[Closed] Any Ex Londoners - do you miss it / regret moving

HELL NO!

NEXT!

In more seriousness... 😉

I probably miss the proximity and immediacy of living in London. Pretty much [i]everything[/i] is available [i]now[/i] and [i]right there[/i].

Id never want my boys to grow up in London. Im originally a farming bumpkin, and I want them to grow up understanding rural life first, before urban life. Its easier that way around than the other IMO 🙂

I go to London one day a week, still have my London clients, and still hold on to just enough love for the City because I dont have to spend all my time there. I dont resent the City as much as I did as when I lived in London.

London isnt even in my top four "Cities Id be willing to live in" any more (Which is Vancouver, Stockholm, Geneva, Bristol...probably in that order...since you ask)

but there are lots of things I'll miss and lots of things I've never done or seen in the City.

Are you forbidden from visiting once you leave?

Don't miss the black bogies after a trip into town on the underground.

Nope. Glad I did it but even if you doubled my wages I wouldn't go back. (3 years in That London, 12 years since then living on the edge of a National Park)

I go back for work or other stuff occasionally, when I arrive I think it's great to be back and that I should go back more often, by the end of the day I'm happy to be leaving. I miss some things but they are probably more a product of my lifestyle at the time rather than London itself.

oh, and Sushi. Hard to find descent sushi in the sticks 🙂

Let me think what I miss about London..... NOTHING.

I have never been a city kind of a person, I just had the misfortune to be born in one.

oh, and Sushi. Hard to find descent sushi in the sticks

Yes, eating out in provincial restaurants is one obvious downside!

I'm in a similar position, I'm no more than a few weeks away from leaving the big smoke and going back home to Scotland. Can't think of much I'll miss, I've always been more of a country boy, grew up in the sticks, off home so the bairn can have a better quality of life. Living in the middle of some cracking mountain biking had nothing to do with the decision whatsoever. No sir... 8)

Yes, eating out in provincial restaurants is one obvious downside!

Except the pub opposite my folks house got a michelin star last year and he serves better grub than Ive ever had in London. No hard and fast rools.

Living in the middle of some cracking mountain biking had nothing to do with the decision whatsoever. No sir...

The lure of fell running and mtb from the front door is very very strong for me 😀

I miss it like crazy. I left too soon. Mrshora was more than ready to relocate back up north.

Whenever I go back, something 'clicks' and I just fall straight into the buzz/fast flow. I like that, back in the saddle again.

Manchester is **** compared. Quiet, dull, limited night life options but hey ho. No more North Downs.

Still the compensation was....the Peak district

6-1 Hora scores a late goal for the opposition

No hard and fast rools.

I see you have the same attitude to spelling 😉

Glad i tried it. Glad I left.
Having the outdoors just outside my door works for me.

Personally I cant wait to get back to surrey, not lived in london but loved growing up around reigate for access to london and countryside!

Glad i tried it. Glad I left.

This. Grew up in the Peak District, London for a bit, now in the Dales.

I love London as a tourist and bits of it will always be really familiar but, looking back, I was never really happy there. I'm too much of a country boy.

Not in any way, although I'm stuggling to find anywhere remote enough in the UK 😉

Most of our friends have moved out into the coutryside now too after having children.

Oh, and I disagree completely with this:

Yes, eating out in provincial restaurants is one obvious downside!

So many of the restaurants/ pubs in t'sticks cater for the ex-urban market. Loads of places obsessed with local food provenance and quality.

Is it really true that kids have a better quality of life in the countryside? At what age?

There is a hell of a lot of stuff to do in London. And also far more opportunity to meet people who like what you like and get to do a lot of it. Unless it's MTBing, I suppose somewhat ironically 🙂

I grew up in a small town. No athletics track, no velodrome, no 50m swimming pool, no ice rink, no cinema, no art galleries, no museums, no concerts, no street art, no ballets, no operas, no theatre, no plays.. etc etc. And most of my school friends were country bumpkins with no ambition! That had a fair old effect on me.

Can't wait to get out, for myself and my family.

Might miss my friends, but had my fill of everything else.

