To ask about working and living in Central London?

[QuestionableMouse]

I'm a northern girl through and through. Longest I've spent down south is two weeks when I was on holiday 😂.

I'm registered with Debut which is a graduate role matching app.

99% of the job I'm matching with are in Central London and to be honest, the thought of living and working in such a big city scares the pants off me. (I currently live in a small village and work/go to uni in Sunderland, for context.)

I'm a mature student (also for context!)

Please can you share your experiences and any advice?

Thank you!

[CmdrCressidaDuck]

I've lived in London since I was 22 - 14 years now. I love it. Love it, love it, fucking love it. DH and I will be pried out of it only upon death.

Like a PP I used to live in a green villagey cool Zone 2 place in SE London. Now I live in a relaxed friendly Zone 4 West London area where I can cross the canal and be walking in fields as far as the eye can see, then cross back and use all of the city's amenities. When I walk down my local high street I can't go five minutes without meeting a friend. I know the people who run all the lovely pubs and independent shops and cafes. I have a lovely house and garden. I love the diversity. I love the public transport. I love the opportunity. I love the culture. I love the buzz. I love the fashion (every tube carriage is a study in various types of style; go out even as far as the Home Counties and the style just disappears).

I think London is worth trying if you're a grad wanting to launch a career who can get a houseshare. The density of opportunity here simply can't be matched, and by changing jobs you can drive up your salary, experience and marketability quicker than you can anywhere else. I've worked with many people who'd built careers around one company in other areas of the country because it was essentially the only employer of any size and when things went even minorly wrong for them there (new manager they didn't like, downturn in sales mean no budget for anything) they were stuck. In London you are never stuck.

I agree with PP that Carshalton, Cheam and other villagey outskirts are places to move when you're married and want to have DC and get them into school, not where to live when you're a grad getting to know the city. If you get a houseshare you will have a built in social life and if you're joining a graduate cohort they usually socialise a lot too.

I would give it a shot for 18 months - 2 years. Gain some experience and if you really hate it you can chalk that up as a learning. Maybe see if you can stay here for a week and scout where you might be working/living. But if you know for sure you wouldn't handle it after that, then fine, that's your decision. For me, I'm just back working in Zone 1 after five years working in bloody rural Buckinghamshire, and my heart lifts every time I walk out into the buzz around my office and the stonking view of Tower Bridge. (Also, even that 5 years working in Maidenhead depressed my salary significantly - I got a BIG uplift on returning to London.)

[Applesanbananas]

Lived in Islington for 5 years and worked In the city. I loves it. Absolutely loved it. You are never short of stuff to do. Everything is so convenient. Yes it is busy and lots going on but that's what I loved most about it.

[JoJoSM2]

I live in a small village with about 60 houses so I bet not.

OP, why did you even start the thread? Looks like you've got your misconceptions and won't be told otherwise.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

28 years ago I moved from rural Suffolk, I lived on a farm away from the village, to London.
For the first two weeks I couldn't sleep with the window open it was too noisy and with the window closed it was two hot. The gradually I got used to it. I loved that there were so many things to do so close, I loved walking in the parks, the museums and the people watching.
Sadly my job meant I had to move away and I am now back rurally which I also love. But once a year I go back to London for a long weekend to soak it up again.

[BumbleBeee69]

AAhhhh yes the underground from and to Heathrow ... a horrid experience.

I'd forgotten how awful people are .. unkind.. uncaring and not a manner between them.

[SunburstsOrMarbleHalls]

If you arent sure then maybe do the MA you are thinking of and try to get a few weeks work experience/placement down there during the holidays to get a feel for if you would like it or not.

What kind of salary do you anticipate earning if you were to work in London?

My daughter moved down last year to do her Masters and LPC, her original accomodation fell through and we scrambled to get her a flat share last minute. She lives in a grotty flat in White City west London zone 2 and paid £625 per month with no communal space. She was familiar with the Shepherds Bush area so she felt ok about moving there. It takes her about 50 mins to get to the city on the tube (her line has no airconditioning)

She has now started her training contract so is earning a salary. Today she has secured a new flat share and is moving to south east London. Her new place is £1015 per month but has a communal living space (she realised how important this was instead of being shut in her room alone) gym and pool. Her housemates like to socialise at least every other week and cook together every week if possible. She has reconnected with some cousins, made friends in work and also has a great friend from university living in London. This makes me feel so much better as London can be quite isolating and lonely.

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

It is like saying you find Lancashire too busy and overpopulated and you wouldn’t like to live there when you are basing your opinion on spending a day in the Arndale Centre

The Arndale centre is not in Lancashire.

OP, I would not do it unless I had no choice. I moved there in my early 20s because DH had got a promotion there. It was the loneliest I’ve ever been. DH worked away often, I had no family down there, all the people I worked with had young families to get back to so couldn’t stay behind after work to socialise. We worked centrally but colleagues were scattered far and wide. You would have to think VERY carefully about what sort of people you’d be working with and whether the workplace would provide you with a good social life.

