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Where I live is a pretty good reflection of a lot of things about me, some of which I hope are permanent, some of which definitely aren't. It's not like I deliberately tried to move to the most central place possible, but when that option presented itself, I didn't have to think twice, even though there are things about the place I live that I'm not so keen on and which other people would probably find actively off-putting. Location trumped it all for me when I moved in almost two years ago, and it's still great in that respect... however, I was single and rootless when I first moved in, and now I've got this weird, unexpected urge to settle down a little, and I wouldn't mind a place just big enough for me & she to wallow in domestic bliss...
I think E Randy has a point, though: for example, right now I often find myself thinking "sure, I'd like more space and a nice garden, but that's for a later time in my life, when that kind of thing is more important to me than living centrally" - now, this is 'true' in one sense, but it is also a rationalisation, and a self-fulfilling prophecy, because if and when I have more space and a nice garden - no matter how arbitrarily this circumstance arises - I will probably sit down and think "ah yes, now I am at the time in my life when I need a garden and soem more space".
But anyway, the advantages: I go through long phases without ever having to use the tube (seriously, I can avoid it for a month at a time sometimes), because everywhere I go tends to be accessible by a short bus journey. Or on foot - in the summer, I tend to walk a lot, and that's great too. The fact that King's Cross is very urban (in the literal sense) suits me just fine. 24 hour living (net cafe, shops) just a minute down the road. Decent enough local less than a minute down the road, so central that I can persuade friends from further afield to meet there. The reassuring buzz of city noise at night. Handy trains to Brighton and other places... (I wrote something about KX for a zine I was going to make, will have to dig that out.)
I know that some of this is very much personal taste, and will seem odd to some. I'm afraid that people who live in London of their own free will and proceed to spend a large amount of time complaining about it get very short shrift from me: I grew up in a small town in the Midlands, and Londoners sometimes don't know when they've been born... I always feel like pointing out that there is still plenty of room in Derbyshire. (One thing I can't stand in particular is the whole "ooh, it's a bit rough round there, isn't it?", although this is unlikely to come from born and bred Londoners unless they're from Chelsea, which doesn't really count - *ptoo!* - I used to get this when I lived in Whitechapel too...) |
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