London - modern apartments

[Cal]

I took this 10 years ago and I have no clue where it is... I can't remember where in London and googling has turned up nothing. Does anyone else know?

 

[wiskerke]

https://goo.gl/maps/rwvsrSmutqWE4WU4A

 

wim

 

Google Images: Indescon square.

Edited October 24, 2020 by wiskerke

[Brian Yarvin]

And now for the obvious question ... did you know the place off the top of your head or use some search method we aren't aware of? 

BTW ... if you knew the place from personal experience, which did you prefer, The Isle of Dogs or the Haines Shoe House?

[wiskerke]

16 minutes ago, Brian Yarvin said:

And now for the obvious question ... did you know the place off the top of your head or use some search method we aren't aware of? 

BTW ... if you knew the place from personal experience, which did you prefer, The Isle of Dogs or the Haines Shoe House?

 

I have been to the Isle of Dogs, and reprimanded for taking photographs on Canary Wharf, but no I have not seen this.

Nor does Google Images see it when presented with the image. However both Baidu and Yandex give multiple hits. The problem then is finding out what they're referring to. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

Normally I start with Google, but I find it's not as good as it used to be.

So that's when the others come to the rescue. For that I use this: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/search_by_image/

 

Would I want to live there? Hmmm. I have yet to find a neighborhood where I would like to live in London.

In the Shoe House? I do like the idea of a house like that.

However I now live 3 minutes on foot from my local supermarket and I think around 10 minutes would be my preferred limit. The shops in York are about 20 minutes by bike. And the closest Whole Foods seems to be at 20 minutes by car in Lancaster. Pennsylvania is a beautiful countryside though. And I like Philly, Baltimore and DC which are not too far away.

But all those people visiting? Peering through my window? Maybe not.

😂

 

wim

 

 

[Cal]

thanks for the info re the location and searching. Now I can keyword the image more accurately

[Brian Yarvin]

Wim, I think I'm with you on all these points. Earlier this week, I bought a car in York and while I got a very good deal, I found the whole place dismal. Right now, I live about 5 minutes by car from that Whole Foods (in Lancaster) but I rarely go there. I too, have to live within walking distance of my basic needs. 

 

More than anything, I'm amazed by your ability to find places that nobody else can. Certainly, many readers of this list much have visited the Isle of Dogs! And just a few months ago, you located a street in Philadelphia that I couldn't even though I'd walked on that very block shortly before the image was posted and the question asked. 

 

You have the skills!

[wiskerke]

17 minutes ago, Brian Yarvin said:

Wim, I think I'm with you on all these points. Earlier this week, I bought a car in York and while I got a very good deal, I found the whole place dismal. Right now, I live about 5 minutes by car from that Whole Foods (in Lancaster) but I rarely go there. I too, have to live within walking distance of my basic needs. 

 

More than anything, I'm amazed by your ability to find places that nobody else can. Certainly, many readers of this list much have visited the Isle of Dogs! And just a few months ago, you located a street in Philadelphia that I couldn't even though I'd walked on that very block shortly before the image was posted and the question asked. 

 

You have the skills!

 

Thank you!

I figured you must live in or somewhere near Lancaster because of that book.

 

In DC we often walked to Whole Foods on P even when it was 30 minutes on foot. Now it would be 8 min because shortly after we left, they opened a store at I St. NW. (We did make jokes about moving back - yes I know about the Whole Foods Effect.)

Occasionally we would trek to the Wegmans in Fairfax. Our regular was the smallish Safeway at the Watergate, that has been closed since. That was 10 minutes. I would take the bike there, but seldom to the Whole Foods. We did take the car there sometimes though. We didn't own a car, but used Zipcar in DC. That was a bit of a culture shock, but turned out well. More so because there were 2 in our driveway, but no space for a car of our own for 5 months in the parking of our own building. By the time they offered us space we had bought 2 bicycles and we got to like the Zipcars. And we got PeaPod of course, which we had had before and still have here. Different name, but same owner btw. In the US it's groceries from Giant and Food Lion and here it's from Albert Heijn. Which is also that neighborhood store at 270 meters (less than 900 ft) from my front door. Delivery is different though. In DC they brought it up to the 9th floor. Here it's ground floor and with Corona/Covid they now have to leave it outside on our door step. Oh well.

 

wim

[Brian Yarvin]

Great story! For most of us in the modern world, nothing is more of a lifeline than our supermarkets, and nothing tells you more about a place than what they sell in the local supermarket.

I am really demanding when it comes to these things! When I bought this house, it had to be within 1,500 meters of: a farmer's market, 2 coffee shops, a train station with direct service to NYC, a library, an Italian specialty grocery, a camera shop with in-house repairs, and at least three other things that I don't even remember. That camera shop is now a microbrewery - one of too many! But the rest is there. 

 

Not even ten years ago, nothing was more important than producing stock photos, but by the time we moved to Lancaster, my focus was almost entirely on text/photo projects. The mentality is very different!

