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?

“Idiots” who don’t vote reform - I know who I prefer living alongside! 😁

Yes but the point is that it shouldn't be considered a particular advantage of London living if it takes you an hour and a half to get there as opposed to 10, 15 minutes if you live in Crawley Redhill or are on the Trainlines.

Yes I remember the hassle visiting a relative that lived on the Hampshire/ berks border from Essex. Train into Liv st then tube to Paddington then another train to Newbury etc

We need more Crossrails!

Not sure I would go to Ghana, it’s a very homophobic country and they are really cracking down on gay rights right now.

We’re halfway between Heathrow and Gatwick - 45 mins from each - I definitely consider that an advantage.

And it does in many parts of the uk.

That's not true of all Londoners though is it. For example, if I live in Crouch End it is 50 minute drive or 1hr 20 on the train and that's the nearest airport! If someone lived in Reigate, Surrey that would be the same distannce to Heathrow and they would be closer to the other 'London' airport - Gatwick as 20 mins drive and 17 minute train journey. So actually you are served better with air travel not living in London!

That' wouldn't affect me. I'm a straight woman.

I'm not going to not visit places over some moral issue It would be rather restrice

There is nowhere else in the country that comes close to London for culture. Show me anywhere else that has the number of museums and the size of museums London has?

Show me another city (in the UK) with as many theatres, with as many different bars, restaurants, quirky things to do you never knew existed.

I am going to assume from your post you prefer a more suburban / country based life, which is absolutely fine, I am the same, the thought of living in London fills me with dread but I can absolutely appreciate why other people would want to live there.

Well yeah London is a big place. Crouch End would be 50 mins from Stansted or City.

Living near Gatwick will be more convenient for Gatwick, I don’t think anyone’s going to argue with that 🤓

“I’m alright, Jack” 🙄🙄

Yes, I’m rather perplexed by this line of argument. “Some airports that serve London are actually easier to reach from parts of Essex” - well, that’s all well and good if you choose a place to live entirely on that basis. And it’s fine if that place is Essex. But guess what - most of the country isn’t Essex.

Amusingly, one of the things I love most about living in London is never going to the supermarket. We have a butcher, fishmonger, greengrocer, bakeries galore, cheese and wine shops all locally, and, in the event you're strapped for time or stuck at home, they deliver. I honestly can't remember the last time I was in a supermarket.

So 4 lounges and a big garden means you have a 'far superior' standard of living? I mean you can buy a castle in some parts of the country for the equivalent of a london house if thats your measure of success.

Most of the country isn't London either. Same can be said for anywhere

EDITED TO ADD that this is in response to @Flamingojune but the quote didn't work properly.

You forgot to mention the nice town with excellent schools before you jumped down my throat. 😂😂😂

Big house, big garden, nice town and excellent schools are just the four examples of the better standard of living I have not living in London. There are very many more.

No need for you to be so touchy 😂

Well I've been here over 30 years. I have tried and tired to get DH to move out. Nearly succeeded in 2024 (as my username suggests) but there are very few places that compare (if you live in a very nice bit), so I have had to admit defeat - and admit that it is pretty good here for all it's faults. I tell myself only another 8 years until school is finished but by then who knows...
The schools are just too good, there are all the facilities you could want in walking distance, every kind of entertainment within an hour.
Public transport is a massive bonus (as long as you don't rely on it!), you can usually find a job quickly (although it might not be what you want, is it at least a job), Ubers are plentiful (although drivers can be questionable). When you retire free public transport and being near excellent hospitals is a bonus.
When you live here it is easy to get midweek tickets to many Westend shows for £15-50 (and you can drive into central London after 6.30pm and park up for free), for holidays you have several airports to fly from.
Lots of different supermarkets to choose from (even the biggest Costco in the UK is not too far) so you can save money living in London as you have choices.
The parks and river walks are numerous and a lot more pedestrian friendly than most country walks (where you find your right of way has been closed or you are walking on a road with very fast cars). There are pavements, lot and lots of lovely pavements to walk on, and you are never far from a Waitrose for a free coffee on your morning walk!
All the issues with immigration/homelessness are now spreading through-out the country and houses prices are high in any desirable area. Petrol and energy costs are insane - so a smaller London terrace is cheaper to run. Choosing which room to heat and driving everywhere just doesn't appeal.
That said the bike lanes (used by people who can't ride and are on electric bikes), the LTNs (pushing traffic onto routes that the buses use making a 10 minute journey take 30 minutes) makes getting around more dangerous and a pain. I feel like I'm already living in a 15 minute town - which could be any market town in the UK. But it is actually very nice to live in an area where we have a community (with WhatsApp groups). Our little 'village', in our larger 'town' has its own outstanding primary school, a small well used local park and a scout hut within 5 minutes walk. Everything else is 15 minutes. Central London is 30-45 minutes. That's why people live here.

I live on the outskirts of London. Can travel in reasonably cheaply (zone 4). I’d live in zone 1 if I could afford it. I have no interest whatsoever, in ever living in a village or in the countryside. I don’t particularly like beaches.
i love cities, shops, theatres, restaurants, good transport etc.
Surely, you can see many people love the above and that’s why property is so expensive. High demand because so many people want to live in London?

But that isn’t really the point, is it?

Some posters have suggested proximity to great transport links is one of the benefits of living in London. Others have argued that you can access some of those links just as easily from Essex or Sussex. Which is all very well if you live in those places, but it doesn’t really constitute an argument for not living in London. If you live in Northampton or Great Yarmouth, the fact that it’s quicker to get a bus to Gatwick from Shipley Bridge than it is from central London makes zero difference to your life.

Here you go OP: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8jv13yk8j7o

The crazy thing about this thread, is that people are giving their subjective opinions about why they choose to live in London. As asked by the OP (who has gone awfully quiet). Yet some chippy types are challenging them and telling them why they are mistaken 😂

Surely nobody explaining why they like living somewhere can be wrong?! It’s not an insult to anyone else if someone explains why they like London life!

The parks and river walks are numerous and a lot more pedestrian friendly than most country walks (where you find your right of way has been closed or you are walking on a road with very fast cars). There are pavements, lot and lots of lovely pavements to walk on

This is another thread, really, but YES, this is my major issue with 'the countryside'. I don't see the point of living among lovely countryside if you can't access it easily and/or without a car! Rights of way are so grudgingly maintained (if at all); I've been on 'country' walks where I've had to fight my way into hedges to see the 'footpath' sign because it hadn't been kept clear and visible; found the footpath 'accidentally' blocked by a huge bundle of barbed wire; followed the RoW through a farmyard with people glowering at me...

And good friends of mine live in a deadly dull village. Surrounded by beautiful country, sure, but they have to drive at least half an hour to go on any walks

I agree. Part of the attraction of transport in London is that it is relatively cheap. Once you are outside zone 6 (actually once you are outside zone 3 these days) it is pretty expensive to do regularly or on a whim, without pre-booking fares. It runs early/late too and buses all night. If one route is canceled you can work out another (it might take more time but you will get home eventually and it won't bankrupt you). So when people wax lyrical about journey times from Essex etc they aren't really getting what is great about London transport.

*There are pavements, lot and lots of lovely pavements to walk on

This does my head in about the countryside, the lack of pavements! 😆