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Comment by dijit | Hacker News Reader

Unequivocally agree, my quality of life has dramatically increased (both in terms of accessible talent surrounding me at work, and having something more than a shoebox to live in) once I reminded myself that all I was doing in London was paying my admittedly sizable income to other people and saving barely anything.

Travel, expensive and required Rent, expensive and required Socialising, expensive and not required, but needed.

I used to cycle to remove the travel aspect but it's absurdly dangerous. I can't even begin to describe how much better my life is now- My girlfriend wants to go back but that's just because "London is the best place in the world", she can't even cite examples. It's just because it's well known and has landmarks I think.

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> My girlfriend wants to go back but that's just because "London is the best place in the world"

Exactly. My flatmate says this shit as well. He's someone who commutes 1.5hrs times two each day, and "London is the best place in the world". He doesn't do anything else with his life, because between a 9-5 and 3 hours of tube, the only thing you have energy for is watching tv.

I have come to the conclusion that people who say "London is the best place in the world" are small minded people disguising as worldly. My flatmate for example never lived anywhere else, but he knows London is "the best".

This is absolutely crazy to me. It takes 1.5 hours to commute from one side of London to another or does he live outside the city limits? How can you live INSIDE a city and endure such commute times.

It would be possible, for example living on the outskirts and working in a different outskirts.

I guessed a possible route, and stuck it in TfL's Journeyplanner: Uxbridge to West Croydon, takes 1½ hours now (22:00), a bit faster during the day, but add on some walking. (Driving is 70 minutes at night, probably closer to 1½ hours in the day.)

A journey like this would be uncommon, I doubt it's worthwhile for many people. And people living in the 90% of the city that's less-distant than either Uxbridge or Croydon will laugh, and say those places aren't "proper" London anyway.

London has fantastic arts, music, literary, theatre scenes, both contemporary and classical. Many of its venues, galleries and museums are world leading institutions. The science & tech research groups at its top universties are doing really exciting stuff. It's filled with extraordinary people and fascinating architecture. The food is amazing, some of the best chefs from Europe and SE Asia come here to work. Also, it has Kew Gardens.

Yes Brexit has put many of these things at risk and taken a shine off their appeal for many. And yes you have to be relatively rich to have a spacious, comfortable home here, to cushion yourself from the awful public transport, and to partake of all the delights on offer. But someone who's actually lived here and can't cite one example of London's special attraction is sleepwalking through life.

Have you been to the Science Museum or Natural History museum recently? We took the youngest 2 yrs ago and were deeply disappointed. They're but a neglected shadow of their former selves.

The Manchester Museum of science and Industry, part of the Science Museum group (though only since 2012), is a far more rewarding experience.

It's fine, I don't care about any of "fantastic arts, music, literary, theatre scenes, both contemporary and classical". I'm quite good at entertaining myself, I guess.

Seriously, don't bother moving to Berlin. The arts, music, nightlife and so on is the main reason most people move there.

Perhaps find somewhere quieter, like a small or mid-sized town, in Britain, Germany, or elsewhere.

I like cities, but don't like London, so, after a bit of travelling in Europe, I settled in Budapest. It has everything I like about being in a big city with almost none of the crap you get in London: great arts scene, festivals of one sort or another almost constantly, friendly people, excellent public transport, and, for a person who works remotely for an American company, housing is extremely inexpensive.

Have you ever been in Vienna? I'm asking because I absolutely love Vienna, and I was recently in Budapest, and it looks like Vienna but poor and decaying. It was a bit sad actually. I was wondering if anyone else has the same impression.

I think that's part of Budapest's charm. It is a little dilapidated and worn around the edges. But it's also a lot less expensive to live in than Vienna.

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