London..

chewmylegoff

StevieJ wrote: »

I think that says more about you than people up North I know a few Londoners around where I live if you mention going back to London a look of horror crosses their face.

exactly. all this thread tells you is which posters prefer to live in large cities and which do not.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

lostinrates wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl:Oh, that really rang true for me. I wouldn't really go clubbing nowadays any way, but when the choice is the Lusts and Gropes of the market towns aren't here, its not at all tempting. Thank you for brightening my ay with such a tremendous truism.

(caveat: have been to a couple of excellent out of town clubs in my youth, but they were certainly the wrong side of the law, in fat, its possible they weren't as great as I remember)

I don't go out clubbing much in London these days as I'm the wrong side of 30. I've always found going out in the capital quite relaxed though; people don't get so dressed up, and go out every night of the week. My experience of small town nightlife is that people have one big night out a month/fortnight and are absolutely determined to undertake as much drinking, fighting and sh4gging as they possibly can. The early hours of Sunday morning outside the likes of Urge in Gusset-on-the-Wold are a far more lairy place than anywhere in London.

I was on a Hen Do last year in a provincial town and found myself paying to enter a Yates and drinking Sambucca out of a test tube. "I'm a Londoner now; I don't have to live like this" I thought.

the_flying_pig

I’m in a reasonable position to comment, having been brought up in prosperous medium sized Northern town & having lived in London for long enough to experience it through various different pairs of eyes [student, young professional, not-so young professional, parent].

IMO there are two things about London that make it borderline unliveable for very many people, namely: (1) the cost of housing; and (2) the difficulty of finding a state secondary school [primaries are fine by and large for people who are able to exercise choice over the area they live in] whose intake isn’t dominated by the progeny of the worst elements of the urban poor. These two factors are real killers.

There are also a couple of other much less important disadvantages, of which I’d argue that road traffic congestion is possibly the worst.
Concerns about crime & whatnot are real but should not be over-egged

After that you’ve mostly got advantages. Basically [apart from open countryside] everything is better in London. Public transport, eating out, drinking out, job availability [this is a big factor – if you’re living anywhere else in the country there’s an excellent chance that any university educated children you have will want to move a long way away from you], shops [choice, price, opening hours], all are crushingly superior in London.

So, yeah, there you have it. Lots of little advantages versus a couple of huge disadvantages, both of which are mostly relevant to people with [especially older, i.e. secondary school age] children.

iB1

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I don't go out clubbing much in London these days as I'm the wrong side of 30. I've always found going out in the capital quite relaxed though; people don't get so dressed up, and go out every night of the week. My experience of small town nightlife is that people have one big night out a month/fortnight and are absolutely determined to undertake as much drinking, fighting and sh4gging as they possibly can. The early hours of Sunday morning outside the likes of Urge in Gusset-on-the-Wold are a far more lairy place than anywhere in London.

I was on a Hen Do last year in a provincial town and found myself paying to enter a Yates and drinking Sambucca out of a test tube. "I'm a Londoner now; I don't have to live like this" I thought.

That's one thing I've found really interesting about living in a small(ish) city outside of London.

I was born and brought up in South London and did loads of clubbing - from "bog standard" night-clubs such as Tiger Tiger, to more glam places in central London and "grungy" type drum'n'bass and garage clubs.

The one thing I noticed in London was that you had a lot of people who dressed smartly, but weren't over the top with it.

Living where I am now, Monday to Thursday is dead, Friday is relatively busy and Saturday is HEAVING. But when people go out - especially girls - they glam themselves up as if they haven't been out in years. OTT makeup, sparkly dresses one size too small and boobs hanging out. Not pretty.

The 2.30am kebab fight and the 2.45 taxi rank melee is always interesting though...

drc

wymondham wrote: »

I see lots of threads from people living in London who struggle to buy or rent. They are probably on above average income due to being in London, but I wondered if it was all worth it? If property prices/rents in London are so high why not think about elsewhere, after all the increased property price is usually matched with the wage so is there much to lose with moving away to more sensible areas/prices??

Has anyone thrown in the towel and found happiness elsewhere, or does London have too strong a hold on you?

We are in that exact situation.

However, I love London and have lived here most of my life and grew up here. I don't want to be forced out and I have elderly relatives here that I would not want to leave alone. I think if I were to move out of London I would go abroad. Can't imagine living elsewhere in the UK although I am sure it is lovely and beautiful and the folks are very friendly.

ruggedtoast

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I don't go out clubbing much in London these days as I'm the wrong side of 30. I've always found going out in the capital quite relaxed though; people don't get so dressed up, and go out every night of the week. My experience of small town nightlife is that people have one big night out a month/fortnight and are absolutely determined to undertake as much drinking, fighting and sh4gging as they possibly can. The early hours of Sunday morning outside the likes of Urge in Gusset-on-the-Wold are a far more lairy place than anywhere in London.

I was on a Hen Do last year in a provincial town and found myself paying to enter a Yates and drinking Sambucca out of a test tube. "I'm a Londoner now; I don't have to live like this" I thought.

Some of its just England, though I agree that you can generally go out for a drink in most places in Zone 1 and mostly just be around adults. I generally assume town centres elsewhere have just been ceded to the WKD morons.

The provincial areas of London are just as horrific as anywhere else though and most of the high street clubs (which usually have names like "Minge", or "Jokers") have metal detectors and weapons checks on the door, just next to the pavement stains of the multicoloured vomit.

kabayiri

If someone moved away from London and still expected a London lifestyle they would be disappointed. Here in the "grim North" some of the villages become expensive because of good commuter links and proximity to a rural neighbourhood. You move here because you enjoy simpler things in life like walks in the countryside.

People are generally more chatty (read intrusive if you see it that way) up here. I worked in London during the week, and would walk to work, never speaking to a soul. I came back up North, walking along the street, and a bloke exchanges social greetings and begins to chat to me. I expect that would be disconcerting for some!

StevieJ

kabayiri wrote: »

People are generally more chatty (read intrusive if you see it that way) up here. I worked in London during the week, and would walk to work, never speaking to a soul. I came back up North, walking along the street, and a bloke exchanges social greetings and begins to chat to me. I expect that would be disconcerting for some!

You can't blame them, if someone chats to you in London they are probably on the make or just about to mug you :eek:

Brallaqueen

I guess London is for those who have the money to pay for it. I know that London jobs have salary weighting, but I'd still guess that shelf-stacking in tescos down there is not enough to really experience the place as you would if you were a lecturer at LSE for example.

I spent some time in Liverpool, and I really liked it. Cheap, decent transport system and still very entertaining. Now I live in a boring midlands bunion of a town and don't go out at all (cos I'm a miserable bint)

warehouse

I live on the outer reaches of London, and I have the best of both worlds. My own town has superb schools, is extremely safe and a great place to bring up children. If I hop onto the metropolitan line which is 3 minutes walk away, I can be in central London in 40 minutes.

I've worked in London and been there for visits with the family and nights out with friends for longer than I can remember. I have yet to be mugged, threatened, felt unsafe etc etc. London is a fantastic place to live, work and play.