Feeling like I am doomed to live in suburbia forever

[Boris Sprinkler]

Alternatively go.
Go somewhere completely different that scares you.

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

And when that becomes apparent as too much to bear, come back and try and figure out what bothered you in the first place.
Replace desire with preference.

 

[moomoo]

getting stabbed because you live in a city klaxon!

The local high street has been closed at least twice since I’ve been here because of stabbings and my shop is regularly robbed by people who may or may not have knives. I think I have a valid fear that I never had before.

 

[cesare]

I dunno man. Have you met the city? I just don't know if that is a thing.

I lived in the City for 20 odd years and it was quiet, virtually silent.

 

[story]

The local high street has been closed at least twice since I’ve been here because of stabbings and my shop is regularly robbed by people who may or may not have knives. I think I have a valid fear that I never had before.

Okay, I think it’s just a different way we have of contextualising this stuff.

I’ve been within hearing distance (and once within ducking distance) of three bombs and countless bomb scares, but never felt like I was going to be bombed. There have been stabbings mugging and shootings on the streets I live in, the shop I work in has been held up at gun point, and there is further crime of all kinds including police shootings and gun sieges, murders, rapes etc in my neighbourhood and I don’t feel personally threatened by any of it.

Earthquakes, on the other hand…. I’ve been in three and I’d never ever live anywhere where there was any risk of earthquake.


Eta
So it’s perceived threat rather than real threat.

 

[Eivets Rednow]

Eivets Rednow
If I were wanting to move into London and start a new life right now I’d choose a locality that has its own downtown and village thing going on. Definitely not Kensington, which has always been a dead zone culturally unless you’re rich and like rich-people culture. For me, it would have to be a place that’s not dominated by white people, on the Tube system, independent shops and eating places some local music, a market, a decent public park etc. So basically, Brixton. Peckham is good but transport can be tricky. Camberwell is alright. I’d consider Greenlanes too.

Would you be renting or buying? Either way London is fantastically overpriced. One of the reasons I’d never move out is because it would be double-difficult to ever move back.

Hello, thank you for your questions. My fantasy is Kensington because that is where I travel through whenever I get the National Express home. I imagine I am going out for dinner in Kensington with the locals in their sparkling cafes. I used to spend a fair amount of time in Kensington a few years ago and it is quite homely to me even if I’ve never had a home there.

I totally get what you’re saying though and in reality I’ll never have the 10 million pounds I would need for a Central West London flat. There is no way I would be able to buy in London right now by myself. If I coupled up in the next couple of years then it’s something I could consider but a lot would need to adjust with my ex and his geography for our childcare arrangements to work. Not impossible to resolve.

However in my future fantasy I would be earning loads of money from a lucrative business and would be able to afford spontaneity and to go wherever the wind blows me. And that would mean enough money to resolve discrepancies in geography, etc.

I would love to be in a position where I didn’t need to worry about renting/buying. Buying is cheaper in places that the National Express drops to….

 

[VivaE]

I've never lived in suburbia, never would, never could.

Absolutely loved every single bit of central London city life, now loving every single bit of rural Irish coastal life. Both giving me the same albeit different rush and lust for life.

Sorry, just to add, no offence intended to suburbanites or surburban life, just that I grew up in the absolute middle of nowhere Ireland, did and loved the London city life, but the call of the wild (Northumbrian and Atlantic coasts in my case) has always had the much stronger claim on me. I'm back to where I belong, I guess. With my Northumbrian.

 

[Skim]

Currently in zone 3, which is suburban-ish but still feels central enough. I like it here, but have been wanting a change.

Next year, we’re planning to sell up in London and move to a small village of 400 people, with no pub or public transport.

I love London and have been here all my adult life. But now I want something completely different: lots more time outdoors, being closer to the coast, fewer people around me.

 

[Rebecca Riot]

I live here.

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Public transport is shit to the point of non-existence, stuff is generally more expensive, the kids all move away the first chance they get, it rains a lot, but it's home to me.

I grew up in suburbia. Not so bad, but I guess I didn't know what I was missing...

Couldn't agree more.

I grew up in Essex suburbia, moving to the Welsh countryside when I was 21 and have never looked back.