AIBU to ask is there life after London?

[poppingshop1]

I know there is, but is it a good one?

DH & I are true Londoners & live in a lovely part of SW London that I grew up in. We have a lovely life, mum around the corner, excellent school which DC1 attends around the other corner, lovely neighbours, etc. BUT we are starting to think we should leave. 90% of our childhood friends have moved out to either zone 5/6 or the home counties. 3 of my close friends (met through NCT) who live nearby have all decided to leave & told me this week.

We want more space (property is 1300 sq ft) which we can’t afford unless we move to other parts of London (don’t really see the point) & husband is finding the tube more & more stressful. Plus the general hustle & bustle is starting to grate.

However the idea of moving to the suburbs terrify me (don’t mean to offend), worried I will be bored/lonely & DH might struggle with the commute as he’s used to 30 mins door to door. I’d prefer to live in a 3/4 bed terrace close to amenities than a 6 bed detached in the middle of nowhere.

My 3 NCT friends are moving to other cities (Bristol, Edinburgh & Bath) & I’m starting to think that moving to another city could be a great option.

I’m lucky that I freelance so 90% of my work is wfh. DH would obviously earn less working in another city but still plenty of finance jobs around at the 70k mark and as we have at least 500k equity our cost of living would ideally be lower, I feel we might have a better quality of life. My mum is likely to move to be closer to us (she’s an immigrant, so no other family here).

Has anyone moved from London to other cities? Did you regret it? How hard did you find it settle? Where would you go?

KERALA1 Same here!

All ex Londoners. Bloody brilliant

Well, I also think people are being super ignorant about the OPs background. SHE HAS NEVER LIVED OUTSIDE LONDON

I've never lived lots of places but I read, watch telly, see different places on the news or on dramas. I 've never been to 18th century Cornwall but have a rough idea what it's like as I've seen Poldark. There really is no excuse for being so insular and ignorant about your own country.

SHE HAS NEVER LIVED OUTSIDE LONDON. How is she supposed to know how the countryside works?

OMG, you should have said! No-one who lives in LONDON could possibly know how life limps on anywhere else?

Since when was anything outside London "countryside"?

Was it you who sagely advised that the overground doesn't exist outside of London?

Yes, because the London Overground is a separate service run by TFL. Of course National Rail exists elsewhere. I can only assume you don't live in London and therefore don't understand the distinction.

OP - not outing myself completely but I live in one of these places.
Ok, so 500k wouldn't buy a massive country estate but your money goes a LOT further than in London. Believe me!

I had to leave London (DH's job) to move abroad (European City, large, wealth,y famous, plenty to do, easy access by car to multiple other European countries and stunning scenery/countryside.)

I loathe it and I'm counting down until I return to London.

I'm originally from the North - passionate about the place a grew up and will defend it to the death but could not live there. It is so limited compared to London where I lived for over 15 years. I also know loads and loads of people who live happily outside of London but almost none who, like me, don't drive. Their kids have access to countryside but spend every day walking 5 paces to the car where they spend the next 20 minutes.....

If you want less choice about where you eat, shop and go out but also less crowds and a slower pace of life it's fine. I personally cannot wait to get back to crazy London. If you love it, you're likely to miss it.

There really is no excuse for being so insular and ignorant about your own country

This ^

SHE HAS NEVER LIVED OUTSIDE LONDON. How is she supposed to know how the countryside works?

ffs.

genever sorry to hear about your great-grandparents. I don’t blame DHs gran, they sent her to an house where she had fetch water with 6m old twins. Luckily they all survived.

BearsDontDigOnDancing
Completely agree with you re investment & interest. If London wasn’t my home I’m sure I wouldn’t feel such a pull. People always slag London off re crowds, crime or smell but I don’t care if someone else hates it.

Travel time is more like 1.5 hrs because we live out of town in the countryside! 😄

London is ok. The suburbs and me dead inside. The open countryside is where the living is! Find yourself a lively little village with plenary of walks/national trust/conservation areas nearby and lead the good life!

