Why I Really Love London: 25 Reasons to Love London
10:06 AMThere are loads of things I love about living in London. The city is eclectic, a cosmopolitan metropolis stuffed to the brim with architecture and people, all jostling for their own bit of precious space in a city so vastly expansive but yet so crowded.
That’s how London feels to me. For all its flaws – the uncomfortably crowded tube journeys, the people who barge you out of the way, the dirty graffiti and the urine soaked phone boxes – I still wouldn’t know what to do if I lost my dirty, stinky, unwashed London socks in the laundry.
The two cities do not compare. Visiting the UK again I'm not even interested in visiting Manchester again despite those many years I lived there, but London visits are always welcome.
I suggest the below not quite random classifications;
1. Weather
2. Culture
3. Nightlife
4. People
5. Food
6. Transport
7. Surroundings
8. Cost
1. Weather in London
London; Milder than the north all year. The leaves tend to fall off the trees at least a month later in autumn. You tend to have a few summer days a year that are virtually Spanish in terms of temperatures.Manchester; The cliche is true, it rains a lot in Manchester. I've missed two whole summers where it was heavily overcast for six weeks right through the mid summer period. It gets depressing and over time became my main motivation for emigrating! (seriously!)
2. Culture in London
London; World class collections of art and antiquities, free to visit on your doorstep. Performing arts; theater and gigs galore. Great buildings and so many stories from the history of the place. There are few cities in the world that come even close.
Manchester; A few museums to satisfy perhaps 5 weekends in total. A few shows but really minimal. A relatively small selection for a biggish city. Some good gigs at The Arena.
3. Nightlife in London
London; It's not a city that never sleeps, but you can certainly go out every night if you wish. There are a heap of different areas offering their own social centres e.g. you can live in Islington and just go out there with plenty of choice. Plenty of good pubs too!
Manchester; Quieter mid week, but plenty of nightlife at the weekend. The city centre is split in a weird way by commercial buildings so you have two social centres; Deansgate and canal Street. They kind of meet at one end of the centre.
4. People in London
London; Big cities cause people to have a protective facade, so you're not running into people on the street and striking up lifelong friendships that much. However so many of the people are not from London or even Britain that through work, study, activities you are going to meet people in a more relaxed setting. I have lifelong friends in London despite no longer living there.
Manchester; It's friendlier up north, on a superficial level. I was shocked by the barriers that people put up in Manchester. It isn't the same as Liverpool, Leeds or Nottingham, where I've also lived. There's a hard streak and after 11 years and a little time away I have one friend in the Manchester area.
5. Foods in London
London; You name it, you can find it. If I want decent food in the UK London is the place to find it. You want Michelin stars? No problem. Decent pub food? Also fine.
Manchester; My wife is something of a foody, and that was a problem in Manchester. You can easily find the usual British cholesterol enhancing tasteless stuff. Good restaurants are more difficult. I liked El Rincon and some of the places in Chinatown. Some pubs outside the city do great Sunday Lunches, but in general, yuck.
6. Transport in London
London; HM Gov spends 2700 GBP per head on transport in London compared to 134 GBP in Manchester, and it shows. (Transport cash 'skewed to London') I chuckled in the tube station when people were complaining they had to wait 11 minutes for the next train. My service in Manchester was every forty minutes, and sometimes they were cancelled without notice.
7. Surroundings in london
London; The city itself takes up a big swathe of the South East, and it's surrounded by places where the life has been sucked into the centre. Still though, well connected by rail so easy enough to get out and see the coast or countryside. If you like hill walking though, forget it.Manchester; You have some great cities within easy reach. Liverpool and Leeds especially, and both worth seeing. You have countryside around you and the Lake District is an easy drive. Plenty of coastal resorts in easy reach too.
