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Original poster

If you live in a city do you find it exciting?

100 replies

SophieKaczynsky · 08/11/2021 21:06

I grew up in a city until I was 14, when we moved to a rural town, and I still live in said rural town now (am in my forties).

There's not much to do here, and it's pretty boring. I love nothing better than going to cities. I just find them exciting to be in, and feel like there's a buzz there, and always something going on.

Do you love city life if you are a city dweller?

OP posts:
Flaxmeadow · 08/11/2021 22:38

That would depend on what part of the city you live in. Which side of the tracks, as the saying goes

paleyellow · 08/11/2021 23:34

I live in central London (the most central area, zone 1). I love it, I grew up here so it's what I'm used to. We're always busy at weekends, there is so much to do even with a child in tow (lots of theatre shows, music, events, exhibitions).

We might be moving out to zone 2 or 3 for schools soon, although for me it'll be a bit reluctantly and a bit of a sacrifice (we don't fit the mould of parents who long for suburban living once they have kids) but the quality of schools in the central area is just not as good as those further out.

BurnedToast · 09/11/2021 06:12

I live in the zone 4 London suburbs. I don't find it exciting as such. Having lived somewhere with less facilities than we have now, I would never live somehwere again where I couldn't walk to the supermarket, post office , restaurants etc. I love the convenience , but also the mix of the local forest walks we have close by.. I also love the fact in less then 30 mins from my door I can be in zone 1 with everything it offers. It's a good mix.

GoodnightGrandma · 09/11/2021 06:21

I don’t go into our city any more due to the amount of closed shops and people sitting around begging.

PermanentTemporary · 09/11/2021 06:32

I live in a small city that thinks it's a metropolis and I absolutely love it. Grew up just outside a small village full of wife swapping and amateur dramatics, and you'd have to kidnap me to get me to live in a village again. Actually now I think about it both are probably available here but there is life and industry and youth and plays and trains to other places as well.

autumnalvibes · 09/11/2021 06:45

I love cities. I grew up in a small one which i would love to move back to. I lived in London during my twenties and did enjoy it but found it a bit stressful and fast paced and was keen to leave but I love visiting it now. I've also lived rurally and didn't enjoy it at all. To me a small city is my ideal.

SW1amp · 09/11/2021 06:50

I live in London, and I love the mix of very ordinary day to day life, with very fun and exciting things if I seek them out

My day to day life is generally quite quiet, and I stick to our little area which is basically a big village/small town

But there is always something fun in easy reach, or you never know when Sunday lunch in the pub will involve randomly seeing Holly Willoughby at the next table (actually happened recently! Much excitement all round!)

goteam · 09/11/2021 06:54

@TwinklyBranch I have peace, quiet and a garden in central-ish London. I am more likely to be woken by birdsong than traffic. Most areas outside of zone 1 are made up of residential streets and parks but with the added convenience of theatres, cafes and plenty of shops nearby. If we choose to be in busier parts of London we can be.

And OP yes, I do find it exciting being in a city.

Branleuse · 09/11/2021 06:55

I like large towns or small city. I find places like London or Paris too impersonal. Too transient. I like to have things to do on my doorstep but also like it to be small enough that i can bump into people I know sometimes

RampantIvy · 09/11/2021 07:00

I grew up on zone 5 and commuted to the City and then to the West End. Then moved to Yorkshire. Wild horses wouldn't drag me back to London. I love visiting, and I love visiting DD in her university city but I find being in such close proximity to so many buildings claustrophobic.

I like village life and can get to the middle of Leeds or Sheffield within half an hour. We don't have noisy or problem neighbours, we have a garden, housing is affordable, crime rates are low, I know the provenance of the meat I buy, I buy my vegetables, some of which are locally grown, from a local farm shop and we had plenty of outdoor space during lockdown last year.

Downsides are poor public transport and shit weather for most of the year.

SierraJulietGolf · 09/11/2021 07:01

I live in Leeds and loathe it. I’ve never enjoyed city life and if I could afford it I’d live in little cottage in a small village somewhere. I find cities too busy, too stressful, too everything really. I can’t be doing with all the traffic congestion, all the different types of transport needed to get from one place to another and the crowds and hassle. I’ve not got a fear of crowds or busy environments but I just loathe them. To me it’s worth visiting a city just for the lovely peace and quite when I’m out of it. I don’t mind as much if I’m on holiday as I’m distracted by enjoying the different architecture, language, food, culture that it’s worth a bit of craziness. Really wished I loved city life because I’m absolutely stuck where I am.

