Please tell me why anyone would want to live in London

[Lloyd46]

I love London to visit, but I am glad to leave. Please tell me why anyone would pay extashionate prices to live in an over crowded, expensive place, why not live on the out skirts and pop in and out when you feel like it?

Some of us have to live here to work OP. My commute is 25 minutes,I couldn't be arsed to live in the Home Counties and commute in. That,to me is soul destroying but lots of my friends do that as they like the space.

I have a flat in London and a house in the country but love going home to my horses and lots of space around me. London is great but give me space and fresh air any day

How many times are we going to have this thread? 😪

Yes, London is overpriced. It's also a terrific city. The idea of it being some smog-filled concrete jungle is also a ridiculous stereotype. Around 45% of London is made up of green space.

Then stop being a gf, sell the flat at a discount to a local family and stay away.

Btw welcome to MN OP.

Why do we have so many London bashing threads? It's boring. Lots of people want to live in different places.

I might not wish to live in Bristol / Coventry / Glasgow / deepest countryside but I'd never be so rude as to say "what a shithole! You literally couldn't pay me to live in somewhere so fucking awful" etc etc which is how London threads always go

How about: if you don't want to live in London you fuck off out of it and leave those of us who love London to enjoy it

OP, I live in zone1/2 borders. A 90 second walk from my front door takes me to 200 acres of green space. If I walk 20 mins, I've got another 200 acres of green space.
It's a 20 cycle for me to see my horses.

Can't imagine wasting so much of my life shuttling between houses, and not seeing my animals for the majority of the week.
Maybe you just need to find a better part of London to base yourself?

The answer is: jobs.

The answer is actually many things

Diversity

Being able to hop on the tube and see a West End show in a matter of minutes.

Brilliant schools

Free bus travel for kids

Free music lessons for kids

Tons of free museums for everyone

Doctor, Dentist, parks, leisure facilities, shops, restaurants etc all within walking distance.

Buses/trains/tubes every couple of minutes and mostly a 24 hour service.

I could go on but I won't bore you

I have a flat in London and a house in the country, I love going home to see my horses and fresh air. I love London but couldn't live there permanently

Yeah you mentioned that. bullshit

All in London.

Why would anyone ride horses? They take a lot of work to look after and are extashanate to buy and maintain

Well I couldn't own a horse because I don't like them

But I get why other people do

Perhaps you should spend more time at your flat. I think it might help broaden that narrow mind.

Yes OP, you said. How lovely for you.

Queenbean
Same applies to some people's bicycles!

Spare I was taking the piss out of op, I couldn't give a toss what people do with their own money!

Stay in the countryside then with your horses and your fresh air.

I have lived in the countryside. Was born and raised there. Fucking miserable time with nothing to do. At least in London I can go for a shit without neighbours talking about how long number 27 was in the toilet earlier for. Can have visitors without the talk of the place. Can stay up all night without the gossips.

So you're wondering why people pay over the odds to live in London while you yourself pay those prices for somewhere you don't even live?

Alrighty then.

And why do people pay over the odds?
Maybe if tossers didn't buy properties to have for when they can be arsed to visit, the property market wouldn't be as inflated.

I live just outside London (not classed as London but 20 min on a train to central London) and I think it is the best city in the world, admittedly I haven't seen all of them. I love how cosmopolitan it is, how cultural, diverse, I love everything about it. If I could I would live right in the middle of it all.

I just had this discussion with a friend who can't afford to live here (so not London but within easy reach) and slagged off our area plus London stating the quality of life is so bad that she is moving up north.

I didn't pay over the odds.

I was lucky enough to have got my mortgage nearly 22 years ago and now my house is worth more than 5 times the amount I paid for it.

I could have moved years ago if I'd wanted to, but I don't and nor do my family.

I would give anything to live in London. It's an absolute pipe dream to me.

*unrivalled variety and quality of theatres, concerts and exhibitions
*unrivalled variety and quality of dance, performing arts and other extra curricular tuition for both adults and children.
*great schools
*amazing public transport, free for children
*so many free and inexpensive things to do
*world famous sights on your doorstep
*an atmosphere you don't get anywhere else
*everywhere is vibrant and interesting
*different languages and cultures everywhere you turn
*on average people are healthier, slimmer and more stylish
*whatever the latest fad or fashion is, you can find somewhere that offers it
*parks
*markets

I could go on and on - I just think it has the best of everything the UK has to offer.

I'll never be able to afford to live in it but will always make sure I'm within easy reach for popping in and out.

You love London to visit, but can't wait to leave and yet you have a flat there? Yeah right, of course you do...

Queen bean

LOl - then my answer to you, specifically, OP, is that live in London full time because I can't afford a second home in the country.

I go to the country for holidays, in my tent or a rented cottage.

But I would rather live in London. You don't have to get in the car to pick up a new pair of tights, for example. My siblings live in the country. They have to drive so much. Evenings out, shopping, taxi-ing the kids, everything.