To think I’ve missed out on an exciting life by never living in London?

[uuuuup]

Just that really. I can’t get it out of my head. I’ve lived in a large city and loved it and it makes me wonder how much I would have loved London. I’m all settled now with a child elsewhere. I feel I’ve missed out on so much?

Possibly, but you appreciate it more as a visitor, making the effort to see as much as you can.

London is a wonderful place. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to live here and raise 3 kids here too. However, that doesn't mean you personally have missed out.

Like many cities it has its good things and bad things but of course this is Mumsnet, so you'll get people who know very little about it, pouring scorn because, you know what some people are like 🤷‍♀️

It's a bit of a toilet OP. Probably better just visiting.

Considering how many people are despising London-leavers for pricing them out of the property market in their hometowns… No. If that would be that amazing, people wouldn’t be leaving in droves.
Lived there for 5 years, left for the coast.

I don't dislike London. I lived there for years and spent two or three days a week there after I left it, but I much preferred living in New York.

Grew up in London. Think its overrated!

Really happy in Yorkshire. Lived in various places around the world before settling down.

Lived in central London when I was a student years ago. I enjoyed being able to pop into the big museums- my college was near British Museum and I went to others, Portrait Gallery being my favourite, and enjoyed wandering through the City at the weekend, and walking by the Thames at night. But I was there while the IRA were bombing- one was defused in the building next door to my Hall of Residence and I heard at least 3 more group. I worked in Tottenham at the time of the first riots. Husband got stranded there on 7/7.
I always know who is walking down the street behind me. Don't miss it, and am always on edge when I am there.

London is the world

New York, Paris, Berlin, Moscow etc. pfft. (I love these cities - esp. Paris - but nowhere is like London.)

The only other really special place is Rome, for other reasons.

But no other city offers what London does.

I moved to London in my early 20’s.

it wasn’t the great buzz you’d think. Yes there is all the stuff, and I did like being able to access all that.

what I struggled with was the social circle. Previously living in small cities you’d meet someone at work or uni, and live close enough to meet up after work, go to the gym, pop in for coffee, out etc. in London many of the people I worked with lived either outside London and commuted, or they were north while I was south, so it was an hour to get to theirs. Similar with some hobbies- I tried to join a couple but needed an hour on the tube.

So pretty lonely for me. Unless you already have a network there it can be difficult. I prefer smaller cities where someone suggests a pub, everyone knows where it is, it’s easy to get there, there’s no fretting about the last tube home.

It's a good experience to have when you're young and carefree, but I wouldn't say you've missed out. Unless you've got millions you can't really experience it properly, as in living central. You still have to get the train/tube in to do the exciting stuff. And after a while it's just the same as everywhere else. I still work there but don't even think of it as London anymore, it's just office or home. Made great friends though and broadened my horizons from my northern town!

OP, I live in London and I love it.

And dispute many of the usual London-hating comments on this thread.

Yes, there is a buzz, huge fantastic cultural opportunities, free, mad stuff, funny stuff, wonderful people and plenty to be appalled and wince about (otherwise it would be a tedious drone rather than a buzz, perhaps) .

And you probably would love it if you love other big cities.

So come when the kids have left and you are old enough for an O 60s free travel card and don’t need to worry about school catchments, and can manage in a smaller, more affordable place!

And have a great time wherever you live now because… millions do, and presumably more people have never lived in London than have and have had great lives!

It's a great place to bring up kids tbf, my teens are never bored and the free public transport means I don't have to taxi them around!

I used to think that in my 20s early 30s.
But more to be able meet you people. But then I'm not sure that would have happened. When you have no friends in the 1st place it's really hard to make any.

I moved to London after uni with a grad job for a "few years". That was over 30 years ago and I'm still in London. 😂 I've also lived in Paris and Hong Kong and spend a lot of time working in New York and Singapore but I always come back to London.

Quite frankly by not living in London, yes you have missed out. There are amazing experiences to be had here and we tend to take them for granted and only realise how lucky we are when we go elsewhere and things there are much more pedestrian.

It's never too late. But we also make the choices that suit us best at the time. You might hate living here. It's not for everyone. I got sick of it at one stage hence moving overseas for a few years. But when I came back I fell in love with London all over again, and it's never worn off.

I always have an issue eating out in central london. It's still the chain places.
But I love the west end theatre land. And it's hard to not go there sometimes.
But it's really hard work as days/ evenings out these days or I'm just getting old. Too much travel back and forth and so expensive.

Yeah you're missing out. We're from London and it's the only place worth being in the UK we feel.

DS went to uni in London and now works in finance in London. He finds it great. So many things to do and see. The only other city in the UK he'd ever consider moving to would be Edinburgh

I absolutely loved it - but as a young single person with a lot of disposable income.

Being able to access all the theatre and arts, museums so easily - I used to get the last minute cheap tickets from the half price ticket booth and saw all the big popular shows very cheaply.

Used to get up on a Sunday and spend hours walking along the river etc.

All the amazing markets, all the different restaurants- finding all the secret non touristy places and ‘secret’ passageways etc.

Loved it. But wouldn’t have had the same experience with a family.

Mind you I also spent a few years in Birmingham and loved that too - was definitely a city girl.

My brother lives in London , early 30’s , gets paid about 70k but he can’t afford a house and lives in a house share. He has great nights out etc. I get jealous of it but then I have to remember, number 1 I have my own house and when retirement comes knocking I’m going to be in a better situation than him, no one wants to rent when retired with a pension than won’t go up with rental prices. 2: it’s very expensive. 3: I find that now he lives in London and doesn’t have a car he literally doesn’t venture out of the place, it seems that for many Londoners it becomes their world and that’s it. I like the fact I travel regularly all over my county and neighbouring ones- I guess I have the feeling I can escape where I live easier and not feel hemmed in. If you have children and are not a millionaire then it will be rubbish to be honest- tiny rental flat is your best hope. Just to lots of day trips or why do t you have a two week holiday there and get some of what you are feeling out of your system

It's still all there for you though

I think London is a great place to retire to, OP - you could aim for that.

There are so many free things to do in London.

The museums, art galleries, royal parks and of course the kids travel for free!

Surely there are lots of places you have never lived? Have you lived on an off grid farm? It's hard to experience everything.

I think some people get a very "romantic" view of what living in London is actually like.
For most people it's just pootling along in life doing normal everyday stuff.
Things I have done in London this week - gone to the cinema, gone to Lidl, walked through a park, gone to the library, been to Poundland, been to McDonald's 😂

I think its easy to romanticise about a life somewhere else. I lived in London for 10 years having moved from Bristol where I went to uni, and after growing up in a small town. I really loved living there in my 20s, I had my dream job, there was always something to see and do, go out any day of the week and have a good time.
But now im in my late 30s living in Geneva, I love that I can visit London but I can't imagine bringing up a child there. You couldn't pay me enough money to raise a child there.
I think if you are wondering what if, book a visit in this summer. Take the tube in rush hour in the height of summer and you'll soon be desperate to get back home.

My parents were both born and bred Londoners (Crystal Palace and Balham) whose families moved out to the wilds of Croydon for a better quality of life and that's where they met when they were in their late teens. And then their parents moved further out into the countryside after Croydon. But London in the 1950s was filthy and the smog was terrible, the infrastructure was ruined by the war and moving out was seen as a sensible thing for aspirational middle class families to do.

Between them my parents had 5 children and 4 out of the 5 of us have chosen to move back to London and live all of our adult lives here. We are all so glad we did. It really is the greatest city you can imagine.