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?

That’s my point 😉

Diversity in everything- endless choices of anything you want to do whether it’s food, entertainment, parks and gardens, transport options and independence. My kids have everything they could need or want on their doorstep, as do we. This is what makes us happy, we know it’s not for everyone and that’s ok, you probably have everything you want where you live too.

Shhh! Don't tell them or they'll come in their droves with their jellied eels and flaaaher barrows!

London is simply the best city in the world, I don't live there but visit regularly as I can get there in 30 mins on the train. It is one of my biggest life regrets that I never moved to London when I was younger. Absolutely love the place.

This, basically. I was at a museum and art exhibition last week, I'm at another art exhibition tomorrow and theatre on Friday. There is ALWAYS something to do or see here and so much is free. I think it's beautiful. I'm not from here but have lived here a long time and would only leave for somewhere like Paris, New York, Amsterdam maybe. And, having grown up somewhere small with no decent public transport, I LOVE the tube. London's not for everyone and that's ok. I would hate life in a rural idyll, not because it's bad but because it's not for me. Each to their own.

Northumberland is really grim and so is London.

Again, you seem to think the only alternative to London is to live rurally?

Housing is absolutely more expensive but some of the other things are not necessarily more expensive. My nursery fees were cheaper than friends outside of London, my commute is by bike so almost free, the state schools nearby are very good and my neighbours are lovely. Yes all cities and towns have museums and parks but London's variety sets it apart. It's not for everyone, and there are definitely downsides, but if all 6 million of us decided we preferred rural living then that really would be a problem.

It only seems like ‘chaos’ to rural people. My mum finds it loud as she lives in the countryside. People in London are used to the noise and traffic and crowds so it’s not as over stimulating to them as people who aren’t used to cities.

also to answer the question - so many options for entertainment, food, jobs, parks, people, friends, activities! It’s a plethora of options

if you’re not absolutely tied to London for work or health or I guess family.

That's a huge IF.

DH and I have no careers outside London

For me, its work, family, and now tied to schools for a few yeara.. and then I am out.
Tried to escape a few times but work dragged us back and now schools are locked in.

Much better career opportunities for both me and DH. This isn't just about money but also about career satisfaction and challenge

So many options for basically everything.

Basically any extra curricular activity my kids want to do - it will be available within 2 miles of us

So much to do - theatre, museums, children's activities. Of course they exist outside London too but not on the scale they do in London, we could literally visit a different museum a week and not run out. In practice, it's a museum a month, we go to the theatre around once a month too, take the kids to theatre a few times a year

We both hate driving - we don't need to and don't own a car

The density of services generally. So many posts on here talk about not being able to access childcare for example. We have wraparound (every single primary school around here does), a choice of 8 holiday clubs within a mile which all offer long hours and take children from 4 (some from 3), plenty of babysitter options too

When our washing machine broke and it took a week to get a new one, I just went online and got a laundry service for a week where they picked it up and dropped it off.

Living out of London would absolutely be cheaper but in all other respects I wouldn't like it as much

London is an amazing city, I love it there - although I’ve never lived there, I happily would. If cost was no barrier I would be encouraging my DC to go to uni there - partly to expand their horizons and prospects - partly as I’d enjoy visiting!

It's a great city, if you like cities. I don't particularly, so wanted to avoid the more urban 'gritty' areas to actually live in. The centre London is beautiful though- I used to walk to work over Waterloo Bridge and along the Embankment and never got tired of i

This is what I find weird about threads like this. I can only assume that posters with that view grew up in Crapville or some rural backwater and moved to London, and so assume that "not London" = Crapville/the sticks. It is utterly bizarre and completely undermines any image of themselves as being oh-so-open-minded as a result of being in London.

It’s not that I find London loud, it’s that it takes so long to get anywhere compared to the more compact city I live in. And the tube can be awful in summer.

I love London but would not choose to live in London either. There's def an undercurrent there in the evening - I stay in Westminster, Victoria, Kensington and more often than not Kensal Green, so nice areas and it saddens me every time I commute in for work and stay over so that I do my alloted hybrid days in the office.

There are loads of great places to live in the UK with work close by. The whole feel on London in the evening has been diminishing since I first lived there from the late 80's and through the 90's and since I moved out and commuted in for work from the 00's onwards.