[MizBrown]

I live in a Nicaragua small city (50,000 population) that's the central shopping hub for a lot of country people.  I can walk to my bank, two other banks, about three computer stores, a number of places that sell household goods and appliances and deliver, a butcher shop/meat store (prepackage cuts so not a real butcher store), my vet's, a clinic, a small supermarket, and a number of convenience stores, furniture store (on my block) and a carpenter and dressmaker (on my block).  Mexican restaurant in the next block north, and an interesting little seafood and meat restaurant another block north.  Bigger supermarkets are somewhat of a long walk away, but taxis are convenient and cheap.  Aquarium store and a department store are a bit closer and walkable.  Couple of pharmacies, maybe four in walking distance.   Italian restaurant run by real Italians from Florence about eight blocks away.  Cuban restaurant closer.   No camera shop, but a nice pro runs a studio near the Italian restaurant and has Godox lights like I do.  If I wanted an entry level Nikon or Canon, though, I could buy one at one of the electronic stores.

 

I think that if this was in the US, I couldn't afford it.   It would be completely gentrified. 

[Brian Yarvin]

MizBrown, the US is a very big place with prices that are changing very quickly. I'm really happy to hear about Nicaragua though. All too often we only hear about it when it's in the news and that's too bad. Thanks for the report!

[MizBrown]

8 hours ago, Brian Yarvin said:

MizBrown, the US is a very big place with prices that are changing very quickly. I'm really happy to hear about Nicaragua though. All too often we only hear about it when it's in the news and that's too bad. Thanks for the report!

Nicaraguan political issues tend to be oversimplified when they reach international news.  I have lived in the US most of my life -- Philadelphia was more affordable than NYC, but getting groceries either place where I lived was not an easy walk away though public transit was decent.  We did have an Amish family bring in produce once a week near my house in East Falls.  Rural Virginia is pretty much car territory.   DC area suburbs also required owning a car outside of some Washington, DC, neighborhoods, and shopping for groceries in DC was a problem when I spent some time there.

 

My rent for a six room house here is $230 a month, plus all utilities.

 

 

 

[Brian Yarvin]

Thanks again for telling your story!

 

[Betty LaRue]

In Oklahoma and Kansas, it’s probably called wide open spaces. Things aren’t packed densely. Businesses are usually close to other businesses, mostly in strip malls or shopping malls. Abodes are generally in neighborhoods. There may be an occasional convenience store on a corner within a block or two of some homes, but not that many unless you get in small towns.

A car or bus system is pretty necessary. Zoning is pretty much residential or business, seldom the two mix. Although in both cities I’m seeing new residential apartment complexes planned with food stores and a few other businesses like restaurants or fast food in the mix. That’s what young people want, now.

 

In Oklahoma City, the nearest bus stop to my home was two blocks away. I’ve never even passed a Wichita bus when I’ve been driving somewhere, let alone know where a bus stop is.  They do have bus routes, (I’ve heard) but they must be ghosted.

I've never ridden a city bus in my life, or ordered an Uber. I think I took a taxi to and back from an airport once.

Where I am now, the nearest convenience store is a mile away.
I drive a 4 year old Subaru Forester, bought new. These days, I drive just enough to keep the battery charged. When I shop for groceries, I usually shop for a 2 week supply. I need a car for that, to haul them home. I have a freezer downstairs and I use it, along with a refrigerator/freezer upstairs.  I even freeze milk and bread. Shopping for 2 weeks keeps my Covid exposure down. Often I just order and pick up. When I get too old to drive, I’m stuck.

[MizBrown]

6 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Zoning is pretty much residential or business, seldom the two mix.

 

The older cities tended to be mixed use.   New development in Managua looks like it's following the car-dependent pattern.

 

 

 

 

[NYCat]

12 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

In Oklahoma and Kansas, it’s probably called wide open spaces. Things aren’t packed densely. Businesses are usually close to other businesses, mostly in strip malls or shopping malls. Abodes are generally in neighborhoods. There may be an occasional convenience store on a corner within a block or two of some homes, but not that many unless you get in small towns.

A car or bus system is pretty necessary. Zoning is pretty much residential or business, seldom the two mix. Although in both cities I’m seeing new residential apartment complexes planned with food stores and a few other businesses like restaurants or fast food in the mix. That’s what young people want, now.

 

In Oklahoma City, the nearest bus stop to my home was two blocks away. I’ve never even passed a Wichita bus when I’ve been driving somewhere, let alone know where a bus stop is.  They do have bus routes, (I’ve heard) but they must be ghosted.

I've never ridden a city bus in my life, or ordered an Uber. I think I took a taxi to and back from an airport once.

Where I am now, the nearest convenience store is a mile away.
I drive a 4 year old Subaru Forester, bought new. These days, I drive just enough to keep the battery charged. When I shop for groceries, I usually shop for a 2 week supply. I need a car for that, to haul them home. I have a freezer downstairs and I use it, along with a refrigerator/freezer upstairs.  I even freeze milk and bread. Shopping for 2 weeks keeps my Covid exposure down. Often I just order and pick up. When I get too old to drive, I’m stuck.

 

The last time I visited Los Angeles I really appreciated the availability of Uber and Lyft. In years past I either had to rent a car or depend on a friend to take me around. My friend still drives but not for long and unfamiliar distances and I'd be afraid to try to drive now --- being so out of practice. I do keep up my license in case of necessity. One thing that keeps me in NYC is the thought of how limited I would be elsewhere because of needing to drive.

 

Paulette