What's it like living in the City?

[DimPrawn]

I live off one of the roads in Nightingale. The locals call BelleVue the area as well as being the name of a road. Edwardian villa with own parking and large garden.

HTH

Thanks for looking it up though, for someone who professes not to care you do go through an awful lot of work.

Sounds lovely. Please tell us more about this delightful place.

[doodab]

Not sure why a large house is important. A nice house in a nice area is the important thing. Without kids you really don't need 4 bedrooms. A nice 2-bed apartment with a decent living area could be just fine.

You don't need a big house, if you don't need space having a flat somewhere right in zone 1 is much more fun and although the rent/cost is on a par with a house further out it's probably cheaper when you factor in what you'll save on late night taxis. You don't need a garden cos there are plenty of parks (I used to be a 2 minute walk from regents park) but a little bit of outdoor space e.g. a roof terrace so you can have a BBQ / sit outside in the summer is nice. Location is the most important thing, and that depends what sort of stuff you are into e.g. east of liverpool st is quite trendy these days (but fills up with city & essex types), the city is a bit dead, clerkenwell / farringdon has quite a lot going on but less in the way of greenery, mayfair / kensington / chelsea are terribly posh, soho / covent garden ideal if you like going out round there e.g. theatre and stuff as well as bars, shops etc, marylebone is posh but quieter and has a nice local feel to it even if you do have the oxford st & bond st shops 10 minutes walk away, the south bank is a bit less salubrious and actually there are a few bits I'd avoid personally. But in general, if you are in zone one you won't be far from any of it.

[sasguru]

Get knifed/shot/mugged every few days?

No thanks

That would only happen to you since you scream "Victim" from every pore.

[sasguru]

Sounds lovely. Please tell us more about this delightful place.

No you couldn't afford it and it would only make you jealous.

[doodab]

Pay well over the odds for a cramped flat? Get stuck in never ended traffic jams? Get crushed on the underground? Pay double for everything the rest of the country pay? Get knifed/shot/mugged every few days?

That's the thing though, if you live in a nice part of central London you don't have to deal with any of that. Except the paying

[MrMark]

One thing you soon learn living in london, is that you can live as cheaply as anywhere else if you're careful and not too fussy. I've found several places to get a haircut for less than a tenner, but it's easy to pay double or more if you insist on choosing places in zone 1 to patronise. Often you can avoid using the tube by using other modes of transport - I agree it's a pain if a Tube journey is necessary.

Great things about London: good transport links, great parks, museums, dining options etc.

Bad things about London: the noise and traffic, pubs (some decent ones about, but most other UK cities have a far better selection), Oxford street.

Would I move away? For the right job/contract yes. But I can't say that anything here is dire enough to chase me away.

[doodab]

Its very quiet where I live, I don't know if that's because its not terraced.
It probably is quiet because the people who live there are well behaved, prosperous and hard working rather than being lower class oiks.

HTH

The older terraced houses usually have brick dividing walls so tend to fare fairly well acoustically anyway.

[DimPrawn]

No you couldn't afford it and it would only make you jealous.

[russell]

That would only happen to you since you scream "Victim" from every pore.

I suppose a well dressed, obviously rich man would be the target of muggers, thanks. I'm sure you would be mistaken for a drunken penniless tramp so its safe for you.

[doodab]

One thing you soon learn living in london, is that you can live as cheaply as anywhere else if you're careful and not too fussy. I've found several places to get a haircut for less than a tenner, but it's easy to pay double or more if you insist on choosing places in zone 1 to patronise. Often you can avoid using the tube by using other modes of transport - I agree it's a pain if a Tube journey is necessary.

Great things about London: good transport links, great parks, museums, dining options etc.

Bad things about London: the noise and traffic, pubs (some decent ones about, but most other UK cities have a far better selection), Oxford street.

Would I move away? For the right job/contract yes. But I can't say that anything here is dire enough to chase me away.

Zone 1 = Mr Toppers £6 haircuts. Bargain. Most places further out will have their share of £20 barbers, esp in the "gentrified" bits.

Oxford St is great if you live close by because you can approach the shops from the back and get everywhere you need to without having to walk down oxford st itself, and having the likes of selfriges, john lewis etc on your doorstep is pretty handy. Even so it's best to do ones Christmas shopping in the sales the year before, or online.