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?

I agree with this.

I love London but it's not as if many of the things mentioned in this thread can ONLY be found in London.

If you just love London and want to live there, then go for it, I am all for people living where they love. But to act like London is the only place in existence with things to do or see or that involve variety or choice is a bit daft and quite ignorant

In fact, other cities have national museums and huge parks in them. It's not a binary choice between London and a small city with a local museum. Telling people to "get real" is pretty insulting when you are the one that's incorrect.

@AbundantFlowers - I’m also a born and bred and I always said that my big inner city comp gave us the best grounding in racial, religious and socioeconomic understanding possible (exam results, not so much). They It was known for being very liberal at the time.

I couldn’t wait to leave London (for many other reasons) and have settled in rural West Yorks. I am acutely aware that my DC are not growing up with this. We do take them to cities though - London included !

A lot of people in the Uk have very parochial attitudes in thinking - whether they love it or hate it - that London is the only multicultural city in the UK, the only one with jobs, and the only one with world class museums or theatre. I grew up outside the Uk and I am neither over-impressed or intimidated by London. I don't live there because my employer relocated elsewhere to a very nice city with good quality of life. With my experience of the larger world I don't feel I am losing my not being in London, though I enjoy it too and visit frequently.

Also, although museums are nice to look around, I wouldnt say they're essential for my quality of life. In general conversation with others, I think museums would be something people visit maybe once a year at most, not once a week or on a daily basis 😆

I go to the Tate and British museum at least once or twice a month, sometimes more. I accept I may not be normal though.

But it’s true - other cities have nice, rather small museums - but they’re nothing like the number and scale of museums in London. The best city for museums outside London is Edinburgh.

You’re normal round my way. I’m a friend of V&A, RA, Tate Britain and I also love the National and Dulwich Picture gallery. I like hanging out at the British Museum looking at ancient stuff.

Again, a major point being made is that it's specifically the quantity, variety and ease of getting to these things that appeals about London, not their existence per se.

Pollution is going down in london thanks to schemes promoting active travel. Lowest car ownership in the country.

But to act like London is the only place in existence with things to do or see or that involve variety or choice is a bit daft and quite ignorant

People aren't saying London is the only place in existence with things to do or see
And there just IS more choice and variety of things in London, due to its size/history/make-up. You don't have to care about that, but it is true, and for a lot of people on this thread it's an upside.

Personally I still find it quite polluted and fumey but I live in a place with fresh sea air and lots of green fields so compared to that it probably seems much worse. Air quality is one thing I really love about where I live

Well, that depends on who you talk to, doesn't it? I generally do a fair bit of my socialising at museums or galleries, and have phases where I go to one at least once a week. Perhaps people who like London and cite museums etc as a reason for it DO find that they enhance their quality of life?

I love that if I feel like it I can just hop on a bus and go to see a small display in one room of the V&A or the British Museum and then go home, and it doesn't have to be a massive excursion.

Yes. Nowhere else (understandably) has anywhere near the same scope.

I suspect the people saying ‘But other cities also have galleries/museums/music venues/theatre!’ are people who don’t go to them often. When I lived in London, I was a member of the Tate and the RA, and went to one art gallery or other at least weekly, if not more often, and I probably went to a classical concert (sometimes free lunchtime ones) or a play (especially when the NT did £10 tickets) or an opera or something at the BFI every weekend. I would drop into the NG or the NPG to look at a favourite painting on my way to or from work. That couldn’t have happened elsewhere.,

Yes, exactly!

Agree it will never compare to wonderful sea air but it is improving

But an awful lot of people do t do all this stuff in London. I have a work colleague from tower hamlets. He's lived there over 30 years. Did his first visit to the Tower of London this year. Never been to a theatre

He says most of his community stay firmly within tower hamlets ( especially the women)

So what's the difference between going into London from Essex ( 3 or 4 stops to Liv st on fast train) or say going from East Ham to central London on a slow tube with a change or very slow buses?

Sure, but it’s there should he want to access it, much of it free. I was living in a squat in Kilburn when I first moved to London, a foreigner from a poor WC background who had no clue about anything, I hadn’t grown up with theatre- or museum-going being normal.

(Come to that, I lived in London for many years and have never been to the Tower of London.)

And if you want a job in government what stops you commuting in like thousands of others.

Why does it have to be London or up north?

It's there if I want to access it as well living just down the train line. So why would I need to live in London?

This. Great if you love living in London, it’s a great place, but that’s not a reason to dismiss the rest of the UK.

And if you want a job in government what stops you commuting in like thousands of others.

Not wanting to commute is the short answer.

No-one’s dismissing it though.