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

I’m retired and living in outer London and absolutely love it! Mind you I am a born and bred Londoner and can’t imagine living anywhere else although I have travelled extensively.
We have free travel with our Freedom Pass and there are so many free things to do, museums, concerts, galleries, exhibitions, markets -always something to do and personally I love the diversity and believe it or not if you avoid the tourists it is very friendly!!

I have friends in London and they've not availed themselves of what it has to offer. It's just 'there'. I know what you mean though. x

It's a difficult question OP. I'll just share my experience.
tl;dr - it depends on how much money and free time you have really.

There's no other city like London, except for maybe New York. It's a metropolis. I still feel the buzz stepping off King's Cross. Lived there for uni and a few years after. My student life (and first job) in London was great! I was skint but made the most of everything on offer. Student discounts, daytime trips to blissfully quiet museums etc, free poetry readings, queueing up in the morning for West End day tickets for a tenner. All the little secret places.

However as I got older, it was no fun working crazy hours to get ahead, moving between shitty rentals. Met lots of new people but didn't make any lasting friendships. Most people around me were happily spending... meals out and drinks. 'Free things' often rammed and in any case, I seemed to be the only penny pincher in my social circle. Uni friends and I drifted apart, spent a lot of time commuting anyway.

I was drained by the time I left for Manchester. I intended to return to London but surprisingly found myself very happy here. Married with a home 20 mins away from the city centre by public transport, lots of friends and social events, and £££. I eat out , travel etc a lot more 'cos all my money isnt' going to a landlord.

It's what you make of it really. Things that sound great on paper may not be so in real life.

Who knows? I may return to London one day. In fact I go there for work sometimes, so did my DH. But unless I suddenly become career driven enough to afford what I have now within an easy commute... probably not. LOL. Maybe when I retire I'll sell up for a little London flat.

Not my experience.

Except for air quality. But that was always horrible.

YABU. I lived in London for 13 years. It’s fun and you can obviously do a lot of theatre/gigs/restaurants etc - BUT - living there is SO expensive. It basically delays the development of your life as you stay living in shared housing for years, pay all your money in rent and can’t get on with buying a house or having a family.

We married at 30 but rented until 36, before buying our first home (outside of London). All while watching people I was at school with buy properties in their mid 20s. Most have traded up twice, and many have bought decent cars, camper vans, you name it.

Make an effort to go there with your DC for weekends and outings, and go more as your DC grow up, but you haven’t missed out - it’s different, not better. And I personally wouldn’t have wanted to raise DC there. You’ve not missed anything.

The community.
The area.
The safety.
The air.
The cleanliness.
The friendliness.
The sense of belonging.
The care for other people.
Everything.
The language. Many kids today just make noises, they don't actually speak.

i feel like this too! Never have lived in London and slightly feel like I’ve missed out. But there’s so much to like about the city where I do live and I have so much more house and a dreamy commute.

I would love to retire to central London! Great public transport, especially if I need to stop driving. Excellent healthcare, plenty of trials should I need them. I could downsize and have something small and central. Wouldn’t matter about school catchments. I’d be retired so not rushed off my feet working and I could enjoy the stuff and watching the world go by, I’d be somewhere sexy enough for the kids to want to visit… just need to get DH on board!

I've lived in several capital cities and London is my favourite by a long way.

It's a fabulous city but if you aren't tempted then fine.

If you are, give it a go!

Genuine question from a 30 year long zone 3 dweller - what do you mean by this? What has been destroyed ?

I’ve lived in London for twenty years and absolutely love it. Can’t imagine ever wanting to leave. If you pick the right spot, it’s a great place to live with kids - loads of free stuff to do, good schools, parks, everything in walking distance, good community and neighbourliness, great public transport and cycle routes. Makes me angry though that the price of housing is driving people out, and that landlords are massively profiting.

I stuck it for a few years after uni. I'd never move back.

But I hate cities. I live in the kind of place where the the harvest starting is worthy of comment.

Born in London. It's shit. Unless you live in zone 1-2. Everywhere has been pretty much destroyed. It's not what it used to be.

