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?

I knew this thread would get some people's backs up

Yes there is life after London. There's even good coffee too.

It's not funny to trot out the same old insulting nonsense that Londoners don't think there's life outside London. Most of us didn't grow up here so we know there is.

The OP however GREW UP in London so surely you can understand her trepidation? Once you leave it's very difficult to go back. Nobody thinks the house price situation in London isn't ridiculous but that's the situation whether people like it or not.

OP your friends moving to different city is the perfect opportunity to go and stay with them and see what life is like in each one. TBH if your mum will move with you I would definitely do it. Which city depends on how much you're happy to drive v how dependent on public transport you are as well as what it feels like.

Leeds over Manchester and Edinburgh. Edinburgh is well expensive and freezing cold in winter and August is trashed because or the festival. Manchester is the wrong side of the hills and gets a lot more rain. Also very urban sprawl.

Don’t leave London! I regretted the day I did and had to go back.

Eh? What’s the problem with the op? Parts of SW London are vibrant and lovely btw. Also the op said in her op that she wants to move to another city... I think some people are taking offence where there is none tbh.

I woke up in my provincial cottage this morning feeling a little under the weather. I didn't realise I was actually dead. Thanks OP.

Nah don't do it the house price are too low the people are too friendly and there Is NOTHING north of the watford gap. Seriously, move along please, nothing to see here

I think that moving to Zone 6 would be more difficult than making a fresh start in a different city. Your husband will probably have a monster commute and you'll feel you're in London-lite.

My friends and I loved London but started to leave about 17 years ago. Only one remains, in Clapham. Another only went as far as Twickenham but he works for GSK so doesn't commute into London.

I'm in a small seaside town which wouldn't suit you, but friends in Manchester, Bath and Cardiff are very happy. Some of them - in Bath and Cardiff- get the train to London once per week approx for meetings and find it easy enough.

Not Sheffield. Lovely city for access to the Peaks but there is no finance industry to speak of and your DH will be most likely having to do a shitty commute to Leeds or Manchester for work.

It's a totally fair question, so ignore the people being rude. You quite often see people on here saying that moving away from London was the worst decision they've ever made and are desperate to get back. I would look at smaller cities like WInchester, Salisbury or Bath. Still reasonably close to London and far preferable to the North IMO.

I do love London & don’t know anything else hence my fear. As my parents were immigrants we never visited other parts of England
If this is a common view/experience it explains an awful lot. In my experience, though, it’s far from limited to the parents of immigrants.

I love this post!

Sorry I realise I'm not contributing anything to it... I must get back to tending my flock and twisting the mangle to dry my clothes in my none vibrant part of the country!

If you're happy in London OP then stay where you are, your other friends might be back before you know it - the grass is always greener....

southeastdweller I keep reading that more & more, how did you find the change? Did you have family ties?

stevie69 Increasingly less it would seem 😂.

grime Went to uni in London too, I have visited a few places as an adult but my parents like the heat!

I got to the point where I was only going within my little area of SW London; we were 20 minutes from central London but by the time we decided to leave we weren’t taking advantage of it which helped with the decision as rent was extortionate.
When we moved it took a while to settle and get to know people but it’s like that anywhere when you move.
The thing I loved about London was that there was so many individual places that you didn’t have to end up eating and drinking in chains all the time so we looked for somewhere like that where there was still a lot going on.

TBH if your mum will move with you I would definitely do it.

Suspect her mum has an actual life of her own.

No I wouldn't leave as your dh works in finance and we don't know the effects of Brexit yet

I also think 1300 sq feet is plenty and is compensated by amenities

Having your mum round the corner is amazing, it means you can actually 'use' London when she's babysitting

I've lived in the Home Counties and while it was great the big downside was lack of spontaneity. I couldn't just have a babysitter and decide to go to the theatre or concert that day or that week. Dh and I are madly busy with work but the upside is that if we're free we can very easily find something exciting to do.

I enjoy living in a town in the South East and going into London when we feel like it. That way we can see the museums etc but without having to deal with the congestion, pollution, prices, knife and other crime and other negatives. I will take my boring provincial life over that. I was raised in a city where everyone hates London (big chip on the city’s collective shoulder) so never tempted to move there.

It's difficult because it isn't just London, it's your home and where you grew up. I'm the same, I grew up very centrally and have been priced out to a zone 4 leafy 'burb BUT I'm still on the tube and have a big-ish house with a garden etc. If I couldn't still be on a tube line (we actually have a choice of several where I am and soon Crossrail) I always said I'd leave London. But London is my home, my memories are here - albeit a bit spaced out around different areas, and a lot has changed over the years... But it's home, so leaving London for me is a lot more than just 'leaving London' iykwim
I'm excited to be giving DD the same opportunities growing up in this amazing city that I had.

scurry!

Leeds or Cardiff, why not stay for a couple of weeks first? Don't move rural it will be too big a change (I'm rural but have lived city), and I've always thought the Home Counties look dull, neither the buzz of a city or the beauty and community of the countryside?

I don't get the London thing though I have to admit, I mean the tube is handy but there are interesting shops / restaurants/ theatres etc everywhere? Genuine question as a non Londoner!

Also the biggest wrench I found of moving was friends and family and if you can take your mum and your friendship groups are going anyway why not!

Lots of us live in other parts of the UK and manage to rarely if ever vist London and yet somehow my life is ok housing , bills etc very cheap, my children also go to excellent schools beleive it or not in the Barren north west of England. I do find some posters very insular about London

I really miss living in London, however London with two small children is an entirely different London and I didn’t want my children growing up in that environment. I would advice that you consider home counties, that way you are within easy reach of London and will be around people who have made similar moves to yourselves. No offence at all to Northerners but I find Northern cities have a completely different culture that I think would be harder for you to adapt to.

No, there is absolutely no life outside of London at all. Stay there and leave the nicer places quieter for those of us who have discovered that other cities are really rather pleasant!

Go for it OP, there are lots of great places to live in this country.

We're moving to Belfast after 15 years in London. I'm from there though but my husband is from the area in London we're currently living in. So I'll tell you in a few months. To be honest although I'll miss it, we barely leave our own area these days.

I have visited a few places as an adult but my parents like the heat!

You’re an adult, with an adult spouse and children. What do your parents’ taste in holidays have to do with where you have travelled? don’t you arrange your own holidays?