Sick of London,

adamm82

I've spent most of my life in London and I think I'm outgrowing it.

Today my train was cancelled. So it took me 2 hours to get to work. 2 hours for a journey that is 8 miles into the city, 

I arrive in the city and I pop into Sainsburys and they have no cold food as the fridges are broken. I go to tesco and the fridges are also broken.

Nothing works here. Ok today may not be a typical day but here are my reasons I want out.

Rent and housing prices are ridiculous,
Everything seems more expensive,
Roadworks everywhere they have had my street closed for 3 months causing a very long diversion every time I want to go anywhere.
Transport is awful and horrendously overpriced and doesn't work sitting (if you are lucky) on old trains, I consider my self a bit of a tube geek but bored of it. 
It's full of horrible people. 
Doesn't feel safe anymore
anytime you go out you have to keep an eye on the time otherwise it takes forever to get home, even with the 24 hour tube it's not really that helpful.

Maybe it's because I am getting older but perhaps I'm not the only one.who feels like this. 

Lestratcaster

I've been a Londoner all my life and I can relate to what you're saying.

Everything is over priced, and its nearly impossible to get a one-bedroom house anywhere.

The people are rude and unhelpful, and you get looked up on as weird if you talk to someone on the tube.

Even some of the bands here are up their own arses. Can't play very well at their instruments, shite songs and sloppy live. Yet they prance around with their cool haircuts and skinny jeans thinking they're the next Oasis.

There's too many people here as well, hard to get any space to yourself.

Driving into Central London (or just driving in general) is a nightmare. Buses and big ass lorries taking up tonnes of road space, roundabouts people are wankers and you really have to be in it for yourself to survive.

prowla

My son was going to the seaside for a few days with friends today; he had to catch three trains, but the first was cancelled, so I drove him to the next town.

Strat_a_tat_tat

@adamm82 and @Lestratcaster. ; Have you guys thought of getting jobs at the London Tourist Board? ;-)

octatonic

We left 2 years ago and don't regret it at all.
We would have left sooner but the idea was to leave some money in London tied up in property to give us the chance to move back in for work if need be.
Now we are out I doubt anything could persuade me to return to the London grind, no matter how much money was on the table.

The music scene here in Oxford is much better, band members are nicer and the level of musicianship is better too.

Ravenous

Lestratcaster said:

Even some of the bands here are up their own arses. Can't play very well at their instruments, shite songs and sloppy live. Yet they prance around with their cool haircuts and skinny jeans thinking they're the next Oasis.

Sounds a bit like Los Angeles without any actual talent.

Lestratcaster

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

@adamm82 and @Lestratcaster. ; Have you guys thought of getting jobs at the London Tourist Board? ;-)

Haha, I've met some foreigners visiting the city and they're honestly not as bad as the natives! And I've visited a few other places in the UK and the people are much nicer, esp Edinburgh and the northern cities, Newcastle, Leeds, etc etc.

adamm82

Also I find there is no respect or any sort of service from anybody.
They closed my road where I live which was supposed to take 3 weeks,it's been now 3 months so anytime I just need to go shopping it takes 30 minutes just to get through all the traffic it's causing. 

And all I want is a bit of space to play my guitars. I have them crammed up in the corner, can't play at any sort of volume. as my flat is small I either play on the couch or on the edge of the bed. I'm 35 I had more space when I lived at home and at the same time I refuse to pay any more rent than I actually am for a bigger place as it's getting quite insane.

All I want is a bit of space and a bit of peace and quiet. 

Lestratcaster

People are so unhelpful as well. I was in a shop with a long queue, some old chap has finished paying for his items and dropped his bag on the floor. Whilst the entire shop (even staff) stood and watched him struggle for a few seconds to pick it up (he had a bad back I presume) I went over and helped him. What is wrong with people? I would want someone to help me if I was in need.

Think I saw an article of someone lying in the road after being injured in a hit-and-run, with all the preceding motorists driving around the body ignoring it.

Winny_Pooh

i would love to get out just a bit further at this point but the job market is a limiting factor. Sick of the prices here. 

Ravenous

adamm82 said:

Rent and housing prices are ridiculous,

adamm82 said:

Also I find there is no respect or any sort of service from anybody.

I think a city can get too big and too full of itself.  Relatively rich people buying their expensive snacks and coffees, from low-paid people who can barely afford to travel in every day.

