The test of a great city is this. Are you haunted with doubt as to whether you live in the right part of it? When in Islington, I think, “I should live here.” When in Soho, I think, “I should live here.” When in Chelsea, I think, “This isn’t so far from Marylebone. I should live there.” So off I go to Zoopla to assess my options, toying with the postcodes and price ranges as though fondling mangoes in a market for optimal ripeness. I have no intention of moving but regard endless choice as a birthright.
Clothes? Asos alone has 435 types of jeans in my size (imagine Temu). Entertainment? Almost all music that has been committed to record can be streamed for zero marginal cost. In 1990, the Sultan of Brunei didn’t have his whims indulged as swiftly as a middle-income person does now.