5 Disadvantages Of Living In London
Okay, so wherever you live in the world there is going to be some drawbacks. But actually, when you look at the various disadvantages of living in London, they can actually be thought of as a good thing. After all, if everywhere in the world were the same there would be no point in moving from your home country in the first place.
So let’s take a look at 5 disadvantages of making London your home, and the things you can do to overcome them.
It’s incredibly crowded
It’s a great city, so naturally lots of people want to live here. But then, you wouldn’t choose to live in a city if you didn’t want to be in close proximity to lots of other people.
But one of the great things about being in such a popular city is that there’s a great police force – and London is one of the safest cities in which to live on the planet.
The traffic is awful
Yep, it has to be said that the traffic congestion in London is pretty intense. But think about it. This means that there has to be an awesome public transport system to allow everyone to get around 24/7.
There’s buses, the Tube system, overground trains, Santander bikes… The list goes on. And what it means is that when you live in London there’s absolutely no need to have a car. That’s a pretty big overhead and one that you’ll save a whole heap of money by not needing to own one.
With the introduction of all night tubes becoming a reality, you can save on the ridiculously high cost of petrol, and simply use the tubes and buses to get pretty much everywhere in the city.
There’s constantly aircraft flying overhead
London has 5, yes – you read that correctly, 5 airports. Heathrow, Gatwick, City, Stansted and Luton. Although if we’re honest, you can only really count Heathrow and City as being in London (and Heathrow is still a few miles outside.
Now that’s a lot of airports, and naturally it means that there’s a huge amount of air traffic. But to be honest, once you’ve been there for a few weeks, the noise pales so much that you don’t even notice it. And the good thing about having so many airports is that it always means that there are loads of options to jump on a plane and visit somewhere else.
It’s really easy to get to both Heathrow and Gatwick airports, thanks to the Heathrow Express train that runs from Paddington Station and the Gatwick Express that leaves from Victoria. For Stansted and Luton there are fast and constant buses that will take you there. And for City, you simply need jump on the Docklands Light Railway.
In addition, various cheap airlines such as Ryanair and Easy Jet offer some storming deals, so heading to exotic places within Europe and beyond needn’t cost the earth either…
Just imagine, breakfast in London, lunch in Barcelona, or Paris, or Madrid or Milan. There are so many awesome places less than a 2-hour plane ride away. And to ring the changes, the Eurostar train heads off to Europe right from the centre of town, from the immense and superb St Pancras Station – definitely the answer to a much needed break from work…
It rains… A lot!
Ah, the British weather. There’s a reason it’s on the lips of everyone who lives in London. Because here the weather changes at the drop of a hat. And yes – it does rain a lot. But you’ll soon get the hang of having an umbrella with you at all times.
And to be honest, it soon becomes a part of life that you don’t even think about. After all, there has to be a reason that Britain is known as a ‘green and pleasant land’ – it’s because it gets watered so regularly.
But just because there is a lot of rain, don’t ever doubt that London also has some wonderful weather. Summertime in the city is glorious, with temperatures regularly hitting more than 80 degrees on occasion. And when it does, it’s time to hit one of London’s wonderful parks for a walk, picnic, bike ride or whatever it is that you do to relax.
And you can even swim in places such as Hyde Park, where the Serpentine Lake has a public swimming area to enjoy.
The cost of living is expensive
OK, undoubtedly London is not the cheapest place in the world to live. But when you compare it to other European cities, such as Paris, it’s pretty much on a par.
And naturally, the wages are higher in London than other parts of the UK to counteract the higher prices. You may hear this referred to as ‘London Weighting’. This is basically an increase in wages for those living in the London area. For example, a paramedic, teacher or nurse working in Central London will get a higher wage than those living in other areas of the UK.
But there are ways that you can make living in London more affordable. Living slightly less central is one way, perhaps choosing to live in an area such as Brixton, Walthamstow, Hackney, Maida Vale, Camden…
All of these are less expensive than areas such as Notting Hill, Fulham, Chelsea and Kensington. Plus the wonderful transport system means that it’s no effort to get into the centre of the city for work or play. In fact, the areas mentioned above have become pretty sought after in their own right, with wonderful shops, restaurants, cafes and leafy, quiet residential areas in which to lay your hat.
All of the above may well seem to be disadvantages of living in London when you first hear them. But actually, there’s always a positive to every negative – and for the chance to live and work in one of the most exciting cities in the world, they really are a small price to pay.