AIBU to not leave London?

[aperol]

Have NC.

Knife crime has been awful, latest stabbing not far from us, it is worrying I won't lie, but we love London and couldn't imagine moving out. Dh born & bred, I've been here 20 years. We have no space issues 4 bedrooms, a big garden with parks, shops, entertainment, transport etc nearby so no incentive to move further out and be mortgage free, start commuting, drive DC's to school, see less of DH blah blah

We have 2 dc who are in year 7 and year 5, both at great local schools (walking distance) doing really well and despite the recent stabbings we have no intention of leaving London, in fact we think the dc will appreciate being a teen in London. (Hard hat on!)

Over the years many of our good friends have moved out (mostly due to space, family & maybe safety?) we enjoy visiting them but usually look forward to getting back to London.

I totally get the raising kids in a safe, low crime location, less pollution environment... I'm sure there are a gazillion reasons more why moving away is great for you but I just love the freedom of London.

AIBU to not want to leave London? Asking this as I have been getting a few "why would you still live in London?" vibes from non London friends and family.

Yanbu. My in laws think that London is scary and dangerous and cruel to children. Dd has a fantastic life in London and gets to visit family in the countryside. Wouldn't dream of leaving

I love London. I live in central London in an apartment with DH and 4 month old DD. I love that everything is on our doorstep, I love that I can walk everywhere to where I need to be, I love that I can order groceries off Amazon and it will be delivered to my house in less than 2 hours, I love that DH has a 20min commute, I love that we're close to restaurants, theatres, galleries, museums. We are never bored.

Crime bothers me - DH has been held at knife-point for his scooter.

Pollution bothers me.

But you couldn't pay me even to move out to Zone 3 let alone leave London all together! So OP yanbu

There was nothing to do apart from walk across muddy fields

I'm baffled by all the talk of long country walks on here. Surely most kids would find that boring after a while?!

So don’t . Stay where you feel happy . Don’t be that person who moves to the countryside ( although I suspect the term is relative ) and proceeds to complain about everything that isn’t like the big city .

koyaanisqatsi

Same...zone three here and lots of parks/green spaces which have the added advantage of having lots to do in/on/around them...boating lakes, fairs, circuses, playgrounds, cafes, football pitches etc

@londonwriter totally agree

I intend to stay. Born & bred in zone 2/3 sw london & live there now, so family within walking distance. DH from SE london. My only concerns are wanting more space in the future & im not really interested in moving to zones 5/6 plus they are still expensive. I also have a son & I think it does seem to more violent now with more random attack’s. I definitely won’t be moving to commutervile, I would relocate to another city. I mentioned on another thread that quite a few of my friends have relocated to other cities. 1 has a budget of 1.1m but they aren’t prepared to pay that for a terrace with a tiny garden & no off street parking where we are so are off to another city. They still want amenities on their doorstep & a small commute as now but a bigger house with parking.

Another Zone 3 here. I’ve never walked more than since I’ve lived in London. There is so much green!

I never really walked in the countryside (and I lived there decades) - there was no bloody paths, I had to drive everywhere. There was plenty I liked about rural living but walking wasn’t really one of them.

I can’t imagine the new spate of knife crime is going to affect me - I’m not in a gang or have relatives in a gang, I don’t wander about at 1am because I’m in bed at 9.30. I don’t take my iPhone out in public and I don’t have a scooter. I’m lucky enough to have a face that looks fuck off.

I can’t even imagine how low the statistics are of being a victim of knife crime - but really low. Really, really low.

Someone said up thread about someone being macheted in their village? I’ve also seen someone macheted in a village and watched the local post office being held up at gun point. I think there was 300 inhabitants of that village.

I'd hate to live in London, so I don't.

It sounds as though you love it as much as I love living in a tiny rural market town. But I expect you and your kids would hate it here!

Ignore what anyone says about sounding smug, London being dangerous etc. Make the decision that makes you and yours happy.

If that is staying put, have fun not moving

Thanks for your replies, it's really good to hear your different perspectives, that I'm not alone and I'm not failing my children. Very reassuring as being a Londoner with dc I have felt at times a bit judged. 

*@waggingmyginger *good point "Moving away is no guarantee of safety." Tbh I worry more when my dc are away on residentials, that first trip abroad is going to be tough.

No one is asking me to leave, I guess my non london family and friends just don't get why we live here when in their opinion we could have a better lifestyle outside of london.

@ LaurG well said "They see London as some sort of overpriced, dangerous hell hole for kids"

*@tammy Thanks for your reassuring post, "People like to validate their own choices by persuading others to do likewise" *That could be very true.

*@namechange *not being smug at all, this is the situation we're in, I can't word it any other way, we are very lucky we got on the London property market when we did with the space we have. Having said that I would always go for location over property even if it was smaller. Sorry if you and your friends were priced out of london.

*@fontofnoknoweldge *totally agree, I'm definitely a townie but we as a family all enjoy the outdoors in and outside of London too.

Thanks again all, very interesting to read your thoughts.

Are you Finsbury Park way OP? If you’ve got a four bed round there I’d stay put! (Ex Stroud Greener here).

We're staying.

I grew up in proper bucolic countryside. It was not infrequent for a teenager to die wrapping their car around a tree. Most popular form of entertainment in the winter was driving to a lay by and getting stoned.

Although property is completely ridiculous everything else is loads cheaper- transport, kids' activities, cheap theatre, galleries, a free festival every weekend in the summer. We are lucky enough to have a big enough house though and recognise that's the main issue for most people (we live in an area I have seen much maligned on here though).

The pollution is the only thing that really bothers me. Luckily the area we live doesn't have the highest levels but it is still a bit grim in summer.

The other thing is employment- my sector is heavily based in London and means I can generally get a new job easily.

Most of my family live in the countryside and spend their whole lives in the car ferrying teens about. Not for us.