Moved down to London in 2000 (before that I was in Leicester, Durham and Liverpool) - and my first chunk of years were around Kingston upon Thames (Surbiton, Old Malden). Then I moved east to share with a friend in Forest Gate (bleurgh) and then rented a room in Motspur Park, so back in my old neck of the woods.

However I found out about Forest Hill about 3 years ago and liked the village-y feel, so when it was time to rent a place of my own again, last summer, I finally made it here. So glad I did - good transport connections (though at the same time I changed jobs to work in Paddington, so couldn't be further away, really!), an interested community, lots of nice cafés and places to eat out... I'm in my early forties but single and childless. A lot of places in SW London are very family-focussed - it's all about the semis and the schools, and there's not much else in the neighbourhood. Whilst I know from what I read on this forum that those things matter here too, and I encounter a reasonable amount of yummy-mummy-ness here, I also don't feel out of place here as someone more interested in food and drink and things to do that don't revolve around children. I like that Forest Hill suits lots of different types of people for lots of different reasons.

The only other place I'd consider would be Surbiton again, but it's phenomenally expensive there (always was), so despite my (still SW living) best friend's constant nagging at me to come back, I doubt that will happen.

Sad I can't afford to buy here now, but have realised that my priority is to live somewhere I like rather than having a mortgage (had one before and it all went horribly wrong with subsidence and a pretty hopeless management company). So I expect I'll stay put for some time to come :-)