Like Swanhunter I also lived for years in Southampton and then saw the light and moved to London.

I enjoyed living there in my early 20's - as others have said, the nightlife is pretty good, there are some decent restaurants and since the West-Quay centre opened the shopping isn't too bad either. For nightlife, Bedford Place and London Road used to be the main places to go out.

For getting to London (and therefore T5 to keep this BA related ) there are plenty of trains into Waterloo and as rail services go, it is one of the better ones. I think there is also a train service direct to Gatwick via Brighton.

The only problem is that traffic on the motorways around Southampton (M3 and M27) can be horrendous at rush hour so it is worth thinking about that when choosing an area to live in.