I can give you a positive story, OP, fwiw.
One of my aunties moved back to London a couple of years ago from the south west after 35 years away…aged 70!
Her husband died, she had grown up children who’d left home and although she had a good circle of friends where she was living, she was still bored and a bit lonely and found her town quite limiting in terms of things to do and, well…fun! 😆
She bought a modest 2-bed flat in Barnet - zone 4 and quite suburban, but near a tube station that takes her into central London in half an hour, and pretty easy to commute to Luton, Heathrow and even Gatwick airports (northern line to London Bridge then fast train to airport).
She is properly living her best life, let me tell you! She is learning a language and doing art classes at City Lit, goes to all the free galleries and museums and the royal parks, has joined a local group that gets discounted OAP tickets to theatre and ballet and musicals, has a heavily discounted leisure centre membership etc.
She has also gradually got involved in her local community through volunteering for a food bank and joining a walking group that does amazing, unusual London walks once or twice a month. She has a better social life than me in my forties!
On a more practical note, she has good services on her doorstep that she just didn’t have where she was previously - the tube / two train lines / multiple bus routes, two hospitals, NHS dentist, choice of local high streets etc. She says she is really pleased she made the move before she ‘got too old’.
Fwiw, she was mortgage-free when she moved here as she sank all the proceeds from her family home in the SW into a london flat. But she has always been on a low income (was a teaching assistant before retirement) and doesn’t have a great pension. She has to budget strictly BUT she has her freedom pass to get around for free and boy does she use it. She is an absolute fountain of knowledge on things to do for free or cheaply in London.