Why do people live in London?

[Waahaawoowoo]

This thread is inspired by a thread where people where explaining how a £100k salary doesn't go far in London. Examples were given of mortgages costing £25k pa. (This is my salary). Childcare bills for 2 kids costing £40k. Our joint salary is £55k pa.

I live in NE Wales. Our house costs us £12k pa for a 3 bedroom semi. Wraparound Childcare used to cost a maximum of £12k pa. But we no longer pay due to age of kids and me WFH. I cannot get my head around DH and I being significantly better off than a couple who earn double what we do.

The logical answer to me would be to move from London. So why do people stay? Is it family? The type of work you do? I'm curious more than anything about what keeps people there when they could possibly have a better standard of living elsewhere.

This

Some of the reasons we lived in London

(these apply to our area of London - we were zone 2 South London)

Most of all the buzz - the fact that the city is a significant world city which always has things going on. The possibilities...

The mixture of people from a range of backgrounds -everyone is 'from' somewhere so you are always finding new things and meeting new people who you would never come across in any other place in the UK.

the willingness of people to use community facilities - due to the neighbourhood nature of London most places have a local park or other centre that everyone knows and uses

The mixture of people you meet on a day to day basis - fellow parents with children at our local park included the deputy editor of a newspaper, a significant policy adviser at the Department of Education, various isgnificant civil servants, various people who work for the BBC, achitects, Drs and others - we were all users of the public facility. Not to mention the (semi) famous people wesee in Sainsburys, in the pub, out for dinner etc which always gives a thrill

The quality of the schools - by being able to attract younger and more diverse teaching staff the overall quality of schools is much higher. The results of our secondary school were significantly better than the local public school around here.

The opportunituies to do things and use the cultural highlights - we could go out in the afternoon and go to the national gallery, natural history museum or just walk around central London - mostly for free. get the tube to a new part of London/ discover a new park/ new town centre. And this made for easy entertaining of children - even a trip on the tube was exciting.

The opportunities for children to experience world class arts, culture, and also gain experience of working. This will allow them to build their careers whilst living at home (at least initially)

The cheap cost of transport - buses and tubes free for children - this meant that we didnt need a car which saved us lots of money and meant we could hire when we did.

The thousands of jobs available within a short distance. I work in the public sector and so my job is available in all 32 London boroughs and maybe 10 of them were within a half hour journey by tube/bus

The quality of cycling provision which has really improved over the past 10 years.

The fact that you can go out at any time and get on a bus to go somewhere

I could go on - its just a great dynamic city that always has something for everyone of every income level. And yes objectively your income is more in other parts of the UK but your costs are also more in many cases

I would recommend that everyone lives in London at least once in their lives.

After 20 years we have now left London but it was with a very heavy heart - we still try and go back there five or six times a year to see friends and see how the city is developing)

Then so be it, I'm a snob!

That's not something to be proud of.

I fail to see why easier access to everything would make people more resilient and self-reliant. If anything I think it'd have the opposite effect. I have friends in South London(and other parts) and they're always complaining about how their friends in other parts of London won't go South of the river to visit them. It seems to be having the opposite effect on their friends, but no I don't think Londoners generally are less resilient, but neither do I see why they'd be more resilient than people living outside of London.

London isn't the only place in the UK I could live, but it's the only one that truly feels like large, global city. I like Manchester and Bristol, but they're more like big towns in comparison.

I also think someone living in z6 say Caterham or Banstead isn't really living london life the same way as someone in Brixton or Archway...

Sorry, but I agree that it is a snobby statement and rather patronising.

My dh couldn't do his job and we are a mixed race family who have lived elsewhere and it's awful being stared at numerous times a day and followed around in the local shops implying you're going to steal something. I was rammed by an old man with a trolley on purpose recently having dared to leave London and venture into a country farm shop. The same man then stared me out the shop.
Also went to a tea morning in a church and the church fell silent when I walked in and stared at me. I won't be moving too far away any time soon.

