To want to get far away from London?

[bluecherry1]

I have a very nice house with a great dh and 2 lovely dc, good jobs and no real worries BUT I live 2 streets away from one of the recent stabbings and it has put me so on edge, crimes rates here seem to be soaring, I hate not letting my children go out to play and don’t even feel totally safe myself walking the 10 minutes home from the station. I know there are nice places in England to live but me and dh are thinking of homeschooling the kids and travelling, we have family in Spain, South Africa and the USA, I want them to experience a carefree life for as long as they can. Ahhhh I’m so confused?

Move then? It's your choice surely? Do you want people to tell you not to? I live in london and will never be leaving but it's up to other people what they do.

There is more to life than London.

I don't think you are overreacting to the current climate in London - especially as one incident was close to you.

I think children would get more out of life by your idea of homeschooling and travel.

Hugs for you (( )) you sound very stressed.

Most of the stabbings, as you know, are gang on gang. If you see your DCs as at risk of joining one of these, or if walking home is scaey, then could
you move? There are plenty of areas that do not have these issues.
If not, then honestly it's worth looking at the stats behind your fears... After all, you mention South Africa but that is far, far, FAR more violent than London, and the average child would again be more at risk in the USA, home of school shootings. London isn't perfect and it's great that the alienation and suffering of certain young groups of Londoners is finally getting media coverage - but as you probably deep down know, this is not representative of most people's experience of London life.

Way to shut down a discussion Pretty 'move/don't move, what does Mumsnet care?' attitude!

We live in Spain near Cambrils, last August freaked us out, but we are staying put. If random stabbings started happening we'd be off like a fucking shot! A close friend lives in Tottenham and is very worried.

I live in the UK ( not England)- crime rates here are tiny.I live in a place that is not subject to terrorist attack, zero gun crime.

We rarely lock cars or even front doors when we go out.

I love it a lot.

London is a fantastic city to live and bring up children in. Just because you don’t like it Haribo it doesn’t make your opinion fact. I know lots of people who have moved away for various reasons, often cost, some have no regrets and others lament losing the joy of living in one of the greenest, most vibrant and cultural cities in the world.

High crime rate seems a very good reason not to live somewhere. I live in a rural area with a very low crime rate, lots of fresh air and lovely friendly locals. I wouldn't move back to London for all the tea in China.

I lived in a similar area in a different city. I left the area but not the city. I feel like that worked for me, but it sounds like you want a more drastic change?

speakout sadly terrible things happen in random low crime places - eg hungerford, Dunblane. There’s no point hiding away from life in case of bad possibilities.

The U.K. has very little gun crime generally. I live in London and have done so almost all my life - I’ve genuinely seen or experienced very little crime. What’s happening now is terribly sad for those children who’ve grown up in the conditions they have and see gangs as the only way out and needs to be dealt with. But in reality it’s not impacting most of the people who live in this city

Fuckoffunicorn

High rates of crime happen in high crime areas.
Is that concept hard to grasp?

Eolian it depends what your priorities are doesn’t it? I’d take an increased crime rate for living a life that’s culturally fulfilling and interesting every single day over a sleepy village with some fields - my idea of hell!!!

We moved last year to the suburbs. I do regret it - yes the stabbings are awful but it's still pretty rare. We lived in an deprived area of east London: never the victim of crime but 2 weeks after moving to the countryside I had my car broken in to.

We can't afford to move back. The grass isn't always greener.

speakout I’m not sure what your question to me is? Do I understand London has a higher crime rate than some sleepy backwater where the average age is over 65? Yep. Would that make me want to live there? Nope

London is a fantastic city to live and bring up children in.

That’s a completely subjective opinion. You might feel like that but a lot of people don’t. I left London to start a family and have never looked back and I would hate to bring up a family there.

Everywhere has pros and cons. I find in London people are usually very helpful and considerate for example if you travel with a buggy you are literally batting off the offers of help, ditto travelling with someone with disabilities. Obviously the museums, shops and restaurants are great.

But crime and cost of living are horrendous, there is an obsession with wealth and status and also sheeplike adherence to whatever the current way of thinking is and massive social policing to ensure nobody publicly deviates from it.

It’s a great place to bring up kids if you are wealthy. If you’re not it’s a bit shit. You’d have to constantly be telling your children no while they would be seeing kids around them with tremendous privilege. Like someone said above, there are areas without these problems. But most people can’t afford to live there.

We moved from London. Such a fantastic move.

We were very happy in London. But life is bloody brilliant where we are now. Would never move back.

Hackney dweller, by any chance?

It is particularly bad at the moment. And so awful for the family and friends of those killed and injured.
A few years ago, the police really got to grips with knife and gun crime in London. I supppse a chronic lack of police funding and youth clubs closing will tip the balance back.
Only you can decide to leave or not.

I was born and raised on the mean streets of Tottenham in the 80s. London is an amazing place to raise kids. But I can understand wanting to leave.
The grass isn’t always greener. Rural areas are not without their problems.

London is a fantastic city to live and bring up children in. Just because you don’t like it Haribo it doesn’t make your opinion fact

Oh, and can I just point out, you’ve stated your opinion as fact then had a go at someone doing exactly the same thing?

Op I live in London too and feel similar. It's not a kneejerk reaction to a single incident, but a cumulative result of the many frequent criminal incidents I see and here nearby. I have had many murders near my home, including one in the last few months which made international news due to the circumstances.

I do worry about my children, as while a lot of it is gang related, there are also children caught, quite literally, in the crossfire. There have also been a worry number of sexually motivated crimes recently, which are usually men attacking random females.

OP you do realise SA and the US are both high crime areas...

MightyMucks I don't entirely disagree with your post but could you clarify what you mean by this: also sheeplike adherence to whatever the current way of thinking is and massive social policing to ensure nobody publicly deviates from it.

As someone who sometimes works accompanying marches and demos to westminister almost weekly during summer months (and has participated in a few myself) I don't undrstand your statement.

I can't think of many places I'd rather raise a family less than London tbh...so IMO yanbu. If you have no particular ties that mean you must stay in London I think there are lots of better places to live in the UK.

I live in Yorkshire and there is no way I would live in London
I know some people love it or have to live there for work and I do enjoy visiting but I’m quite glad to leave as well
I’m sure if you know it well it’s easier to love it but it’s crowded,expensive and too money focussed for me and that’s before you mention the crime
Where we live isn’t perfect and there is crime but not at the level of a big city.
There is a lot more to The UK than London OP, maybe look at different areas

Country dweller mainly though have lived in London and work there from time to time. London to me feels the safest place I have ever lived in. Partly down to numbers and partly down to CCTV and zero-tolerance of disturbance. Contrast this to the country which is the only place I have been a victim of crime, and three times.

We moved out of London when DC were tiny, after a shooting at the top of our street. We now live in a rural area that's still a very easy train ride to London. Where we are is very safe, has a friendly village atmosphere, gorgeous clean air and loads of countryside walks, but the things we miss about London - the cultural life and vibrancy and the feeling that everyone belongs - they're within easy reach to get a weekly fix.
Though yesterday I was getting my weekly fix and witnessed the aftermath of the Highbury stabbing, which was very disturbing. It's on the rise.