London

[BlasterBates]

Who likes London?

is it ?

or is it

or is it

or perhaps

[Bovvered]

Got into investment banking this year so have been living in London. It's great.

[SantaClaus]

Well, a few years ago I decided I hated London so I moved out to "the country", Harpenden, near St Albans to be precise.

I absolutely hated it. It was full of middle-England toffs driving their kids to private school in 4-wheel drives. It seemed like a nice place at first with a very pretty high street and common, but that was just a facade.
The people I met there were the rudest I have ever encountered.

If you are over 50, like most of the Harpenden population, you'll fit in, otherwise be prepared to get dirty looks in Waitrose. The exception is if you are one of the Harpenden bimbos that look like footballers wives. You are then entitled to have your nails manicured in one of the 5 nail salons in the town and drive your 4 wheel drive with reckless abandon.

So anyway, now I've moved back to London and I love it. I've got Hampstead Heath on my doorstep if I want "country walks", but this time with footpaths so I dont end up in a muddy field with GM crops. And I'm 20 minutes from the West End/City, so no outrageous train fares on crappy Thameslink. I've come to love and accept the pushing and shoving on the tube and "me-first" attitude of some Londoners because there are so many good sides to the city.

Oh yes and crime? Well I've never been attacked in London for 30 years, but I was in Harpenden.

Sorry to rant on folks, but you hit a nerve with that question.

[Bovvered]

Shouldn't you be oiling the runners on your sleigh?

[swamp]

I'm about to move back up to north London near Hampstead Heath after living in Surrey for a while. The heath isn't the countryside, but it comes a pretty close.

Main problem with life in the country is boredom. I found the people to be quite nice, but a bit dull, and in some cases slightly thick.

[Mordac]

>the Harpenden bimbos that look like footballers wives

They probably are footballers wives. I've got plenty of friends in and around Harpenden & Redbourn and there are apparently several well known players who live nearby.
I agree about Harpenden though, it looks a great place but there's a menacing atmosphere in some of the pubs of a Friday night...

[SantaClaus]

P.S. My sleigh can wait, I'm going down the pub. Theres nothing better than seeing a million disappointed childrens faces.

[Rebecca Loos]

well I have lived in a few places in the UK and I don't think any of them has got benefits over London - one exception is that if you are near great countryside e.g. Peak District or Brecon Beacons etc.

People say London is more expensive - only rents / housing are. Transport is more expensive for casual visitors / tourists but if you live here, you don't use your car (much) and hence you don't spend any more than if you were living somewhere else and had to commute all the time by car. Food and drinks are no more expensive (unless you only go to City bars and posh West End restaurants)

There are many more events and the cultural life is by far richer than anywhere else in the UK

The choice of food is fantastic - every town in England has got curries and thai places but not many have got such a huge array of Moroccan, Brazilian, Swedish, Russian and Caribbean restaurants

Because most people travel by public transport, life after work is much more social and not many people skive off before having a few drinks - something that really bugged me in places like Nottingham or Wakefield is that there was no social life at all in the office.

Close proximity to 4 major airports means you can go on a City break anywhere in Europe almost every weekend if you wanted to. The links to the airports could be cheaper but they are still good.

I haven't really experienced evidence of more crime here than in many other cities. Never had a problem here after 18 months, whereas I have been burgled in Nottingham, attacked in Reading and my car broken into in Leeds.

In summary: expensive for people to come and see you, rent is steep, but apart from that, it beats living anywhere else in the UK on every aspect.

[Daywalker]

You obviously haven't been to Belfast!

[Alf W]

Personally I can't stand London and I'm from down that way originally. It's full of Cockney W@nkers, to55ers from Essex (Southern Scousers), Aussie barmen, illegal immigrants and Eastern European and Somali criminals.

It's dirty, it smells and don't start me on the "me first, me first", shouty City types all jostling for their square foot of standing space on the tubes. It is also where a lot of companies place their fast-track graduate management trainees who are another group of odious little sh1tes that I hate.

No, you can keep it.

Up North we've got all the same shops (only in newer and more modern buildings), cleaner air, big hills (if that's your bag) and much nicer, more friendly locals. Oh and you can buy a nice 4 bed detached for as little as £350k.