To wonder how people cope living in London?!

[WinterIsHereJon]

I'm visiting for the weekend. It's hot, sweaty, incredibly busy. We had the misfortune of travelling on the tube during rush hour earlier, people pushed and pushed onto an already full train, to the point where I became rather intimately acquainted with a chap behind me. Despite the complete lack of room people were still attempting to read newspapers! I think I'd snap if that was part of my daily routine, I don't know how people do it!

Shrunken, I was quite surprised too. I think if kids aren't allowed they should make it obvious on the menu board outside, must have tourists coming in all the time asking the same question!

The crowds are hard to handle, I'll give you that. That aside, it's so, so beautiful and has a fantastic energy that I think you'll find in few cities.

I'd go back tomorrow. Dp & I might just do that, just the two of us this time for a weekend away.

I would rather live in London than anywhere else. I love the anonymity, the mix of cultures, the shops, the endless places to go. I quite enjoy the hustle and bustle even though the tube is airless and boiling hot!

I really like this thread and hearing why Londoners love the city.
As someone who lives in a very rural coastal village I find London a scary place to visit but I don't hate it - I wish I was more confident to enjoy it. Plus, living in the countryside, you often only hear negative views of cities from ex urbanites who have relocated to the countryside.
Hearing all the positives about London is great.

UK outside of London seems so dull, so uninspiring, so insular.

London utterly rocks.

We moved out to Kent. It's lovely, wonderful friends and social life, be airfoil countryside but there's a rota or about half a dozen restaurants we go to.

In London, the worlds your oyster, but you really only "get it" if you love there

Oh and to love AND work there is just brilliant. Such a wonderful after work vibe in the city, no one worrying about driving home. There's a real London community, that isn't judgemental, that transcend earnings (I would drink with my boss and fellow colleagues, easily on £500k plus). So much choice

Oh I miss it

NicknameUsed: I'll second that! Been near Manchester for a long time and just love the hills - which we can see from our back bedroom window. London is great to visit but...when I see those hills from the train/car window my heart soars.

Love the people here (won't make any comparisons!).

I lived and worked in London for years and it took me a while to settle when we moved for DH's job; funnily enough I missed walking along the Embankment like crazy!

Visited Hampstead Heath last year - it needs traffic lights there are so many people; awful.

I was envious watching all those people who had obviously just finished work having a couple of drinks before heading home, it certainly beats the drudgery of getting in your car and battling through the 5pm traffic!

As Z4 "Londoners" for the past 27 years DH and I are getting a bit weary of it all, even the slightest journey in the car can bring on a hissing fit.

I recently visited and if you get up early, it's an amazing place. A stroll through the centre down the river is delightful.

I wouldn't want to live there as I'm old, I would have enjoyed living there in my twenties though.

I am quite fascinated with London but haven't been there for nearly 40 years and likely will never go again. I live in the Scottish Highlands having moved, with my parents, from Hertfordshire 38 years ago and this is my home but I expect many Londoners couldn't, and wouldn't want to, live here.

Can't put it better than Paddington bear in his recent film:
"In a city where everyone is different anyone can fit in."

And I love the sweltering heat - was always cold in the Welsh hills growing up, in London I'm toasty.

We moved out of London because it was too expensive to buy there and because of the pollution but I really miss it. There's so much variety there and loads of interesting things to do and see.

This threads made me feel really emotional.

I wish there was some kind of Real London Guide for tourists so they could experience it the way you do living here. I would no more go to Oxford Street or Westminster or the South Bank on a Saturday than I would punch myself in the face (probably an easier route to the same experience). I go to theatres/shops etc in the week after work and at the weekend I hang out in my own area or on the peripheries - London Bridge, Shoreditch, Dalston, Islington.

The commuting is hell though, no getting away from that. The only thing I can say to that is Friday night is probably more chaotic than average, because everyone's a bit pissed and there are tourists in the mix. Monday to Thursday it is extremely busy, but very disciplined.

Yeah. I've just emigrated away from London for all these reasons.
The commute in and out of central London is absolutely disgusting and doing that twice a day five days a week made me slightly crazy.
Then you are looking at 1million for a family home somewhere commutable. And the weather is shite.
I absolutely adored it when I was young free and single but as a working mum with a toddler...no thanks.
I'm very glad I've left.

We live part of the time in Islington.

It really is a cool place to be. So many fabulous opportunities for us all. We simply would not get them elsewhere.

But I like getting away too. I like open spaces and wide skies.

I don't think if want to be exclusively in a city, London or otherwise.

I spent 8 very happy years in London after moving from Wales and loved all that it had to offer. You acclimatise (if you're a country bod like I was) very quickly to your surroundings and it didn't take me long to love it. We moved away for work reasons and I love going back, but equally I love coming home to the sticks. The tube now is miles better than it was back in the 80's (smoking had only just been banned) and it's a whole lot cleaner, regular and more efficient too.

I'm not sure I could live there again as I've changed so much, but I don't get the negativity about it at all, it's a great capital city with lots to like about it.

Violetta, we stayed in Dalston!

Near to the overground, cheaper than in the middle of London, great place.

You can avoid rush hour, dress appropriately for the heat, carry a tiny fan and take quieter routes.

All this is worth it because London rules.

Avoid rush hour? Yeah right. On southwest trains rush hour is solid 7am to 9am. So good luck avoiding rush hour if you have a job to go to

London is busy because it's amazing. I couldn't live anwhere else