Does anyone live in the City of London?

[atlantique]

I don't mean London, but the City.

Dp and I both work in the city as lawyers. Work long hours and could do without the commute on top. We've seen some nice flats near to our office where we could do door to door in under 20 minutes.

Rent is very expensive, even for London, but presume this is because most people who rent the flats are saving some £ on commuting.

I was wondering if living in the City is very different to working there? Are there 'locals' restaurants et cetera, or is everything a chain/corporate-y?

It’s a great place to live and very vibrant at weekends etc. We lived 5 minutes from work for years, meant we could be back in time to eat with our children when they were very young.

We lived in Clerkenwell about 10 mins walk from work in the City and loved it.

I don’t think the City is half as quiet as it used to be at the weekend- obviously there are good and bad things about that.

Id avoid Barbican due to the enormous service charge - it’s always been high because it also includes lots of your bills but it’s ridiculous now as there is so much outstanding work on the estate. I’d also find a lot of their restrictions annoying.

Do research service charge wherever you end up. In some place you’ll be paying for gyms and pools in the block which is fine if you’re going to use them but frustrating if not. Also remember that high SC will make resale harder

The city itself can be pretty dead at the weekend (bar Liverpool Street), but as another poster suggested, the Shoreditch triangle area is great as it's a 10 minute walk to Liverpool Street, 5 mins to Moorgate, but it's still quite buzzing at the weekend with plenty to do

I just looked at what service charges currently are on flats for sale, and they were between £4k (studio) and £6k (2 bed). I think mine were £4k in a 1 bedroom over 20 years ago, so these don't seem unreasonable. Perhaps it depends on which block you are in and whether any repairs have already been done.

I'd second Clerkenwell. I lived there for 10 odd years and loved it. Walked everywhere ! There's a Waitrose near Golden Lane and another supermarket on St John's St. Mind you everyone gets delivered anyway! Plenty to do within striking distance and although some places close at weekends, there's plenty that doesn't

I lived near Charterhouse Square. (Couldn't afford the Barbican) Loved it. So close to everything I needed or wanted.

My friend, a corporate lawyer, lives down an alley next to St Paul's Cathedral. Her work commute is a 5-7 min stroll into the office and she loves it. She travels out to socialise on the weekends.

Very few people do. I worked on a population mapping project once and we were endlessly having to fix the City of London from being coded as rural, based on population levels.
It would be a lovely place to live though.