If you left London, do you regret it?

[Hareyy]

Both DP and I are Cornish. We’ve spent almost a decade of our lives living in London. Live in a small flat in Z1 and walk everywhere. Do a lot of cultural things. But feels like we’re starting to yearn for space. We can’t afford anything more than a one bed here, and the thought of living in suburbia gives me the creeps.

So we’re thinking of leaving London for somewhere more affordable. Back to Falmouth? To Edinburgh? To Bristol?

If you left London, do you regret it?

@Sskka it’s too expensive which stifles youth & creativity.

@LaurieFairyCake but not 1600sq ft with a garden for that price?

No. Well, yes. I will miss the ease of getting around, the massive choice of things to do, places to go and gigs. London can make you feel alive.
We've just bought a place in the countryside. First day of going to the house to pick up the keys (it's a do-upper so not in yet) we saw a duck walk down the road and a couple of rabbits on the lawn, and a duck in the pond in the back garden. It's so quiet at night, can hear a pin drop. So, I think we will get on ok, ha ha, but I will miss some shops, nights out and choice.

@Spidey66 When I started reading your post I thought you might be Pearl Lowe. She moved to Frome 20 years ago. She's just just moved back to London though. Frome's a great town.

Never left London so wouldn’t regret it. However seats ago my parents were thinking about moving to the south coast and taking me with them, we went to lots of estate agent viewings, auction houses and I saw places I could work. The trip to London to see friends would’ve put me off but my best friend’s dad lived where they were planning to move to so she bodied fairly often.

Do you find that DIY eccentric London further out, actually? It’s all expensive, and (though I’m hardly the target audience nowadays) I’m certainly not aware of it producing much in the way of DIY youth culture since grime and its darker offshoots.

This for me! Left over a decade ago and I love visiting - it’s quite nostalgic to me as I lived there in my twenties and look back and think I didn’t appreciate it enough. There is just something about London that makes you feel alive! I often wonder if I should have left so soon, I think I should have done another year or two but to be honest I have a lovely life now and feel more relaxed and comfortable where I live (still a big city) so no regrets.

@Sskka further out in London or in general? I think it’s gone to other areas eg Manchester

Having said that we are an ageing population so maybe there is less of a youth culture in general?

I agree. Probably stated by people who have never left London.

The rest of the UK is not the cultural desert that they believe it is. Granted that there is a higher concentration of museums, galleries, restaurants and theatres in London, but other large cities also have them.

And how many people really visit these places every weekend?

IMO the only thing that London does better than most other cities is public transport.

@keepwakingup Actually yes, I did feel that a bit about Manchester when I visited. Quite rare to find it in Britain at all now, that sense of possibility and abandon where everything isn’t optimised.

Know what you mean about the ageing population though. I try to avoid ever being the one saying ‘it’s not like in my day’, because well there are reasons for that and they don’t necessarily reflect well on us.

I lived in central London for a decade, and in the average week I would go to a free lunchtime concert or a rehearsal or performance at the ROH via a friend who worked there, would often queue early on my way to work for the £10 tickets for the NT, was a member of the Tate and the RA so would often nip into an exhibition several times if I had free time between commitments (I worked near Oxford Circus), or see something at the BFI or the Prince Charles cinema - I was on a lot of mailing lists for free stuff so saw a fair few films and gigs for nothing. Lots of free culture. I took DS to the BM all the time.

And absolutely the 'rest of the UK' is not a cultural desert, because I also adored living in Oxford and Edinburgh, but bluntly, a regional city's single theatre showing mostly touring musicals, one small museum which combines dinosaur bones, random archaeological finds dug up locally and 19thc painting, and an annual comedy festival, isn't going to hack it after London.

Yes, but being not rich or qualify for housing I was stuck renting and couldn't face growing old there with that uncertainty. Miss it.

Londoner born and bred here now in a small market town in S England. Been here 40+ years. I miss London every day altho' no way could we have afforded the place we have here in Z2.

I go to the theatre far more often now then when I was in London. I lived in what was then called Greater London, although I worked in central London. My lunch breaks weren't long anough to go to concerts.

Even my local town has more than one theatre, but I was really referring to large cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh etc.

I wish I had her money! I didn't realise she'd moved back. I know Supergrass did a gig in the Cheese and Grain last year to raise money to save packsaddle fields. The Foo Fighters and Paul McCartney have also done surprise gigs there and lots of artists do gigs there as Glastonbury warm ups....Kate Nash and Gary Numan did last year.

https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/lifestyle/property/a64916880/pearl-lowe-somerset-home-for-sale/

Pearl Lowe and Danny Goffeys Frome house for sale...a lot bigger and more expensive than mine lol.

