Introduction

On April 22 2024, I left my home of 5 years in Los Angeles, and moved to London. I wanted to share my thoughts around why I moved, how the two cities better, and why London is so amazing.

..Why?

Well, it’s a bit complex. TLDR - I wanted a change of scenary, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend the next decade in the USA.

To go into it a bit further, the situation of Indians in the USA is pretty dire. The greencard wait is ~100 years, and I don’t think I’m smart enought to go through the other routes. For me, there were 2 choices

• Continue living as is, and figure it out later.
• Move out somewhere else with a more long term outlook.

Given that I was geting married, my friends were moving out of LA, I was leaning heavily towards the latter option. The final straw was when I was unfortunately made redudant in March of 2025. I packed up my bags, and left on April 22, 2024.

Aren’t the salaries in the UK much lower?

Yes. They are. Without a doubt. But the USA is the outlier, not the norm.

So…what’s different?

A lot, but also not a lot? IMO, the two biggest difference are weather and public transport.

Lets talk about the weather in London. Is it rough? Yes.
Is it as rough as I thought? Not really. I partly felt this way because LA itself was getting colder. In fact, it had one of its coldest days in the last 24 years.

The other aspect of bad weather is how you dress. In London, you know it’s going to be cold, so you are equipped with cashmere sweaters, puffer jackets and woolen scarves (thanks UNIQLO).
Whereas in LA, its almost T-shirt weather, or just a tad colder.
Not too cold to wear multiple layers, not too hot to be without a few hoodies. LA has the best weather in the world IMO, so this was a pretty uneven contest to begin with.

Public transport is the next big difference. Calling it a “difference” is being very generous to LA. Forget about the sheer vastness of TFL (Transport for London), the number of different lines, and the feeling of not being dependent on a car - all those are great. But what sets it apart is who is using it.

The few times I’ve used it, I felt unsafe - and this was during the busiest times of the day. Some stations are populated by the homeless, and I wouldn’t recommend using the metro after a certain point in the night. Buses were alright near UCLA, but I would attribute that to broke college student not having any other means of transportation.

What do you miss?

I miss the LA coffee shop scene. I miss the vast expanse that is Koreatown. I miss the t-shirt weather. I miss being able to either go the beaches in Malibu, or skiing in Big Bear.

But 6 months in, I think London fits into my idea of an Ideal city.