I live in central London and could go to art galleries and theatres every day. But I don't because I am not particularly interested.

I like being able to walk most places I want to including a huge variety of restaurants, shops, cinemas and even work when it's a nice day and I am feeling energetic. It's very nice that there are five world-class hospitals within 30 minutes on the bus especially since I am treated at one of them. But mostly I live here because it is my home

Surely that is not too hard to understand. After all, I sometimes watch Escape To The Country and think: "That looks nice, but I wouldn't want to live there." Often I think "and I wouldn't want to go on holiday there, either." But of course, other people do.

I've found that there's a kind of implicit virtue-signalling going on in people who 'protest too much' about not liking London. I think there's a desire to come across as earthly and sensitive, so there's a lot of language about hating noise and crowds and yearning to go back home to your fields of corn and fluffy clouds or whatever.

Every time a friend from Norfolk visits, they've ALWAYS got to fit in a rant about how they "...could NEEEEVER live here! Ugh, the SMELL! The NOISE!" (while sitting in a mostly-silent riverside café in the nature reserve down the road from my flat, where all you can hear is ducks).

In reality, my (reasonably central) borough makes my Norfolk hometown look like a barren asphalt wasteland.

@EmpressaurusOfCats

my partner isn’t British, but often remarks that people in London are among the friendliest/most polite big city people she’s encountered. And I tend to agree with that. As two obvious examples, London is streets ahead of
Paris and New York in the friendly/helpful atmosphere stakes. You have to compare like with like.

Do you not get that the costs of living in London are a product of the number of people who want to live in London, op?
If North Wales was such a metropolis, the costs of living there would increase accordingly.

Short answer is I was born here.

But aside from that my favourite thing is the immigrants. I love that the majority of parents I meet at my kids' 2 schools - opposites to each other in terms of wealth demographics - are from elsewhere in the world. I just find it interesting and feel I learn so much. I love the easy availability of interesting food that stems from this mix of cultures.

I also love the open spaces, public buildings, river and the arts.

Hate hate hate the lack of joined up thinking and planning re housing and transport. Sick of my inner London borough building ever more unaffordable flats and adding no more parks or leisure. Sick of how long public transport takes and how crowded. Sick of car pollution. Sick of the corporate blandness that follows gentrification.

I live in London and ask myself the same question 🤣

In my case I'm from London and all family here.

Otherwise I think job opportunities, things to do, diversity of people and cultures...

It's really the house prices that make it so difficult to live here. Whilst the salaries (maybe not all, but generally speaking) are probably higher in London, the house prices are disproportionately high.

Agree a massive part of the attraction for me is the art, culture, food etc.
And no, that doesn't mean I think the rest of the UK is a cultural desert. London just has an amazing range and quantity of these things.
And I (and many of the people I know) DO actually go to art galleries and museums, events, dance etc and eating out most weekends.
But I also just like to have the option; no, I don't spend all my spare time at the National Gallery/Greenwich/British Museum/Sadlers Wells. But I like to know that I could. I find small towns/suburbs/the country extremely claustrophobic in that respect.
Also, in the immortal words of Mrs Brown from Paddington, 'in London everyone is different, but that means anyone can fit in.' This is very important to me, having grown up in a petty, claustrophobic suburban/rural environment where I (white, pale, British) was known as 'the exotic-looking girl' because I had long dark hair, and where I was bullied remorselessly at school for just about every talent and interest I showed if it wasn't underage drinking, smoking and shagging didn't fit with what my peers thought everyone 'should' be doing.
I've found acceptance and community in London as I never have anywhere else.

Density of jobs. Self employed so wouldn't find nearly as many jobs outside of London.

So naturally you set fire to cottages!?!

Did they not realise that a farmer etc sold the cottages to pesky English people who dared to buy them?!

More London bashing hey.

My parents moved to London in the 70s because there was no work where they grew up.

