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.

More job opportunities. Not all places will take someone on who lives 200 miles from their head office even in this day and age so living in london helps. I've found healthcare much better. Public transport in other areas is pants compared. So much more to do, and a lot of it's free. I find a lot of other areas boring in comparison. Whatever your looking for is usually in a few mile radius. I'm from the south coast and property prices aren't much cheaper than London and it's a lot more deprived.

Well there is London and there is LONDON! Not all of it is expensive but if you live in the City, West End particular boroughs it may be expensive. If you are born and bred I guess it may be 'your' normal.

Because millions of people were born and raised in London, its our home?

We also live in North East Wales. Joint income circa 60k. If we want to see museums then we're not far from Liverpool. Fancy places to eat Chester. Lots of beautiful walks nearby. Manageable mortgage. Kids have lots of different clubs and activities. If they got to choose an outing it'd be Plas Madoc, Waterworld Wrexham, Park Hall Oswestry, or Chester Zoo. National Trust properties nearby etc.

We even like the local schools. Also the local community is lovely, with lots to get involved with (tennis club, bowls, cricket club, twinning club, football club, rugby club in Wrexham, pilates classes, a recreational club) etc.

I don't personally get the London centric South East view either.

I mean you could ask the same question of anywhere. All places have their pluses and minuses and you work out what you are willing to compromise on or sacrifice.

London suffers most from that as I think plenty of people move here in their early twenties, not becuase they necessarily want to live here but becuase it is the done thing or it offers a well paid job. Then as they get older they get annoyed it won't afford them a nice suburban lofestlye and blame London.

London is what it is, a major world city with all the benefits and problems that come with that.

I love it here but I have a council house 😀 also I'm mixed race and my children are black which is another reason why I wouldn't move outside of London 🤷

I’m mixed race and always lived in a Northern county. I haven’t faced racism since school and even then it wasn’t that common. 99% of jobs in my sector are in London. I’m lucky I mainly wfh because I would never want to move to London. The people travelling via the Tube are so impatient (because waiting 2 mins for the next Tube is sooo inconvenient) and I’ve been hit by many a businessman rushing past me.

Because, without any planning whatsoever, I can get up on any day of the week and entertain myself in thousands of different ways - no restaurant tables to book, no cab to get home, no planning at all. I can just walk out of my door knowing that I’ll discover something new, have a great meal, find an interesting shop, talk to a new person. I don’t have to plan to book my one local Thai restaurant, or Indian or whatever. I don’t have to walk the same few local walks. I’m not limited by my boring local high street. For a few £ I can travel to areas that are completely different to each other - canals, markets, parks, theatres, restaurants, museums

maybe not for everyone, and there are downsides, no doubt, but life here is so much more interesting than when I’ve stayed with people who have moved out, or travelled for work

seriously considered moving multiple times but just… can’t. Not until we’re much older

My dream would be to live in London (I live in Cornwall) but I could not justify paying the amounts that people do.

It must be a lovely lifestyle if you are well off but I can’t imagine how difficult it must be if you are on a low income.

Only because it’s not your view. 🤷‍♀️

Because we were born and grew up there?

Firstly many of us live here very happily on WAY less than £100k. We live in the less gourmet areas (hello Zone 3!), send our children to the local state schools, and accept a smaller house with no driveway () or even a flat (with children !) as the cost of staying here.

People are initially drawn here for the great universities, job opportunities and the excitement of living in a fun city. Then they make connections and meet partners who also come from outside London. Then when they are starting families, neither wants to move to the other partner's home town, so London is what they can agree on.

Saying all that, if I were moving here now as an 18 year old studying towards a career with average pay, I would be actively planning to complete my training and then build a life in a more affordable city (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester - I could live happily in any of those). I would have no interest in living in palatial splendour away from a decent city though.

I can't understand why anyone would choose to live outside of London!

I’ve been to a lot of European cities and think London would beat them all as a place to visit - but I live here so I can’t. We had a well travelled guy visiting from New York at work last week and he said there’s no city like it.

For me, it’s the sheer diversity and the fact that by and large people from all different backgrounds live peacefully together. You hear about specific crimes and stabbings but there are literally millions of us here going about our lives without incident, I think that’s really impressive. Your stereotypes are constantly being challenged.