I grew up in the countryside, wandering through woods and fields. Never touching a road. Hence why I like to play out again on my bike now.

However theres just something about London. The choices it gives you for a night out. The things to do. Just living, hanging round some of the great places. Hard to describe.

If I won the lottery I think I'd have a place in Camden and a place in the Peaks. However I'd spend most of my time in London.

The Tubes didn't bother me too much as I always rode to work or started silly-early.

Sometimes I miss the buzz of the place and I love visiting, but I love being a provincial moron with the clean air and not waking up murdered in my bed every day, more.

grew up in a small town. No athletics track, no velodrome, no 50m swimming pool, no ice rink, no cinema, no art galleries, no museums, no concerts, no street art, no ballets, no operas, no theatre, no plays.. etc etc.

^This.

I worked in London for a few years, then lived in Edinburgh before moving to countryside. On balance I love outdoors and coutryside most but I would avoid the general assumption that countryside = good and city = bad,

It depends where you move to and what is there. As above the big city has a lot of options.

I dont really miss it. Some times yes but mostly no; I have lots of options and things to do in Cadiz/Malaga though, as well as big open spaces and rural/village life.

I can also hop on a plane and get to London pretty easily if I want to.

I think London is a great place when you are young and have some spare money and no responsibilities, you can go out to a different place every night, meet a diverse range of people and there is a buzz about the place.

But now i am older, i enjoy going there occasionally to see an attraction or visit the few friends that haven't moved away, but i really don't miss living there and i don't miss that feeling of washing the grime off my face at the end of each day and that feeling of walking out of my house onto a tube straight into artificially lit office and back.

I studied, worked & lived in SW London for 20 years & loved it. Moved abroad but always feel like London is my home, that's where I'd most like to live.

Fortunately I kept a property there so have the chance whenever I want to go back. I'd think v hard before selling up & moving out as once done you are pretty much priced out the market if you want to go back.

Hope it helps

I moved from Islington to Ribble Valley.....

Do I miss London? Yes.

Do I wish I was back there? No

I don't think I can compare where I live now, to where I used to live. They are so different, both have equal plus and minuses.

My commute is now a cycle through the gentle rolling hills of Lancashire...

Doing something very similar myself.
Been in London 12 years but moving away by the end of the year with our first kid on the way.
Priorities change, it was fun but I don't think I'll miss it.
Have to say that these last couple of weeks with the Olympics have been some of the best London weeks.
Maybe I'll come back next time they're here.

and not waking up murdered in my bed every day

When we lived in West Hampstead I witnessed an armed robbery, saw two scallies being resuscitated/stabilised for stab wounds at the top of our road, a womans body was stored in the boot of a Merc on my road, A Kosavan was stabbed to death at my tube station down the road and a fella kicked to death further down on a night out. I think thats it. Theres probably more.

Yeah, but when that happens in the sticks no-one finds out. 😉

My sister lived in a tiny village on the Welsh border for about two years or so. In that time someone was beaten to death a few houses away, and someone else was deliberately burned alive in his own house.

Grew up in small town in Cheshire, playing in the fields, making dens in the hedgerows etc. Went to London to visit my brother and cousins a few times in late teens and just decided that's where I wanted to be: stuff just seemed to happen in London, small town had no excitement.
Came down at 18 for uni and still here (now 39) and no plans to leave.
However, in 2010 I moved up to Manchester - primarily to be closer to the Lakes (a few biking mates there), Peaks and N Wales. Thought it would be biking paradise and promptly missed London like I never expected.
'Luckily' I got shafted by my boss and lost my job. No work coming up in Manchester so I came back.
I love the buzz and the energy and the fact that stuff happens in London. Manchester seemed really empty and quiet in comparison.
Weather made a difference - so much sunnier down south.
And I overlooked the fact that most of my friends are in London/SE. Even tho most are settled with kids now, not having them on hand for a quick after work drink made a much bigger difference than I anticipated.
Best thing I ever did was leave London, made me realise how much I love it...
And as Hora says, Surrey Hills singletrack - missed that too.
Only major downside right now is Manchester has a velodrome, the London one won't be available till next year 🙁

Manchester seemed really empty and quiet in comparison.

