Anyone else disillusioned with life in London/The South East?

dizziblonde

I couldn't live there. Friends I have who live there seem to spend their entire lives commuting or praying the tubes don't go on strike - there doesn't seem to be the quality of life that I'd want.

I lost my job a few years ago, wanted a change from my native North-East and basically stuck a pin in the map and ended up in the Midlands... best thing I ever did. Live somewhere I can be in two city centres in under 15 minutes (I'm slap-bang between Nottingham and Derby), can be on the motorway and on my way to elsewhere in 4 minutes, have lots of green spaces and parklands (it's the big difference I found moving from Derby to Nottingham - just how green the city is in terms of parkland/tree lined streets) and pretty much everything I'd ever want is within easy reach - got Westfield in Derby, can get on the M1 up to Meadowhall pretty fast, can get a train and be in Brum pretty quickly if I ever want to go there. It's about as far south as I'd want to be - granted I am from a family where my mother insists that anything south of about Hull should be replaced with "here be dragons" on road maps.

Only other place I'd consider heading to if I could ever afford it (har har) would be the south-west/Somerset area - lived there in the past in works accomodation and loved the place.

Jowo_2

In Glasgow, 2 people on the minimum wage can buy a traditional flat in an area close to a train or tube station. We are talking areas like Govan, Govanhill, Ibrox, Dennistoun, Bridgeton and Maryhill which aren't affluent places but are only a few miles from the city centre.

In London, 2 people earning twice the minimum wage probably can't buy any property.

lincroft1710

dizziblonde wrote: »

I am from a family where my mother insists that anything south of about Hull should be replaced with "here be dragons" on road maps.

Some southerners would say your mum has got it wrong. Anything north of the Humber should have the "Here be dragons" warning. Some would even say dragons start north of Watford.

dizziblonde

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Some southerners would say your mum has got it wrong. Anything north of the Humber should have the "Here be dragons" warning. Some would even say dragons start north of Watford.

Can we compromise and just feed Hull to a dragon?

ukcarper

I think the only real difference is property a 2 bed flat in Ealing is £1000 per month while a 2 bed flat in Norwich £500. To earn that extra £500 you need to earn almost another £9k a year.

Plans_all_plans

I'm with you OP! Born and bred Londoner myself but I moved up North and would NEVER move back! London's too big, dirty, unfriendly, crowded and expensive for people on an average wage.,

I was 22 when I moved from London and was earning 20k. My husband would've been earning a similar amount if he'd taken a job there. We had a 40k house deposit. It depends what you want though. We may JUST have been able to afford to buy a pokey place in a bad area in the South but we both wanted me to be a stay at home mother. Cue a move up North!

Now on one average wage we have a 3 bed house in a nice area. I would hate to live in London. Our quality of life would be nowhere near as good!

theartfullodger

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.

See..
http://www.samueljohnson.com/tiredlon.html

Surely you're all made of sterner stuff... come-on, where did that old British spirit go?? Let's be proud of what we have and enjoy it!!

Jowo_2

I prefer my own version

"when a man is tired of London, he is tired of London."

There is plenty of life outside the capital, often with fantastic social and work opportunities, and less of the expense and hassle.

I really, really hated trying to squeeze myself onto public transport and the chunk it took out of my time, patience and salary. I really resented the high property prices which means even those on higher than average incomes are forced to live in deprived crime ridden parts of London.

So I am very relieved that my days of pressurised expensive commuting is over and that my disposable salary has risen because my wages don't have to pay towards the nicest place I can afford in a rotten area several zones away from the centre because I can now afford a lovely pad in a lovely area close to town.

It's a real improvement to the quality of life to arrive fresh at work after spending 10 minutes on a non-crowded train instead of battling for up to an hour or so each way.

RAS

I got out of the south east a long time ago and have never regreted it.

No way could I have afforded to buy there, even in the depths of the last housing crash. Even though my income is lower than it might have been, housing is half the price and my daily commute (quite long) costs less than an central london oystercard.

Despite what people think, there is life beyond Watford Gap; it is not an overnight trip. And there are only so many theatre shows and exhibitions that you can go to and so many clubs and gigs.

In practice, if I want to go to a London exhibition, it is only 2 hours away, anyway.

And I can get on the bus and be in the countryside within twenty minutes.

olly300

dizziblonde wrote: »

I couldn't live there. Friends I have who live there seem to spend their entire lives commuting or praying the tubes don't go on strike - there doesn't seem to be the quality of life that I'd want.

It depends what profession you work in and where you live.

There are plenty of jobs where you can work at home, all or most of the time, or work within walking distance. However I know people who are renting and choose to live further away from work for personal reasons. In fact someone I know has recently decided to move so now she has to take the train to work rather than walk.