I do find it friendlier in places like Newcastle and Liverpool.

I also don’t know how younger people manage, one was telling me about a ‘bargain’ rental - a one bed flat at £1700 a month that someone leased without even seeing it. Expensive and competitive.

Yes, I don't know why this thread has gone nasty, and apologies if I have inadvertently contributed. I can perfectly understand why people would love to live in Wales. Bigger house, lovely garden, gorgeous scenery, more spare money, safer, cleaner and so on. It's just that as a die hard urban dweller those things are less important to me. Horses for courses.

I think I am avoiding the laundry so best get off this thread!

I don’t live in London but live on the outskirts of SE London as does my DP’s who live nearby and my DGP’s when they were alive too. My DB and SIL and DNephew live in London too.

We live near London partly because we were all (apart from stepdad) born here (apart from SIL), work and have social lives here and like what London has to offer.

DB’s BIL and their family who moved to SW England over lockdown and have made their home there would love to move back to London but his DW has a good job there and his DD in a good school there etc, they’d go back to their small London flat with only a balcony compared to their house there. Another friend, his DM moved to Birmingham outskirts and has now retired and is thinking of moving beck to her house which she rents out now. Misses London life.

@Theelephantinthecastle I just couldn't fit as much in my life if I always relied on public transport. It was ok when the dc were younger. i'm in Wandsworth & don't know anyone without a car, plenty have 2 cars except for 20 something people or those who have just had a baby.

We also do quite a few trips on the weekends now.

Public transport is not always the quickest. I can walk to work which i do most days it's 35 mins or a 10 min drive. Public transport involves 2 buses & a 45 min journey.

For me it's family & friends

I was born in SE London and grew up in that area, still have family & close friends nearby

A big thing is wanting the kids to have the benefits of living so close to a big city with museums, fab parks & many other things to do

I had all this while growing up, especially as a teenager around 16/17 I recall getting the train to London with friends, feeling so grown up & hanging out in Topshop at Oxford Circus!

Job wise yes I could move somewhere else and find something quite easily...but I don't want to live anywhere else

DH is from abroad and doesn't want to live anywhere else (in the UK)

We don't want to move to a quiet village in Kent, not our thing

Yes property is a pain with the crazy prices but on balance we'd rather stay here!

I get others saying they would prefer to live in their town/village because that's where family & friends are- totally get it

I'm the same, just happens to be London where I live and where family & friends are

Exactly this! Also I’m public sector and it’s nonsense to think you can do exactly the same job elsewhere in the country. Career opportunities even for us in the NHS are much better in London and progression is generally faster than other areas of the U.K.

To the people mentioning the art, cultural, food, job opportunities etc - do you do all of this on a regular basis? Or do you struggle to afford to live because London is too expensive? I don’t understand the people complaining they can’t live off £100k/annum who still live in London but never enjoy any of what London is supposed to represent because they can’t afford it.

I can walk through my front door an hour after landing at City Airport. I appreciate that’s very privileged.

Also I just want to say that living in a flat with children is normal for many non-British people. We don't consider it child abuse.:) Lots of parks everywhere anyway.

I mean I don't want to live outside London but I can see the appeal of living somewhere beautiful like the Cotswolds when we retire or are able to cut down on hour working hours.

I grew up in London, it very much feels like "home". I live in Herts virtually on the greater London border so I know I can be in Central London within 20 minutes.
I am grateful to my parents for the fact I spent my formative years in such a multi-cultural city with the opportunities it presented.
I worked in the City until I retired I would feel "at home" as soon as I got to the top of those stairs at Temple station and could smell the Thames.

Its all relative though, I absolutely love New York as well, perhaps some of us (although we love the country) are city people at heart!

Plas Madoc, Waterworld Wrexham, Park Hall Oswestry

I just googled those places. I’m sure they’re fine on occasion, but they’d get very boring quickly, no? I mean, they’re just dated leisure centres. Especially as the kids grow. There’s just so much choice in London. So many different and new things. You can’t get bored. And plenty is free, the museums!