You know, thats what I think when I go through Manchester post-shopping hours. Even at weekends alot of the centre is quiet. Weird.

Apart from the meatmarket pubs in certain concentrated areas there really isn't much life in or near the centre.

Plus the handgrenades don't seem to have much oomph.

I think moving to the countryside or a nice provincial town would be nice.

Moving to another city in the UK would just feel like a lame version of London.

My sister lived in a tiny village on the Welsh border for about two years or so. In that time someone was beaten to death a few houses away, and someone else was deliberately burned alive in his own house.

Did she get away with it?

Can't you buy a place "in t' country" and keep the place in That London??

T'is what I did.

Weather made a difference - so much sunnier down south

Yes, a geordie mate who moved back to Newcastle 5 or 6 years ago always comments on that one whenever he is visiting us.

Can't you buy a place "in t' country" and keep the place in That London??

I'm not made of money! I could rent it out, but I don't fancy the liability of all the debt.

the missus and i are considering heading out of london too, gettin older, kids etc

problem is job wise wed both need to be near a big city

which is the problem, probably only edinburgh that we like enough

my biggest issue with scotland is the weather!

I love working in London, but wanted better access to the countryside and the folks up North, so live out in Hertfordshire, 30mins on the train to work, trains run later than the tube so can still have nights out after work and pop in at the weekends.

I love the buzz and energy of London, but need greenery!bonus is that I can ride my mountain bike out the door and be in the countryside in 5 mins, big downside is figuring out how we can afford to buy a decent sized house down here!

have you thought about swinley kinbers? good access to m4, m3, a30 etc etc, close enough to lahndan to commute, lots of greenery and so forth.

Ok, so move not too far away then.. Trains are great, if you miss the rides buy a foldie and cycle in from a station.

Grew up on the side of a hill in rural wales ( or 'an isolated and sparsely populated area of moorland' according to wikipedia), went to that London about 3 times before moving there when I was about 25 ish.

Stayed for about 8 years then moved out into Herts about 5 years ago to have kids. I love London and travel in everyday at the moment as I freelance all over the city. Love leaving it at the end of the day though - love seeing the scenery change from graffiti scrawled sidings to lush green fields (They make me happy and reminds me of childhood)

Wouldn't want to be any further out than where I am now - can pop in with the kids or for a night out for drinks/food/a show/a mooch - haven't found anywhere that compares. And it's only 35 mins back home. And I have the Chilterns on my doorstep.

I grew up in London and loved it. Post-uni I lived there for four years. My wife and I moved to Bristol 10 years ago (where we were both at uni) for a few reasons - my wife didn't really want to stay there, I was about to quit rowing (the sport not fighting!) and so didn't need to be in London/Henley for it, we wanted to buy a house but couldn't see us being able to do that in London somewhere we wanted for some time. Also we never really made the most of living in London - eg going out in town, etc. With quitting rowing I was also keen to move somewhere with better cycling (mtbing in particular).

We certainly don't regret it - in fact it's been great. Bristol's a great place to live and we're very happy here. People we left behind are where we'd probably be if we hadn't moved and I certainly don't envy them - we live in what I'd consider a nicer environment, a nicer house, a better standard of life, shorter commutes and with great cycling.

The only downer I can really think of is that my family are still in London so I don't see them so much but it's only a couple of hours' drive away.

Brought up in Cardiff, not that IS an awesome place to grow up as a kid you have everything in once place, city, hills and countryside and the sea. Went to Uni and afterwards didn't feel ready to go back to Cardiff so got on a train at 21 and went to London with a mate, no job. Lived in bedsits whilst job hunting and got a decent well paid job for a 21 year old. She loved it (she's originally from Glasgow!) and I HATED it. I spent 2 years hating everything about London, the manicness, the fact it takes 45 minutes to go ANYWHERE, the fact no one talks to each other, you all sit on the tube in utter miserable silence, the tube stinks is hot hideous place, cycling anywhere was like a death trap, riding a bike was sh** and sucked. Struggled to meet people as such an un friendly place despite attempting to join clubs and teh like, it's ridiculously expensive.