Commutes can be very long compared to living in other less crowded places where you can drive to work in 20 mins. When I moved to London It was autumn and I was commuting across the city and I didn’t see daylight during the week unless I Went outside at lunchtime. No exaggeration. That sort of lifestyle can become seriously depressing and claustrophobic if you’re used to an easy commute. I used to get in each evening just as Eastenders was finishing and think “blimey, I would have been home a couple of hours already back home up north”

Even nights out clubbing weren’t as good. Was a proper ball ache compared to a Liverpool night out. Couldn’t get a taxi,,night buses were erm, interesting. Back in Liverpool I would be home and in my bed much sooner.

I HATED the rush hour on the tube. It’s not just crowded. You literally have to shove people to actually get into a Carriage in the morning. Most people have a part of their body that is in the way of the doors closing or have someone else’s arm across their face, or,,worse,,a smelly armpit.

I gave up on the tube after a couple of years as I could no longer stand it (it WAS the northern line!). So then I just spent hours in standstill traffic on a bus. Very frustrating. But I got to read a lot of books and always got a seat so good in that way!

I love the countryside but I need to be in a city I think. But even London was too much for me. Jobs are easy to come by and there is a lot to do there. The downsides for me, like the cost of living/housing, and serious overcrowding everywhere and the pollution, and difficulties socialising made me move back up north. Still in a city but it’s much less claustrophobic.

I dont think London suits introverts terribly well!

[QuestionableMouse]

@Oliversmumsarmy

I live in a small village with about 60 houses so I bet not.

I've put a pin in the idea for now. Thinking about doing a MA which gives me another year to find jobs.

[BumbleBeee69]

Okay I'm just back from a 3 day work related trip to London, I was in Kensington. It was crazy busy, police cars and ambulances, buses taxis cars everywhere, the pavements were packed with people. Good lord I'm getting old

I'm glad to be back to my rural celtic village in Scotland lol

Good luck OP, I'm sure you'll love it. I'm just to old for the city lights.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

I live London Herts border and I bet you have more people walking past your house than i do.

London is an area like Lancashire or Leicestershire or County Durham.

There are bits that are busy and populated and pockets which are green and quiet.

It is like saying you find Lancashire too busy and overpopulated and you wouldn’t like to live there when you are basing your opinion on spending a day in the Arndale Centre

[JoJoSM2]

I'm a country girl really and find too many people and too much traffic a bit overwhelming.

While I love Sunderland, I'm always glad to get back home to my village!

It wouldn't be much different if you lived in a village outside London. Only your commute would be longer & more expensive.

[QuestionableMouse]

Thank you all.

It honestly doesn't sound like somewhere I'd be happy working or living but reading all of these comments is really interesting.

I'm a country girl really and find too many people and too much traffic a bit overwhelming.

While I love Sunderland, I'm always glad to get back home to my village!

[BuildBuildings]

Should have said lived in both London and Sunderland.

[Crunchymum]

This won't help but I am a born and bred Londoner (never lived further out that Zone2!) but if i had come here as an adult I'd have found it so bloody overwhelming.

I am also the most directionless human being on the planet and if ever I need to go somewhere in London I haven't been before - yep at almost 40yo there are places I haven't been - then I am useless, even with public transport!

[BuildBuildings]

If Sunderland feels too big sometimes I think London will overwhelm you. I know both very well.

[InOtterNews]

Zone 4 dweller here (15 mins from London Bridge). I have always worked in London and not always in the usual Zone 1 areas. Yes, it's busy and congested and full of people but I still love it.

I do most of my socialising in central London. You do not have to use the tube all the time - it's just one of many options. Though my current commute involves the train, tube and DLR (but thankfully we're moving offices soon). When I am in Zone 1 I often walk rather than get on the tube.

PPs have spoken about Bank station - I only use if I really, really, have to and there is no way I'd like it as part of my daily commute. It's like Dante's 5th circle of hell.

I visit friends in other parts of London and I am pleased to see parts that are leafy green and do have the village feel others have mentioned.

So if you get a job - depending on the salary - then look at a) where you can afford to live - will you need to house share or can you afford it on your own b) how far you are prepared to commute c) what kind of things you like doing in your downtime - there really is something for everyone.

[AllTheNameAreTakenEvenThisOne]

IMO the only reasons to live here are (1) if it's necessary or seriously advantageous professionally or (2) you are the kind of person who is going to relish the things that London offers that other places in the UK don't

It's much, much easier to get jobs, and to move up the career ladder in London. My career took a nose dive when I moved out of London, I didn't realise quite how much I'd taken it for granted that there would always be some kind of job I could apply for. Not where I live now.

My salary doubled in the first 5 years I worked in office jobs in London. Since leaving London, it's dropped £10k from what I earned at my last London job and hasn't increased in 10 years.

