Quote:
Originally Posted by deneb78
I don't much like big cities but London is one of the few I could see myself living in provided I had enough £. I would certainly much prefer it over Toronto.
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London has been my dream since my high school days in Joburg, South Africa. In fact Canada too was my dream as I had friends who either lived in Vancouver / Toronto for a couple of years or they had families that lived there.
I accomplished and experienced living in Toronto from 2011 - 2015, and was very fortunate to apply for immigration and therefore obtain my PR status. However now that I am living in London, I am SOOO happy to be here that I wish I made the move years ago when most of my friends from SA were living here. Most of them are back in Joburg.
I absolutely love London - it is for me just SOO much bigger and more energtic than Toronto (and I lived downtown so I see the huge difference). People are generally very happy and friendly here, and there is just so much going on that one can never get bored.
Will I return to Toronto? Nah, not sure...so far I am extremely satisfied living here. Also I have EU citizenship so therefore this allows me to live + work here for the next couple of years, until the laws relating to BREXIT are implemented. Although and from talking to several Brittish, I don't believe they can kick out the European citizens who are already settled here and are working. That would require hald or more of the working force in London to disappear, as there are just so many Spanish, Italians, French, Greeks working here in well-paid jobs.
Is London expensive? Only accomodation + public transport is more expensive than in Toronto. However I would say that most of London realtor market is made up of rentals, with many families renting houses (leaving the ownership to the upper middle class or obviously older money). With respect to the public transport - it is a well known fact the public transport is absolutely brilliant here, and hardly any professional working in The City actually drives to the office. Groceries are significantly cheaper (particularly at Aldo which is a German supermarket chain - all groceries are significantly cheaper there than in any supermarkets in Toronto). Also clothes prices are very comparable to Toronto prices. Its very commong to find tops, sweaters going for 10 Pounds or so. However I chose quality over quantity and therefore usually stick to Italian and French boutiques (last time I did major shopping was in Paris).
Anyway there is areason why millions of people move to London to study or work each year. It simply is an amazing city to be in. Would I live anywhere else? Only Paris or New York.
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