Got away after 2 years and don't miss a thing about it, I don't really look back on my time there with particularly fond memories, although it was a good learning and growing up experience. I would never go back there. Still trying to get back to Cardiff although not sure that will ever happen, but now I'm near countryside and hills and City, just desperately miss the sea and MTBing from the door step. Hey ho you can't have everything in life.

kimbers - Member
which is the problem, probably only edinburgh that we like enough

my biggest issue with scotland is the weather!

Since TJ isn't here any more, I'll act as a proxy and proclaim that Edinburgh is the dryest place in Europe (or something like that 🙂 )

big downside is figuring out how we can afford to buy a decent sized house down here!

I'll do you a special STW price on my place. You'll have to pay by Paypal gift though.

You'd think London was the fifth circle of hell from some of the posts here 😀

Not being insulting it does seem that a lot of the posters on this thread are people from the country / provinces come to London didn't like it or ultimately want to stay for whatever reason and have moved back to something similar they were brought up in - not realy a great shock.

London's great - I was very happy living there. It's just that for me at least, other places offer more. Plenty of people have a difference balance and wouldn't live anywhere else. It's just that some people can't see anything other than their own pov...

FWIW, regardling unfriendly Londoners, IME it's the non-Londoner Londoners who are the worst for this... maybe because they're so miserable living there 🙂

I never thought I would say this but I think we might be getting to the end of our time living in London. I love the place but my kids are getting older and I'd like them to have a bit more of a rural existense. Have spent the day on google maps and findaproperty looking at towns out in Bucks. Chiltern Hills and grammar schools ticks all the box's. Mrs McBoo and I will be working in London for the forseeable future so cant have too long a commute so wont be leaving as such.

Miss the London of my childhood and teen/early twenties years

Born and lived there for forty years and it got progressively dirtier and house prices reached crazy heights even in less than great areas.

Moved when my daughter reached school age, didn't want her to be disadvantaged where all the money was spent on non english speakers and problem cases

Lovely seeing the stars in a dark sky and the air is so much clearer, so all in all glad I lived there in better times, but leaving was the right decision.

That was vindicated when my daughter completed her studying and became an Optometrist thanks to what I think was a better education than she would have received in a deprived London borough comprehensive.

Still miss strolling over to watch the Orient and having a pint in the Birkbeck

I miss the London of The Sweeney.

When villains had sideburns that would put Wiggo to shame and there were huge derelict warehouse complexes all across the city, perfect for car chases and shootouts.

I miss easy access to decent independent cinema and that's about it.

Grew up in London, used to love it, still enjoy visiting, but living there felt like being encased in concrete, too far from mountains.

Live in the Peak now. Wouldn't go back for anything. And oddly, last time I was there, it reminded me of Lima... 😉

I miss D'Aldo's in Covent garden and the Korean place off Oxford circius

I have a clause in my contract that says I don't have to work in London 🙂

Years ago when they [the co. I work for] wanted me to come back to them, I refused as I hated working in London and it was a deal breaker so they gave me an opt out

Spent 15 years in London. Moved to Sheff just under a year ago. Still work in London though - do 3ish days a week from home, 2ish in the office or on site in London.

I love(d) working in London, due to the nature of my job I'm on a whole array of sites, most of them of great historic or architectural interest, some of which aren't open to the public and that I'd miss horribly in another job. Commuting around t'Smoke by bike rocks as well. There's just a buzz to the place.

On the other hand I hated living there. We're both decent earners and could only afford a 2 bed flat in a barely OK area. We spent all our spare time and a hell of a lot of cash getting out of London whenever we could to go biking.

We traded all that in for a BIG house in a great area. I'm 5 mins on the MTB from the woods and 15 mins on the roadie from the moors. I can get an hour blast in at luchtime, or I can ride brilliant singletrack from my doorstep of an evening. Or walk. Or climb.

Sheff city centre ain't great, but then I've only felt the need to visit it maybe 10 times in 10 months... Working from home rocks, and I'm only 2h45mins from the office by train and brompton.

Altogether I don't miss living there in the slightest!

