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@el_presidente
I lived in London from 1999 to 2012, started off in Kings X and ended up in Ealing having acquired a wife & 2 kids along the way.
We were lucky enough to have a 3 bed semi in Ealing and I used to cycle into the City every day for work. I'd never considered moving until one day my wife said "do you realise what sort of house we could get for the same money if we moved out of London??"
The scales fell from my eyes, we researched a few places and fairly quickly moved to a house in a small village outside High Wycombe. I will admit I was apprehensive (no mates, commute will be a pain, nothing to do) but it has been the best thing we ever did.
I do still commute in, it is not cheap but I cycle at both ends (i.e. home to station, station to office). It takes longer than the Ealing to City cycle but not excessively though. Once you're used to it it's fine, and I am luck enough to be able to work from home occasionally.
the payoff though for this minor inconvenience is massive. In no particular order:
Massive back garden, garage etc
I can see the Chiltern hills out of my kitchen window
My 6yr old plays in the park unsupervised & I don't worry for a moment
Kid's school has class sizes of about 15. Massively beneficial to their education
Our village has a local pub that is 10 times better than any pub in London. great food, live music every Sat night
Great cycling on doorstep
Very easy to make friends
No traffic jams
I could go on.
I realise my positives are very kid-centric, but the whole thing has paid off for us massively.