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?

Well the UK is quite large,and will be difffernt in different areas.

Obviously many dont. The people I went to school with in London , greatest majority of them not longer lifve there

People don't want to bring up their kids in some areas that have knife crime, 8 year olds drug running and awful schools

Awful schools you say ... "London consistently outperforms all other English regions in school attainment, with 69% of pupils reaching expected standards in reading, writing, and maths in 2024, while the South West saw the lowest performance. Regional disparities are significant, with 27% of London primary schools rated 'outstanding' compared to just 5-9% elsewhere."

anything's possible

Other than striking up a conversation with a stranger on the Tube

@Thechaseison71 so what exactly is your point? People can’t love those things AND live in London? Of course others who don’t live in London can do those things but, here’s the thing, it is easier if you live closer. Don’t pretend otherwise.

Its almost like you think there are no towns and cities other than london 🤔

An awful lot of people are here for work. There just aren’t the same opportunities outside of London in many industries.

Speaking personally, I’d never leave London. Born and bred Londoner. If I ever left London I’d leave the UK. It’s a small, cold, wet, insular country and London is the best thing about it. I’d leave for another global city, or for somewhere coastal and warm.

It’s the best city in the world with the best public transport service. I can do something new every evening, visit never ending bars and restaurants. I pay premium on housing for the world of opportunity

How can you say it's the best city when you've never lived anywhere else?

I love visiting London but it doesn't have the coast literally on your doorstep like I do in Swansea.

I actually feel like we have lots of time as we don't have to drive everywhere.
The kids walk to school on their own - primary and secondary.
Both me and DP WFH.
Gym, Yoga studio all walkable.
Shopping is delivered.
Big shopping mall 10 mins on the tube... same as leisure centre etc...

And surely you have to do housework wherever you live?

Plaistow is right near Stratford and the Olympic park. Which has fabulous park, restaurants and bars, Amazing sports venues, and new V&A and Sadler’s wells East. And it’s also very east from it to get any where from it especially with Crossrail

It would be the same outside london though no?
I’m going out to a theatre tonight despite having young kids and it’s easy to find a babysitter and easy to get back home from the theatre as I’m not wedded to a train and it takes me 40 mins from west end door to door

its also possible to WFH in London and have gym next door

not everyone has children

London is not for me, I like it where I am, I have a good life listening to the sea visiting pubs and venturing a bit further afield to clubs, Hepworth gallery isn't far nor is the Minack. I went to school in a city and hated it there I have been to London a few times but I suppose I like it better where I am although it can get very crowded here in summer. Last time I went to London was to Twickenham to see the rugby in February..

@wishingonastar101 That is true - the walkability of may things in London saves a huge amount of time. I leave the house at 5.50pm to walk to my 6pm yoga class.

I came here for University and never left. I love London and now couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

All of that can be found outside of london
I get people love London paticularly when its their home
But lets not pretend that everywhere that isnt london is some Giant wilderness.

Lived in London for over a decade.

Great place to get my career really going.
Tube was handy for travel (when it worked).
Ditto airports for overseas travel.
2-3 degrees warmer than my hometown, so I could grow fun plants on my rooftop garden, like tomatoes and corn, which struggle further North.
Less windy than my hometown. Much drier climate too.
The best coffee was easily accessible.
I got to experience activities and restaurants before they expanded too much nationwide and became weak shadows of the original.

I left because I got priced out of the rent, wanted to buy a house, wanted to be closer to family and not have to endure another 40 degree heatwave (ha, I am too cold now!).

You clearly never got the last Tube home on a Friday night*. It was a proper jamboree!

(*Before they ran through the night.)

When I first moved to the UK I had job opportunities in a couple of cities. I chose London and I've never regretted it.

In my career, like a lot of roles, the jobs exist elsewhere - but they're sparse. You could take a job at my level in a smaller city, but if it didn't work out, or you wanted advancement or just to move on, the opportunities just aren't there. You'd have to move or wait for one of the handful of people in similar roles to move on.

I'm fortunate to be living in a nice bit of outer London. No tube but pretty good transport links. Can be in central London in 20 minutes from our local station.

Raising kids in London is great. Good state schools abound, lots for kids to do and especially to keep teens busy and out of trouble.

It's an incredibly green, walkable city and even if people aren't chatty, there is a lot of genuine connection and friendliness and help if you need it.

As an immigrant - the fact that so many people here come from somewhere else - whether in the U.K. or internationally - often makes it easier to make real friendships and real connections. You're not trying to break in to an area where the majority have generational roots and a support network they've built up since they were young.

For me the clincher has always been its connectedness. It's the best place in the country to get to everywhere else in the country, or anywhere else in the world. As someone who loves to travel, and has family elsewhere, that's a real priority for me.

There are cities and towns but they will have much less of these opportunities. You seriously will be arguing that all other cities have the same number and calibre of art venues? Or jobs?

My parents think like you. They can't imagine why anyone would live down south at all, and London is just crime and terrorism. When I go to London they act like it's a 50/50 chance of me coming out alive.

What I know is: crime in their pretty rural village is comparable with some of the bottom end of London. They never go on public transport because it's rubbish and when I talk about things I've been to in London they're always saying that it's amazing and there's nothing like that round them. My sibling, who lives fairly close to them moans a lot that my dc have had lots of opportunities that her's haven't because they aren't around.

I've never lived in London. But I have lived rurally and prefer London over the limitations there. At least it's easy to get away from London.

But thats because you live near your gym class, not because you live in London.

Every yoga class in the country has oeople who can walk there in 5 mins!

Within 10mins I can walk to woodland, a playpark, a museum, a zoo, 5 schools, a garden centre, several shops, a pub, a fishing lake, a swimming/watersports lake, work, a gym, several churches etc and I like in a village in the North.

Eight-year-olds running drugs? Do stop reading the Daily Mail.

The schools in London also regularly outperform the rest of the country.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/aug/15/why-london-schools-outperforming-rest-england

I don't live in London but... museums, arts, the west end, activities for kids, public transport, multiculturism, shopping and ease of access to anywhere in the world, especially Europe.