Anyone leave London for better and if so where?

Malmo

Crashy_Time wrote: »

Really? Have you driven in Manchester, Birmingham or Glasgow lately? I just need to step out my front door here in Edinburgh to see people going into violent rage meltdowns over the most minor traffic delays/mistakes, that`s every day, not special occasions. Most city dwellers in the UK are stressed and angry for most of their commute IME, cost of living and demands on time are part of the problem, but the Me Me Me culture that seems to have crept up on us doesn`t help, plus the fact that the roads are now rammed to capacity everywhere that there is any sort of functioning economy.


IMO London ceased to be very different from the rest of the UK about 20, even 25 years ago, any major city in the UK has the same shop chains, the same pub chains, the same hotel chains etc. etc. and the internet means you don`t even need to be there to get your acting/music/art whatever seen by a wide audience anymore. I have known people from London over the years who never left their postcode, they did everything in the small area they lived in, so maybe that explains some of the fear about moving a few miles up a motorway in some people?

Been to Brum many times, never as bad as London for me. Impatient road users are everywhere but personal experience points to London being the worst for this.

I have family in London and many of them can't get their heads around being anywhere else, probably for many valid reasons but the overriding reasons are familiarity and personal connections with the local area and concerns about losing that if they had to move. They would be hesitant even with the suggestion of moving to a different borough within London, let alone moving outside of the M25 ring.

Crashy_Time

Malmo wrote: »

Been to Brum many times, never as bad as London for me. Impatient road users are everywhere but personal experience points to London being the worst for this.

I have family in London and many of them can't get their heads around being anywhere else, probably for many valid reasons but the overriding reasons are familiarity and personal connections with the local area and concerns about losing that if they had to move. They would be hesitant even with the suggestion of moving to a different borough within London, let alone moving outside of the M25 ring.

That is the overriding reason probably for most people in the world that never leave their back yard though isn`t it, not unique to London? Most Londoners that are mentally stuck there probably don`t even sample the "world class" cultural life much either, if it even exists to the extent that the media and people like Boris would have us believe? My advice to any, especially younger person, "stuck" in London would be to make regular trips around the UK, do the cities for a while, few days in each, then try a few trips to more rural areas, and speak to people about jobs and the local economy, house prices etc. At least then you will have a basic idea if you could live and work somewhere long term, and as someone said there are regular flights into London from all over the place, so it`s not as if you will never see the place again is it? Not much point making "big bucks" in London if a basic house costs 20 times your income or rent eats up half or more of your take home pay?

isanat

Hi,

I lived in london for a few years but moved up north about ten years ago, moved around the yorkshire area and now currently in sunderland.....

all i can say is that it is a slower easier life and people are more friendly and places like manchester leeds sheffield and newcastle have very good night life ......

Davesnave

I was born in London and lived there twice, as a child and a young adult, but that was in a different galaxy, now far, far away.

Even as someone who loved the cultural aspects of the city, I didn't cope well with the sheer pressure of all those bodies and bricks when I returned at 19. In the intervening period, I'd grown up in a small Devon town, so I'd find myself taking rides on the Metropolitan line after work, just to see a few cows!

I got out after a few years and went to uni; significantly, to an institution which still had a working farm, in a city from the centre of which it was possible to see fields.

Nowadays, I'm back in the sticks, so my concept of 'village' is traditional, but I know Moseley / Kings Heath a little, and I see it as a very pleasant, lively environment, not dissimilar to the area in London where I lived all those years ago. Village and country it isn't, but the atmosphere and the green-ness around that area of Brum feels good to me.

I'd say that if you like city life, there are areas of Brum where prices are still reasonable, compared with those in the Metropolis, and there's plenty of city centre/cultural activity which is easily accessible when you want it.

I'd go for it. My daughter did.

First_Trouble

Moving from London to Cumbria on Saturday. Cheaper house prices and friendlier people. I can't wait. Plus side is I won't have to take the tube everyday for work.