Life outside of London

[Neitherherenortheir]

Crime, pollution, living costs and expenses all being reasons to wonder what life outside of London is really like. Nearly all our friends and family are here so we have huge ties. But as DC grow older I wonder about leaving. Looking for recommendations for places that aren’t too dissimilar, do not require a driving licence (DH plans to learn but I’ve no want to drive), good secondary schools without moving a million miles away. AIBU?

If you are not prepared to learn to drive you could think of a cycle friendly city

We live in zone 5 of London and I do have a car.
Loads of people live outside London without a car although when my mother was pushing the toddler in the pram whilst pregnant wtih no. 3 to walk me to school aged 4 in the 1960s (3 trips there and back a day as I didn't stay to lunch - so about 6 x 2 miles) she soon learned to drive (that was in the NE). She had tired and failed her test i think 3 times before she was pregnant with me.

If you don't want to move too far away then somewhere like Radlett, Watford, Herts and places similar distances away may do. My son moved to Chesham which is by the way on the tube although a long way out and his house cost £330k (terraced).

Somewhere like that where you can commute in by tube might be the answer as you say you don't want to move too far away.

Don’t do it!!! We’ve no electricity up here, we have really flat vowels and we get really tired of having to show awe to anyone from the Big Smoke. Our dc can barely read or write, there are no jobs and there’s no culture either.

It never ceases to amaze, me how blinkered Londoners are!

I've lived in 9 houses now, and I've lived in 5 different cities/towns in the UK, London being one of them.

I can tell you now, that in my opinion, people who live in London are mad! It's dirty, smoggy, has high crime rates and ridiculously high property prices.

Every single place I've lived in the UK, has been way nicer than London.

For eg. I am now in Scotland, in a gorgeous seaside town. There is virtually no crime. My house has 5 bedrooms and a view of the sea from almost every room. I can see Edinburgh from my house (over the water). We have loads of major supermarkets, bars and restaurants all within 15 minutes walking distance, or 3 minutes in the car. If we want a day or night out in Edinburgh, we can walk to the bus stop in 4 minutes, or the train station in 10 minutes, and it takes 25 minutes to get there.

Our house cost us £200k. In London, it would be Millions.

I'm aghast when I watch Location, Location, Location, and see Phil and Kirsty showing someone a dingy one bed flat in London, for say £400k.....that amount here would buy you a 5 bed mansion with huge garden and maybe even a pool (yes, some local houses here have pools).

Oh, and the University Fees here are ZERO. I have 2 kids in Uni, and it's all free.

Why are Londoners not just upping and exploring elsewhere to live in the UK? Very very blinkered, and quite sad that they don't even realise how bad they have it, compared to other beautiful places in the UK.

@Pippa12 me too. So much greenery. Genuine and friendly people. I love Liverpool, especially Crosby. The way everything is geared up to life in London is really irritating, as much as I love visiting the place. As others have posted, London is not the be all and end all.

How patronising!! Stay where you are...the rest of us don't want you!

"unless you are going to live in a hamlet in the countryside then every where has public transport"
@Jomarchsburntskirt,
I live in Liverpool. I rely on public transport, it's rubbish. It's about to get a lot worse now we have no EU funding.

We are the hardest hit by Austerity and it shows.

It isn't the time to move to Liverpool. Crosby is nice, but it's bordered by Bootle/Litherland, which is becoming even more deprived. The senior schools are failing and the job opportunities decreasing every week.

I have lived in a number of uk cities including London . I loved London and still love visiting but there are lots of other cities that will meet your requirements without the cost / violence etc

Looking for recommendations for places that aren’t too dissimilar,

Christ on a bike, I thought the rest of us were supposed to be the backwards insular ones?

Stay put OP, for the love of God.

I love my city, but it's being destroyed as it was in the 80's.

We've list police stations which were desperately needed and our local prisons are full, which means criminals are serving ridiculously short sentences.

Can't understand why anyone would WANT to live in London!
Urgghh!

I would stay in London if I were you, OP.