Another cliche here too: London swapped for the Snowdonia national park border.
Do I regret it? Mostly never, and if so I head down for a few days. When in London I never made much use of the cultural stuff and hankered for the hills. Now here I sometimes miss the hurly-burly of London, but then I remember morning trains like sardine cans vs. my morning commute here along a 6 mile cycle path. Saying that, I think the internet makes a huge difference to living rurally and I'm not sure I'd be so keen without it.

Londons a great place, I grew up in rural Kent with no access to anything decent as public transport was non existent, I love the countryside but find it restrictive after a while, at least in London I can go and do anything I fancy at the drop of a hat, my work is varied and enjoyable I doubt I would feel the same if I had to do tube-office-tube-home every day of the week.
The provinces are too 'provincial' I'm not ready for that insular existence just yet.

We used to love jumping on the tube then seeing the night unfold randomly.

like spinning a Roulette wheel 8)

I still laugh about the gay strip bar that I went into with two girls for a dare 😮

You can never really go back to a place,asides it makes you feel old.it's not the same place anymore.
I grew up in london.lived all over.went away when I was 16.
There are few places where people don't look to other places for inspiration.London is one of them.
Never found that again,it does make all the other places I've lived feel provincial.
Having said that i've never chosen to live somewhere similar,ie,NY,or tokio,

Miss it,and don't.
like most things in life.

at least in London I can go and do anything I fancy at the drop of a hat

I agree - except for mountain biking or other outdoor pursuits 🙂

my work is varied and enjoyable

Actually, this is a biggie. In my line of work (software development), most of the interesting companies doing cool stuff are in London or the South East at least. My career was transformed in London. Out in the provinces work is generally pretty dull.

at least in London I can go and do anything I fancy at the drop of a hat

I can't do that where ever I live, I have 2 pre school children. But yeah, I used to be able to, but often the cost in taxis was eye watering. Getting a taxi from Soho to Ealing alone - £50 😯 . I won't miss that

I agree - except for mountain biking or other outdoor pursuits

32mins on the train to dorking for a bit of surrey hills action, though these days I'm more likely to head out on the road bike to either Surrey or the decent north downs riding either side of the m25. The only other outdoor stuff I do is shooting at the weekend which is down in Kent an hour away on the high speed link.

It's not the northern Scottish alps or north Wales, nor does it pretend to be but i feel lucky to have that access and be close to central London , it's the outlying suburbs with their 'not London' atmosphere that I don't get, all the drawbacks with non of the pluses. I'll still leave London one day and end up in the country but that will be when I'm tired of London and looking for somewhere to die.

Decent food and a reasonable price and a wide selection. As others have said that there are some good pubs e.t.c but on the whole food quality is lower outside London for a similar price meal. I'm not talking posh restaurants here, just small cheap places and take outs. Other than that nothing. I think its competition in action.

32mins on the train to dorking for a bit of surrey hills action

Far more trouble than riding from your front door though, which is what you can do in many other places.

it's the outlying suburbs with their 'not London' atmosphere that I don't get, all the drawbacks with non of the pluses

Well, it's for work, innit.

Far more trouble than riding from your front door though, which is what you can do in many other places

Really? I must get out more!
Its far more trouble than a lot of things, like buying a pint of milk or going to the post office. If MTB riding from my door was no 1 priority I wouldn't live in London, I wouldn't even live in the U.K.

We moved from East Dulwich to Exeter(ish) 3 years ago tomorrow. Do I regret it? Not a bit. Do I miss some of it? Yes.

London's the greatest city in the world and I had an amazing time visiting mates every weekend from ~18 up to my early 20s then living there until my early 30s - working in Soho / Covent Garden was great - but once mini jr arrived we legged it.

We could have moved out but stayed close enough to commute but we didn't fancy leaving the house at 7.00 every morning and getting back 12+ hours later. I'd rather see my wife on a regular basis and watch the monster grow up. By cutting my commute down to something sensible I got 18 DAYS of my life back.

I miss the clubbing and drinking and being able to get whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it but that's more about being early 20s with no commitments than being in London.

If you're going to live in a city in the UK it needs to be London, Manchester is a village in comparison (iirc popluation is 8.2m v 500k).