To think I’ve missed out on an exciting life by never living in London?

I felt like you OP and when the chance came for me to move there (I was childfree and had great career opportunities in the city) I took it. I spent a long time there and experienced some wonderful things. However I never settled fully (I've lived in other cities around the uk and North America where I felt I fitted in better and would have settled, but for circumstances not being right.)
While I don't regret my time in London, and made friends for life, it wasn't the utopia I'd expected and ultimately I was glad to leave.
Don't beat yourself up over an imagined dream of what might be.

‘Lawless’ is often said by types that call it ‘Londonstan’…

London's fantastic, so much free stuff to do

I've also lived in about 36 places all over the UK, London is by far the best place I've ever lived

I dare say you could have an exciting life just about anywhere, but I do think London is really special
I agree. I'm a real city person and have visited lots of cities all over the world. I woukd still say London is the best of them. It does make you go to other places and think ' not as good as the Natural History Museum/National Gallery etc' ( obviously there is nothing comparable to the ancient Roman architecture in actual Rome) but the museums and parks are second to none. But I go into Central London and see those things far more often now that I've moved out of London. Also, DS went into London with his friends this week. The train ticket with a young person's railcard from London to our city was £6, the one day travelcard I got him from.his grandma's house in zone 4 to Central London was £15!!!

I did my masters over two years in London and while it was a good experience in many ways even at that point, about 10 years ago London was really expensive, I lived in Lewisham which was pretty far from the action and there is no tube out there which is one of the reasons it was cheaper. It meant a long slog into town or to where my university was and while I would budget to see some exhibitions and other cultural activities I was really priced out of a lot of what London has to offer. Also in London it feels like everyone you know lives at the furthest possible point away as we all had to just get the cheapest place to stay.

I think overall I had a better experience in my smaller, but still cosmopolitan university town where I did my undergrad as everything was more accessible to me and my friends and fellow students all lived close by which was lovely.

One thing about London is that London life is hard work and when I moved back to my home city everything felt easy by comparison and I think that gave me an edge in some respects, London did toughen me up.

I dare say you could have an exciting life just about anywhere, but I do think London is really special.

I was born there. I grew up there. I raised my DC there mostly. I have lived and worked in other cities in the UK and abroad, but, to me, nothing compares to London. I've been poor there, to the point of hitch-hiking around, surprisingly successfully. Admittedly I lived in some unappealling places. I've also been more comfortably off there, which is more fun, as I imagine would be the case anywhere. I do think it's a comparatively good place to be poor as public transport is so good and less expensive than many cities, and there are so many things to do that are free. If you live there you get to find how to do more expensive things on the cheap.

I think it's a city that works for any age. There is loads to do for families, indoors and out. Obviously there is a huge variety of work. And, with excellent transport (free buses with an ordinary Bus Pass and free everything with a London Freedom Pass) and lots of places where it's quite acceptable to sit and relax, it's great for older people. I've never felt unsafe there, even though I managed to pass through Brixton when people were gathering for the Riots - nobody showed any interest in me.

I also think it has improved massively since I was little. The public transport is so much better. The air quality, although still not ideal, is much better. It's years since I've had the black snot that I used to get there. The choice of restaurants and cuisines is much better - a big uplift on just Lyons Corner House, hotels or the Cafe Royal! Swathes of dreadful housing (I've lived in some of it) have been demolished and improved, although there's always room for improvement.

I also find people there are very friendly and helpful, but you have to make the approach - they leave you alone if you don't, so you can live anonymously if you prefer. Every single time I've asked for help I've found many willing offers. It can be a bit overwhelming if several people have different ideas on, eg, the best way to get from A to B.

I lived there for a few years in my 20's for work and couldn't wait to leave. It's so grey, built up, the people are so unfriendly, no one speaks to you in the street, i never knew any of my neighbours, there was so much litter, so many people begging and so much homelessness, and even back then it cost an arm and a leg. I found it utterly depressing but I guess it's good for a night out. But why not just visit for a weekend every now and then, that's what we do.

I live in London and love it - but to think it's the only place/city to have a great life is probably unfounded.
The other thing to remember is that a lot of people actually live a fair distance from the centre - so a lot of travelling in and out.
I initially lived in zone 5 - end of a tube line, fortune to get a cab home at night. When I first moved to zone 1, I spent six months going to clubs with the joy that I could walk home or get a cab for £5 (it was a while ago) - eventually realised I didn't enjoy clubs that much anymore :)

Born and bred in London, partner the same. We both left several years ago for a beautiful life in the country and it is so much better. We visit sometimes, but that is enough. Cannot wait to leave after - and we are literally from there.

Also, my partner who is from East London was ultimately put off by the gentrification of the area. It's all so transient now, trendy students move there then eventually having to move on as it's so expensive, formerly thriving communities dismantled due to house prices, rich young couples (often not even from London) moving into these houses that were once working class. It's pretty soulless now, lots of trendy psuedo-culture. It's a shame.

