Insalubrious

What in the name of Common Sense is to recommend Brinshore?—A most insalubrious Air—Roads proverbially detestable—Water Brackish beyond example, impossible to get a good dish of Tea within 3 miles of the place—& as for the Soil—it is so cold & ungrateful that it can hardly be made to yeild^([sic]) a Cabbage.

But while the were a few pockets of the city centre that were desirable places in which to live, for the most part London's traditional areas were overcrowded and insalubrious.