To find the suburbs a bit depressing?

Agree it’s the worst of both worlds, usually bland, grey, aesthetically depressing and everywhere the same. Always feel claustrophobic when I stay there and can’t wait to leave. I like city centres with their history, character, culture, interesting buildings and layers of architecture, diverse food and feeling of life and I love the countryside and English villages for their history beautiful old houses and nature nearby. Lived all over now in small rural village village by sea bliss.

This thread demonstrates that not 100% of MNers “live rurally” as I had previously been led to believe.

I live in a village and it's boring as fuck, I cant wait to move to somewhere more lively

Mapperly, Nottingham
Burnage, Manchester
West Wickham, London
Harbone, Birmingha

The only one of these I know is West Wickham as I bought an ebay item from there. Travelling through it there were parks & an ok looking high street & I got there by public transport.

This sounds semi rural or rural to me and not the suburbs. Sounds lovely btw

It is lovely but we're also a suburb. Suburbs vary considerably as others have mentioned.

Last town - we loved out of the center in suburb and it had bizarre cul de sac into cul de sac design - never seen it elsewhere - endless dead ends or just walk throughs - was bloody odd and wasn't as if kids could paly out as the drivers were just too mad.

We lived on one of the few through roads.

I agree, I live in the suburbs not by choice but as it was my only option. I’m depressed, barely leave my flat. There is no where to go. Walk around identical streets and houses or along a main road/the actual motorway! No parks, no shops, no green spaces. Just depressing. I’m desperate to move back to the countryside I grew up in. I feel continually homesick.

This sounds semi rural or rural to me and not the suburbs. Sounds lovely btw

I hate the cul de sac within a cul de sac within a cul de sac within a cul de sac design, the bus stop being a minimum of 10 to 15 minutes walk away, the shops often being too far away to walk (coz if you buy anything it's too far to walk back,) no nice or decent walks anywhere, (as you can walk for 20 minutes and still be surrounded by houses,) and there's often no secondary school for 2 - 3 miles.

Surely this isn't representative of most suburbs? Or I've never been to a suburb like it.

I grew up rurally - small village - but with limited car access - would never move smaller than a town and disliked only town rather than city we tried.

In 20s before kids loved city center living.

I did used to dislike many suburbs I encountered - but since kids can see the benefit but we have to pick ones with amenities because we don't drive and are usually walkable distance - even if that 50 minutes - into city center but can also access rural routes fairly quickly.

I don' think we'd even retire to the countryside as so many seem to do - as lack of services would be an obvious issue but I don't think it terrible you dislike suburbs

I don't like them much either, but... with kids there are a lot of advantages if you choose the right one. Good schools, lots of kids their age nearby with streets you wouldn't be too worried about them being out at night. More space than in a city but without hugely long commute times.

They don't tend to have the services I'd really like, but if they're close enough to a decent city centre then that's covered too, though the reliance on cars is a downside.

I think they can be a reasonable compromise for families. Wouldn't want to live there without kids.

I grew up in West Wickham. I wouldn't say it was a "London suburb", at most it's out on the fringe of Greater London. Yes there were lots of similar houses but from West Wickham it was so quick and easy to be in a green open space - even on foot - it was very close to far less urbanised areas. I think I had the best of both worlds

There’s always reasons people live why they do.

Maybe they have to commute into the city centre for work and this is the only way they can get a house big enough and keep the commute manageable.

Maybe they have older kids and want to have access to good secondaries or activities that teenagers like without having to drive them all the time.

Maybe they find village/countryside life stifling and twee. And city life cramped and noisy.

Maybe they do loads of day trips at the weekends so want easy access to both the city and the countryside and don’t care so much about their local area, as long as the house itself is nice.

We live in a trendy suburb of a big city. Lovely centre to our area with independent shops and bars etc and 15 mins into vibrant city centre. Most houses are old so no ‘identikit’ new builds.
I adore it. I grew up in a village (beautiful highly desirable area) and hated every second especially as a teen.
long live the suburbs for me!!

We couldn't live in a village because we're a mixed race family. My husband is always anxious about rural areas, and concerned about attitudes and exclusion.
We live in a suburb where there are other non white and mixed families, it suits us because we don't want to live in the middle of a city either.

Praise the lord that you are not blinkered!

Why are people blinkered just because they like the suburbs? That's just utter nonsense. I've done rural living and though I enjoyed aspects of it, ultimately it wasn't for me but I wouldn't criticise anyone for wanting to live in places that I wouldn't choose.

Super duper good for you that you can afford to live rurally and therefore have all that land to judge those who can't.

Some people are really big fans of suburban life. they see it on TV and it is their ultimate property goal. I know a few. I would rather go all out rural then do the suburbia thing. Praise the lord that you are not blinkered!

I thought this was a UK site?

This Is England.

The Gallagher brothers grew up in Burnage. That's as far as my knowledge of it extends.

People are welcome not to like suburbs, but no one lives in them for the glamour or excitement!

You live in them for safety and good schools generally.

I would love to live more centrally, but I'm in London and don't have multiple millions spare to have a family home that's any nearer than about Zone 3!