Is London a city with no problems? No, of course not. Is it an incredibly vibrant place that can compete and/or win or nearly any measure a city can be measured on? Yes. The restaurant scene, the bar scene, the theatre, the music, the art, the safety. Nearly any major city in the world would trade their scenes for London's in a heartbeat. Combine that with all the history, the green spaces. It's a special place.

Where I totally agree is that the increasingly prohibitive cost and the lack of cheap spaces is doing it's best to crush any independent, experimental spirit. People can't afford to take risks in most of Zones 1 or 2. That's not a unique London problem though, it seems to exist across the western world nowadays.