Sick of London,

DavidRees

London is a wonderful place to live, I've been doing it for 61 years. My mum and dad both came to London to find work after WW2, were introduced to each other, eventually bumped the uglies and bingo you have me - and mighty grateful for their collective effort I am too ... 

brojangles

This is all very well, but if not London, where? New York is just as expensive and filled with rich bankers, in LA you need a car and they're all mad, Paris is kind of dead and museum-y, and Barcelona is full of tourists. And everywhere else is either covered in mud or insufficiently supplied with artisanal sourdough. So I'm going to stay here. 

Bidley

KKJale said:

Other places can be wonderful to visit... but all too often, after only a few days, the small-town attitudes, pettiness, gossip and intolerance to multiculturalism make me glad to leave.

Comments like these are why I would never live in London.

rivercider

In my late 40s now and have only ever been to London four times in my life. Therefore I have nothing much of value to add to the conversation I'm afraid, but I do live in Bristol and that's plenty enough people for me. :-)

Snap

I love London. Its one of the world's great cities IMO. I reckon for me it comes after New York, Rome, Barcelona, but before Paris. It's got everything and its pretty easy to get around on foot, once you know what the lie of the land is. I like the fact that it is a collection of villages almost, loads of little neighbourhoods that have almost swelled into one another. I like the hustle and bustle, and the fact that with a well placed turn, you can find solitude, and with another turn, buzzing bars and cafes.

However, I would only want to live there if I was a multimillionaire. To live well in London, you need real money. WIthout it you are living hard.

If I could afford it, I'd have a second home in somewhere like Holland Park, or St John's Wood, somewhere like that. But I don't cos I'm not an oligarch or similar. Even in these places, you aren't far from a dump though.

I go for a weekend soon, and we love every minute there. Tate Modern on a Sunday, followed by a few beers on the banks of the Thames, lovely

RobDavies

I miss living in London but I probably wouldn't move back having moved to the Southampton area about ten years ago.  Infact I couldn't even dream of being able to afford to.  

Actually, I lived in Greater London (Uxbridge) and I don't miss that at all.... but I do miss only being a shortish hop on the tube from Central London for gigs and Griffin Park for football. 

BRISTOL86

roberty said:

I think I'll be moving to Bristol from London in September.  Been in London for 12 years and I love it, but the life I have here is different to the one I had in 2005.  I had a room in Kentish Town for £280/m, everyone I knew was in a band and everything was in walking distance.  I work a 9-5 now and live miles away from any sort of counter-culture, commuting on the central line.  If I'd been canny enough to get on the property ladder a few years ago I'd probably stay, but I cannot physically stomach the thought of paying £250k for a shoebox in Barking.  It's such a shame.

Shout if you need any info @roberty

impmann

The best thing I ever did was leaving the South East corner of the country behind, along with their blinkered views that they live in a supposedly 'superior' area. Overpriced, overpopulated and where there is countryside its full of exactly the worst sort of "country folk" - most of whom made a fortune in London, cashed in and bought a pile in the 'country' where they play at being farmers with metallic paint on their Land Rovers (with fucking alloys) or breed horses.

Don't get me wrong, the Midlands can be a challenge at times and you are unlikely to get a skinny organic moccha latte thats worth bothering with at the local cafe (thank fuck) but its affordable, pleasant and a HUGE step up in terms of 'living'.

I'll never live back there, and thats a shame as I have a lot of friends there but I really couldn't stomach it again.

DLM

brojangles said:

This is all very well, but if not London, where? New York is just as expensive and filled with rich bankers, in LA you need a car and they're all mad, Paris is kind of dead and museum-y, and Barcelona is full of tourists. And everywhere else is either covered in mud or insufficiently supplied with artisanal sourdough. So I'm going to stay here. 

@brojangles
http://littlefun.org/uploads/5240eb5ce691b267917d927a_736.jpg

Snap said:

I would only want to live there if I was a multimillionaire. To live well in London, you need real money. WIthout it you are living hard.

@Snap Wis'd, 'cause that's what I've been saying for years.

KKJale

Bidley said:

Comments like these are why I would never live in London.

Suit yourself   I'm from the West Country, I know a little bit about small town life. 

