From driving everywhere to not at all!

Erika, if it makes you feel better, I wouldn't step foot on a DART bus or walk around Dallas at night alone, but I felt much safer in London. You will be fine. 

I live in a fairly rural part of Scotland, so I have a car, but if I lived in London I wouldn't even consider it, as it's more of a hassle than it's worth driving down there. Even after dark there are tons of people everywhere, and public transport is busy and pretty safe as long as you don't act blatantly stupid like letting your wallet stick out of your handbag or walk down dark alleys with headphones in. I felt safer in London than in Cincinnati.

I LOVE not driving!!! And I used to LOVE driving... In the US I've lived in the country (where you had to have a car) and LA (where driving sucks but still most people have cars). 

I love being able to walk anywhere I need to go, and I've just started talking the bus too, which has been super easy.

Trust me, it may be weird to you at first, but you'll love being able to walk everywhere, or take the Tube.  IMHO, the Tube is one of the best public transport options I've ever been on (including NYC subway, Atlanta MARTA, etc etc).  I also think it's by far one of the cleanest. 

Public transport is much more convenient here also, especially in London, since towns and cities tend to be so condensed I've never really had a long bus ride, subway ride, etc.  When I lived in LA it would take an hour to get to work that was 8 miles away because everything was so spread out.

You will be fine.

Erika, if it makes you feel better, I wouldn't step foot on a DART bus or walk around Dallas at night alone, but I felt much safer in London. You will be fine. 

Haha, if you think about it, Dallas is pretty dodgy. If you can survive there, you can survive in London

Yes Dallas does have a pretty high crime rate.  I think I was just having a freak out moment yesterday hehe!  As far as the comfortable shoes thing, I learned that lesson during my visit. I tried to wear these really cute thong heels, yeah bad idea.  They broke mid walk to his grandparent lol!!  We had to go home so I could put on my sneakers.  I am really exctied now that you guys have reassured me of how safe it is.  I am ready for this next big milestone in my life!  Woohoo!

Yes Dallas does have a pretty high crime rate.  I think I was just having a freak out moment yesterday hehe!  As far as the comfortable shoes thing, I learned that lesson during my visit. I tried to wear these really cute thong heels, yeah bad idea.  They broke mid walk to his grandparent lol!!  We had to go home so I could put on my sneakers.  I am really exctied now that you guys have reassured me of how safe it is.  I am ready for this next big milestone in my life!  Woohoo!

Don't worry about it! You're just nervous.

I never took public transportation until I moved here. I had driven since I was 15.

I generally enjoy public transportation and adore having to walk. I get my groceries ordered and that is actually pretty freeing, you spend less time browsing and don't have to carry all your bags on the bus.

MY biggest qualms are A. the buses do not come on time and it causes me to miss my trains that run on time to a fault. 2. When it rains horizontally you get drenched just going to work 3. Occasionally you get stuck on a bus with a drunk person or smoking people (blech)

Just to add my two pence! Agree that you will have no problems at all! You will have to walk in the dark since it does get dark early - but there are always people about in London. I feel perfectly safe. It is an adjustment (yes, I drove everywhere at home), but as was mentioned before, not driving is actually quite freeing.

We do have a car, but it just sits out front for weeks at a time. Public transport in London is great (although it may be late & unreliable sometimes)
Lisa

I generally enjoy public transportation and adore having to walk. I get my groceries ordered and that is actually pretty freeing, you spend less time browsing and don't have to carry all your bags on the bus.

also............you avoid emotional buying...........when you order.

I have a similar question, so I hope it's okay to toss it in here Are Richmond/Kew/Chiswick considered part of London that y'all wouldn't bother owning a car in?  Our real estate agent described Richmond as "sprawling," but I'm not sure if she and I share a similar definition of "sprawling."

I have a similar question, so I hope it's okay to toss it in here Are Richmond/Kew/Chiswick considered part of London that y'all wouldn't bother owning a car in?  Our real estate agent described Richmond as "sprawling," but I'm not sure if she and I share a similar definition of "sprawling."

There are train services into London from there, but no tube. To be honest, you don't NEED a car anywhere around London. The closer you get to london, the more inconvenient a car is. There is the inevitable traffic, lack of parking and, very close into London, the Congestion Charge (£8 to drive into London).

Richmond is "sprawling", but not like LA is sprawling. I haven't nosed around Richmond in years, mainly because the traffic is nightmarish, the drivers are REALLY inconsiderate and there's no direct train from Epsom (so train wasn't an option), but it's a very affluent area so you will have a good selection of shops.

I'm also from Texas and I don't care if I ever learn to drive here, but I know I will have to...eventually. 

We first lived in the city (Portsmouth), so no car was necessary and I loved the availability and reliability of the buses. I adapted very well and felt as free as a bird. 

Now, we live in the country and I truly, honestly miss the conveniences of urban transport. As everyone has said, you'll adjust quickly and learn to appreciate public transport more than you thought you would.

All that said, you'll still miss Texas, especially the food, but not the summer heat. Life is about trade-offs, I suppose, but there are plenty of good things about living here not found in the US. Just make the most of the adventure and you'll be fine. 

There are train services into London from there, but no tube.

The tube does run to Chiswick, Kew and Richmond - all three towns are on the far reaches of the District line.  The tube in this area is fine for local hops but I wouldn't recommend it for getting into London.  It takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r.  The fast train to London Waterloo (stopping only at Clapham) takes about 20 minutes - can't do better than that!

I have a similar question, so I hope it's okay to toss it in here Are Richmond/Kew/Chiswick considered part of London that y'all wouldn't bother owning a car in?  Our real estate agent described Richmond as "sprawling," but I'm not sure if she and I share a similar definition of "sprawling."

This all depends on where you work, I think.  If you live in Richmond and work in London, then I wouldn't bother with a car.  If you live in Richmond and work elsewhere in Surrey or surrounding areas, then, IMO,you would want a car.

I don't think I would miss the transit side of driving, because as everyone says, you can get around beautifully most places in the UK on public transportation. What I would miss is that feeling of being in control that you get when driving. I like to just drive around for the heck of it sometimes. And you wouldn't just ride around on the buses for the heck of it -- well, I wouldn't!
But that said, I would never dream of driving in London and environs.