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.

For us jobs and all our family lives here. It is easier to get and change jobs with great employers. I think London is the best city in England though the countryside is rubbish and too far away. But am a city person so whenever we're not too busy with kids activities and friends - we do end up going to museums, theatre, activities. So maybe not every weekend but definitely every other weekend. London is also great for the young and the old - so once Dc is old things will get easier. But yes mortgage/childcare is very expensive. My friends outside London no longer have a mortgage or will pay it off in a few years (we're mid-40s) and they feel rich. We have as much if not more equity than they do but feel very poor. But I used to live in Birmingham, Leeds and Cambridge as a student in my 20s and found them very dull and couldnt wait to move back to London

I like living in London, but I really don't like a lot of the attitudes here. Namely

• The inane idea that outside of London is a Wild West of racism and bigotry.
• That people who visit the UK think that London is the only place worth visiting.
• It's such a bubble. Living here people really do forget about the rest of the country and, despite being so diverse, it's an echo chamber when it comes to diversity of opinion. I've learnt to simply never discuss politics in London because everyone here seems to just assume we're all Labour supporters here, and Conservative voters are far right bigots. Even though the police and the Labour Councillors in London are the WORST I have ever experienced when it comes to actually caring about their local community and maintaining the most basic law and order.

There are only a handful of racially diverse places in this country and London is the main one. Particularly if you’re Black.

Why is this surprising?

Moved to London at a 18 year old, lived for 13 years! we've had to move for financial reasons! Came back up north and my husband is depressed. And honestly moving in with my mother in law in London actually looks appealing! Or shared ownership!

Apart from housing, our life has got expensive here in petrol cost, energy bills etc! So tbh we only really better off by about £200 a month! And I'm bored terribly!

In London where I lived (out skirts) it felt like a community, but also had easy access to central London and the country.

25 mins to Windsor.
25 mins to westfields!

Honestly miss it!

In fact, I'm in the passenger seat speeding down the m6 as I write this!

Interesting. I looked for reasons to hate London and move away throughout my 20s. I never wanted to leave my university city after graduating but of course I was talked out of it and I quickly realized that the opportunities would never be on par. I actually did move far away. I lasted five weeks. Five, long hellish weeks. It was a silly Londoner mistake I won't ever repeat!

You can't argue that London isn't the most racially diverse city in the UK, but it isn't the only one.

Leicester and Birmingham have become the first “super-diverse” cities in the UK, where most people are from black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, according to the 2021 census.

Article here

i'm also not convinced lots do love it. So many of my neighbours disappeared through lockdown!

Do a lot of people posting on this thread genuinely have no idea what it’s like being a racial minority in the majority of this country? As the people talking about how London isn’t the only diverse place seem a bit clueless. Yes, there are a handful of other diverse cities, but that’s really it. And, no, a few hundred POC in your idyllic market town does not make it diverse. It might bump things up statistically, but still not in a way that makes a difference to the lived experience of said POC.

If people are going to stare at my afro, or my kid is going to be one of three Black kids in his year, that’s not somewhere I want to live. And that’s HUGE swathes of the country.

Question for OP - What do you do at the weekend? To socialise? To hear new music? To entertain the kids? If you finish work early? If you fancy Greek food at 11pm?

Whatever the answer is, that's why people live in London. There's just so much fun to be had. And there's folks having it.

I do not get the point of a 3 bed house if there's very little to do, find out, listen to nearby.

At the same time, some folks are happy with country walks, home cooked food, local pub etc.
That would drive me very swiftly mad.

The inane idea that outside of London is a Wild West of racism and bigotry.

It's not an idea, it's from experience! I'm not sure why you're calling it inane and labeling it as an idea. I personally didn't say it everywhere outside of London, certain cities.

Racial integration goes much deeper than those statistics suggest. I think that the appeal of London is that you can walk into a restaurant or sit next to somebody on the bus and they generally won't even notice what colour you are or what accent you have. I accept that outside of London, they are definitely not hurling racial abuse on every street corner but you are more likely to be othered and pigeon-holed according to race and there is a lot more segregation between minority groups.