You're right, this is me. We moved from my beloved London to a very "naice", small Hertfordshire town. I bloody hate it here, and I have lost a lot of myself/my wellbeing/mental health over the years. My DH works in London and supports a London football team, so gets his regular fix of the City and is happy to go on living in this town when we retire. I want to go back to London after the kids have left home. Luckily we are only 25 mins on the train from Kings X, and we can also drive into London easily. Now my kids are older teens, I have a lot more time and I try to get into London 2 or 3 times a month to do something cultural and just soak up the joy of being there. I can feel my whole body relax when I'm there.

@Cantbloodyrememberthenameonthread I chose to live and work in London as I’m highly paid, live in a great area and have fantastic links to the airport for escapes.

Taking a canal boat through Camden Lock at noon on the last bank holiday Monday.

Vibrant, modern life happening all around but pockets of calm everywhere.

Some people want you to think London is a dangerous sewer but when you're there the way everything runs so smoothly, how clean and beautiful it is and how so many people move around so politely, efficiently and quietly is incredible. It's intoxicating.

I would love to live there. I have lived in a leafy suburb , town, city, and major city and I miss living in a major city. I live in a market town and there are few choices for me other than pub, gym, or eating at a restaurant and the options for eating out are not worth the price since quality has plummeted.

I miss the options, the city culture, plenty of things to do at all hours instead of things being shut by 5/5:30pm.

I definitely miss the many cheap food options and being able to take an evening/weekend class /workshop of my interests (pottery, jewellery making, etc). I know I can do things on YouTube but I can’t really ask questions and get an answer immediately.

Because the professional opportunities and earning potential masssively outstrip any other city in the country (in my particular niche, arguably the world). My quality of life wouldn't be as good anywhere else. Also, it's just an incredible city with more going on and greater variety and diversity than any other city in the UK. It's perfectly reasonable to not want to live here but for me living in a huge global city with endless things to do but high prices, population density etc is worth it. Also, ULEZ makes the air cleaner, my commute is a 25 minute cycle or 15 minute train ride which isn't too bad and where I live is leafy, green and very quiet.

I've lived/studied/worked in Oxford, Nottingham, Bristol and Cardiff. I think they are all amazing places to live and loved my time in each. But none of them compares to London in my opinion/experience.

There's loads of reasons people love it:

• Salary way higher for me than I would get elsewhere in the country and way more job opportunities. I did my initial training in a region (Hampshire) and I look at my peers careers and think they all look quite small. You get big bonuses in a lot of firms, I'm not convinced it would be the same elsewhere.
• No one drives here so it's so easy to meet up with friends for dinner & have after work drinks without people being limited by one drink. It's a completely different culture. When I was in the region nights out had to be planned in advance with car shares & taxis. Here nights out can be spontaneous and every day of the week.
• It's hard to get across the parks but they are huge here. In the south west there's massive parks everywhere. They are full of life (toddlers birthday parties, dog walkers, people having picnics/sunbathing/drinks). In the town I grew up in or in Hampshire there's one or two big parks you drive to but it's not the same.
• Museums / galleries /theatres /bands - yes some things go to other places but you could go to a different museum every day for weeks if that was your thing here. The same for theatre shows we have everything and you can go any time! If you are comparing that to other places in the UK you aren't getting the scale.
• Housing is expensive but you get used to living somewhere smaller. You earn so much more that if you do move out you could afford way more (although commuter belt towns are very expensive as a result). I'm luckily not impacted by cost of living as later on in my career but London will be expensive when you are younger or a lower earner.
• Job security: if I lost my job i could find another one very quickly. I have had friends move to regions and really struggle with the smaller markets.
• You get used to having everything around you. It's hard to imagine lots of choice of nice coffee shops, brunch places, pubs, wine bars, restaurants within a small radius.
• My community is lovely, I know loads of people in my area and on my road. (Rather than an upside just showing it's not a downside)
• It really doesn't rain much and it's hot a lot of the time compared to elsewhere in the UK. You won't see me in Manchester, wales, Glasgow etc. Too much rain.

There are downsides, I would like to be nearer to the countryside/coast for a weekend walk. Traffic is bad where I live if you do go in the car. I'm not sure any city is the best for a child growing up due to crime.

After moving here I would never be able to go back to a region.

Because its home and I feel at home in south London

I have lived in other countries, for a while in north London and for two years just outside London but none of those places felt like home (I was very unhappy in the suburbs) though it was a nice area

Yes I love that there is always something to do, its so culturally rich, and we all no matter where we are from mainly get along is just part of it

Its that its is home and where I feel at most comfortable (and this is particularly strong in some parts of south London than other areas) I do not want to live anywhere else