AIBU to move our family from London to my home town?

We like musicals (seen Rocky Horror 3 times 🤩)
I have a friend who is involved with a theatre that does interesting alternative type stuff....in his little Midlands town.
My home town has a small community theatre. They do a lot of things like open-mike stand up comedy.
A relative in a different small Midlands town performed in a professional panto (with a semi-celeb as the star).
This is my whole point....you do not have to live in London to access "culture".
It's everywhere.

Culture is everywhere, yes, but in a big city there is just more. More quantity and more variety. Something to do on a Tuesday night as well as a Saturday matinee.

The theatres and public transport hubs are next to each other in central london.

Lol do you really just pop to the theater on a Tuesday night?? I'm amazed how much money and time all you " normal" londoners seem to have ( I certainly didn't when I lived there) as sky high housing costs etc

I still believe it's only a wonderful place for the rich

Bit like hong Kong, I like it there very much but oh the fabulous life you could have there if you were dripping with money

Well, I didn't say theatre.
However, I do have friends who work in theatre and are kind enough to offer me free or discounted tickets sometimes. (another thing I find massively different, and love, in a big city is the range of people you get to know and become friends with).
But also there are, for example, galleries that have late nights, on various nights of the week, with free permanent collections and/or special exhibitions, events, workshops etc.
Cheap or free live music in pubs and small venues.
Outdoor light/art shows in the darker months.
And for special things like a big-name gig or a play somewhere expensive, I save up or look for money-off vouchers. I daresay a lot of people do the same.

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about housing costs and anyone daring to have more than two ha'pennies to scrape together.

Yes but you still need to get to central from where you live 😂
I live in Zone 3.

Let me assure you I am in no way rich and last weekend I went to the theatre (cheap tickets via Twickets), went for a sauna (everywhere in London and affordable) and went to the Tate Modern. I don't do this every weekend but the idea that you can only enjoy London if you're super rich is just not true.

Why do you think events don't happen on a Tuesday night out in the towns?
People who live in towns aren't werewolves who have a curfew 😂

I never said events don't happen on weeknights elsewhere. That's what happens when you take a partial comment out of context.
Point is (as I keep saying), the variety and quantity of things happening. Sure, other towns and smaller places will have things happening on a weekday night, just not so many weekday nights and not so many across a year.
There simply is more stuff and more of a range in a big city.

The thing is....the OP (who we seem to have scared away) is moving with small children.
She's going to want primary schools, a decent park, a local Brownie pack, a library and a decent size supermarket.
She's not really going to be that interested in art galleries on a Tuesday night.

Thats not a random Tuesday night. And I bet even your " cheap " tickets and sauns would've taken a good portion of say a £50 entertainment budget ( which is what my friend on London has for a month)

I don't have kids, but I have friends who do/did and still went out in the evenings sometimes, including to art galleries.
But in any case, I was talking in more general terms, joining in the part of the thread that's turned into a wider discussion about towns/cities/rural and their pros and cons.

Unfortunately these threads always go the same way.
Obsession with access to theatres and art and fancy cultural events.
When most average families don't do those things on a regular basis - even if they live in London 😂

True. My kids grandmother has live in London all her life Shes 82.

I think she only time she went to an art gallery or museum was on school trips decades ago

A work colleague lives on the isle of dogs ( the old council flats not the fancy new buildings). He's lived there since 1997. He paid his first ever visit to the tower of London last year at the age of 55. Only as someone told him that as a tower hamlets resident he gets cheap entry . Never been to South Kensington museums or art gallery ( asked him about it at work last night)

What are ' fancy cultural events'?
Why don't you think 'average families' enjoy art and culture?
You do know that lots of children love acting/watching plays, looking at and creating art, listening to and making music, etc etc etc, don't you?
Are these things not valuable?
Is it not a good thing if they are available freely or cheaply, and in places where (older) children can get to them on their own on safe and cheap/free public transport?
I feel that these threads always go the same way too, except from where I'm standing it turns into people queuing up to sneer at the idea of people going to a play, and/or making wild claims about knife crime/pollution/desolation in big cities.

@AlwaysExtraHot seriously....for the average family daily life is school, cubs, brownies, lego club at the library, swimming, supermarket, a run around the park....
When thinking of moving somewhere it's everyday daily life that's more important.
Also again......teens can see plays, make music, create art etc in average town UK too 😂

I'd just be repeating myself on the points I've made about what an 'average' family is and why culture is different in big cities, which you're clearly choosing not to or are unable to engage with, so I'm not going to bother.

But you seem to refuse to accept that there's plenty of culture going on in towns as well as big cities.
Lots of it.
So I won't bother either.
Have a nice day.

What's the obsession with Tuesday nights. I am in my 50's and in bed with a book by 9pm most week nights ;) My kids however do lots of free things and when we were younger we did those together. All the things I listed above are things I quite regularly do at the weekend though (although I will admit not theatre most weekends) I am not saying other places don't have this stuff (and even if they don't they're not important to everyone) but there are loads of free things to do in London and it's not just a playground for the rich.

I don't know the obsession. It's what someone else said about

I concur that my life is very much confined to my immediate surroundings & I’m not spending most weekends in z1 but it’s nice to know it’s there.

Yes, but you said - 'To get to a theatre or wherever is another journey', (after you have travelled in to the centre). Its not if the theatres are near the transport hubs

We moved from London to the South West 8 years ago. At the time the DCs were tiny and it was the most amazing thing we ever did for our family. Fast forward to now, we have teens wanting jobs and they no longer want to frolic around woods all weekend. Where we live is absolutely beautiful but there are no jobs or career prospects here. There isn't much in the way of culture or entertainment either, and it's very likely they are going to have to move away for work.
I think London can be great for children and teens. Pollution is getting better there and often it isn't much better in leafier places. During the summer the roads are often busier here than I ever experienced in London.

Have you been on the 38 bus?
It's bloody sloooooow at times.
(I just checked TfL Plan a Journey. They give a travel estimate time from Victoria Station to Cambridge Circus (where the Harry Potter play is shown... I picked that at random).
The website estimates 25 minutes by tube or 31 minutes by bus.
With the tube you've got to add on the up and down escalators, walking along the long tunnels etc)

What a massively depressing comment!

I am a ‘mum’ who wants most of those things (Brownies? No, Large Supermarket? no I shop online like most people) but I also have a life. Yes, a life of my own! Which involves socialising and going out. Sorry if it shocks you that mums aren’t solely dedicated to ‘mum things.’ Within the last month, I’ve been to a gig, an evening immersive theatre performance and out for dinner/ drinks multiple times.