"Though the New York and San Francisco housing markets look weak, there is little wider evidence to support the idea that people are fleeing cities for the suburbs, at least in America." https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/09/30/why-despite-the-coronavirus-pandemic-house-prices-continue-to-rise

"It seems more likely that people are looking for bigger houses near where they already live. In Britain prices of detached houses are rising at an annual rate of 4%, compared with 0.9% for flats, and the market for homes with gardens is livelier than for those without."

I want actually live X, but can't so I live Y!
I live X, unfortunately its not Y!
I wish X could be more like Y!

Y being Lambeth, Camden or Hackney, X being Waltham Forest, Newham or Croydon.

More locally, X is Manor Park or Plaistow and Y being Forest Gate or Hackney Wick.

Words I hear or overhead. The point I'm trying making is that the whole "running to the country" is a myth and one that everyone should have seen right through.

People are like magnets, they like being around other people. There's also a cultural attraction to cities.