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Why? Not doubting, just curious. You didn't really explain your claim.
Incredible climate (almost never too hot or too cold, very few days are below 40 or above 80 degrees) if mediocre weather (although if you're wealthy you can use the vastly more generous UK vacation time head south a few times over the most depressing November-February period).
Incredible greenery in Central London with huge urban 'royal' parks that are immensely well-kept like Regents and Hyde Park, and unlike most cities so many streets are tree-lined with tall trees that have been there for a hundred years, often with beautifully kept garden squares kept for residents.
Local government in wealthy neighborhoods are flush with cash because of the UK's system of local government funding (largely property taxes from businesses, which aren't redistributed, so single streets in Westminster or Kensington generate more tax revenue than entire poor counties in the North of the UK) and generally not overrun with wokeness like city councils in big US cities, so the streets are usually very clean, swept every day, very little garbage piles up, no awful smells like NYC or Paris.
Very few homeless people and those there are are the quaint kind of Kurdish migrant family or military veteran wino/addict rather than fentanyl monsters like in San Francisco, so you can walk around even at night with very little risk.
Few towering skyscraper canyons like Manhattan outside two specific neighborhoods, extensive beautiful old architecture, gorgeous white stucco Georgian houses with very high ceilings to live in.
Many of the best restaurants and bars in the world of every imaginable cuisine.
Many of the world's best private schools, the best symphony orchestras, one of the top-2 best arts and culture scenes in the world next to NYC (and depending on your tastes possibly the best), great gyms and spas, really every possible service someone wealthy could want because of the density of wealth.
Generally excellent and clean subway system not beset by the homeless or other criminal elements that connects wealthy residential neighborhoods with the London's business districts in the City and Canary Wharf quickly and with trains every one or two minutes during commuting times.
Very safe in wealthy residential neighborhoods at night, low property crime rate by standards of US urban core, extremely little violent crime (typically about 100 homicides a year in a city of 10 million, compared to 435 even in NYC, which is very safe by US standards and which has a slightly smaller population).
Excellent connections to continental europe by plane and train, a wide diversity of popular professions, and a generally functioning and ordered administration by the standards of major western cities.
Note, the above is at least partially restricted to the neighborhoods real estate agents would call 'prime central London' (Chelsea, Kensington, Mayfair, Marylebone, Notting Hill/Holland Park, Belgravia, a few other places close to the above, and then some inner suburbs like Hampstead Village and St John's Wood).
I largely agree, London seemed quite nice in my experience. I wouldn't have nearly the same qualms about living there if I could also keep the analogous US salary. Unfortunately that's not really feasible as far as I know.
My girlfriend really wants to settle there, whereas I look at our bedraggled finances and find Manchester is just rich enough for my blood.
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