Of that I have no doubt - I've worked in London for sixteen years and lived here for six of those, albeit in one of the most expensive parts of town. I have no plans to buy here and I'd never afford it anyway unless I moved so far out I may as well move somewhere else altogether.

Thankfully I'm not quite at the beans and toast stage yet 😀

I live on the outskirts of London. In 20 minutes I can walk to countryside that goes all the way to the coast. In 25 minutes I can be in Central London.

Why would you live anywhere else?

Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester
Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Coventry, Leicester, York, Portsmouth, Reading.......

I will never feel rich in London in money terms. But I can walk out of my front door every day and with minimal effort see and hear things that entertain and interest me including beautifully maintained green spaces. Neighbours have no interest in interfering with my life, but when we chat they usually have something interesting to say. I can go to lectures, museums & shows for very little money. I can buy any food I want at mostly reasonable prices because of competition, and go to a restaurant or cafe that serves food from almost everywhere in the world. When I am 60 my mortgage will be paid off and I will be able to travel around the whole city for £10 a year. If things go wrong health wise, my doctor is a walk away, a really good hospital is 10 minutes up the road and I can easily find cleaners and carers.

I think you explained it well.

Do a lot of people posting on this thread genuinely have no idea what it’s like being a racial minority in the majority of this country?

Probably not. I find it rather depressing that you still encounter the kind of racism you mention though. I am embarrassed that you still get treated like this.

When I was younger - career opportunities.

Now - family (predominantly my husbands) and above all education.

My kid’s state comp offers everything from GCSE childcare to astronomy. There really is something for everyone, whether highly academic or highly practical. School trips are plentiful as it’s just a tube ride to all the big museums and galleries so no cost or bother at all. Outcomes at the school regularly exceed the private schools in the area too.

Also I love that we live in a v multicultural area. My hometown is peak Brexit and there is a real mistrust of “other” which is highly unpleasant. My children have friends from all races and financial demographics.

I love that we just popped on a tube the other day to see what West End show we could go and see on a whim. No planning required.

Yes it’s expensive and yes I worry that my children won’t be able to remain where they grew up as they won’t be able to afford it. But on the plus side we’ve also got shedloads of equity in our house so we always have the option to move out later and give them a helping hand.

Rural life doesn’t appeal anyway - transport issues, largely less cultural opportunities etc. not for me.

Unfortunately, it's true having experienced it. Love the question you don't live around here, do you?
Or they didn't tell me I was buying next door to you and I am glad you don't play that music. Racism is blatant outside of London.

Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester
Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Coventry, Leicester, York, Portsmouth, Reading......

Maybe it's more the rural / city divide then. We spend a lot of time in remote, rural spots in the summer and the amount of casual racist, sexist shit I hear is infuriating. Makes me wana hot foot it back to my nice busy city with my hands over my kids ears 😂

Racism exists in London too people!

I stated, quite clearly, that there were diverse places outside London, but that it wasn’t the case with most of the country. You respond by listing diverse places at me? To what end, exactly? How does that address what I’m saying? Would you like me to start listing places that aren’t diverse for you? As there’s a lot more of them.

It's so vibrant and full of life 24/7

We used to live centrally but moved out for more space but miss it daily

Thankfully we're within commuting distance for days/ nights out but I do miss where life would take you when we lived centrally

The jobs are more interesting.

DH and I tried relocating to another part of the country as our jobs allowed it (civil service). Thought our money would go further etc. etc.

Honestly the slackness in the regional offices was atrocious. No work ethic. And the general vibe of the town (and surrounding areas) we moved to was just miserable.

Needless to say we moved back down south where there are more interesting jobs, and as bad as it sounds, more interesting and motivated people.

Our money doesn't go as far but my god life is more interesting.

I grew up in Europe but have lived in the UK for ages and have certainly lived in pretty diverse parts of England. What I think people mean by diversity is that outside London - a lot of the culture is very English so you are either part of that or you are lived with your community. For me - Birmingham didn't feel diverse but segregated. In London - it literally doesnt matter what you are. I would say that a major problem is that it does matter how much money you have and if you are English then the usual rules regarding class, schooling and accent apply. But in general - you get a lot more freedom and a lot less questions regarding your background in the capital.