The differences in London

Live longer, healthier, greener... Depending on where you settle it is quite obvious that your standard of living will evolve. However, when it comes to massive differences between areas of a same town, you can legitimately be puzzled.

This article from TimeOut publishes the results of 2007 London Health Survey. I was especially amazed by the discrepancy in life expectancy between the best performing borough and the 32nd: a new born could expect to live 7 years longer depending on the place where he takes his first breath. Amazing enough, if you look at the performance in terms of binge drinking, 2 out of the three longer-living places count among the 5 most drinking ones. Shall we conclude that you should drink to live longer???

If you are interested in such statistical oddities, I strongly recommend this book, Freakonomics.

It is a brilliant review on how figures can be read and interpreted. Have a read and reconsider your environment. Especially if you live in London;-)