London..

drc

Also, I always think of small villages and towns outside of London as being a bit Royston Vasey; "this is a local town for local people". I'm sure they're not all like that though .

sandeepkaur

thank you for your info

MGCP

I always find threads like this a bit odd because I don't feel the same extreme sense of "either/or" that so many people seem to. I love getting out into the countryside, I was born in a small town and I could still see myself enjoying that sort of lifestyle (particularly if I had some good walks and a cosy little pub nearby).

At the moment though I live in Zone 2 and also love the lifestyle I have here. I get to work for the international HQ of a great company, I can walk into central London in about 45 mins (15 mins on the tube), there is incredible architecture and history here that makes exploring endlessly fascinating, a huge range of wonderful little boutique shops amongst all the big names, an enormous and ever changing selection of bars and restaurants to try selling food from all over the world...the list goes on.

I was reading an interview the other day with the Australian chef Bill Grainger who has recently moved here from Sydney. One of the things he said is that he is always amazed by what a beautiful city London is. I think people in this country have got used to holding London in a sort of contempt and dont realise just how it can look to people from other countries (even ones with cities in locations as beautiful as Sydney!). Perhaps it is partly a "grass is greener" mentality that makes us think it compares so unfavourably with cities in other countries.

It really depends what you want though, and my attitude may well change if we have kids. Still, no one has to like it there, we are all different (although as a matter of good manners I would try to avoid telling someone that I think they live in a s41thole as that's never going to go down too well!)

paulmapp8306

Lived and worked in London for 6 years. My wife is bourne and bred in London. I found it OK, but when I go back now to visit the inlaws Im so glad I dont live there. Even the wife who didnt want to leave doesnt want to go back. her exact comment was "Its home, but I didnt know how much better everywhere else we have lived could be".

Clean air, countryside, no 100,000 miles an hour lifestyle, haveing people actually TALK to you istead of ignoring you. You could pay me 4 x as much as I ean now and Istill wouldnt move back to London. Having a family makes it 3x as true.

movilogo

Quality of life is much better outside London (or any big city for such)

Pay is higher in London, so are the expenses.
Far you go from London, pay falls and living expense falls as well.

Where you want to draw the boundary depends on individual circumstances.

But remember one thing - if you lose job and live near to London it is much easier to get another. If you are in middle of nowhere, you might to need to move to a different place if you lose your income.

neverdespairgirl

London is a very civilised society in lots of small ways.

For example, almost everywhere there is a park / square / garden around the corner. There are trees on lots of roads. When I first started travelling in eastern Europe, I was astonished by how little vegetation there was in most cities I visited.

I don't find London remotely unfriendly or unsocial. When I leave our flat, I stop to chat to various shopkeepers, neighbours, etc.

Cleaver

movilogo wrote: »

Quality of life is much better outside London (or any big city for such)

This is subjective as it depends who you are and where you like to live. How is 'quality of life' defined? I lived in London for a year and absolutely loved it, it's a great place to live. And I live in a big city now and love that. Provincial towns and the countryside, whilst great for some, are just not my thing. I know lots of people who fight tooth and nail to stay living in London as they can't imagine living anywhere else. All depends on your lifestyle.

Cleaver

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I don't find London remotely unfriendly or unsocial.

Nor me. In fact, I've never understood the concept of certain places being unfriendly or friendly. I always just find that if you're nice to people then they're nice back, it's as simple as that.

I suppose if I really think about it then the easiest places I've been to talk to strangers are probably Belfast and New York. But even they weren't that much different to any other place. 80% of people are nice, 10% are okay and 10% are ars*holes and that ratio pretty holds up anywhere.