Should I Move To London?

Aye.

Depends what you want to do. Finance? Third sector? PR?

Most places are extremely expensive and I’ve personally never seen the allure.

PR hopefully, I know it's crowded but Glasgow and Edinburgh don't have much to offer me once I'm done with my studies.

I've lived in London for most of my adult life and it's easily the best city in the world. However, it's not great if you're not earning very much. You're going to get a load of replies about knife crime and acid attacks and such from people who've never been here and only get their news from youtube. You'll also get a load of replies suggesting you live in Knightsbridge from people who've ever only been here on holiday.

The truth is the majority of Londoners live outside of Zone 1 and even Zone 2. Transport is very good (if relatively expensive) so you could live relatively cheaply in Zone 4 even and still be in town in 20 mins. London grew as a collection of separate villages/towns so areas differ wildly and can change very quickly.

Like any World City, London has good parts and bad parts. I think the good outweigh the bad because I've travelled all over London (it's fucking huge, btw) so I'd always recommend it. But I know a lot of people find it a bit 'too much'.

OP, London has so many opportunities on so many levels. That sentence sounds like some New Labe Council Squatter's motto, but as long as you possess the initiative to mitigate the areas of inflated cost I live in Seattle and the cost of housing is similar in some ways - something I still find hard to believe. But the high cost of basic transportation you're already used to. And in London there's lots to do for free

Do it while you're young. My father told me when I was young, to travel, because when I was older and had a wife and kids (did *HE* have a shock waiting for him!) I wouldn't have the flexibility. He flew into an incandescent apoplectic seizure the sixth time I went to England (Feb. 2009). I told him to put it where the monkey put the nuts and to leave me the fuck alone with his doom and gloom.

Good luck; you'll not regret it if you move there.

You should find one of those magical druid stones and try to go back to 1700's Scotland and find Jamie Frasier. It would be more fun than dealing with modern day London.

You'll only be young and fearless once, do it.

Present dong and I will decide it for you.

The thing about London is it's vast and so everything takes longer to get to. Everyone creates their own smaller version consisting of the bits they like and use, but there is a very good chance these won't be particularly close to each other, so you just have to build that into your life. I am from one of the largest cities in England that isn't London, pretty comparable to Glasgow in Scotland, and they just weren't comparable. If you can deal with this, you'll be fine.

Thanks for the advice so far, thought I'd get ripped apart. A few good points, I'm definitely more on the side of going for it. I don't mind commuting on public transport, so it's not a big deal if I'm not central.

You won't get ripped apart.

You will fly high and then fall flat on your ass. You will dream big dreams, some you'll realize, some you won't.

You'll meet great people, you'll meet horrible people. Most will likely only be around for a few chapters of your life.

You'll thank yourself in 20, 30, 40, 50 years. Regret is the worst price to pay.

Sweetie, R3 will you PR things?

OP, it’s r3 again. For PR it’s a good move. Finance pays well and you can save the world in your spare time or in another role later.

I’d think about spending some time there either internship (paid) or temping in PR/comms role during the summer as things are starting to pick up now. If that’s not feasible then I’d try for a month over the next Easter break. It’s good to get a feel for the city and if you’d like it. I do enjoy visiting frequently for work; culture and going out are excellent but never wanted to live there in a crappy house share. You are young and don’t mind travelling a bit for work so why not?

Girl, get that dick!

OP central London ie the West End and the Square Mile exist only for commercial and business purposes. 'Real' Londoners live outside those areas. Everyone commutes. It's not looked down upon in the same way it is in, say, NYC or Paris.

My only fear is that you've said you want to work in PR. Unless you have some good financial backing, prepare to be extremely poor for a few years. My ex worked in PR. He was mid-20s when we met and he was barely scraping by on £25k, despite having a good £30k inheritance to sort him put. Every gay kid on the planet seems to want to get into PR so they get away with paying them peanuts. If you want to move to London and have a decent life, I'd go for a career that pays better. Also, entry-level PR is soul-crushing. You might get to go to the odd party with a couple of celebs, but you'll also be the lowliest person there, and they'll all make sure you know it.

[quote] Sweetie, R3 will you PR things?

Gorgeous, tasteful, little stylish little gorgeous things.

People, places, concepts ...LULU!

This thread is positively Dickensian.

Don't bother bringing your arsehole, OP, there's plenty where you're going.

City on fire!

Yes, let’s see the package and this will guide my advice.

Go and don't look back

Just what London needs. More people with incomprehensible accents.

I don't see many here typing from experience. No matter. Been there, done that, loved it, do it now. London is a good city. I suggest you take a week or two holiday to see how it feels on you. Look into Bayswater …. central and on the Central Line, also check out Islington. Both areas are good for one just out of school, lots of kids around.. Living in town can be ex OP You say Glasgow and Edinburgh don't have much to offer you once you're done with studies. Really? Is that just you? No PR in Glasgow and Edinburgh? Is it the golden draw of London glitter drawing you? You may not be happy in London after all. Spend some time here before a big move.

