“Every decade has its city,” wrote Piri Halasz in Time magazine in April 1966. “Today, it is London, a city steeped in tradition, seized by change, liberated by affluence, graced by daffodils and anemones, so green with parks and squares that, as the saying goes, you can walk across it on the grass. In a decade dominated by youth, London has burst into bloom.”

Bazaar and The Beatles are long gone, but the sense that London is the place to be for young people remains: 20 per cent of the population of inner London is made up of people aged 20 to 29, and the volume of young people flocking to the capital is so extreme that it’s stunting economic growth in the North of England. London, clearly, is in no danger of being unable to attract significant numbers of young people.

But there are signs that living in London – and other big cities – is no longer quite as attractive as it once was. In places like Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and London the share of the population aged between 18 and 34 has been shrinking, while a recent poll found that almost half of 18 to 24-year-olds living in London plan to leave within the next ten years. It’s not a trend confined to the UK, either: in China, droves of young people are moving to remote areas and embracing ‘hermit living’, while Gen Z Americans are also relocating to the Great Plains and Mountain West in search of a simpler life.

25-year-old Jack recently moved out of Brixton and back to Shropshire where his family live. “The cost of living in London has gone up massively and having watched a couple of my former roommates and friends look for places, I’m glad I avoided that palaver,” he says. “Plus, the opportunity to buy my own place is much more realistic here than in London.”

It’s clear the cost of living crisis and rising property prices have made many young people in the UK reconsider living in city centres. “The rising cost of rent is the main reason many young people want to leave London and other larger cities,” explains Conor O’Shea, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Generation Rent. “The continuing increase in rental costs is putting real pressure on the finances of young renters, including limiting the ability to save for a mortgage deposit, and so it is understandable that young renters feel compelled to move wherever the cheapest rent is.” In some cases, ‘choice’ hardly comes into it; research published in October 2023 found that rising rents and benefit cuts over the last decade have resulted in low-income renters being forced out of cities.

At present, many young people in cities like London are spending a significant chunk of their income on rent, often just to live in a dingy house share without a living room. “A lack of space can have a massive negative impact on a young renter’s mental health,” says O’Shea. “It can cause anxiety and depression that have a wider impact on a person’s day-to-day life.” Jack explains that he felt emotionally spent while living in London. “I’d run out of energy for living in London,” he tells Dazed. “It’s the greatest city in the world, but I was no longer finding fulfilment in being there and wanted to spend my time more in the countryside and doing the things I love.”

“I think for a lot of people, life is just so full-on, so the thought of escaping to the countryside, a simple life, a slow-paced life, is appealing” – Niamh Mackinnon

We also have a decidedly different attitude towards work and life than generations past. Generally, young people prioritise security over all else, and are happy with ‘good enough’ jobs rather than pursuing more money or power. “We live in a world obsessed with speed, with cramming more and more into every second. The net effect is racing through life instead of living it,” explains Carl Honoré, author of In Praise of Slow: How A Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed. “It’s no surprise that young people are looking at the roadrunner lifestyle on offer and opting instead for something less frantic, slower and more fulfilling.”

Niamh Mackinnon, 21, is a student and content creator from the Isle of Skye whose videos documenting her slow-paced, rural lifestyle have amassed millions of views. One ‘day in the life’ video, which features Niamh curling up with a book in front of a roaring fire, baking banana bread, and wild swimming in the sea, has been watched over 7.4 million times. Most viewers in the comments section are, understandably, green with envy. “I think the majority of my comments are people saying ‘this is my dream life’ or some variation on that,” Niamh says. “I think for a lot of people, life is just so full-on, so the thought of escaping to the countryside, a simple life, a slow-paced life, is appealing.” 

Jack adds that his desire to be around green, open space was also a big factor in his decision to move. “I’m hugely into getting outdoors, so the idea of being back in the hills and where I belong stuck out to me,” he says. “Modern life is so busy and stressful for most people, whereas my lifestyle is very slow paced and calm,” Niamh continues. “I think that’s why my videos have been so popular – especially among young people, as I think there’s a lot of pressure to be ‘doing the most’. But my videos hopefully show that you don’t need to be ‘doing the most’ to be happy or content.”

This chimes with what Honoré has observed. “Young people no longer want the workaholic grind of yesteryear. They want to do good things in the world but without sacrificing their health, morals, dreams or soul on the altar of speed,” he says. “That’s why they are demanding or designing careers that let them slow down and enjoy life.”

Of course, living in the countryside is far from perfect. It’s often difficult for people living outside cities to find secure, fulfilling work – Jack says he’s “lucky” that he was able to keep his London-based job and work remotely from Shropshire, while Niamh says she had to “kiss goodbye” her dream of becoming a dancer while growing up on Skye. Niamh also flags that it’s increasingly expensive to live somewhere like Skye, with the tourism industry driving up rents and house prices, and that without an established network of friends and family it’s likely newcomers could feel isolated. But one thing is clear: many young people are opting out of the rat race – and are so much happier for it.

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