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?

DH and I chose to live and work there in our twenties and early thirties as it was the place that offered the type of work we did, and because we wanted the exciting experience of living in our capital city while we were young. I’m really glad we did it, we had lots of fun, saw all the sights, loads of friends lived there too and we made the most of the restaurants, theatre etc.

It was only WFH during the pandemic that enabled us to move out, which we did in order to raise DC in a much quieter place closer to the countryside, and to buy a home.

I think unless you’re very well paid it’s no longer an easy or especially fun place to live, but if you can afford it for a few years when you’re young I would recommend it.

Also there is a real myth on MN that you have to be rich to enjoy London, it's just not true. I definitely am not, but live in Zone 3, can get to central London quickly and do loads around town. This weekend I went to the theatre (cheap £15 tix), went to a really interesting talk and then had a sauna. Cost me £35 in total.

Same. Primary school 5 minutes walk one way, secondary 5 minutes the other way. Kids can get themselves to friends houses and activities by themselves. Work is a comfortable journey on the train with my book, podcast etc.

Okay cool, thanks for letting me know ☠️

I think it's a bit of an odd question, why does anyone live anywhere? I live in a village and while I love it, I am sure there are lots of people who will say why would you live in a village when your nearest supermarket is 35 minutes away and there is one taxi company operating 3 cars in the nearest town, also 35 minutes away, and i haven't had a takeaway in 3 years as no where delivers and its too cold by the time you geti t home. And then lots of people move somewhere like London, for the exciting city vibe, and then get tied there with work etc. And then there are those who have lived their all their lives and dont want to move. I work in London and did toy with moving here a few years ago but in the end decided that village life was for me and that works, but not everyone is the same.

If you lived rurally you probably wouldnt need a park to walk around with it being rural.

So they can complain they have to drive a 20 year old car and go camping in Wales in the summer holidays in a broken tent despite being on £10m/pa.

I was born in London, never lived anywhere else and wouldn't want to. Aside from jobs, family, friends - every other city is boring in comparison (sorry other city dwellers - loads of them are lovely, but just don't have as much to do!)

Even after 50 years there are still areas of London I don't know/haven't been to, I go to a museum/art gallery/show/music event once a week on my day off and I never run out of new things to see and do. I could go out for lunch and dinner every day for a year and still not visit every restaurant.

I'm sure country living is lovely for some, but it's definitely not for me - I would be bored by the end of a weekend!

And for many of us we can commute into London in about 45 mins and take advantage of such things and return to our hometown/ villages the same day.

I can't understand why people would live in London either. Had the misfortune in my teens and early 20s and got out as soon as I could

And tbh where I live has a thriving high st, woodlands, meadows, parks, golf , football, cricket and rugby clubs, about 35 restaurants, pubs and wine bar, theatre etc and as I said before 45 mins to London

I moved to London from the suburbs at age 19. Lived there until I was in my late 40's, I'm now in my early 60's. We moved out for family reasons and have made a life for ourselves in the countryside.
I miss living in London so much. The vibrancy, easy access to everything, the culture. I hate that we have to rely on a car to do anything. I would move back if we could afford it.

Such a weird question. Why do people live in rural paces with hardly any bus services? We're all different.

I love London, moved out from a snall town on the South Coast 30 years ago where everyone knew everyone else's business. I love my kids growing up in a diverse city where they are mixing with people from lots of different backgrounds and cultures. Travel is relatively cheap, frequent and reliable (compared to the village my dad lives in). There are lots of green open spaces, community projects, museums, theatres, etc. I am friendly with my neighbours.
Before you speak about safety on the streets I work in a large London hospital. I'd much rather be here than my hometown, especially judging by the small minded racist comments I read on facebook posts from where I used to live!

Banned from driving for medical reasons. Transport is shit everywhere else.

If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't.

You seem to want people to justify themselves to you. There's more choice of anything you could name in a city (parks, restaurants, theatres etc) - except maybe peace and quiet 😂 depends how much value you put on choice.

My exh was like this - forever going on about why do I like the great outdoors, being in nature etc - it wasn't that he just didn't but he kept trying to tell me why liking Towns and architecture was 'better' and that seeing places 'is just as good on tv' 🙄

We had different values but he couldn't just accept that - i had to be wrong.

My sister lives in rural Norfolk and you cant really walk much in the countryside -its all flat farmland. She misses the parks of London!

I had the opposite.

I also lived in Ealing and I couldn’t walk down the street for bumping into people I knew. I found it quite horrible sometimes as everyone knew each other and knew your business, you couldn’t fart without it being gossiped about. The part of Ealing I lived in felt like its own little village.

I live in the Black Country now, famed for its friendly people and I have found it to be very unfriendly and insular. Everyone keeps to themselves and the people they grew up with.

We are not white. Want diversity for DC. We can afford London and really enjoy living here.

Always the same on these threads its. like people think there is London and a great big willderness with nothing in between
I remember one thread , the Op asking should they move out of London and somone advised them not to becsuse they themselves had moved to rural Norfolk where there was one bus a week
They couldnt fathom there are towns and cities all over the uk with transport system,s whilst not as good as London
A lot more regular than once a week.

My son went to a catholic school in the north west at least half the puplis are not white British.

I get it but if you're banned from driving then London is 100% the best place to be. I've lived in other cities and it was a pain in the arse.

Disclaimer before I start - I KNOW none of this is unique to London.

I live in a small town in Zone 4. I don’t drive (didn’t want to) so that was the initial motivator for moving to London 30 years ago.

I can easily get to work on the tube or by bus, I have a supermarket, gym & excellent independent coffee shop within walking distance, I know most of my neighbours to chat to and there’s a real local sense of community.

I’ve got parks & rivers within walking distance & hills & fields a bit further but still within easy reach.

Plus if I’ve been out in Central London I can catch a night bus home at any time.

OP did specifically set up that dichotomy though?

”Why do you choose to live there when there are so many cheaper easier lifestyle options in the country?”

She might have meant “elsewhere in the UK” not “in the countryside”, it isn’t clear, but it’s not surprising people have taken it that way. If she meant “in other cities” I assume she would have said that instead.

Jealous of what?

But don’t most primary schools finish at 3/3.15pm? Generally full time jobs don’t finish before that to give you time to get to school to pick up the kids? So if you finish at 5, travel to childminder then home for say 6. Then it’s dinner, chores bedtime. Not a lot of time for visiting attractions.
Werkends can be busy with housework, food shopping laundry etc; so probably not loads of free time.

I spent 2 years living in St Margaret’s nr Richmond. Lovely place to live but not special. Beauty to me isn’t infrastructure, or museums, being able to eat 24 hours a day, or go about on a cheap bus, it’s about looking out of my window and seeing rolling green hills and endless vistas of peaks - they’re beautiful in the wilds of winter and the warmth of summer. Ever changing throughout the year. London is nice to visit just like all the places in the world we travel to, but for me not to live. And I think the opposite is true of the people that love London as their ‘home’ - my beauty isn’t theirs and vice versa. And that’s true diversity!