Moving out of London

Thanks for all the super interesting responses. I did live in Nottingham for 3 years at uni and would happily move back. I think that sort of sized city works well - plenty going on but easy to reach the countryside and none of your mates or your commute are gonna be more than 30 mins away.

Seems like house/rental prices in London and the resulting social change are making a lot of others feel similarly to me.

I don't want to come across like a massive snob and have no real idea what all the other UK cities were like 10 years ago, but I get the impression that the cultural advantages that London used to have are no longer so big. Maybe there's something in the idea that people leaving London have brought with them a taste for Korean food and craft beer and hipster bike shops and third wave coffee and nice little delis and sourdough bread etc etc etc - or maybe that's just the modern world and it's existed in other cities just as long as it has in London.

Think I'm gonna make the move as soon as I get the right job. In my field London dominates hugely in terms of quantity but there is at least a couple of appropriate jobs advertised at any one time in most cities.

I just can't shake the feeling that overall in the quality of life stakes, the arse end of zone 3 is far below eg. the New Town of Edinburgh or the posh bits of Bristol or the Lace Market in Nottingham - but it's still at least double the price.

Of course the more skilled/educated/rich/talented/interesting/wankers that do move out of London the better our economy can diversify and the more our whole country can thrive, rather than London hoovering up everything.

Psyched and a bit reassured to see so many people feel the same!