I'm not surprised the situation hasn't just imploded; no poor people left there to staff the shops, just rich people unable to buy their first world "stuff" anymore.

Anyway not my problem as I wouldn't live there, even for double my current wage.

adamm82

Ravenous said:

adamm82 said:

Rent and housing prices are ridiculous,

adamm82 said:

Also I find there is no respect or any sort of service from anybody.

I think a city can get too big and too full of itself.  Relatively rich people buying their expensive snacks and coffees, from low-paid people who can barely afford to travel in every day.

I'm not surprised the situation hasn't just imploded; no poor people left there to staff the shops, just rich people unable to buy their first world "stuff" anymore.

Anyway not my problem as I wouldn't live there, even for double my current wage.

Yeah I am seriously considering to go. I may have a chance to move to Italy so I may actually have to through with it. 

My wife and I both have ok paid jobs, we save what we can but we are still struggling, we don't have any kids, When I say we are struggling I mean we have nice things, we go on holiday, but we are stuck in a trap, we want to buy a home but it's impossible so I am looking at options and they are all in undesirable areas out side of london and any money saved on buying outside of london will be lost on ridiculous train fares. 

It's a no win situation. I've been waiting for the bubble to burst but it doesn't seem to be anytime soon. 

plus nobody lives near anyone. so if you want to meet a friend it's a big performance to set up a date. then nobody can be bothered to go to central london on a weekend. Plus a simple night out to the pub costs a fortune. I don't know how people do it. couple rounds of drinks and something to eat. £100 easy. it's insane.

Fretwired

I was born in London .. lived there for a while but much prefer the leafy home counties.

boogieman

I've lived in London for most of my life but moved out to Surrey 5 years ago when I moved in with my wife. Initially I missed the place, but nowadays I can't stand it for more than a few hours. Overpriced, too rammed, people just aren't friendly, traffic and queues everywhere. Pretty much the only reasons we go there are for the museums and galleries or the odd gig. 

digitalscream

Here's the thing - of the 15 or so people I know who've moved out of London, not one has expressed even the smallest regret about the decision.

For me, that completely validates my choice to avoid the place like the plague.

KKJale

The thread title is going to attract the London-haters and ex-Londoners, so I'll say it: I still love the place. 

I don't commute; I ride a pushbike everywhere; I'm lucky enough to rent cheaply.

Other places can be wonderful to visit... but all too often, after only a few days, the small-town attitudes, pettiness, gossip and intolerance to multiculturalism make me glad to leave.

Yes, there's a lot to put up with. It can be a bit New-York-in-the'80s. But it's not dull. 

Dominic

I moved out of London aged 37 ,only 70 miles out but it drove me mad after 2 years and I moved back.I live on the edge of London in a place called Hadley Wood which is near Barnet and is actually a Herts address.
I love the tranquility of my location but also being no more than 40 minutes tube from the buzz of Soho .I live half a mile from the last stop on the Piccadilly which gives me best of both worlds.

Drew_TNBD

KKJale said:

intolerance to multiculturalism make me glad to leave.

That is also a completely insane thing to say! London doesn't have a monopoly on tolerance! If you think it does, walk through Tower Hamlets at 2am in the morning and see how you're treated.

Nitefly

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." - so said Dr Johnson, albeit 240 years ago...

I tried it a couple of times, didn't like it, won't go back.

octatonic

KKJale said:

The thread title is going to attract the London-haters and ex-Londoners, so I'll say it: I still love the place. 

I don't commute; I ride a pushbike everywhere; I'm lucky enough to rent cheaply.

Other places can be wonderful to visit... but all too often, after only a few days, the small-town attitudes, pettiness, gossip and intolerance to multiculturalism make me glad to leave.

Yes, there's a lot to put up with. It can be a bit New-York-in-the'80s. But it's not dull. 

I love it too, but as a place to take a trip into to and then leave.

stickyfiddle

It's ABSOLUTELY not dull. That much is certainly true.

But the concept of earning more in London is a false economy unless you're in one of the few jobs earning 100k+ or already own a place, in which case everyone hates you.

Most good places to go are full of twats already and anywhere new that's nice to go is full of twats before you can say "five stars on TripAdvisor". 

I miss visiting London, and I miss my friends who still live there, but I don't miss living in it for a second.