And amazingly Londoners often stay for the same reasons as others do around the UK - family/friends/support networks, work, liking the area. We're not actually any different from non-Londoners in that regard (shocking right?!).

Plus the sheer size of London means it's not like one city - if you love the area you live in (i.e, south-west) you probably don't want to go into central London if there's already plenty on your doorstep. There are museums, parks, theatres, etc outside of the central area.

My job is here for one thing - much more availability for jobs here for what I do.

I do agree re the art, culture, things to do etc. It’s a beautiful city and the people are amazing. It’s a wonderful place to live in many ways.

As my Dd is now a teen, I’ve seen how many opportunities she’s had living here that I just didn’t have growing up in the countryside. Opportunities to get involved with her passions from a young age, which will probably give her a lifelong advantage in her field of interest. The kids can also try pretty much any activity they would want to (money permitting)

Ive lived here since 2000 so have roots here.

That said, I probably would be looking at moving now if it was entirely up to me - due to money and perhaps getting a bit older.

However as mentioned my Dd is involved in various things here, and also my exh is here so it would be really hard to move away now.

Tourists pay hundreds of pounds to experience London in 3-7 days whereas I live here 365 days living like a tourist plus my children get excellent education in state schools and the NHS have never been a issue in terms of access. It's multicultural, rich and buzzing and always something to do so we are never bored. My children regularly use Hyde Park and Holland Park to get their fresh air playing alongside tourist kids who have to leave an hour later because they have limited time. We have so much at our doorstep and you realise this as soon as you leave London to visit people. We live in a two bed flat as opposed to friends who live on the south coast who have a 4 bed semi detached home with outdoor space but I would never swap that.

Because I've always lived here (outer London not central though) as have my family for generations. My grandparents, both sides, did live centrally. I worked in the City until 10 years ago, so in the city centre for 25 years - now in Zone 3.
I bought my first house in Zone 3 when I was 26 (with my exH) and my daughter is buying next year with her partner - she'll be 25. She works for the Met Police.
Was able to afford to have them in nursery when I went back to work PT when they were each 10mths old.
It's a fabulous city with everything you could want and my kids love being able to jump on a train, that runs every 20 mins and be in the centre within 25mins. Our buses run every 10 mins and cost £2 for any number of buses within two hours. Tubes more frequently. Our kids get free TFL travel until they leave school. My parents have free TFL travel passes.
However, I'm retiring early at 54 next year and moving to the Kent coast as I love it there and want to be by the sea now. My adult kids will stay in London.
I couldn't live rurally.
We've always been able to be able to afford a decent living and nice houses in lovely areas on normal salaries (probably would be over £100k joint income now if I still lived with my exH)
Sold the last house for over £800k three years ago. Zone 4.
It is affordable and fabulous.

I find with racism in London that it’s nuanced. I mean I rarely get issues wherever I go and I was a young teenager when the Brixton riots happened but I still went to Brixton.

It's my home, it always has been and I love the diversity and the accessibility of London.

Its not surprising that so many people want to live here lol

Well that is a point. There is also the point that once you have burnt the cottages they are no longer there for locals to live in anyway. There was a theory that the cottages were being burnt by elements of UK government trying to stir up anti Welsh nationalist feeling in the lead up to the investiture of the Prince of Wales.

I've lived here for 45 years and almost retired now so housing costs are not a problem for me as they would be for younger people bringing up families.

I wouldn't live anywhere else at my age - everything on the doorstep, no need for a car, walk or take the fantastic plentiful public transport, I can go for miles around on tube, bus, train, trams with my Freedom Pass. All the cultural activities that I do make use of, the best hospitals, former colleagues and friends are here; just some of the reasons why I continue to live in London.

Sorry you've had that experience outside of London.
I'm in a mixed race family too and definitely feel safe in London for that reason and have had funny looks before in areas in the countryside but fortunately nothing beyond that. In London it's just so normal nobody bats an eyelid!