To wonder how anyone can live in London?

[Sausagefingers9]

I hadn’t been to London in years so had forgotten just how extremely busy it is. I’ve just got back from a trip there and feel like I need a lay down in a dark room!

How does anyone ever turn off when there is so much stuff, and noise and people everywhere? Everyone looked so grumpy and depressed.

Nice if you can afford to stay in your area. I know a whole family originally from Brixton who are really struggling as house prices went up so much there.

Do you know how big London is?! Not all of it is like that.
I love it. I think it’s invigorating, fascinating and fun. Would love to live there xx

I am actually born and bred in Birmingham. Runcorn way were the loveliest train people I ever met!

I have someone on my FB who lives rurally. Their house backs on to fields. They often post pictures with captions like "I have the best view in the world" and so on! I just look at them and think ok it's a field and some trees! Nice for 5 minutes but there are far more stunning views in this world!

I love London. I live in a beautiful area in Zone 2 and over the years, as Central London has become busier and busier, I have shifted more of my life to my area, so that now I only go into, say, the West End, about once a month for shopping or the theatre. We once looked into moving outside of London but realised that I'd always be "the only foreigner in the village" in the idyllic countryside places we looked at.

London seems to have got much busier over the past 20 years. I grew up fairly central but live in an outer London borough now. I have two big parks close, and it doesn’t feel too loud or busy. I love it where I am, I can feel a bit overwhelmed if I go in to central or Brixton now.

Someone mentioned the villages, and there are also the green spaces, huge parks, lots of them. I think basically if you know London you know where to go and that is where you go. Where was your hotel?

In relation to the bustle you learn to zone out. That is why Londoners have this completely wrong reputation for being aloof. If you stopped one with an "excuse me..." and asked for help with something they would focus on you, and become human again, and 99 times out of 100 would be lovely normal kind people.

If you had posted "where to go in London which is beautiful/cheap/peaceful/inspiring" for example you would have had lots of friendly Londoners giving you inside info!

I live half the time in London and half in the middle of nowhere. Both have their virtues and the switch is always exhilarating. In London there are things to avoid as much as possible: Oxford Street near Christmas, the tube in rush hour, Leicester Square, driving, Garfunkels, the Natural History Museum in school holidays, Shaftesbury Avenue when the tourist coaches are disgorging, Madame Tussards, restaurants designed for Russian oligarchs etc. etc.; but actually living in London means that one stands a better chance of being able to avoid these things than if one is visiting on a tight schedule and with less knowledge of the pleasanter places. It also surprises me just how peaceful London can be: we live within 200 yards of Angel tube and on a summer morning the predominant sound in the garden is of birdsong; and I counted five species of butterfly this year

London is huge, most of it is suburbia. Not many people live in the centre unless v well of and can offset with holidays, house in France etc. Lots of parks.

These threads always make me boggle at the people who come into Oxford street and think this is where people live. Most of the people you see on a day trip to central London will be other day trippers, tourists, people who commute from outside London and people who live in outer London. I have just returned from work in Zone 1 (central but not an area with tourists or shops so not too frenetic), back to where I live in zone 3, walked 5 minutes from train to my house, passed a few people and cars, walked 3 minutes from house to kids after school club. I rarely go to oxford street etc. Not sure I would notice a massive difference in pace of life if I moved out of London, assuming I still went out to work.

I bloody love living in London. But I am lucky enough to have my own flat and work from home, so I get to avoid rush hour craziness and go out in the evenings and enjoy everything the city has to offer. I'm not sure I could bear a Tube commute every day!

And yes I also know people in their 40s who still have to flatshare. It is stupidly expensive.

