That great place you live? Is there such a place?

[dontmentionit]

Care to share?
Looking to move to somewhere lots to do for children, good transport links. friendly community, good schools and reasonable house prices - does this place exist?

[LoveMILbut]

Ha ha I was going to post my village, on reading the thread title - perhaps not now I've seen the post :-) Which two of those would you compromise on?!

[MischiefInTheWind]

No, because all of the prior points lead to that last one being almost impossible.
I love Sussex.

[MischiefInTheWind]

My friend lives in Belfast, she's mixed-race and obviously so. She's not finding it particularly welcoming and they plan on moving before starting her family. Her husband is N Irish.

[VeganCanBeFabulous]

I live in a small village in Derbyshire. There is lots of outdoorsy stuff to do here, direct train links to Birmingham and Nottingham (half an hour each), a short drive from the beautiful Peak District, nice foody pubs, good schools (both village primary and nearest secondary have consistently outstanding ofsteds) lovely community feel with scout groups, a local village carnival, an annual raft race on the canal and we recently bought a 3 bed semi with garage and smallish garden on a quiet road for £165k. Drawbacks are that it is quite near a main A road so you do get some traffic noise and there is a disused power station which some people consider unsightly - five large towers which you can see from the outskirts but not at all once in the village and.....um.....that's it. Been here since November and never want to live anywhere else. However, it is a three hour train journey from London and I suspect that probably puts some people off. Having lived a stone's throw from the capital for 18 years it doesn't bother me in the slightest!

[ivykaty44]

It all depends what you call a resnable price and what type of accommodation?

I live in a place that it cheaper than London and the south east, but more expensive than Manchester and the north east.

All other attributes you are looking for I have on my doorstep

[AlpacaLypse]

Sorry, the house prices here are definitely not affordable. Otherwise it would tick most of your boxes!

[Mintyy]

Surely you have a rough area of the country in mind?

[Tangoandcreditcards]

That sounds amazing vegan. Shame my job is in London!

[Snowfilledsky]

Worcestershire

[TidyDancer]

I live in Hertfordshire. It ticks all your boxes except possibly reasonable house prices, but that largely depends on where in Herts you live and what you regard as reasonable. I could probably give you some specific towns/villages/areas if this is somewhere you are thinking about.

[Bolshybookworm]

Yorkshire! Plenty of cities, lots of lovely villages, spectacular countryside, loads for kids and decent transport links. Everyone I know who's moved here loves it. Bring a jumper though....

[dontmentionit]

Thank you for responding - I live in hants atm, which is so busy with houses, cars and people. Dont mind where in country as hubby self employed . Would anyone care to give specific towns /villages? Am thinking 300k 4 bed - I may be asking the impossible!!?

[dontmentionit]

Keep hearing Yorkshire. .. do southerners get a lovely warm welcome too?

[FinnMcCool]

County down. £300k will get you a large 4 bed, two bath, two or more receptions and gardens front and rear. Excellent schools which outdo England & Wales every year in results tables. Private grammar schooling is £2k/year. Outdoor activities of all sorts readily accessible, everywhere in NI is within 2 hours drive. The worst commute into Belfast is driving and in an hour, trains much faster obv, most commutes in 30 min. Airport to Gatwick/Heathrow is just over an hour, loads of people commute to work there for the week and home on Friday. Stunning beaches. Best water quality in the UK and we don't pay for it.
As with anywhere else, some areas are more receptive to people of different views/colours/religions, but it's not all like that, not by a long chalk.

[Playnicelyforfiveminutes]

After 10 moves in 11 years (poor children, I know) I think we have actually found somewhere which really is as nice as it seems, although I don't want to get too excited yet, so we are still renting while we try out the schools... Anyway, it's in Cambridgeshire... Anyone info welcome

[TheOneWiththeNicestSmile]

Ribble Valley just came second in one of those surveys of ultra-desirable places to live.

money.aol.co.uk/2015/08/17/where-are-the-nicest-places-to-live/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cuk-ws-bb%7Cdl11%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D377581

It is extremely lovely up here, though a bloody long way to pretty much everywhere else, & a bit damp generally.

People are very friendly though, schools are excellent & house prices not bad at all - lots of 4-beds for £300K & loads of new developments (over-development, most of us think ) so plenty of choice

[MrsLeighHalfpenny]

North Wiltshire but not Swindon lots of lovely small towns and villages with good schools and reasonable house prices. Loads going on too.

[Stokes]

Yup, was coming on to recommend Belfast / Co Down. I have a decent sized 4 bed detached with large garden for £250k. Great schools, easy commute to Belfast (

[dontmentionit]

Loving the info- thank you again , will look into them. Plan would be to rent, check the area out, then go from there.

[annandale]

Louth - except for the good transport links. Gorgeous place but it takes fecking ages to get there from anywhere, including Lincoln.

Loughborough - 'lots to do' would be the problem there but there is certainly SOME stuff to do. Nice place. Careful with picking your school but there are some good ones.

[JasperDamerel]

I'd vote Yorkshire. I live in York, which is ecoensive for housing, but if you bought carefully you could get a 3 bedroom plus attic conversion fourth bedroom with a decent garden in the catchment area of an Ofsted outstanding school within walking distance of the city centre for £300k, including the cost of work needed. You could get a better house in the catchment of a not-outstanding-but-still-very-good school, or in a village on the outskirts of town within your budget, too.

There's loads to do, excellent transport links, and a strong sense of community.

I grew up in Belfast, and prefer Yorkshire, although Belfast has a lot going for it, too.

[tiggy2610]

I live in Holmfirth and love it here. 45mins drive to Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, great schools, gorgeous stone built houses, countryside wherever you look and a great community spirit.

[holmessweetholmes]

I live in Cumbria, just south of the Lake District National Park and just north of the Lancashire border. I love it and I think it ticks all your boxes. With house prices it depends what you consider reasonable though.