To ask if London living is all that?

[nellyolsenscurl]

Inspired by a thread where posters are saying things like 'unless you live in London you couldn't possibly understand the benefits' and 'London living is one of the best things a child could have' (paraphrased, but you get the poi t). One poster said that her dd's friend didn't have a bedroom, she had a bed in the hallway but this is worth it for London life etc.

I've visited and yes it does seem amazing, but I was surprised at how busy the underground was at rush hour, I didn't think public transport was that cheap and in some parts the signs about knife crime/murder was daunting. Obviously as well extortionate house prices/rents mean more likelihood of living in a smaller place.

So London Livers (TM) please tell me about the great things (and any negatives) In my dreams when my dc leave the nest I will buy a lift conversion in Neal's Yard with those lovely coloured facades 😬

Think it depends on where you live and what you can afford.

I’ve recently moved away from London and took me ages to settle even though just under an hour away. Will probably never settle properly,

But what I’ve noticed is that people in this town are more integrated. London is great for little kids in that they get to meet the entire world at primary but I noticed that at secondary the teens gravitate to their own. Not so here.

The people in London who went on about the wonders of diversity tented to be white and not originally from London.

Where I live now is fine - it’s as diverse as anywhere and people just get on with it rather than big it up. I’m from a diverse background and I have peers if I want them.

What I do miss about London is the access to everything and so many more opportunities for my kids 😞. I also really miss my Oyster card and other conveniences.

If you live in one of the London boroughs you live in London.

Hmm, it was when I was in my twenties and childless... not the same with kids in town I don't think unless you can afford to live in a super nice part...

Can someone help this ignorant poster out?
What do you mean by living IN London? As someone who has only ever visited there twice in my life, I am a bit confused about what constitutes IN London? I think of it as the central bit.

Now that's a very good question!

The official definition would be (1) - all London Boroughs

Though I'd also plump for (2) London postal codes

londonist.com/2013/05/what-counts-as-london

Ah thanks. Will look at what a "borough" is now.

I love it even though I grumble about it. Central at the weekends is hell. I basically no longer leave Hackney if I can avoid it!

I love the diversity. Kids will have friends of all ethnicities, religions, with differing types of parents etc. I worry there's not that in smaller towns, but sure I'm being old fashioned.

Have moved further out these days. Zones 1-3 tend to be for the younger clubbing crowd. Loved that when I was young. Transport links are great at all hours, as is Uber when tube is closed for the night.

That said, it's getting more and more over subscribed. Rush hour is now about four hours every day with an infrastructure that is built to fit about a quarter of those using it.

These big "events" that are publicised everywhere as being great London day's out are invariably terrible and money grabs. Same goes for the next big thing restaurants and places to visit. They get so over subscribed they're no fun. Been to so many crap food festivals etc where they've got enough space and catering units for about 500 and 10,000 people turn up. Cool restaurants are a 60 min queue minimum outside before you even get in. Given up to all that. It's miserable and a rip off. £6 warm pints in a plastic glass stood outside a pub on a main road in central London is not my fave either.

Love the London parks like Greenwich and Richmond etc, but they can be crammed on hot weekends. Definitely a young people's game where you're not as crotchety and miserly about these things! 😂

BIL lives in London and use to take us to Hampstead Heath and rave about the green space. DH and I would look at the trees with not one bit of lichen on them and flinch as BIL moved his kids away from the discarded needles and think 'he hasn't got a fucking clue'.

I think some people are city people (when young, childless and rich city life is great) and some are not. I think some people have to live in London for work and get a type of Stockholm syndrome where they have to concentrate on the good bits because thinking about the fact you can't afford a bedroom for your children when you live in the richest city in the world is awful. No museum or restaurant makes up for that. Really it doesn't.

I also think there are a lot of people in London on here who go on about it a lot. Not so many on small Scottish Islands but they all think they live in the best place in the world as well!

I think, on the contrary, some people like wide spaces and big parks and others prefer restaurants and museums and the general buzz of urban life. I have to say I like nature on holidays but after a point, I get mega bored. Give me a city break with museums, good food, music and art and theatre any day.

What is interesting is that I can see why other ppl like the countryside. It’s just notnfor me. But non Londoners faced with Londoners who love the city on this thread are all ‘hah you are just pretending to love it because you have no choice.’ No I have plenty of choice. I have even lived on three different continents. London is still my favourite city.

Count If people ‘go on’ about London, it’s usually because they feel a need to justify yet again why they are happy here. I don’t know how many people live on small Scottish islands but it’s a fraction of the 8 million people that live in London.
If I started a thread asking what’s so great about living on a small Scottish island and don’t you worry about the lack of opportunities for your DC, I’m sure Scottish island dwellers would be quick enough to tell everyone what’s so great about it

Personally I can only be entertained for so long by lichen, but I suppose that could be the Stockholm syndrome talking!

No one thinks Hampstead heath is as good as nature gets. That really isn't what loving London is about.

