To wonder why people choose to live in London?

[Cantbloodyrememberthenameonthread]

I always wonder. And reading a recent thread prompted me to ask the question. Why do people do it by choice? People complain about the house prices (rightly), ulez, nursery fees, cost of everything being more expensive, commutes, tubes etc.

if you’re not absolutely tied to London for work or health or I guess family. Why do you choose to live there when there are so many cheaper easier lifestyle options in the country?

It is a freedom to live exactly how we want.

I grew up in a small town and a small city and worked in another small city after uni.

In my experience, people did like to know (and judge) each others’ business and lifestyle.

Anything goes here in London and it is free-ing and liberating.

I also find the community is much stronger in London than in other places I’ve lived. Less judgey, just friendly and supportive.

We live densely, which means walking everywhere and you develop a really nice communities withing walking distance

Plus the work opportunities and leisure opportunities for us and the kids.

I totally appreciate and understand that other people have different priorities about how they live their lives.

We all like different things, don’t we?

I moved to London in my 30s and never want to live anywhere else. It’s no more chaotic or difficult to get around than other cities, unless you are in the hot spots like Leicester Square or Piccadilly. I live in West London and there’s so much to do, so many museums and theatres 30 min away and great restaurants. Fabulous Thames walks. You can spend all day in Kew Gardens or Richmond Park, we have peregrine falcons and beavers living nearby and a local wildlife reserve with a rich diversity of birds. Fantastic community with music festivals and carnivals. I don’t think there’s anything else I would want!

That's fair enough but, mild pushback, there's actually loads of green spaces and country parks in London. I can walk 15 minutes and be surrounded by gorgeous woodland.

The same as any big town then?,
There are five primary schools with walking distance to me
And four high schools.

Great public transport
Loads of great free/cheap stuff to do especially for kids
Really nice parks
Lots of options for food, culture, events

Ok.

Our experience was different when we lived outside London which we did for 8 years.

Have to laugh at all these people saying London is this that or the other. Bet they are not talking about some bits of it though. Wonder how many of the museum, theater living crowd who go on about good schools life somewhere like Plaistow for example?

It's home and I love it here.

I went to school in London as a teen in the 80s. In our form group of 32 there were 2 white people.

Just as a comparison. Can't imagine it's changed much

I love it and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world. I travel a lot and lots of places are great to visit but I am always happy to come home.

Other people feel the same about other places. It’s a good job we don’t all want to live in the same place.

London:

V&A x2; British Museum; Science Museum; Natural History Museum; British Library; IWM; National Gallery; NPG; Tate Britain and Modern; Foundling Museum; Postal Museum; Transport Museum; Dennis Severs House; London Museum Docklands; Mirhraeum @ Bloomberg; London Wall; Westminster Cathedral; St Paul’s; Tower of London; Cutty Sark; London Dungeons; Horniman Museum; Royal Academy; Dulwich Picture Gallery; the Wallace Collection; Saatchi collection; the Cortauld; the Royal Albert Hall; Barbican; Royal Festival Hall; the Royal Opera; the O2 Arena; London Stadium Stratford; Wembley; Brixton Academy; Hammersmith Apollo; Comedy Store; Columbia flower market; Camden Market; Portobello Road Market; strolling along the south bank; a myriad of parks and green spaces; a walk through the City and a drink at a rooftop bar; hidden pubs; canal walks. You literally can find a new thing to do/place to eat even if you’ve lived here for ages. So not quite the same as other UK places (not dissing those for their uniqueness).

Easy transport system, loads of varied areas to live, friends and family. That’s why we are here.

Plus incredibly well paid job.

I grew up in mildands village - there were only a few non white families in whole primary school but secondary half the intake were none white british.

Quiet a few UK cities are known for having large none white british populations.

Public transport in our city is not great though there are plans here to expand what there is - I've lived in other cities in UK where it's better but London does have a great transport network. We have always managed though as non drivers everywhere we've lived but I do think it would be easier and cheaper in London.

You can find other UK cities with many outstanding features that many Londoner posters do seem oblivious to but London does tend to have eveyrthing in a more compact area just whether it's worth the price barrier - which is predominantly housing.

And those living in the surrounding areas aren't allowed to visit all these places? U have to live in London??

If that's not true why does actually living there make a difference

I am more baffled when people choose to not live in London.
it has so many opportunities!
so many art and theatre venues, lots of them on the forefront of art. So many restaurants - again, on the forefront of the food scene. Cool bars. Cool events.
lots of people from different parts of the world, many of them very accomplished and well travelled and it is much easier to meet them than in the tiny village in the Cotswolds.
travelling is so much easier abroad.
and of course lots of career opportunities and no need to have gruelling commute on the train.

It’s much easier to visit them if you live in london

MrsShawnHatosy I literally didn’t say that

I’ve lived in over 30 places of the UK, in each of the four countries, every time I’ve lived in the countryside I’ve had to drive everywhere. I’ve literally had to drive to be able to get to a place to walk. Whereas in London I can just walk out my front door to 400 acres of green space. Very few people (unless they own their own land) can just walk the fields. When I was riding I used the bridle ways but bridle ways aren’t great for walkers.

I'm very urban. I grew up in the Midlands but both my parents were Londoners so I grew up visiting grandparents here. My sister and I both just assumed we would move to London after graduating from university in the early 1990s and we did. It's not everyone's cup of tea, at all, and I understand that but I love it here, as does my DH as do our young adult DCs; there is so much to see and do; it is actually very green; wonderfully diverse and multi-cultural (which I also grew up with in my Midlands city and I miss that when it's not there) and I personally find Londoners friendly and good humoured, though I do see it all looks very impersonal when everyone is just dashing from home to work etc. That said, I always quote one of my oldest friends (also now a long-time resident of London) who said years ago "I love living in London and I love leaving London". So I love visiting other places - I think everywhere has its attractions - and I love coming home.

It's odd how angry some posters seem to be getting that people might choose to live in London and compliment London. We're not saying everyone should want to live here. Ultimately, this is where life landed me over 30 years ago and it suits me very well. But it's not for everyone. And I completely get that there are lots of places to love in the UK (indeed, throughout the world).

The diversity, the buzz, the entertainment, the fantastic public transport. I used to hike all over the Home Counties.

It's home.

It isn't necessarily. I have a relative lives in London, ( isle of dogs)

Now when meeting up it's often far o easier for me to get greater anglia train into Stratford and change to central line than it is for her to get buses to dlr etc then change at Stratford

I don’t live in London but if I could afford I absolutely would.

Yes, there are museums up and down the country, but you also have to involve a lot of planning to get to them, especially if you don’t drive. It becomes a whole thing.

If you’re in a city everything is just there at your disposal. I used to live in the second biggest city in my home country and it was great, I could decide on the go what to do that day. There was always something new going on. If you’re into cultural activities big cities tend to be much better in terms of offer.

@Thechaseison71where did I say those not living in London couldn’t do these things?

But this is on my doorstep and I do this stuff weekly. Always finding new things, always catching up with friends and trying something different. Life is interesting for us if we avail ourselves of what is on our doorstep. What’s not to love about that?

If I lived in Cornwall I’d love a bracing wind swept beach walk each day.

I live in one of the rougher parts of north London and I still love it. It's the London attitude I love – that anything's possible, everyone's welcome and everywhere's walkable.

Half the people where I live work in London and they also do this stuff weekly

But they don't live there

People value different things. I don't care about having a big house or garden, i do care about job opportunities, a short commute, access to culture and never having to buy or run a car.