As someone born in London, after living in and visiting a number of areas in London during my early childhood, and in my late teens and early twenties I decided to move to Putney just over forty years ago: good transport links, plenty of green spaces, next to the river, good pubs and, in those days, a reasonable high street - plus it was still affordable then. Could I live elsewhere? Well, decisions are always a compromise: I enjoyed a year in South Ken and another in Pimlico when I was a student, but price wise outside of my budget; Copenhagen, Athens, San Francisco, Dublin, Berlin, etc are great places (I'm a city person, I didn't like my early teen years in Essex which was country meets commuter belt) but job, friends, family, etc (inertia?) have and will likely keep me in Putney ... although Edinburgh's a great city too if, possibly in the future, one were seeking political asylum from another Johnson government :-)Yes, the shopping is now more limited (although East Putney has three local supermarket chains that open long hours, I guyess all the estate agents indicate a healthy property market, and I've nothing against coffee shops), some of the development decisions are perhaps perverse, and the high street's polluted but that's not limited to PHS and is why we need London initiatives like ULEZ plus more trees and plants, while online shopping and banking has hit many high street shops across the UK so that's not just Putney.So on balance, Putney's still a great place to live ... just needs a few vegan restaurants like north/east London!
Michael Ixer ● 1549d