Londoners, how goes it?

I'm in leafy zone 4 and commute to The City. Crossing London Bridge this morning there were a lot more police officers (not sure if actual or special constables), no idea why but I doubt the announcement of this outfit was any coincidence.

For the most part, no one will ever see these scary dudes except when they're blasting up and down the river on exercises. After the Paris attack, I went to the England v France game at Wembley. I saw only a handful of extra police over a normal match, and only a couple of guys with guns, it was all done in a way that you don't really notice them. They are really good at that. Sometimes people feel less safe because there are guns around - after all, they wouldn't be there if it was safe!

Anyway... I've never felt unsafe because of the terror threat. I think I'm in the vast majority. I was on the tube the day after 7/7 along with tens of thousands of other commuters. Even on the day of the bombing, there was no panic that I witnessed. Londoners are excellent at ignoring stuff and getting on with things!

I don't feel unsafe in London per-se, but I am getting tired of all the crowds, noise and pollution now that I'm getting a bit older. Like you Dweenimus I live in Zone 6 and wouldn't want to live any closer really, for pretty much the same reason.

Also, if I'm ever going to be able to afford my own property, it certainly won't be possible in London, unless I win the lottery (which would be unlikely seeing as I don't play!).

My partner and I are planning to move out to Wales in the long term - lots of space, cheap property, beautiful scenery and nice people.

I'd totally move to Wales too. Maybe not now, but in the future. Really wouldn't want to bring up kids in London!

Grew up in Zone 6, now live in Zone 2, have lived in various places in London. I lived in Tottenham during the riots, the police car that got burnt out was at the bottom of my road. I've never felt unsafe in central London, and I've had so many issues in Zone 6 and beyond. Some of my best friends grew up in Zones 1 and 2, and I'll be bringing my kids up where I live now. I don't quite think I'd be able to cope in the countryside.

This is obviously just my opinion, I believe you can teach children how to do all the things you need to be able to do to live in the countryside, but you can't quite teach them the values of living with other people from all around the world and how to not be a Canoe quite as well as growing up in central London will teach them.

All this talk of zones feels very hunger games-esque.

I do agree with this to a point, and obviously teaching this to your kids is extremely commendable. But in all honesty I think that has far more to do with your own attitudes towards other cultures than where you live. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, as an only child, so my only interaction with other people was my friends at school (most of whom had parents who were typical small-town bigots). There was very little multiculturalism in my life. But my parents were always very positive about other cultures and races, and I think this is what rubbed off on me as I grew up, and consequently I felt very comfortable moving to London. In fact, meeting people from all over the world is one of the things I love most about London and something I will really miss when I eventually move away.