigate/get lost in some new alien area; I've yet to exhaust it in that respect.
There are also those rare days during summer when the city is emptier, and a mirage of continental life fleetingly appears...
Like anyone, I've little patience for rush hour public transport.. and a fair chunk of the populace are a unique breed of total cunt, but nowhere else have I had nights out that run spontaneously from say, cheap, good food, to a free film screening, to a club that plays what I want to hear.. perhaps introducing me to undiscovered treats, then perhaps to a warehouse party.. etc etc..
I love certain northern cites, but being half Pakistani I regularly get told to 'fuck off back to leicester', that's only ever happened in London in New Eltham, and it's my own fault for going there.