To move away from my Rural home town?

[superstarheartbreaker]

I love my rural hometown but tbh the only reason why I moved back here was because I got dumped whilst pregnant and was moved back in with mum and dad while I got back on my feet.

I now have a nice house whcih I rent, dd (4.5)is in a nice school and I have a job. However I need to move foward with my career. I have failed to get promoted at work and they ahve more or less said that I am ok for my current role but they think I should look elsewhere for the higher paid work as I am not experienced enough for them.

I am thinking of London. I love London but I do have my concerns. I have lots of lovely mum friends here, dd has lots of school friends here, granddad is here. It is very familiar and therefore safe.

The cons of moving:
I am worried about dd and I making new friends and I don't want to end up in a dump and dd in a shit school. I worry about crime etc.
I will miss dad.

The pros of moving.
I teach and have been eyeing up key worker houses and I could get on the property ladder in London easier than here.
There will be more career opportunities.
There will be more opportunities for dating in London (I am single)
I love the thought of all that culture.
I will be forced to be more independadnt as can't rely on dad as much. (bit unhealthy I feel)
I don't want dd to end up stuck in my home town like I am.

I guess i can always visit dad every fortnight/month.

I really dread moving, hating it and uprooting dd but I can't see me being stuck here for teh next 20 years.

Anyone else moved away with kids then moved back 'home' and if so, was it awful?

[superstarheartbreaker]

Come on you wise ones; please guide me!

[trapclap]

there are more pros and cons if you look at your list....

depends how much you value each thing on your list I think

I would say, its not irreversible so its worth doing sooner rather than later...?

[MajesticWhine]

Looking at your list, it looks like it's weighted in favour of moving. You seem to be stuck in a rut and afraid of nothing ever changing. Change is scary too, but it would be worse to look back in 20 years and wonder what might have been.
Easier to move your DD now at age 4.5, than in a few years time when she would complain.
As for crime - I think you can check the crime rates of a particular neighbourhood on a website I think.... I live in London and I don't particularly worry about crime. It depends a lot on the area.