Who loves London?

[NorthernLiner]

Personally I do.
Everything about it.
Studied, lived and worked there for a good 15+ years, only moved out to the home counties to buy bigger house when kids arrived.
Just spent 5 days at the in-laws in Zone 2.
Totally satisfied my London fix 😍

Anyone else ❤️ London?

Adore it, born there and lived there until 4y ago when I moved to another European city which is lovely and I do love but I have an itching in my bones to leave and get back to London in the next 12m

Me too! It's been 15 very long, slow years since I moved - by force of circumstance, not choice - to a rural market town. I know the old place has changed, but it's still London and I miss it 😭

Word of warning to those who fancy moving to more pastoral surroundings: think very carefully! Unless you really are a dog-owning, jam-making garden potterer (in which case, why are you in London anyway?) you may feel you've fallen into a time vacuum and can't afford to get back to civilisation.

Rio's level pegging for me. Culture and safety better in London, colour and beaches better in Rio!

My best mate lives in Rio (previously based in London), she says exactly the same as you!

It’s the pubs, bars, restaurants, museums and galleries I can’t do without. Theatre always feels targeted at tourists (I loathe musicals), so give those a swerve. NY could be a fun place to live for a while, but would always come home I suspect. London is a harsh mistress.

@HotCrossBunplease I agree there are some amazing parts of London but when it comes down to everyday life the novelty wears off after a while.
We stay because of my husband's job and my daughter's (SEN) school.
As my first comment said - I don't hate London. It's just after almost 2 decades the excitement and novelty has worn off and it's just a place I live in.

I hear you. I’m not trying to convince you otherwise, just explaining my point of view because you didn’t seem to understand what I was saying. The excitement hasn’t worn off for me since I moved here in 1996, but I know that not everyone is the same.

I'm in zone 4. I like the area I work in the City, near Liverpool Street.

Took the kids into the west end yesterday and it wasn't pleasant.

Tried to get into the NPG, hadn't booked in advance, ridiculous queue. Mt fault but still miss the days of just turning up to places.

Went down to Borough Market and it was overwhelmingly busy and made the whole experience unpleasant.

Again my fault, summer, tourist season but I'd just rather not.

@HotCrossBunplease I do get excited sometimes. In the summer I got an Uber through central London - it was really weird to be in a car in central London and the driver went around some of the back streets around Mayfair area so I saw bits I had never seen before and it was all quite fascinating 🙂

London is amazing.

All those people living, working, travelling so closely together and the amount of actual crime and 'trouble' is miniscule really. There's a lot of tolerance here, there has to be. Whenever I go elsewhere in the UK I am struck by the lack of diversity. Diversity is London's super power.

Love it. Only visit though. Couldn't afford to live there!

I love London, but wouldn't want to live there. Like many sizeable capital cities, it has so much to offer: history, architecture, culture, food, shopping, etc, etc, etc. I even love the Tube, including the heat and sweatiness on some lines and the muck! Pretty much everywhere you go there's a landmark you recognise or a famous location.

Yes. I lived and worked in London from age 17 to 25. Then married and moved to Northamptonshire. We're now in Bedfordshire, so not far from London, and can visit often.

I always forget how much I love London when I go back, and it's a real wrench to come back home, mych as I love whete we live now.

But I'm not sure I'd cope with the crowded underground now for commuting.

Yep! I love it!

Near to at least 4 hospitals, loads of pubs and eating places. Most of the time the transport works. I can get 4 buses which all go into the tube station. I have the choice of Piccadilly/District with Hammersmith & City nearby, plus Central line not too far either. I live near a number of parks and of course there are a number of museums/art galleries/cinemas and theatres as well. I also like that we have a multicultural market near us too.

My idea of not exactly hell but not fun is a totally white area with no 'ethnic' food stuff and not much diversity, with a small 'local' shop selling very basic stuff (white bread, fish fingers etc).

Yes, we lived in Wimbledon in a studio flat when dating and married and had a choice between properties in Merton, Sutton or Surrey.

I went two months ago and spent a lovely time around and in Albert hall. It was like a paradise. Everyone was just tourists and students, people minding their business, no one looked on drugs or ruffled, even the down trodden people looked alert and doing things on purpose.

Me. Visit as often as I can. Wish I could live there, but that chance passed me by and I wouldn't be able to afford it now, even though I'd be happy with just a small flat.

These mansion blocks around Albert hall are so stunning ....who lives in them? Oh my

I’m talking about looking around you as you walk down Museum Row, or along the South Bank, or down Regent’s street, the ease of tube travel to diverse areas of London with interesting food, the streets full of red double deckers, the scale of things like Battersea Power station or the vast choice of musicals and theatre on at any one time. The huge parks. Westminster. The river. The Lloyd’s building and Leadenhall market.

For me it’s important to have all that there on my doorstep, even if most of my time is spent within a 500m radius of my home in N London.

I don’t have the South Bank, Westminster, etc on my doorstep. I have to travel there, I do have red buses, a park & good food on my doorstep but these things do exist in other places. Don’t you get red buses as far out as z6? And surely people who don’t live in London but travel there for work, recreation get the opportunity to do the above? Plus SE London doesn’t have the tube.

If that’s not important to you then there is no reason to incur the cost of living here.

Apart from the fact many of us are Londoners & feel comfortable in our hometown & want to be near family…

The cinema is something you could do absolutely anywhere, personally I wouldn’t describe it as culture per se. My in laws are in the midlands and I can’t work out what to do when we go… What else is up there to do? In terms of museums etc?

Me. Unfortunately I can't afford to live there but I visit 2 or 3 times a year. Would love to live there.

@longdistanceclaraclara I made the mistake of talking the dc to see Christmas Lights last yr just before Christmas. Piccadilly was insane, you couldn’t even see F&M due to throngs of people. Many people were staging photoshoots ffs 😆.

Driving through London is good for seeing bits you don’t normally see. I used to often drive up on Sunday morning (wouldn’t be much traffic), free parking & could peruse the shops. Oxford Street is crap now though.

No, I don't love it. I can only cope with a one day visit. All the crowds and bustle and constant noise plus cleaning the black of your face when you get home.

Can't wait for the train to get me back to the seaside. I could never not live near the sea now. It's my perfect environment.

I love it. I love the pace and the fact that it feels so familiar to me, having lived and worked here for 20+ years, yet there are always new places to explore. I, like many Londoners (I don’t consider myself a Londoner) get fed up of the main touristy busy places, but step away from the main arterial roads and tube stations and it’s pretty quiet considering it’s such a densely populated place. Even just a few streets away from the mayhem of Oxford Street there are nice shops and bars, and it’s easy to cross the road.

Me! I grew up in the countryside and moved here when I was 22, in 1989. I love my local area (Borough/London Bridge), I love being able to walk to work and the public transport, I don't love the Grenfell cladding on my block of flats or the cost of rent/mortgage (shared ownership) which takes up 2/3 of my wages. I love being part of an ancient city packed with history, there's so much to do, or if you want to be alone you can be alone.

Born in zone 1, grew up in zone 3, now lived in zone 5 for many years and I have always loved it. It's not perfect but I love all the different places to visit, the transport, the way most of us rub along and tolerate each other and the fact that there is always something to do. Also since Ulez, I've noticed some spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
I'm never leaving.