Yes, because the London Overground is a separate service run by TFL. Of course National Rail exists elsewhere. I can only assume you don't live in London and therefore don't understand the distinction.

Yes, I live in London, was born in London from a long line of Londoners It's not an important distinction

Why are you issuing dark "remember there'll be no underground or overground outside London" warnings?

For that matter why are you telling people that outside London they'll have to memorise bus timetables?

You do know the UK is a big, variable place? With other underground railways, tram systems, overground trains? That other towns and cities have frequent buses?

(And equally that some towns have risible public transport.)

You're being very strange.

IsaSchmisa The overground is a separate rail network run by TFL, think of it as a cross between the tube and normal rail service, parts of it will shortly be running 24 x 7.

Erm, thanks for that I guess?

I'm not really anorak enough for a discussion about whether there are meaningful distinctions between rail and light rail services myself, but someone will probably take it and run with it.

The salient point however is that you were still talking shite about public transport. Depends totally on where OP goes. It was such an utterly stupid thing to say. There are parts of cities other than London that have multiple options every few minutes and there are parts that are as you describe.

In London we are used to everyone being from everywhere in the world, but in other places there is a definite 'not from here' vibe.

Errrrr that also happens in London.

I live in a semi rural village in the SE. I am two minutes walk from the bus stop where every 15 minutes I can get a bus to the medium town, the large town or with one change, the city. Or I can get off at the train station five minutes down the road and hop on a direct train to either London or Brighton that takes 40 minutes.

We go to concerts, museums, parks, fabulous restaurants, diverse pubs, all local. There are markets several times a week, more in the summer, festivals and events, a huge park as well as several forests in an around the town. Our village itself has a massive country park with water sports all year round. You can walk along the South Downs for miles.

I’m really struggling to think of much you can get in London that you would miss out on, and in fact that’s probably why we have such a large ex-London population, three out of four of my good ‘mum friends’ are refugees from The Smoke.

The salient point however is that you were still talking shite about public transport. Depends totally on where OP goes. It was such an utterly stupid thing to say. There are parts of cities other than London that have multiple options every few minutes and there are parts that are as you describe.

X post

Beautifully put

@anachronistic

Are we neighbours??? Sounds very familiar.

Today 12:25 WitchesHatRim

In London we are used to everyone being from everywhere in the world, but in other places there is a definite 'not from here' vibe.

Errrrr that also happens in London.

OMG yes!!! If you weren't born a bred a Londoner YES!!!

mousemoose I hope you settle soon, one of my neighbours is from Belfast & misses it but can’t persuade her husband to move there (yet).

I knew I would get into trouble for the pavement thing, why is it so outrageous? I was 21 & at a wedding & assumed we could walk home from the pub the night before but obviously we couldn’t. I have also been suprised by the width of the pavement in New York. I get suprised a lot clearly

One thing to consider, OP, is outside of London the public transport is dire, by comparison. You'll spend far more time in your car, especially as the kids get older and want ferrying around. You'll find yourself memorising the fictional bus timetable, rather than just waiting for the next one in a couple of minutes, and remember there is no tube or overground.

Completely not true!

KERALA1 Can I ask where you are?

God, really fancy some chips now.

OhChill, possibly. It’s also quite an MN place

outside of London the public transport is dire, by comparison. You'll spend far more time in your car, especially as the kids get older and want ferrying around. You'll find yourself memorising the fictional bus timetable, rather than just waiting for the next one in a couple of minutes, and remember there is no tube or overground

This just keeps getting worse! There is no public transport outside London now?
Have some of you ever even left London or did the here be dragons signs scare you too much? this thread is hilarious, while still being offensive.

Why are you issuing dark "remember there'll be no underground or overground outside London" warnings?

I didn't, try reading posts. Still have it your way, the Tube and Overground runs all over the country in your world. OP should not concern herself at all about the state of public transport outside of London.