I'm a Londoner. I do sometimes feel down about how busy, over populated, noisy, dirty it is. I'd be very tempted to move out of London, but where would I go.. I don't have any connection to anywhere else. There are positive things about living in London too. Never get bored(!), good transport, career and options and feeling part of it all. I have mixed feelings about being a Londoner, lots of negatives and lots of positives too. Couldn't imagine living in a boring little town somewhere barely on the map, nothing special about it. And I'd be lonely in the countryside.

everyone looked so grumpy and depressed wow 8 million people and not a happy one amongst them. Really OP? I do agree that London is getting more and more crowded, I personally can't think of anything worse than going out in Central London on a weekend (although that's probably more age related). But I do get really annoyed by provincial types condemning a whole diverse city just because they are not used to that pace of life. Each to their own and all that! I love living here, and feel privileged to do so, and I know many many happy friendly people here by the way :)

It's not rude, Loopy,,stop being so huffy, and 'sigh'. So infantile.

I love the hustle and bustle! The trick is to work in the City, and then live in a quieter zone so you can relax after work. I don't even hear cars from my house!

I’m surprised at how many Londoners (going by this thread) are so fragile, can’t take any criticism, not robust debate permitted, oh no.

RiverTam Londoners are fed up with the constant London is shit threads. We get it, not everyone lives London & that’s fine - don’t come here.

Not fragile I couldn’t care less if people hate or don’t like it, feel free to stay away
I don’t think it’s true though

How do we switch off in London? Well I like to wander around one of 3 huge local parks, sit in one of the many lovely cafes, wander around one of our many free museums or galleries (Tate, V&A and British Museum being favourites). Stroll down the Southbank, Sit in the Sky Garden looking over London (Also free) or go for a Sunday morning sail on the huge reservoir nearby. Oh ot a swim in the pool ten m Utes away, lido in the summer. I can switch off anonymously too without seeing someone I know every 2 minutes but when you want to be sociable, London delivers. This is home for me and I can't imagine living anywhere else as much as I love visiting th country side.

How do we switch off in London? Well I like to wander around one of 3 huge local parks, sit in one of the many lovely cafes, wander around one of our many free museums or galleries (Tate, V&A and British Museum being favourites). Stroll down the Southbank, Sit in the Sky Garden looking over London (Also free) or go for a Sunday morning sail on the huge reservoir nearby. Oh ot a swim in the pool ten m Utes away, lido in the summer. I can switch off anonymously too without seeing someone I know every 2 minutes but when you want to be sociable, London delivers. This is home for me and I can't imagine living anywhere else as much as I love visiting th country side.

nancy I was born here and have only ever lived here, for over 45 years.

I couldn’t give a stuff about London is shit threads because a) everyone’s entitled to their opinion b) London isn’t a person, it’s a place, so why take it personally, c) because London clearly doesn’t care as loads of us choose to live here and d) because this is a forum, where people can discuss things, but only if people aren’t so feeble as to whine and moan because others say things they don’t like.

Like I said, I’ve lived here a long time. And London has got busier, that is just a fact, and some people find that difficult. I didn’t work in town for a long time and I struggle nowadays. I don’t drink anymore so I hate travelling home from the theatre in a tube or bus stuffed with pissed people.

Christ, there’s loads of things I don’t like about London. And there’s loads of things I do. Some days it’s one, some the other.

Londoners don't literally sleep on Oxford street...

I live just outside zone 1 and I haven't visited Oxford street in about 15 years. In fact almost the only central touristy place I've visited in that time is the National Gallery, and that was only because DD primary school were singing there.

Maybe London is wasted on me.

(Now that I think about it, I've visited the Tower of London and taken river boat tours with visiting relatives as well.)

It's a cold, damp December. Everyone looks miserable and harassed. You should see Bath locals trying to go about their lives while Shedfest aka the Christmas market is on.

It's either
1 - it's not how you think it is
2 - people like different things to you
3 - all of the above

@RiverTam

"London isn’t a person, it’s a place,"

apologies - deeply geeky London interruption here....
you might like to read Peter Ackroyd's "London - the Biography" if you're into that kind of thing. I often think of London as a person...like New York being the 5th character in Sex & the City - those of you who know NY will see the code in my username!

for me, the history of London as well as my lifelong experience is a key part of being a Londoner. It's quite a weird conflict for me that my daily life here became uncomfortable (I say "became" because I'm not working at the moment and due to family circumstances, haven't had to do central London at all as have been unable to socialise). I often wonder if other Londoners feel all the history too, and somehow we absorb it...sorry if just being totally mad.