ToneControl

Guitar_Slinger said:

Doing sums tells me I've spent 60% of my life living in London, since leaving school and moving here.     We've all got our reasons for loving or hating a place and IMHO it's all about light and shade/taking a break from where you are to appreciate it.

My selfish opinion would be to stay in London for another 10 years (or as long as I can stick it), then move away and retire early.  The biggest reason I have for moving away now is for my 5 year-old son to live in a bigger house, go to a better school with smaller classes and play in less-polluted streets.  The only thing stopping us is not knowing where to live!

surely you'd need to move now, before your son grows up and ties you to London 
Octatonic managed quite a good upgrade when he left London

roberty

@BRISTOL86 cheers mate will do :-)

Bidley

KKJale said:

Bidley said:

Comments like these are why I would never live in London.

Suit yourself   I'm from the West Country, I know a little bit about small town life. 

I'm sure you do. I've just had a few 'mates' who've moved to London, and all of a sudden the rest of the country (and its inhabitants) are beneath them. Living in the capital seems to give some people a sense of entitlement and arrogance that you don't get in more rural areas.

But I love visiting London, and not everybody there is a complete prick

TheBigDipper

I grew up in Paddington and lived within 4 miles of Tower Bridge all my life until quitting work and moving to the South Coast four years ago. Once I stopped working, living in London stopped making sense. But I still love going back and being a tourist in my home town. 

@Bidley  As a native Londoner, I feel most of the crappy Brits in London you might be referring to were born elsewhere and moved there as young adults. They seem to believe living there makes them superior to those who live outside. Native Londoners don't. Luckily, most incomers aren't like that.

Bidley

@TheBigDipper That sounds about right. I was careful to not tar everybody with the same brush, just sharing my own experience.

Guitar_Slinger

Imagine going back home from "that London" to see your mates, who ask what you've been up to, then get jealous because they've done fuck all.     

A young person fending for themselves in London and being responsible for their own life develops confidence and independence.  You can't get from living with your mum, whether it's in Royston Vasey or another big city and IMHO that could be perceived as arrogant, but could also be jealousy. There are also a lot of twats in London too.

ToneControl said:

Guitar_Slinger said:

Doing sums tells me I've spent 60% of my life living in London, since leaving school and moving here.     We've all got our reasons for loving or hating a place and IMHO it's all about light and shade/taking a break from where you are to appreciate it.

My selfish opinion would be to stay in London for another 10 years (or as long as I can stick it), then move away and retire early.  The biggest reason I have for moving away now is for my 5 year-old son to live in a bigger house, go to a better school with smaller classes and play in less-polluted streets.  The only thing stopping us is not knowing where to live!

surely you'd need to move now, before your son grows up and ties you to London 
Octatonic managed quite a good upgrade when he left London

Have been thinking about it seriously for 18 months and have just moved job, so am trying to find a place for my son to have a better life, which for me is the upgrade.  If all I wanted was a bigger house, I could move back to Liverpool and buy two others to rent out. True story!  

rlw

Bidley said:

KKJale said:

Bidley said:

Comments like these are why I would never live in London.

Suit yourself   I'm from the West Country, I know a little bit about small town life. 

I'm sure you do. I've just had a few 'mates' who've moved to London, and all of a sudden the rest of the country (and its inhabitants) are beneath them. Living in the capital seems to give some people a sense of entitlement and arrogance that you don't get in more rural areas.

But I love visiting London, and not everybody there is a complete prick

You ever been to Cornwall?  Or north Wales?

rlw

London born and bred since 1952.  Love the place.  It's dirty, noisy, smelly, crowded, expensive, inclusive, innovative, ever changing and a great place to get away from.   But its hard to stay away for long.

mellowsun

Snap said:

However, I would only want to live there if I was a multimillionaire. To live well in London, you need real money. 

Only if you want to live in the posh parts, but then you are surrounded by braying wankers.

Move a bit further out and you can still be at the South Bank in about 40 minutes, but live on an average (for London) salary.

Bidley

Guitar_Slinger said:

Imagine going back home from "that London" to see your mates, who ask what you've been up to, then get jealous because they've done fuck all.     

A young person fending for themselves in London and being responsible for their own life develops confidence and independence.  You can't get from living with your mum, whether it's in Royston Vasey or another big city and IMHO that could be perceived as arrogant, but could also be jealousy. There are also a lot of twats in London too.

Oh look, here comes another one to reinforce my point