[DrNuke]

London? Manchester is equally viable for business, Bristol has better quality of life and Edinburgh is top for arts. Each for 1/3 - 1/2 of the cost. Even cheaper is Birmingham, and strategically located in the West Midlands. Who needs the rat race in London if you work with computers?

[henson]

I would agree about Bristol (not that I disagree with the others, I just don't know them that well). I studied there and it is a good compromise between active industry and the laid-back West Country attitude. Working self-employed from London allows me to sidestep the rat-race to some extent however, whilst enjoying a great tech scene and good transport connections.

[oesmith]

I'm looking forward to Google opening an office in Bristol. Until then, I'm stuck on a daily commute from Bath to London.

The commute sucks, but I couldn't stand living in London (nor SF or the bay for that matter).

[lmm]

Google's offices at Victoria? I can understand wanting to live outside London, but surely there are optinos that would at give you a shorter commute - Caterham? Epsom? Dorking? Sevenoaks? Brighton even?

[laurencerowe]

Manchester is a great place to live, but the UK is so London-centric finding interesting non-remote work there was a challenge. The BBC opening a big office there did help though.