If you were in 2 minds leaving London… and did… did you regret it?

[lking679]

Just that.

If you lived in London and weren’t sure about leaving… then made the move and did…
did you end up regretting it?

Beckenham has got more and more popular over the past few years.

Eden Park and West Wickham also nice (got friends in both areas) and I’ve got a friend living in Bromley (with family and Bromley South part).

You’ll get two camps of people in Beckenham, the “pulling” crowd and the opposite crowd. Sometimes they cross over sometimes not! They tend to use certain venues too.

But everyone I’ve met or know in Beckenham on the whole is lovely. It also seems quite “safe” even at night which for me is a priority.

One slight irritation a friend of mine found when she lived there, is there is a night bus from London (N3) which she used once or twice but said that’s the only option if you miss the last train!

We moved out to Cornwall over 20 years ago and have not regretted it.

I do miss some things, and really enjoy visiting as DS now lives there.

London has changed so much since I lived there (born and brought up) I would never want to go back to live in London as it is now, it just seems way too expensive and so much busier - or maybe I’m just an old fart!

Not one bit. My anxiety and stress instantly reduced. I am so happy to be somewhere quieter, and then we choose to go to cities for fun and frolicks but don’t have to put up with crime and grime. My kids have benefitted so much from space and clear air, but I know they will love being in a city for Uni - best of both.

I do think outer zones like Beckenham will get more popular. Schools are going to suffer if not already so good ones who maintain that will be even more popular. Housing has more space for your money & the extra journey time is more attractive with hybrid working so is space.

I live in S London not a million miles from Croydon and only use my car for weekend and family trips out of London. I suppose people might drive residential area to residential area for ease - but hardly a necessity. Not for most.

I don't understand your point as you have a car? 😆

Moved (from Croydon!) to the Kent coast a couple of years ago. Really struggling to settle, tbh, and if I won the lottery I'd be back in 'proper' London like a shot. I don't 'regret' it because we didn't really have much choice, but I'm not happy.

There are lots of lovely things about living here (big sky, sea, views, a house of our own which we could never have afforded even in Croydon) but I underestimated how isolating it would be to move away from friends and work and have to start anew. Even 2 years on, nothing about this place really feels like 'home'.

But we couldn't afford to move back to London really, so I guess we'll have to make the best of it.

I grew up in London suburbs - Bromley - where you can get into central London in under an hour door to door if the trains run!

Then after a few rentals all over the place, DH and I bought in Stroud Green/Finsbury Park area - zone 2, north London, 10 mins from Oxford Circus, and lived there for 10 years.

Just before Covid we moved out to Somerset - VERY rural, though our town has a great high street and lovely amenities, it's still very small!

I am SO happy about the move. The air is so clean. My DH has stopped using his asthma inhaler for the first time ever! My kids are really outdoorsy here, there's loads of places to walk and play out and ride their bikes safely away from traffic. Also the community is close and safe; people really look after each other and it's so friendly.

In London I was worried about crime - there's none here; air quality, especially worried for the kids after poor Ella Kissi-Debrah's death; and I also felt worried about having to explain to them about the syringes and cannisters they found EVERYWHERE in the park, the rough-sleepers asking for money outside the tube, and all the sirens and helicopters we heard all night long.

They won't see any of that here (although of course there are drugs here and homeless people) because it's much less obvious. I think they will get to be innocent children much longer here.

And I will take them into London to see the museums and the galleries and (I'm hoping!) some nice theatre sometimes... But I wouldn't move back to London now for the world.

Each to their own of course! :) But that's how I feel.

That's so funny @WoolyMammoth55 , we moved from the country, Cornwall, back to N4 about a month before lockdown. Feel completely the opposite. Glad yr happy tho' each to their own! 😊

Moved to London in my teens. Dh lost his job and found another in the countryside miles away.
We moved there but I hated it.

Definite fish out of water. I am a 2nd generation immigrant who didn’t drink and wasn’t a Christian

Dh loved it

Then Dh was made redundant and was out of work for ages. Ended up having to use a London based friends address to get a job back in London. His commute involved getting up at 4am to drive 17 miles across countryside to a train station where he sat in a train for 2.5 hours and then did the same in the evening.
It took him about 6 months to finally agree to move and we ended up selling and moving 3 weeks later.
We didn’t have a place to go and was living in holiday cottages wit our dog and paying for a cattery for dcats but I was ecstatic to leave.

Bought a place on the very outer bit of London. Even though the house was slightly more expensive it was so much cheaper.

Brought 2 dc up and the free stuff you get in London is great