We can all find something that we wished we had done

London is still here it’s not going anywhere can always visit and often visitors make the most of London rather than those that have lived here

I agree it’s the best city in the world and I have been lucky to be born and loved here all my life apart from periods living abroad but I can still lost things I wished I had done

Agreed.

OP, yes, obviously in a way. I lived in London for ten years and loved it. DH and I lived in a series of scuzzy flat shares, then bought a tiny one-bed we were virtually never in. You can actually have a great time pretty cheaply. I love art, opera, classical music, theatre, cinema, and were so many ways of doing these things cheaply or for free. I left in 2012, after I had DS and moved jobs, and no longer live in the UK, but I go back for a weekend when I can, and am always delighted I had the privilege to live and work there.

@OneTC I've been in London for almost 18 years and over the years I've seen certain areas become more run down as retailers go bust and close down and a shopping area becomes a waste land of boarded up shops or shops becoming vape shops/American candy shops etc (that's Oxford Street I'm referring too).
There's areas with homeless people living in tents next to historical monuments (Hyde Park/Marble Arch area).
That's just a couple of examples.

I'd be interested to know the areas that people think have got worse in the last 15-20 years. And how they'd quantify worse

My Mother was from London and there was about two years in my twenties where I spent almost every other weekend in London with friends. I did also live there briefly. Wasn’t for me overall but was a fun time. I remember slamming tequilas at parties, going to Notting Hill carnival, being kissed in Hyde Park on a date, singing Christmas carols on Clapham Common very drunk and wandering around museums and galleries alone. None of it would have been possible with a child in tow in the same way. Where my Mum lived when young is an absolute shithole now.

Tbh you are correct in that sense. I was born in London. It is brilliant when you're young and, yes, carefree. I moved out in my 40's with kids because it's expensive and busy and bits of it are pretty dangerous. You end up doing the same things you do anywhere else except in a more expensive and crowded area, trying to drag kids around on the tube sardine crushed with other people and queuing to get into places. I plan to go back when I retire, and wouldn't mind my kids going back when they are young adults.

I don't know what you mean by 'the buzz.' How do you quantify a buzz?
There are plenty of theatres, good shopping, parks, but it's all very expensive and all these things are available in other cities.
To me it always looks dingy, overcrowded and lots of people look quite downtrodden.
There are the wealthy areas of course, but only accessible to the insanely rich.
House and flat prices are a joke.
Lots of areas in the UK can offer so much more.

I’ve not read through the thread but London is a fucking dump now.

London was wonderful when I grew up; I’m a born and bred Londoner with generations of family from there. It used to be amazing.

Not anymore.

Dirty, rammed, densely populated , extremely expensive and dangerous.

Nah. Not for me anymore. My husband and I made the decision 15 years ago to leave the place before we had children. Best thing we ever did. I would despair at having to bring up children in London now and would be genuinely fearful for them.

As well, London under Khan is even more fucked.

So in my experience and opinion, YABU

I do love London but there are cities all over the world where there's more than 1 person can realistically in a lifetime. You've still got to actually go out and do them and sometimes being so overloaded with choice isn't always a good thing and leads to a kind of netflix/deliveroo type burnout where there's so much you almost want that you end up choosing nothing.

I've lived in 2 other capital cities and found that there's always stuff if you want to do it and are willing to find it.

You can fill your life full of interesting things anywhere, and there's interesting things you can't do here that you take for granted elsewhere.

Lived in London & Paris in my 20s. Dublin in my 30s. In the city centre of all of them. Loved it. Have a child now, living in the suburbs. Had a blast, no way I would have settled down younger!

I've lived on the zone 1/2 border for 25+ years (and in other parts of London prior to that). I've never been mugged or stabbed. Neither have any of my friends, colleagues or neighbours. Actually, that's not quite accurate. My flatmate in Hampstead was mugged walking home from the tube. Back in 1993. 😋

Honestly the exaggeration by some posters on this thread is beyond ridiculous. "Lawless" London. 😂

I live in london and whilst i find it very fun I agree it's just the feeling of things you'll never do. You'll presumably never live in Tokyo or Paris, i had a feeling of sadness recently that I'll never live in New York.

I will also second that you need £££ to live in london

One thing I do notice is that London has a shitload more mopeds these days than it did 10 years ago. In some ways that gives it a feel of a foreign country as mopeds are something I associate with Asia and southern Europe.

Can give the streets a nice buzz but is also a convenient way to commit crimes.

Obviously this is linked to Deliveroo’s massive rise in popularity but there haven’t seemed to be many mopeds on the roads when I’ve been back to to Scotland to visit. Are there lots in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool these day too?

Yeah this!!!
I go sometimes for work ,stay a bit longer and treat myself :)

Okay 'lawless' is over the top, but have you seen the stats for street muggings and knife crime? They're ridiculous. And while I no longer live in London, I live just outside it and go in at least once a week, so it's not like I moved very far away. My DS is often there with friends and he/they have all been victims of muggings/attempted muggings recently.

I do agree with you about the generalisations though. Often people think you need a 1m budget to live in London but there are plenty of cheaper areas. They just aren’t fashionable or known because they don’t have a Gail’s or whatever.