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I've been to many German Cities. Some are grimy, Stuttgart and Erfurt come to mind as places that had noticeable bad parts. I didn't see any of that while in London really. While in london I saw a grand total of one old school hard luck guy silently begging outside of a classic pub down by the river, it added to atmosphere if anything, much cleaner and less bum filled than any day I've spent in Boston or NYC. We didn't do any big 5 star meals, or stay at any place above a Marriott, just pub food and one or 2 nice dinners.
Subway was on time and clean, sure the older subway tunnels and cars were a bit small and a tad warm, but that is because they are some of the first in the world and they only could build the tunnels a certain diameter back in 1863 as opposed to the Prague subway, built over 100 years later in the 1970s. We bought the "london pass" for a few days, it gives you discounted access to all the big attractions. I had no problem getting anywhere in the city for only 8.20 pounds a day! I had low expectations (in line with what you seem to have experienced, and from reading about dystopian policies online for 2 decades) for London, and was very impressed and surprised to have a great time! I would go back any time!
Maybe you just don't enjoy visiting a large metro.
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