Newmum29 · 09/11/2021 07:03

Yea I grew up in a small town as did my mum and we both absolutely loved living in cities.

When I moved to London my mum would come stay with me one night a week and she loved nothing more than listening to traffic noise and sitting in pavement cafes and pubs people watching.

I’ve lived in Sydney and Melbourne as well and just love the buzz of other people. Sadly in the suburbs now as we have a baby but I’d love to be back in the thick of it.

HeronLanyon · 09/11/2021 07:08

Yes - I live in central London and love it. Have lived here most of life. Compromises are becoming a bit more obvious - noise throughout the night - deliveries and night tube (when running) and ‘pavement culture’ massively increased due to Covid obvs etc. Still can’t imagine living away from the buzz. Quiet places easy to find. More sense of community than I’ve experienced in small villages. Think if ever I moved out it would be to very isolated remote area rather than small town/village.

PeterPomegranate · 09/11/2021 07:11

I live in the suburbs of London and work in the centre (when I’m not working from home these days). Yes I find it exciting when I see the Shard, or Big Ben, or whatever. We probably don’t make as much of the opportunities of London as we could but they’re there when we want them!

traka · 09/11/2021 07:12

I live in a city and hate it

We never go in to the city centre, we always go to the nice smaller towns nearby and are hoping to move next year

jazzupyourchuff · 09/11/2021 07:12

Grew up in the suburbs, it was soulless. All I knew was that I wanted to move out.
Live in a medium city now and I love it. The people watching opportunities. The activities. The festivals. Where I grew up, the highlight of the year was the scarecrow festival.
Even my kids potentially getting into gangs is not enough to put me off. There's way more drugs in the country in my opinion.

OhMyCrump · 09/11/2021 07:13

I do and I love it. Like many others have said, not being reliant on a car is a big plus.

TheLovelinessOfDemons · 09/11/2021 07:14

I would if I wasn't so restricted by school pick up time. As it is, I stay very local unless I have the DC with me or they're staying with relatives. Also, everything in London costs money, which we can't justify.

SpangoDweller · 09/11/2021 07:15

Yes. I grew up rural and whilst I appreciate the wonderful freedom and opportunities there were, I have always been a city mouse since I moved out. I love the mix of different people and things to do, and going to the countryside is a lovely break but I need the bright lights and bustle after a while. DS will be brought up in city suburbs and I don’t see that changing.

I’m still young though and I can see me returning to a more rural place when I get a bit older, post-children.

Kpo58 · 09/11/2021 07:15

I used to live in zone 4 of London. It wasn't exciting. Everything used to take ages to get to and if you actually wanted to do anything it got expensive quickly.

I now live on the edge of a town. It's nice to now have everything within walking distance and within a few mins somewhere exciting to walk rather than a tiny empty apart from some play equipment park.

halloweenie13 · 09/11/2021 07:18

@Rugsofhonour

Yes! I live in London and it’s brilliant.
I've lived in London for nearly 2 years now and it's awful, high prices, busy and dangerous public transport, high muggings and thefts, I wouldn't bother I've also outside of my own small home city lived in Sheffield and Leicester, I didn't love Leicester, but Sheffield was amazing. My own small city near Hull is my favourite, and also Sheffield, avoid major cities.
lousanne · 09/11/2021 07:28

I just left a city of 5 million people where I lived for most of my adult life, to move to a beachside suburbia. It's really chilled, some nice restaurants, and we have a house with a pool that our friends love when they come and visit.

City was fun but at 35 yo this was definitely the right step for us.

Shudacudawuda · 09/11/2021 07:31

I loved the city life on my 20's, but I did sometimes used to get depressed at the lack of open countryside, so I always knew I'd move one day.
I'm now 20mins from a city centre by train, but live on the edge of some seriously beautiful countryside..... much happier.

KatherineJaneway · 09/11/2021 07:34

Yes I love it. Live in London and was born here. I've lived at times very rurally but nothing beats city life for me.

SleighBells21 · 09/11/2021 07:34

I'm in Newcastle, I absolutely love it!