I left London in 1990 to return to Cornwall, but only went as far as the Cornwall bank of the Tamar, not far from Plymouth. For years I went back to London every week, sometimes twice, for work but I was never a great fan of London. I vastly preferred NYC where I lived before.

Plymouth is not a bad compromise. Beautifully located, reasonable property prices, close to the moors and the shore, a growing university and art school, one of the first theatres for touring shows, and a surprisingly interesting food culture. The hospital is okay; it has grammar schools. You do have to like Janners, though there's a widely held opinion that Plymouth is more a Cornish city than Devon, and the sense of humour is similar to the Cornish. A weekend away perhaps?

My heart sank when I saw your OP. I am Cornish and moved from London back to Falmouth.

It's been the biggest regret of our lives. Now we have children at school here but fully intend on moving back to London as soon as we can afford to!

It's the lack of work and opportunities. And everything closes at 3, 4 or 5pm. Museums are hopeless as well.

This is our 10th year being back and this Winter has been the hardest. Not to mention the house prices, council tax, everything is just SO much but for what? A beach covered in needles and poo (hard stare at Falmouth!) and a job that pays shit?!

I had a remote job when we moved back but of course there were redundancies even when we were promised by that CEO that everything was ok. I feel like such an idiot! So many jobs elsewhere (mainly London or Bristol)

On sunny spring days like today I have enjoyed the air, the space and the beach. But I have spent most of my free time scrubbing mould off the walls inside and out.

Hugs OP. I understand this feeling so much. We were desperate to move back to Cornwall but it's destroyed our careers and finances.

Edited to add - I wonder if Bristol is a nice middle ground? 💐

I moved to London to study, and stayed for a decade.

I was never a London person and moved back to Wiltshire as soon as my career was established. I've never regretted it. I prefer fields and trees and clean air and quiet, to traffic and wine bars and crime and crowds.

As a single mum I have a spacious house with plenty of parking. It's been a lovely place for ds to grow up. London is fine for a day trip or even a weekend, but that's enough for me. 😊

I don't regret it one bit. I left to go travelling and settled in a tiny place. Went back to London and just couldn't do with the crowds and cars. I now line in a village but am 15 minutes from a beautiful and vibrant (small city) and less than an hour from two major cities. When I visit friends now I enjoy it but know I couldn't live there.

I moved out of London when my children were small. This was in the days that London schools were terrible. (They are brilliant now) We spent nearly 30 years in a provincial town, then moved back to London 7 years ago. I absolutely love it and give thanks every day that I live in the greatest city in the world. I love the public transport (gave up the car), the green spaces (so much!), theatre, exhibitions, music, no end of places to visit or walk. I love the anonymity of London, I love the diverse cultures, and the public provision (fountains, squares, gardens, libraries, free events etc). There's always somewhere new to discover. You can never be bored. It's also a young city and people's attitudes are much more progressive. None of that England flag stuff here. I've also noticed that health services are so much better in London. There are dentists everywhere, we have a good choice of GP surgeries and access to world class teaching hospitals. I can see how the lure of space and a garden, which are unaffordable in Zone 1, would make you think of leaving. But if you do, remember, it is extremely hard (financially) to return. We could only do it by selling our house and a rental flat we owned and using a chunk of a large inheritance. And even so we went from a 4 bedroom house to a 3 bedroom flat. I don't regret moving out of London when we did, but I'm so so happy we were able to move back

I live in zone 6 (Sutton). I’m ok living where we are, but ideally when we look to downsize in a few years, I would like to move to Morden and have a few minutes walk to the tube. Unfortunately my DH would like to move further out, so I think we’ll have to compromise

Not one bit, DH spent our 20s in London then moved down to my hometown in our early 30s with toddler DS1.

It's technically a city where we live now but it is walkable (apart from all the hills) and it doesn't feel like it takes hours to get anywhere (ok pre kids but I hated getting the tube and London trains with a baby). I also like that I regularly bump into neighbours/school mums/people from church...I feel part of a community which I never really felt in London.

There's enough for the DC to do and good schools, plus the beach! Although I tend to prefer it not in the summer holidays.

No - moved to Bristol 22 years ago, after growing up in East London until I moved away for university. Absolutely no regrets.

Yes, Bristol isn't cheap, but I've managed to carve out a life and career that I wouldn't have got if I had stayed in London.

We were going to leave a few years back but made the decision to stay. We’re in Wimbledon village and feel like we have the best of both worlds. Easy access to the city but a countryside feel and oodles of green space on the doorstep, quite literally. Love it and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.