We rural dwellers really get shafted in a lot of ways. Central government doesn't appear to consider rurality at all. Public transport is incredibly expensive, even for kids. It costs many kids a fortune just getting to school as you've got to be 2 miles away to get free transport and a 2 mile walk down narrow country lanes with school paraphernalia is not feasible.

I was amazed how much there was for the dc to do in London, and gobsmacked they could travel for nothing! On top of that the incredibly cheap holiday clubs, play schemes and huge parks with incredible resources, we have none of that where I live.

However we have miles of coastline, huge sandy beaches, huge amounts of green space, and it's only crowded in the summer holidays, the rest of the time it's lovely and peaceful. I do enjoy visiting London but I wouldn't swap. It's also statistically far safer here which is a big consideration for me.

@youokhon.
Like I posted way above the government unfairly invests in transport in London and forgets about the rest of the UK.

I think London is an absolutely amazing place, a city that is always alive and is growing year by year. I also think other cities in the UK are amazing. And I also think the countryside is amazing.

Different strokes for different folkes.

You'll certainly be going up in the world with a lift conversion OP!

(Sorry if anybody did this one already, off to RTFT now, couldn't resist.)

Is it unfair though? It's a slight bugbear of mine that rural folk go on and on about their fantastic quality of life and then expect the rest of the country to invest in the infrastructure that would reduce any inconvenience that rural living might have. Cities are more efficient environmentally and infrastructure wise surely?

Yes it's unfair.
2200 pound per person spent per year on transport in London.
200 pound per person outside of London.

How is that fair?

London is the London boroughs - eg London Borough of Wandworth, London borough of Barnet. However I would class it as outer and inner London., I live in an outer London boroug but still "in london". I live on a semi rural road etc.

It's also jot just rural areas it's all other cities that don't get the investment. So that's Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Newcastle.
Why can't they spend an equal amount between some of the biggest cities in the UK?

I visited London just recently with my family for a few days .It is a beautiful City but way to busy for me .The underground I struggled with in the heat and sheer amount of people .I live in a rural village and love it .But as I say London is a beautiful city ,very vibrant but too busy for me .

I don’t know what people mean when they say driving through London is a nightmare. So many cities and larger towns in Britain can be a nightmare if you don’t know where you’re going - one way systems, ring roads, etc. I find it depressing how every town in Britain basically has the same high street with the same chain stores. It’s true that some towns have more character than others, but so many are bland and grim. Desolste shopping centres and bland, damp architecture and multi-storey car parks.

I went to Liverpool about a year ago and they’re rightly super-proud of the revamped city centre. It’s a big improvement, but basically it’s a carbon copy of the Westfield Shopping Centre. London has two of those if you have the energy or inclination. Plus it’s freezing in the wind of the North Sea. Don’t even get me started on Aberdeen - grey, grey and more grey. I’ve heard Harrogate is nice and I did quite like York. The difference is you can live in London for decades and still keep rediscovering places. Other cities you feel like you’ve seen them in a weekend - usual town centre, few museums, maybe a cathedral or couple of historic sites. London is the only place we’re not being a local is more normal than being a local. There is a different attitude because if this.

I'm in the SE

I love the fact its bustling, there's always something to do. The simplicity of the travel system and convenience of the oyster cards. There's a lot of positives but they're mainly centered around entertainment - for me anyway.

However the extortionate rent prices here definitely outweigh the benefits as I'm currently paying just over 1k per month for a tiny one bedroom place (and I have a baby so will need to upgrade very soon)

I couldn't afford to buy here anytime soon, if ever.

London is great when you're young and child free but unless you have a high income or are fortunate enough to have a council property (a shortage of these is an understatement) its not a practical place to raise a young family due to the ridiculous cost of housing

@youokhon Yeap we are the same transport is expensive and stops in the early evening ,you pass your test here if you want to get about and we have to pay to send our eldest DC to secondary school in Sept but that is because it is not the one the council will fund transport for as it is further from us than the other school .If you want your child to go you fund you the transport.We love it here surrounded by fields and no traffic jams .But I fully appreciate that would not be everyone's cup of tea .

Yes, it's rubbish being skint in London, but that's rubbish anywhere, no? In fact, having grown up skint in a 'beautiful' place already mentioned on this thread I would say it's worse to be poor rurally (and in fact, a lot of data bears this out). Rural, isolated poverty is much much worse because there is nothing you can access without money. In the city, everything is open to you provided you want it.

Yes the beach is nice- but surfing, sailing? Gear, lessons, a car, a parent not working 80 hours a week in a min wage seasonal job. Even everyday stuff can be lots more expensive as there's no competition.

Don't kid yourself there's more drug use in London either. Heroin usage rates are much higher in costal towns. Under age drinking is a major form of entertainment. A large proportion of my adolescence was spent determining which newsagents would sell us cheap cider.

2200 pound per person spent per year on transport in London.
200 pound per person outside of London.

Where are you getting this from? TfL is self-funded by fare-payers, councils and London businesses, it doesn't receive any funding from central government to run it's services.