This week I have been to Lidl AND Aldi, we know how to live it up, here in London.

I have also walked through Kensington Gdns and Hyde Park, enjoying watching a family of herons close up - first time I have seen a young heron. Been to a wonderful exhibition (Free) that gave me so much to think about and lots of conversation with my older teens. Had cocktails (extravagant) and an early set menu dinner at a Michelin listed restaurant ( £25 for 2 courses - a birthday. ), been for a swim in a Lido (free with my gym membership) a walk across a common with a lake, a meeting in Brixton Village, such a buzz, off tomorrow to a W End show on cheap tickets, last weekend was at a community run festival, … most weeks are like this,

I love London. Two young toddlers and despite what non Londoners say it’s a great place to live with kids. We walk everywhere locally so are always bumping into people and able to make adhoc plans. Every sunny or dry evening our little high street (2 min walk) is packed with kid and parents from the local nursery and school all having a glass of wine and a juice, standing about chatting, kids going up and down on their bikes, toddlers chalking on the ground, it’s a really lovely atmosphere.
I love that we don’t drive everyday. We have several large parks near us so a nice mix of city and outdoorsy days for the kids.
Quiet one way street so no traffic noise.
Plus less than 30 mins door to door commute to the city.

It is pretty awesome.
You dont need money to visit all the amazing museums and galleries.
Don't need a car because public transport is v good and affordable.

Well if you feel you have missed out on so much OP, so have millions of other people! London is not the centre of the universe. The UK offers a mass of beautiful towns and cites, which are much more affordable; rich in culture, nature and diversity.

I hated living in London (I was in Kentish Town too so a decent central area). It's just toooooo big! There may be stuff going on all the time but having to trek for an hour on the tube meant that I barely bothered. Bristol is far far more fun, I live dead central and everything is walking distance or a short bus ride or Uber. In London I barely went out, too expensive and stressful! Here in Bristol I'm out with friends at gigs, comedy shows, exhibitions etc pretty much every weekend.

I would NEVER move back to London!

I lived in Pimlico for 4years,couldn’t wait to leave.I only visit twice a year now,to meet up with flatmates from those days,I was there Tuesday,London sucks the life out of you,leaving is always a joy.

I did it for 9 months. I didn’t love it, but I did have some fun and now when I go I know my way around.

But quite honestly, I’m so glad I don’t live there any more.

I lived in a large northern city for years, always fancied the bright lights of London so off I went.
i came home 9mths later.
It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

I kind of thought it would be good to live there when I was considering what to do after university, I ended up with all my friends living in London and me living in Hampshire. Spent quite a bit of time travelling to see them at weekends and remember some great nights out etc. all in all I don't think I missed out on much.

I live in the centre of a European city now, and to be honest I don't really do that much culture wise, but then I am in my 40s. I think where ever you live, you have make the effort to do things. Living in the centre of a large city doesn't mean you will be in an a top nightclub every Saturday night and in an Art gallery every Sunday afternoon.

I lived in London until I was 52. My children grew up there. When I first moved away I missed it terribly. it felt so much easier to get around - public transport, things to do, used to love doing all the touristy type stuff

Ive been away 13 years now in a very different place
I think there’s a definite buzz about London
Ive no idea what it is like now tho

@Needmorelego true. The main annoying thing is the house prices. I guess this is why I'm happy to go out - to get out of a small house.
I'd probably be happier to stay in more in a nice spacious house. But we're all settled with work, schools and socially so it's not likely we'd move.

I’ve lived all over the UK and abroad and London is my favourite city by far. Lived there for 12 years and loved it. If you love cities, yes you’d love living there

I moved to London at 19yrs old and still here 30yrs later. I love it, I've raised 2 children here and have had a great life.

DH and I (he was born here) have discussed leaving a couple of times but never got further than talking about it. About 5yrs ago we moved out to zone 2, but that's as far as we got.

My bff moved to a northern city a few years back and I don't find it particularly any cheaper, or less busy when I visit her.