I'm sure not everywhere has such rubbish prospects as the town I'm in now, and of course if you're working in the public sector (I'm not) then salaries are a bit more controlled. But this just wouldn't be an issue in London. If my job wasn't going anywhere, I could just get a new job, with a bit of effort. Doesn't matter how much effort I put in here, the jobs I want are like hen's teeth.

Old friends of mine who've stayed in London are on double, triple or even quadruple my salary / my DP's. Yes, living costs are higher, but some of those costs include massive housing costs, which are an investment long term if you own.

When we retire, their properties will be massive nest eggs. They'll be able to downsize and release loads of equity. Mine? Not so much.

[CampingItUp]

LOL, I live in SW2, a 'stabby' area. I know two thirds of the people in my road to talk to, there are all sorts of community schemes, it's really friendly.

24 hour public transport .

I don't even find changing at Bank such an ordeal, further than most (though some of the changes onto the Jubilee Line can be long) but nowhere near 11 minutes. More like 4.

Honestly, a young single person discovering life in London living in Cheam or Carshalton Beeches? Miles from where your colleagues and new friends will live.

Also the community feel in these villages tend to be around school gate friends and community stuff aimed at middle aged families.

Just chuck yourself into London, OP!

[mauvaisereputation]

I live and work in London. IMO the only reasons to live here are (1) if it's necessary or seriously advantageous professionally or (2) you are the kind of person who is going to relish the things that London offers that other places in the UK don't - galleries, theatre, bars/restaurants, shops etc. Personally I have a job that I would not be able to do to the same level anywhere else and also really love the cultural stuff that London offers. But tbh if you don't need to be here professionally and you don't see the cultural/other stuff as a huge advantage, I don't think that there's much point putting up with the higher living costs.

[Brown76]

Maybe you could try a work placement first? Or search for the jobs that are coming up on a whole web search, that site your using might just have better coverage for london but could be a job in a large northern city that might be better?

[Oliversmumsarmy]

What I will say is don’t think that living in a London postcode makes your commute to work quicker than living out in the burbs/home counties.

You can live in St Albans and be in central London quicker than coming in from Wimbledon.

You can have the “village life” and still work in Central London

Another thing I like about London is when Dd works (evenings-early hours) in Central London I don’t worry about her coming out onto empty streets. The place has loads of people around and plenty of CCTV.

I know she is going to get to her car safely.

[EssentialHummus]

YY to a collection of villages. What I'd suggest is that once you find a job you look for a place to live based on a combination of your earnings + an easy commute to your work (on the same Tube/train line/bus route). Rather than get overwhelmed by all of London, that'll narrow it down for you.

I appreciate that this will sound bonkers, but if you would like a token Londoner to meet for a drink/have at the end of a phone line/talk you through the Tube network/whatever else, feel free to PM me. You can Advanced Search on here to verify that I'm a London-based thirty-something with a toddler rather than an internet-dwelling axe murderer .

[Oliversmumsarmy]

I live London/Herts border. Used to live centrally.

Now the station is 7 minutes away by car I live quite rurally so you need a car. Area is a collection of houses with little around it and more likely to see horses walking past the front garden than cars. Road is single track with passing spaces.

Dp works in the city and can be at his desk within 45 -50 minutes of leaving home.

I live rurally in a village where people say hello to each other

I lived in a village for 12 years and spoke to no one.
It was the loneliest place I have ever lived

I love London.

I have met so many amazing people from every walk of life.

Where you live will depend on which job you get.

Don’t dismiss London as being too busy.

If you are working here it might be busy during your commute or you are looking at all the sites during the height of summer but outside of that times or those areas where you live can be as quiet as a small village with everything a small village has to offer.

You can’t judge the whole of London on a Saturday walking along Oxford Street

[ColaFreezePop]

OP I was born and grew up in London then went a way for university and work, then moved back and haven't left.

Even though I had family and old friends living here, so I had temporary places to stay, to form my own social networks I took up sports and used websites like meetup.

If you live anywhere in zones 2-5 get a cheapish bike with appropriate locks. Even if you don't cycle into work for some local journeys it is useful as it is a quick way of getting around. If you are scared of just getting on and riding, then different boroughs have cheap schemes where you can have lessons on riding in traffic.

Also the further out you go to there are real rural parts too - epsom in surrey, and the metro land areas on the outskirts of the metropolitan line in Hertfordshire. Still part of Greater London and still commutable but not at all what you would say is central London.
Epsom and those parts of Hertfordshire are not parts of Greater London. They refused to become part of London when it last expanded.

[midnightmisssuki]

London is amazing - my opinion of course. I couldn’t live in the countryside (husbands family are spread out a little) but that’s me. I love the pace of london. I love the insane tube rush and the cosmopolitan people that make it what it is. I know people say Londoners are not friendly, but I find they are.