ChickenLittle,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I know of two young pioneers who moved to Brixton and house share. It keeps the bills down and probably allows them to work part time so they can remain in full time service.
I was in the Herne Hill area once and didn't feel safe at all!
It did seem that the friends, and I use that term loosely, had more fun in London than my cold, boring congregation in Sussex. The JWs I mentioned at the beginning of this topic really did like the ministry but they felt unsupported by their congregation.
One thing I did notice is that they would do their own thing on Saturdays. They would come to our home for field service and then disappear after the prayer, having previously made their own arrangements. We never saw them again until the following week. They generally worked with each other and never bothered to work with anyone else. Sometimes they would bring friends from other congregations.
When they attended Pioneer School at Haysbridge assembly hall in the late '90s, that seem to be their ticket to London, having met friends from Reading, Reigate and the surrounding areas.