8. Cost- in London
London; The rents have been getting progressively crazier since I lived there. You're likely stuck with a flat share to afford it there now. Transport costs are cheap. Food and drinks can be obtained at decent prices. (There's a broad spectrum of incomes there and all are catered for.) That said, the more money you have the more of the stuff to enjoy you can actually do. Incomes are higher, so although you pay more the retirement savings they sock away for you are also higher. (Therefore if you intend to live there just a few years you're lining up a better retirement, plus all the benefits outlined elsewhere). Salary for comfortable living; 40-50kManchester; Cheaper than London however rents have also been increasing apace. Plenty of cheap food and drink. Perhaps 30% cheaper than London overall. Salary for comfortable living; 25-35k
Another thing while I was in Manchester
I've lived in Manchester and London, they both have advantages and disadvantages.Manchester is a lot smaller. Everything is just on a smaller scale. That's not necessarily a good or bad thing. Manchester is big enough and enough of an economic center that there's not much you won't find.
- The centre is quite similar to the West End of London. It has a Piccadilly, a Selfridges, a Harvey Nichols and a Chinatown as well as the obvious cinemas bars, restaurants and nightclubs.
- The 'Northern Quarter' is quite similar to Soho.
- The rest of the inner city is more similar to Camden or Archway.
- Salford Quays is similar to London Docklands.
- Didsbury is quite similar to Islington.
- South and West of Manchester you get the Cheshire countryside which is very similar to the Home Counties, but a lot closer to the centre of the city.
- North and East of Manchester you get the Pennine Hills, which have no real equivalent near London.
- House prices and rent are both a lot lower, other prices aren't that much different. Overall it's approximately 25-30% cheaper to live in Manchester.
- There's no underground in Manchester, just a (IMO not very good) tram. But as it's much smaller, it's far more practical to have a car or bike. Travel times are way lower.
- Manchester's university campus and 'student area' is huge and all together in one area.
- Nightlife is a bit quieter during the week in Manchester, but it's buzzing at the weekend.
- There isn't the sheer variety of restaurants in Manchester that there is in London, but it's still OK.
- Central Manchester lacks the parks that London has, but it's a lot easier to get into the countryside.
- The weather overall is worse in Manchester.
- It's a bit of a cliche, but people are more friendly outside London.
I have no idea what your answer should be, but it won't be a hard choice for you to make.
They are totally different beasts, like comparing somewhere like Philadelphia with New York, or Paris with Lille.
Don't for one moment think these cities have much in common. Sure Didsbury is a bit like Islington, in so far as they both have people with blonde kids, left leading intelligent types and nice trousers, but they are no in any way similar. Didsbury has media sales managers on 22K a year leasing out BMW 3series with their monthly bonuses, Islington has world famous writers, diplomats daughters and famous rock-stars.
London is Best City Ever to Live
If you want to live life in the middle, to get by, to be comfortable and to do sensible things Manchester if for you, but to really live life, there is no option in the UK except London.
You will either get to London and know you simply have to be there, you will see the many massive issues with living there, the expensive, the size, the scale, the disgusting living and commuting conditions and you will love it for the amazingness that outshines all of this. London is almost like being at the center of the world, it's home to the brightest, best, hardest working, most competitive, most interesting people around. London is a spectacularly stupid place to want to live, but for many they can't imagine being anywhere else. It's an abusive but amazing relationship.
Or you just won't get it it.
In which case Manchester is far far far far more sensible. It's a totally logical place to live, but for me, it's for those that gave up on their dreams and who take a trip to London once a year to reassure themselves they prefer it up North, and they do this with success each time.
There is no such thing as a comfortable salary, people vary way more than salaries do and comfort means different things to different people. On £25k a year in Manchester you can take your pic of any area in town, hang out in the best bars, own a car, join a nearby golf club, go to the nicest restaurants in town, and feel like a really "successful" person. Do feel the same in London you are not talking about earning 50% more, you are in a world of oligarchs and billionaires, you'd need ten times more. This doesn't mean people try to earn 10 times more but it does mean in London you change your view of what comfortable is. You accept that 50% of the city can't be lived in, that you will have to live with other people, that you won't own a car etc etc and for 30k you will have a comfortable life in a different way.
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