I think that people who consider London to be a “great” place to live will broadly fall into one of three categories: 1) people who have been unfortunate not to have seen much outside of the UK either because they are either relatively young or because, sadly, they have not yet been given a chance to do so; 2) extremely rich aristocrats, landlords, or workers in the financial sector who effectively earn their living through stealing a large sum of UK taxpayer’s money, and thereby constantly drive down the standards of living of virtually all Londoners and UK citizens; and 3) people who, unfortunately, are psychologically handicapped in some way due to mental illness or a previous serious head injury.

Since I left London and the UK over five years ago my life has been infinitely better in every respect, and, probably like many posting on this thread, I feel like such a mug for ever having lived in such an awful yet expensive city. Unsurprisingly, every friend of mine who has made the same sort of move feels exactly the same way.

I will not disclose where I have moved to because I am very frightened that any category 2) people mentioned above who are reading this thread will move to the city where I now reside and transform it into another overpriced slum like London.

I enjoyed some times in London but the city has changed, and i suppose so have I . got to know the city pretty well in the 20 years i was there,lving, north, south, east and west, and working in west end, city , and east.

The annoyances eventually outweighed the positives and i needed a change of scene.

The overcrowding, overpriced poor quality property, and the extremities of rich and poor next to each other is a disaster waiting to happen in London. I lived in a decent area but often in London you feel a bit as though you are under seige from the bad elements. The riots in summer 2011 were the last straw really and i never felt properly safe after that.

Also, although i lived in a “decent” area, i worked in a local authority in a part of London which is very deprived and it was absolutely shocking the level of squalor and the overcrowding, with thousands of people living in illegal dwellings & home built sheds – basically shantys.

Hundreds of thousands of pretty impoverished, unskilled, sometimes illegal immigrants from all over the world continue to arrive and live in a little world of their own, many never going into the city centre, learning English or engaging with mainstream London life.

This sort of thing is becoming more and more prevelant and will be the undoing of Londoni – it’s doing nothing for the city’s long term vibrancy or cohesion as many other long term residents vote with their feet and say ” no thanks ” to this sort of future.

I lived in London around 10 years ago, as an Australian in a share house in the west (typical!) I had previously had no desire to visit London and thought it as a means only to earn decent exchangeable money and as a gateway to Europe.

I tend to think long periods in big cities can wear people down – particularly the travelling types.

But I have begun to love London as a holiday destination, having returned many times to visit my sister living in the countryside.

Knowing parts of the city as a local, and having had time away, I find short periods in London exciting. It is a wonderful city, that manages to meld a long and interesting history with modern and vibrant bars, restaurants and museums. The variety of destinations and communities is amazing – all within the same tag ‘London’ – think Greenwich village, Richmond, Hampstead Heath, laneways of old London town, or ultramodern Canary Wharf. Go out on a summers evening and feel the life. It is a fabulous place to walk, with most attractions central (and thus, no need to really use the transport much)

Yes, there is plenty to dislike – but to pick these things out and dwell on them is not why we travel is it?!