Tell OP what part of London to avoid at all costs. All big cities have those areas. High crime areas specifically.

Wait OP, Glasgow and Edinburgh don't have much to offer in PR once your studies end? Are you just young and unknowing? Or is the gold and glitter of London the draw? Disappointment will easily loom. Spend some time in town before you move.

I wanted to move to London to finish school and then try living there, but I was in the US and had no money. Since then I've visited at least twice as year but still regret what I missed many years later. So go OP, go go go

It's lovely at Christmas.

R24 No recent graduate will be able to afford to live anywhere near Bayswater or Islington. It's not the 70s anymore.

You're young OP . Go.

I live in South London, moved here 11 years ago and never had any issues with crime. My advice is to visit first and find a place to rent before you move. It can be a nightmare finding a good place on short notice.

My sister moved from NYC to London 8 yrs ago. She loves it. Go.

Check out Cockfosters.

Lived in London for 20 years. Try getting a place in Edgware which is on a direct tube line down to Hampstead Heath. Check out the Men's Bathing Pond on the Heath on a summer afternoon for some choice cruising. There are plenty of days when the mercury soars above 25c in London. Very different climate from Glasgow. We just had three 30c days.

[quote] I am from one of the largest cities in England that isn't London, pretty comparable to Glasgow in Scotland,

Damn, and we were so close to figuring out your real identity

Avoid East London, OP. Most of it is a shithole. So are some parts of Southeast London.

[quote] 'Real' Londoners live outside those areas.

I know what you mean but it irks me when people say proper Londoners don't live centrally. I'm convinced it's why we have so much trouble retaining services and essential shops, everyone seems to think we're students or oligarchs. I'm in Clerkenwell and a lot of my neighbours are old council tenants who have been here for a long time. Of course, none of us could afford to move here now but we are here, hanging on, mixed in with the AirBnB flats and the thousands of Prets.

R36 Another clueless reply from someone who doesn't know anything about what London is like now.

East London is very trendy and popular with gays. Some of the best gay bars in London can be found there. SE London has also changed dramatically - Greenwich, Blackheath and Lewisham have become very gentrified due to their proximity to Canary Wharf. Deptford and New Cross are very popular with students and 'hipsters'. House prices in other parts of SE London, Catford for example, have soared due to an influx of middle class couples/young families and has become almost unrecognisable. SE London is all organic artisan bakeries, farmers markets and craft beer stalls these days.

Bayswater and Islington are probably out of your reach. Check out Shoreditch. It's really come on in the past few years, great restaurants and loads of young people.

What area has the least Muslims?

What is considered the most dangerous part of London nowadays?

R39 in the 90s maybe

No parts of London are dangerous. Some parts of some areas might be more dangerous than other parts of the same area, but it's not as if a single part is a no-go area. And those who claim otherwise are mostly racist right-wing fuckos.

I'm in Brixton. It has (used to?) have a reputation for being dangerous, but it isn't - no more than anywhere else in the city.

And OP, not that I'm biased - but London is one of the greatest cities in the world, despite being too expensive and overrun with oligarchs and financial wankers and chain shops and being downright fucking exhausting most of the time. There are times, often on a summer's evening, and I'll walk over Westminster Bridge and the very Londonness of it takes my breath away, and I can't quite believe that I managed to make my home here.

I hope you get to experience that too someday, OP.

Give London a shot in your 20’s and if you don’t love it retreat to Edinburgh.

^ meaning at least you’re out of Glasgow, which isn’t your hometown, anyway.

I’m tired of London.

Edinburgh is full of English wankers who can’t afford the lifestyle they want in London. They try to adopt Scots dialect patterns and tweet about how great it is to live in the “Athens of the North”.

Glasgow is the superior city.

Listen to R44 but don't consider living in Edinburgh as a "retreat". After all, by the time you're 30 Scotland will be independent. Or you could be a good boy/girl and live in Inverness and tone it up. At your age you have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. Live a bigger life and you'll benefit from your experiences.

I've lived in London (South Ken). I'm American and no part of London ever felt dangerous. I felt comfortable (enough) all through the night on the streets, and would walk in what was considered the worst neighborhoods. Never a real hassle. Pfft. I wouldn't walk in my US neighborhoods after 8.

What's your field? Can you get work? Are you willing to work a second job to get yourself going? DON'T STOP YOUR EDUCATION YET. Consider living in London as a student for a more advanced degree. With fortification with educational credentials you'll always have a better chance at better work in areas you like or love.

The biggest issue other than your job is the expense of housing. If you're living in Bexley are you living the London life? But with transportation being good you can find affordable housing in Acton or Shepherd's Bush or Canada Water or any of a dozen other areas close enough. You can share housing to start, which can offer instant community and people with experience, unless you know people in the area already.

