[osullivj]

I lived in London for 12 years, and earned good money working in banking. I loved it for all the reasons you spelled out. But then the financial crisis happened, the banks started firing people, we got burgled three times in one year, and I got mugged at knifepoint. We moved out to the countryside where our kids could go to good state schools and found that they stopped having asthma attacks. I earn less money, but I'm much less stressed.

[lmm]

It's worth saying that despite what one hears in the media, both burglary and knife crime are continuously falling.

But sure. I think age, kids and general lifestyle make a lot of difference; for a lot of people London delivers more of what you want when you're young, but the countryside is better as you grow older and your priorities change.