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

What are the carefree things you want to do? Do you have a partner?

Indeed!

The thought of say going to Covent Garden on a weekend fills me with dread!

I do like that I can get 50 different cuisines from Deliveroo within a 1 mile radius (and I am zone 3!)

I'm sad I never did it too..I live in a very boring town . I dream about moving to London when the kids have left home. Sometimes I look in rightmove and realize that it is not going to happen!

But do you see what you said there? Your parents were immigrants and lived in a very immigrant heavy part of London. Your parents were the ones who were attracted to London and changed that area. And now it is changing again and of course you have mixed feelings about that, but that is London. The children growing up in my area will change some other area.

Too right.

We left London in the mid-80s. We now have a nice house in a nice part of a nice market town and we'd both go back tomorrow if we could!

My parents moved from Leeds to London age 65! They love their independence and freedom passes, esp as their driving confidence has gone.

They love the choice of food, shops and things to do. They say the doctors here are better (think they got lucky with their practice). And they don’t want a big garden to look after.

It is never too late apparently!

I went to NY in my early 20s & was disappointed. I loved LA though.

Understand how you feel though. Recently I went to New York and wished I'd had time to live and work there pre kids.

Yeah, New York is the city I feel that way about too.

To be honest, part of what makes London great is that so many people leave. The area I live in is now fashionable because there has been a complete change of population. 95% of the people who grew up there pre 2000 have moved away to what they consider "better" areas in the home counties. Then young people from all over the world moved in, stayed, have had families, and the area changed. The energy of London comes from who leaves as much as who moves there and who stays.

Not sure I agree with that. Areas don’t have to be fashionable to be great. My parents are immigrants & settled in a very immigrant heavy part of London. It’s now gentrified with lots of those people getting pushed out and the locals can’t afford the shops. What made London exciting for me was the fact there was such a mix in cultures, socioeconomically, religion etc. It’s more homogeneous now.

Also London schools are suffering from a real drop in birth rates, families getting priced out.

I've lived here over 30 years and love it - but I'm pretty central (zone 2) in an area that has really good transport and lots of green spaces. Getting anywhere is easy(ish). But you can always visit - and as an earlier poster said, if you want to, there are still plenty of places to live here.

I would like to live by the sea though.

Most people haven’t lived the London lifestyle you are imagining tbf!

I’m a Londoner and being a tween/teen there in the 90s/early 00s was amazing but I think it’s changed.

That sounds rubbish. Do you have the chance to move somewhere a bit better nearby?

The thing with London is that with so many areas and 9.7 million people, it’s difficult to describe as one homogenous area. There are many different ‘Londons’.

I live on the zone 2/3 border. I would love to sell up to a nice flat in central London when I retire soonish. Our kids are at uni and say we have to keep the family home for them to stay in when they graduate 🙄😂

I’ve lived in London since my early 20s and I really like it (though it’s expensive).
Wouldn’t mind living on the coast though.

I hate London. Filthy place. Every time I go there I can't wait to strip off and get into a shower.
Can't hold a conversation whilst walking in the street cos of the traffic noise. Breathing in fumes at every turn. Inhuman attitude to homeless people.
What a hole.

This is easy. Yes you have. Same would be true of some other places: e.g., Paris yes, Birmingham no.

I visit London around 4 to 5 times a year …..always find something new to see….something different to do…..I wouldn’t want to live there though…..always happy to get back on the train and go home

I love where I live. But if I ever had to move then it would be to London. It’s the complete opposite to where I do live but the history, the parks, the museums etc would keep me busy for the rest of my life.

To be honest, part of what makes London great is that so many people leave. The area I live in is now fashionable because there has been a complete change of population. 95% of the people who grew up there pre 2000 have moved away to what they consider "better" areas in the home counties. Then young people from all over the world moved in, stayed, have had families, and the area changed. The energy of London comes from who leaves as much as who moves there and who stays.

But you still have the opportunity to be carefree in the future?

I lived and worked in London in my 20s and 30s then moved away to bring up kids.
Planning to move back to London once the kids all on their path, and as centrally as possible.

It's the greatest city in the world, the history, the culture, the buzz!

I wonder what is prompting your regret that is pointless because you can't go back.
My brother lived in London and visited when young. I liked it but had no desire to live there, plus I was off to uni anyway. I enjoyed Camden and Covent garden.
Now I can get the quick train in, from Surrey see a show with friends and be back home tucked up in bed just after midnight. I like the bus and tube but wouldn't want to do it every day.
You can visit. Stay overnight?

Lots of green spaces further in have been built on.

There are spaces where I grew up and hung out that weren't built on until I was in my 30s and early 40s.

I moved here at 22 and will be carried out in a box. I love it. DP loves it too. We're both from a rural area. My retirement plan is moving to zone 1. We've lived in a couple of other capitals for work and it doesn't compare.

I think people often hate on it because they come as tourists, ram onto the tube at peak tourist season, and bleed money through the nose eating in central London because they don't know the cheap spots. London is more like a series of villages. Londoners don't spend all their time going to west end shows.

I find most things lots cheaper as well than the areas we are from (competition) and there are free things on, or pay what you can, every day.

It's the housing that's the total killer though, it's insane. We live in a much smaller house than we would elsewhere in the country. It's worth it for us though.