Why should I live in London? 

• Location: It takes 5-7 hours to the east coast, 8-10 to India, 10-12 to west coast of the USA and furthest Africa. And two hours on the train to Paris! The "Prime Meridian"

• Food: For most long-term expats, food is often the sore point. Lack of easy access to food we like or prefer can make adjusting much harder. In London, however, all kinds of food and foodstuffs for cooking are easy to find. Eating out regularly was an expensive endeavour a few years ago, but now fresh and good food of various kinds can be had affordably. Within spitting distance, one can find food as diverse as north African, Argentinian, Indian, French, Italian, Vietnamese etc. If Michelin starred fare is more your thing, then London offers plenty of those too.

• Fashion: London Fashion Week. Bond Street. New Bond Street. And quirky stores in Mayfair, Sloane Square. And the average Londoner is often turned out in a manner that is stylish, yet not copied off a magazine. Fashion in London is at once a street art, a serious business pursuit and a thing of plain visual pleasure.

• History, Culture and Intellectual Opportunities: Resident collections in all our art galleries and museums are free to view. Hardly any music artist bypasses London for concerts to launch their new albums and we have some great venues to host them (from Earl's Court to the Royal Albert Hall). We even have a museum in a house that was used both by Handel and Hendrix, not at the same time, obviously [1]. Theatre, musicals, ballet, classical and modern dance, operas all jostle for space in one's summer calendar. Although bookstore chains are dying pretty much everywhere else, some of our best Indie stores continue to thrive - including Daunt and Foyle's. Accordingly we have author events galore, not to mention some of the most engaging well-curated book collections on display. Superb talks at the various learned societies and at the many Universities and schools around London, and at paid fora such as Intelligence Squared will keep you busy through the year. Why, a friend once conducted an experiment whereby he managed to have pizza and free beer every evening for a few months just by attending start-up events. That reminds me to mention the vibrant start-up culture in the east of London - which is a moving feast of London's history.

• Nature: Good walks in the woods [2] and some treks can be had within easy distance of London. Friends here are regular hikers and find plenty to keep them interested.

• Londoners: While having a reputation for being somewhat rude and standoffish, Londoners can boast of having amongst them some of the most talented writers, thinkers, artistes, actors, opinion formers. It is inspiring to live in an environment that constantly challenges you to engage and raise your game. No matter what your game is. And yet on any given day, you could hear more than a dozen languages being spoken on the tube or on the street. It is diverse and yet somehow has a dominant culture of its own.

• And London is tiny. And walker-friendly. One can walk - indeed one must walk - all over town to see the city in its glory without needing to get on a bus or in a taxi (although we do both often). You will come across large open green spaces (like Hyde Park, Regent's Park, Hampstead Heath) and blue plaques [3] where you least expect them. An average building in London has more history packed in it than entire counties and cities elsewhere might. I can't speak for others but for me it does put life in perspective. The river Thames is majestic at the best of times and walking along it, one can see the city in its glory.