Now, to be honest the one part of living in London that always was a letdown was English people - Londoners. That may have been because I was American, always mistaken for being a German (?). Every time I met someone I liked, someone open or easy to know or less cynical or class-minded, the person turned out to be Scottish, Welsh or Irish (or Belgian, Swedish or Dutch). I had African, Caribbean and Pakistani acquaintances, and my best friend was a Scot. The veneer of "I'm a native Londoner" and "fucking tourists" and "where did you go to school?" was hard to crack, and I wasn't sure if it was worth the tap at times. But your experience will be different, I'm sure. Anonymity can be pleasant or a pain, depending on your mood. The crowds are manageable because living isn't "visiting."

Do it! But unless you're just taking a year to play it may be good to connect the experience to what you want to do in life, because that will give you a better opportunity to connect, thrive and perhaps stay.

OP this really doesn't require that much conversation. Yes. You SHOULD move to London. Now the only question ought to be where in London. That will depend on your job, your income, and your lifestyle. So stop asking should you, and start asking where should I live in London.

I’m surprised that no-one has mentioned relocating during a recession. Yes, London is great blah blah blah but unless you have a job lined up, it’s going be an absolute nightmare finding one. I know this through personal experience. Luckily, it worked out well for me in the end but I went through such a depressing period before making it.

Oh, it's the "I'm surprised" queen at R50 who feels the need to drop her job, not noticing that our dear OP is a year away from a decision and that we aren't charged with telling the bairn everything he needs to know about how to breathe.

The post is all about the lump, not about the topic. Me me me.

Just because you were stupid, R50, it doesn't mean you have to cunt around and act like you're doing it for anyone's good but your own little ear.

Rocketing nyaff.

[quote]What's your field?

OP has made it very clear it's PR!

You leave your tired family grieving, you think they’re sad because you’re leaving, but did you see the jealousy in the eyes of the ones who have to stay behind?

You will have to work on your London derriere.

[quote] I’m tired of London.

R46 is tired of life.

OP, I’d agree with one or two other people: avoid working in PR. Unless you’re a cunt, and surprisingly shallow. I have to deal with PRs and while this may just be a UK problem, they are mostly awful people, doing a dishonest, pointless job, overcharging clients for doing very little, and wasting the time of the people they contact on behalf of clients, with things of no relevance or interest. Over 90% of the calls/emails I get from PRs are irrelevant drivel. Find a better way to earn a living.

When it comes to where to live, a lot of central London isn’t going to be affordable, unless you find someone renting out a spare room in a council flat. A flatshare in Marylebone for example is likely to be £1000-1200 a month, for an average double room. So look for the less well known bits of the burbs; I wouldn’t want to be around Tooting Broadway late in the evening, even though the two markets have been reinvented as hip, youthful eating/drinking places. But less than a mile up the hill is Furzedown. Quieter, lots of green space (221 acres of common, an art deco lido, plus the Rec), 10-15 minutes walk to the tube, and maybe £550-650 a month for a room. London is full of ‘lesser known’ neighbourhoods, in north London there’s Alexandra Palace (‘Ally Pally’) - east of Muswell Hill, north of Hornsey - the same sort of price range as Furzedown, open space on your doorstep again, and again, public transport nearby. Just don’t rent a place that’s a tedious journey to/from a tube or rail station, or an impossible journey to wherever you work.

There’s rooms to let at 10 Rillington Place in Notting Hill. Ask to speak to Mr Christie.

'East London is very trendy and popular with gays. '

Agree. Dalston Superstore is the gay club at the moment. There are also plenty of music venues in the Hackney/Shoreditch area. This part of London is too expensive now for a recent graduate, though. That's why I suggested Edgware. You could also try Enfield or High Barnet.

More, please.

More London info, please.

[quote] What area has the least Muslims?

I think that was a joke, R40, but Golders Green and Stamford Hill - the Jewish areas. Stay away from Tower Hamlets.

*fewEST

[quote] I'm 19, from Scotland, originally the Highlands

Chan eil OP, tha Lunnainn cho grod agus teth!

I like Wapping and Blackheath. Greenwich can be nice too, if a bit touristy.

I lived in London 7 years. Originally I lived in Primrose Hill which was quite nice, but I wanted to be closer to work and theatres so I moved to a studio on Fetter Lane off Fleet Street.

I loved being centrally located even if I lived in a small studio. At least it was on the top floor and had views of the beautiful London Records building.

Obviously I suggest central London for a young gay man. Real estate agents will find you something you can afford, but it may be unusual or small or both.

I recommend Holland Park. Not on the outskirts, either. Not the [italic]edge[/italic] of Holland Park. The rich [italic]heartland[/italic] of Holland Park.