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?

I’ve lived in London since my early 20s and I really like it (though it’s expensive).
Wouldn’t mind living on the coast though.

I live on the zone 2/3 border. I would love to sell up to a nice flat in central London when I retire soonish. Our kids are at uni and say we have to keep the family home for them to stay in when they graduate 🙄😂

That sounds rubbish. Do you have the chance to move somewhere a bit better nearby?

The thing with London is that with so many areas and 9.7 million people, it’s difficult to describe as one homogenous area. There are many different ‘Londons’.

Most people haven’t lived the London lifestyle you are imagining tbf!

I’m a Londoner and being a tween/teen there in the 90s/early 00s was amazing but I think it’s changed.

I would like to live by the sea though.

I've lived here over 30 years and love it - but I'm pretty central (zone 2) in an area that has really good transport and lots of green spaces. Getting anywhere is easy(ish). But you can always visit - and as an earlier poster said, if you want to, there are still plenty of places to live here.

To be honest, part of what makes London great is that so many people leave. The area I live in is now fashionable because there has been a complete change of population. 95% of the people who grew up there pre 2000 have moved away to what they consider "better" areas in the home counties. Then young people from all over the world moved in, stayed, have had families, and the area changed. The energy of London comes from who leaves as much as who moves there and who stays.

Not sure I agree with that. Areas don’t have to be fashionable to be great. My parents are immigrants & settled in a very immigrant heavy part of London. It’s now gentrified with lots of those people getting pushed out and the locals can’t afford the shops. What made London exciting for me was the fact there was such a mix in cultures, socioeconomically, religion etc. It’s more homogeneous now.

Also London schools are suffering from a real drop in birth rates, families getting priced out.

Understand how you feel though. Recently I went to New York and wished I'd had time to live and work there pre kids.

Yeah, New York is the city I feel that way about too.

I went to NY in my early 20s & was disappointed. I loved LA though.

My parents moved from Leeds to London age 65! They love their independence and freedom passes, esp as their driving confidence has gone.

They love the choice of food, shops and things to do. They say the doctors here are better (think they got lucky with their practice). And they don’t want a big garden to look after.

It is never too late apparently!

Too right.

We left London in the mid-80s. We now have a nice house in a nice part of a nice market town and we'd both go back tomorrow if we could!

But do you see what you said there? Your parents were immigrants and lived in a very immigrant heavy part of London. Your parents were the ones who were attracted to London and changed that area. And now it is changing again and of course you have mixed feelings about that, but that is London. The children growing up in my area will change some other area.

I'm sad I never did it too..I live in a very boring town . I dream about moving to London when the kids have left home. Sometimes I look in rightmove and realize that it is not going to happen!

Indeed!

The thought of say going to Covent Garden on a weekend fills me with dread!

I do like that I can get 50 different cuisines from Deliveroo within a 1 mile radius (and I am zone 3!)

What are the carefree things you want to do? Do you have a partner?

I understand. I had a chance to move to London ( with work) in my early twenties, which I declined due to just having bought small house in Manchester. Regretted it intermittently through the years - and particularly every time I went as a tourist. Now, my daughter has moved there so I to visit a lot. Still love it.

I love this. It gives me hope.

I was partly raised in London and still have many family members there including siblings. I can't say any of them live a particularly London lifestyle. They generally stay in their own neighborhood going to local shops and cafes. Some weekends they just stay at home the whole time because they're exhausted (London commuting is exhausting).
Maybe three or four times a year they'll go into Central London and do some of the touristy stuff - but so do I and I live in Yorkshire!
Their lives are not much different to mine except they're paying about £2500 a month to rent a tiny flat. We can afford a much bigger house here.
I could understand the desire the live in London if you really made the most of it - but none of the Londoners I know, do.

Seriously?

Why do people think this is OK? Why is it OK for people who usually have barely been to London to be grossly rude about London? The same people would be up in arms if someone said that about Leeds/Bristol/Glasgow/Manchester/Exeter/Cardiff.

Does it make you feel a little bit bigger inside because you have dissed the big city and now everyone knows what a free thinker you are?

By the way I absolutely don’t agree with the OP’s premise that you have to live in London for a bit. London is absolutely an acquired taste and not for everyone. Other cities have much to offer.

But I wish people would grow up and stop trying to show off to each other by saying things like “London is a hole”.

Pathetic.

Op I agree, I could have written this. I will move with you

What made London exciting for me was the fact there was such a mix in cultures, socioeconomically, religion etc. It’s more homogeneous now.

The idea that London is one homogeneous group culturally, religiously and socioeconomically is pretty blood farcical!

It's not somewhere I'd like to live. The house prices are ridiculous for a start.

What we need to do is invest in transport, theatre, museums etc. in other towns and cities.

Three or four times a year to central London is crazy! We go a few times a week. But I guess they are happy in their local area and that’s enough for them.

I grew up for a bit in west london then family moved further away. Then I moved closer again and then I lived abroad, I do miss all the stuff to do, used to love catching a comedy night etc. But I’d like to live in London with money. If you are really central then it can be great. I wish I had gone to uni in London though, DH did and he had a fabulous time.

Tbf now I’m a lot older I just want somewhere where I can safely go for a long walk and listen to a podcast without being worried I’m going to be mugged or dodging other people.

You don’t need to live there. We regularly spend weekends in London plus numerous day trips. Ok, we live a short train ride away but even if I didn’t I’d still visit all the time.

Plus, unless you had a flat on Portobello Rd, Primrose Hill or inside Borough market you would just be living on a generic street within a city, not something from a Richard Curtis film.