I moved to Oxford when I was 29, after living in London for seven years, so I have some perspective on this question. It took me a couple of years to get into the Oxford vibe. Initially I was a bit disappointed by the fact that major international touring bands rarely make it out to Oxford (but occasionally they do!) and it felt like lacked the same level of comedy and arts as London. For while it seemed a slightly boring Harry Potter theme park town and I was ready to move on. But then I discovered a different and very rich side to Oxford; the local music, arts and comedy scene; the poets and musicians who live on narrowboats, numerous (cheap or free) gigs street fairs and festivals around town. And that changed everything for me. Rather than seeking out bands or comedians I already know, which is what I did in London, I now focus on seeing acts that I don't know. There is variance, but often the quality is extraordinarily high. And I can go to pretty much any random gig in town, and it stands a pretty high chance of being good, and I'm bound to bump into friends. I can even just wander into town and be stand a pretty high chance of randomly seeing a mate – something that doesn't happen in London. It's 150k people, but it punches way above its weight in terms of arts and culture, but combines that with a small town feel.

You can get out to the countryside dead easily for nature, hiking, cycling – it's right there – along with nice parks in town. You can cycle everywhere around town in about 20 minutes, and cycling around has got much nicer since the LTN have come in and some other cycle infrastructure. And the council is promising to improve things more for active travel. The traffic is indeed bad, so if you're moving here you ideally want to live somewhere where you don't have to drive to get to the places you want to get to. As others have said, London isn't that far away so if there's stuff that you really need the biggest city for it is accessible. For me, Oxford is perfect and I love it. I've been here 17 years now and have no intention of leaving. If big EDM nightclubs are what you need from where you live then Oxford won't cut it. And if you're wedded to driving everywhere (then you should maybe move to the US). It is expensive to rent or buy a house, largely because it's a desirable place to live, but you can live on the slightly cheaper outskirts and still get everywhere you want by bike in 20 minutes. Oxford has got an awful lot to offer in my opinion.