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

I absolutely love living in London (apart from housing costs). It's an amazing city and when i do get to go out and explore it's wonderful. But tbh most of my life is fairly boring. Like living anywhere, most of my time and energy is hoovered up by work, chores, obligations... most evenings I'm just tired at home in front of the TV! So id say come here for holidays and just enjoy :)

Personally I don't mind the odd day out in London but would hate to live there. I think it depends what sort of person you are. We live in a small market town in open countryside and I just feel claustrophobic in London. Too many people, not enough space. Plus London is EXPENSIVE!!

Its not about free stuff stuff, its the cost of basic stuff like housing.

You have options op, you could visit London more often. You could consider moving there. You could also learn to be happy with your lot. Living in London you'd still need to work (presumably) and take care of your child (children?) and navigate life. It might not be as exciting as what you have built up in your head. Was there an opportunity to move there when you were younger that you are now regretting not having taken up?

I loved living in London in my 20's but it was too expensive. It was an amazing experience with so much opportunity. I lived in a great area with Notting Hill a five minute walk and Portobello Road at the end of my street. If I could afford it, I would move back in a heartbeat.

TBF I grew up in zone 2 and did all that.

I was brought up in London. Partied 5/7. Acid house all over town. Had the best time. Culture. Clubs etc.
Moved to zone 3 when I had my daughter, then moved to zone 5 for better schools. Then zone 6/kent.
My kids have had the best of both worlds.
Now I move away. London is my past, not my future. An easy, beachside I welcome you

Did I love growing up in London?
Do I now no longer live here

I love London and mini break there often. I would love to live there but only if I was wealthy. The cost of houses makes my head hurt and to pay £1500 for a 1 bed flat is not something I could afford or want. I genuinely don’t know how people manage.

So if I could afford to live in the vicinity of Kings road I’d move tomorrow but I can barely afford a meal there never mind a house! I do love London it’s my favourite city in the world

No. I’m a born and bred Londoner who moved out to the Home Counties 20+ years ago and would never move back.

Central London is great for a night out - we regularly go out out in Shoreditch, Brick Lane, Farringdon etc but I’m always pleased to be in the late night train home to my more peaceful home town

I don’t miss living in London at all. All of my mates have moved out too and we all feel the same.

🙄
If a poster wrote this about Manchester/Glasgow/Cardiff it would probably get deleted.

This.

Most of the people I grew up in London with have fled the overcrowding and the house prices for somewhere more livable,

Nope!! I lived in London for 2 years on shite pay and it was absolutely awful. It’s just SO expensive. Didn’t have a penny in disposable income. The job was awful too (I moved for the job) I don’t know if it was just my industry but no one had any work boundaries at all and worked every hour god sent (or went off to the pub… with their colleagues)

I came back up north with my tail between my legs and about £10k worth of debt and have never, ever looked back. Fabulous city to visit now but I’d never wish to live there ever again.

This! 👏👏 Grew up in central London and, even with the bad bits, it was pretty cool.

Now live further out and, while I still enjoy going into town for work and play, doing anything in London always seems much more of a faff these days, so I'm always content to leave it behind.

I live in zone 4 and yh do agree it's a bit shit. But all the fun stuff is in zone 1/2 so just take the tube

I always hated London, but I had the opportunity to live there for a while with work, and I made my peace with it. It’s definitely like no other city in this country. It is special (as long as you stay in zone 1!) and getting to know it on an intimate level is brilliant. I never thought I’d like city life, and certainly not London. I wouldn’t want to be there forever as I feel you sacrifice quality of life to be there, as you’ll be house sharing or living in a small flat unless you live outside of zone 1 (or unless you’re stinking rich!) but I’m definitely glad I did it.

I don't agree that you need money to live in London. If you have it - there's loads to spend it on, but if you don't there is so much to do anyway. More than any other city, it is packed with free stuff and cheap stuff. Proms tickets from £8, world class art - free, loads of free talks and author events, free concerts, stunning parks, very good value food. Had dinner with DH the other day in a Japanese restaurant off St Martin's Lane - £10 each.

I remember having a conversation with a colleague who worked in the London office when was working in a regional office.

His point was that he couldn't imagine living anywhere other than London. When asked why he said access to the theatre, museums, opera etc. I then asked how often he went to the theatre (once a year), museums (three times a year), opera (once every two years).

I then explained that on that frequency I could go on a day trip to a West End show, easily fly to Paris or Amsterdam from local airport for museum and fly to Milan for opera.

I've lived in London for many years and I love it also. I love the people, the busy streets and the different character of the various boroughs. However, my first year here as a new professional was a hard, broke, lonely time.
Understand how you feel though. Recently I went to New York and wished I'd had time to live and work there pre kids.

Well I haven’t lived in London, but I have visited a lot and my general impression is that London is a wonderful place to live IF, and only if, you are wealthy and move in wealthy circles.

The main thing I’d forgotten about- the black snot!

I cycle commute, and used to do so in London. It was only 25 mins or so but it turned my snot black! Grim blowing my nose once I got into work.

i now do roughly the same commute in Leeds and was very surprised that my snot remains a normal colour 😂

Oh I preferred Amsterdam or Prague or Lisbon by far!

I’ve lived in London for 28 years and I love it, I used to live in the Midlands which was pretty good but there’s just more of everything here. It’s changed a lot since I moved in, some good, some not so good but it’s still amazing. Anything you want to see or do you can which I imagine would be harder in different cities. Housing aside (which is extortionate), you can do things pretty cheaply or for free if you look around. Not necessarily top restaurants, or front row stall seats at the theatre but so much is available. Sometimes I think it might be nice to have a bit more physical space, but there are plenty of parks around. I also sometimes wonder how it would be to live by the sea and have a more relaxed pace of life, so there is also the ‘what if’

I've lived in London and I loved it

I love where I am now too

You haven't missed out at all by not living there

It’s the best place in the world to live if you earn £48K+ a year. Otherwise, not so much. I’ve lived here for decades and you never run out of things to do. There are so many green spaces, weird little museums, a huge variety of restaurants comedy, shoes, history cultural events and architecture.