It’s grim outside the M25. Grimmer than Londoners can imagine in their worst nightmares. I have just been down t’pit to dig up some coal for the fire so we can fill up the tin bath later. The next job is to do all the family’s washing by hand in the sink. It’s really hard on your hands.

And there’s no internet out here, either.

you need to say what you actually want, OP, apart from schools, which you have said.

I'm tied to London and can't wait to leave, mostly due to overcrowding.

I lived in London for 15 years and I thought I would never leave.
I did.
Now in Hertfordshire 40 miles from London and to be honest I don’t even want to travel to London to visit friends anymore.
Love where I am. Much better.

This is a really sad post, actually. OP, are you really so poorly travelled in England that you've never seen a nice town you think you'd like to live in? Never read about aomewhere in the Sunday papers that sounds like a pleasant place to live? Why dont you plan a few day trips out to places you like, and get a feel for what it is you want?

For context, i was born and brought up in north London, moved out 20+ years ago and now you couldnt pay me to go back.

How similar do you want your new place to be like London?

London’s public transport is generally better than most, if not all other UK cities because it has so much money poured into it.

However some places are more compact and so the actual need isn't as great.

If you are wanting something like London then the downsides of London will be present in tour new place?

Look at other cities - Greater Manchester is huge but once there can be considered as a series interconnected towns with differing characteristics, much the same for Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham.

Do a bit of research into jobs, geography, prices etc etc. Think what you want from your home town.

Visit some of them to get a taste.

For myself Ive managed 60+ years away from London. I can go there when/if I want - but once a year in generally enough.

@AgeLikeWine . True that! I live in a simple hovel in the middle of the wild woods ,making scented candles and soap for the fancy people of the cities.
Spell casting is extra...

We have moved out, back to our home town on the south coast. We now own a home, Aren't completely broke all the time and are very happy and content. But.... It's less of a laugh and a bit mono cultural. Housing is cheap, public transport and taxis are extortionate. We used to use our car once or twice a fortnight but now multiple times per week. But the roads are quiet enough that I feel confident to cycle to work.

I live in a commuter town. The crime rate is lower than London, its less polluted, easy access to the countryside. And you could live here without a car.
However most people can drive - as it can be much easier, quicker and cheaper to drive places than try to use public transport. All the public transport runs on a hub and spoke model, which means it's not too bad to get into the centre of town, but getting to one part from another often takes a long time. And if you want to go to a village it can range from an hourly service to one a week (and you might not be able to get back as its a shopping bus taking people to the supermarket). If places are on the train line it can be easier and cheaper to get around.
Oh and as it's a good commuter town - house prices are comparable to London.
I much prefer it though due to: less pollution, decent amount for teens to do, its generally safer.

It's terrible. All sack cloth and ashes and no culture to speak of. Everybody is racist, lives in run down houses and races grey hounds at the weekends.

Yes, I was about to mention, we don't have gardens, only yards where we keep our whippets and pigeons

You couldn't pay me to live in London.

Don’t do it!!! We’ve no electricity up here, we have really flat vowels and we get really tired of having to show awe to anyone from the Big Smoke. Our dc can barely read or write, there are no jobs and there’s no culture either.

What madness says. It’s really grim up here. We exist on Greggs sausage rolls and barmcakes. No one reads books and we don’t know what an art gallery is.

As for driving, well, what’s that? We get around on boneshaker bicycles or old ponies.

I moved away at 23 - I'd never go back, particularly with children and a family now - not a chance - find somewhere you want to be, village, small town, large city etc and concentrate on lifestyle you want and where you can get work if you need it
Good luck

I take it you’re in inner London and haven’t looked 2-3 zones out?

Several of the outer boroughs have crime rates below the national average, housing is much cheaper and schools are amazing. Pollution levels can be low if you choose wisely.

I’m in Sutton, zone 5 and you can walk to shops, restaurants, cinema, library, leisure centres, parks, sports clubs etc as well as the countryside. Zero need for a car.