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 do come out of tube stations with mucky fingers occasionally, which I think come from the escalator rail. But all that needs is a quick wipe with a tissue.

@Verv I went to Edinburgh recently for work and I would not describe the place as much slower than London - my god the volume of tourists in the old town - I would be homicidal if I had to deal with that every day.

Other than that - gorgeous city obviously.

It's these kinds of attitudes that will
ultimately kill London. It's a high-demand location and as long as it's the disproportionate powerhouse of the UK economy it will remain in demand.

There are therefore realistic choices about what path to take. You can declare it full/closed and take a market-driven approach: and give up on the idea of a city that is much more than a playground for the rich and transports in those it needs to run its services. The city stagnates and loses its identity - as PPs have talked about happening.

Or you choose to do something about it. You prioritise decent-quality medium density housing (and break the nonsense idea that there are no housing options between single family dwelling and high rises.) You end right to buy, which has ripped the heart out of many London communities, and invest in proper social housing.

That requires two things: money (London's got plenty) and political courage (sorely lacking nationally over the last decades and then hamstrung by the mishmash of local councils actively fighting against meaningful change.)

For a well-connected major city, London is notably low-density and inefficient in terms of land use. Modest increases in density in well-connected areas could be transformative over time.

Who said I have been priced out, not me- it's called, 'empathy' and an ethical attention to others.

Gripping the underside of escalator railings for dear life? That's the only thing I can think of that's realistic.

You get the wrong impression then and projecting your own limited perception and critical awareness on what is 'good' and 'bad'.

I think you'll find that it isn't just London that does this.

I used to get the black snot 25 years ago but don't any longer, so either I've evolved some sort of pollution processing ability or the tube has got a lot cleaner.

Yes that's a problem where I live Londoners coming in and pushing up house prices

@Goldenbear what the hell are you on about?

Yes, that should have been London and the South East.

What a ridiculous assertion, out of population of 9 ISH million not one person living in London has consumerist tendencies. Have you ever been to the King's road!

Yes the old town is often heaving but also easy to avoid if you don't work in the area.
Ill be avoiding all of the centre during August as the festival crowds drive me nuts!

Just the people who live there or those that work there and commute in also?

So if you're so happy where you are, why all the ranting?

By the way, you're starting to descend into incoherence again. This sentence doesn't mean anything.

You get the wrong impression then and projecting your own limited perception and critical awareness on what is 'good' and 'bad'.

Sure it does but the city is clean, safe and the Japanese are nicer people. Tokyo has cooler art and food and music scene than London.

Because it's the capital city and therefore has lots of things to do, to look at, to experience, that you might not get elsewhere?

I'm a city girl through and through. I'd be bored off my tits in a more rural area; even growing up in London suburbia wasn't for me.

I'd gnaw my own arm off if it meant I could afford to live in London. It wouldn't though lol!

London, the South East and the East of England are net contributors to the state. Everywhere else receives more in spending than they raise in tax.

Martin Wheatcroft's handy pocketbook Simply UK Government Finances has all the figures in accessible format.

Nicer than british or londoners?

@goodej862 I am sure Tokyo is lovely but my commute would be a bit of a bugger.

Many Londoners don't live in Zone 1 or 2. London is a series of interconnected villages, grit and glam live cheek-by-jowl, in a way that is completely normal. It is not all Oxford Street. I think most Londoners would avoid shopping in Oxford Street or going there at all.

There are communities like @Ginmonkeyagain describes. My zone 3 area in SE London is leafy and next to Blackheath common and Greenwich Park. We get birds, squirrels, urban foxes in our garden. When dcs were small, and we lived in a terrace house with no front garden, the children came out to play in the street and we knew our neighbours. Now that we live in a bigger house that is more set back from the street, there are families with teens and older dcs. The dcs know each other as they go to the same cluster of schools. There is a nature reserve a short bus ride away and urban farms.

There isn't as much nature as if we lived rurally but it is not an urban wasteland either. The kids get to see both worlds and decide which they prefer. I think a rural simpler life is better when the dcs are young but a more independent city life is better for teens. When we used to host aupairs (18+), living in London was definitely an attraction.

Personally, I think it is important to be plugged into the global economy. I would not want my dcs to live a cloistered life. I appreciate 'cloistered' means different things to different people.

I'm sorry that you don't understand complex sentences.

I moved here after uni for work, met my now husband and stayed. He is from round here - he doesn't want to move. We live in a nice, leafy suburb - it's not exactly a chore to live round here. London is huge and varied.

People born in London are the most pushed out by outsiders buying property! I know that rural communities struggle with folks from London and elsewhere buying property, but that has been happening in London for about 40 years.

My daughter has no chance of buying a property in London. Houses are bought by wealthy foreigners - three houses in my street have recently sold, all to people from Hong Kong. Outsiders affect property everywhere.

No, I don't understand improperly constructed, incomprehensible ones.

Still waiting for your proposed solutions to the problems you're seeing.

And also some enlightenment on how you, a Londoner, moving out of London and driving up prices and taking a space from someone born where you now reside, is any different?