Being able to walk to the high street vs having a garden

High street over garden every time

If you have a car the no parking space would annoy me

I would find somewhere within walking distance of school. Surely there's a primary school within walking distance of any high street.

A 10 minute drive is probably less than a 3 mile walk - and there’s no faffing to find a parking space. You’d be a fool to go for the smaller house with no garden or parking. It’ll be no disadvantage for the kids to walk into the high street when they’re at that age.

Yep it's bd enough sharing one wall and hearing neighbours, can't imagine having to hear it on both sides.

Bigger house with parking and garden every single time. I live in my home not in the high street.

Garden, a million times over.

I've got both, front and back gardens and walkable to town. Front garden is "decorative" it looks lovely, but we don't use it (or leave anything removable there) we also have a drive, we considered renting the space ( parking is bloody expensive here) but my partner changed jobs so cars usually on the drive (yes we need a car) back garden could be more usable but the child next door is quite inquisitive so you never feel "alone"
Having lived in a terrace I would not buy another, the noise from the neighbours was rage inducing "Mia, stop doing that" from any room the child wasn't, music blaring from the front room to the "yarden" with all the doors open the house

100% the garden and own driveway!
Especially since you already have a car/will need to drive to school - it’s so stressful living somewhere you need to try and find parking when you get home, so much easier having a driveway or allocated parking.

Have you seen the posts on here about terrace houses and the neighbour noise. I owned one once, never again.

The house with the garden. I wouldn't like to have to make an outing of it to a public place everytime I wanted a bit of fresh air and sunshine, and no parking is a pain. A ten minute drive to amenities wouldn't put me off. That's still walking distance if needs be.

Anecdotally I've heard this too. I think some of it is the collective cultural impact of lockdown. The value of outside space that you control and can't be prevented from accessing has soared. A park, however lovely, is something that can be taken away.

With kids that age, the garden. It's just sooooo nice, once they're old enough to entertain themselves a bit without your input which will happen in a year or two for you, to be able to get them some fresh air and exercise without having to schlep to a park.

Gosh that's tricky. I totally disagree with pp who said no garden is cruel and unusual - depends entirely on where you live and can be very normal indeed. That said, I'm in a flat with a two year old and a garden is now a non negotiable for us when we move as I can really see the benefits of outside space now. However the area we are looking in also has parks and amenities within walking distance (c.20 mins) so I'm not having to choose like you are. In your position, I suppose it depends on your lifestyle and how long you'd envisage staying there. Also how easy it is to get parked - if it was going to be a nightmare finding a space each day that would probably sway me even more than the garden!

That's quite a hard decision really but with children that age I'd go for the house with garden and parking. It's nice for the children to be able to run outside straight into their own garden rather than having to walk to the park. Also the parking could be a right pain at the terraced house and difficult with the children if you end up having to park a distance away and then get them out of the car, unload anything in the boot and walk to your house.

Where are the local schools in relation to the terrace house and the larger house? Will you need to drive to school for either or both of these options?

How often would you be going to the high street anyway? Will you be doing food shopping there or would you need to drive to a larger supermarket or do you do your shopping online?

Lots of things to think about but I do think that maybe the high street idea sounds good in principle but you might not even use it that much if you do live there. Whereas you would you use your garden and drive every single day.

At your age and with small children, garden and parking.

When you get older I think it's more important to have lots of amenities within walking distance, to keep you fit and help you stay connected.

I've lived in both and to be honest I still miss our tiny terrace as I loved being so central to everything happening. It just started to drive me mad when DC2 arrived as we needed more space (only 2 bedrooms) and I wanted a bigger back garden as we only had a tiny yard. Now we have a decent back garden and driveway etc but still within walking distance to a lot of amenities and on good bus routes and not completely car dependent. There is also a lovely community feel where I am. However I've found now that the DC are getting older and doing lots of activities in the afternoon I'm actually more car dependent than I ever would have imagined that I'd be so Im glad I have a driveway. I do think when the DC are older we will then move closer to the town centre again.

It is not that unusual where we are as have lots of big period houses converted into flats. In my City by the sea at Junior and infant school there was very much a park and going to the beach after school culture so in the summer that was sometimes body boarding. Moat people have a parent that works freelance or at home so it was the sone thing. They had much more fun childhood than me in my West London house with massive garden as we did play at each others homes but the parks and playgrounds are much more entertaining and fun for a child where I live now.

I'd always pick the driveway and garden. Gardens aren't just for kids, I like to be able to sit out, have friends round etc

That's a good point, now we have teenagers who are pretty independent we can go out in the city to restaurants and music events etc. ultimately we can walk there and back and it isn't a big deal. We went to see a bad from our youth last week and they were playing mid week, it isn't a problem as not really a massive effort to travel to it.

Bringing up children without a garden is cruel and unusual. I know I'm being OTT but all those memories we have of teas on the lawn, neighbours' kids climbing over the fence for playdates, paddling pools, the slide... Just pure heaven. OK, there was weeding, mowing and car journeys into town when we needed things...

Garden and parking. Every time. It will be easier to sell it on later as well. I lived in a flat for 18 months out of necessity and I hated having no outside space. There were loads of parks near by, but I missed a garden. Its not the same sunbathing or reading quietly in a park! As time moves on you will want that more and more. On a practical level, terraces with no parking and limited storage are hell to re sell.

The terrace which is what we did as all about the location for us, we live a couple of minutes from a station that we both use to commute to London, it means no collecting each other in the car at 7.30 for a lift home to suburbs. Equally, at the weekend we can hop on train and go shopping and visit galleries, theatre etc. The location is perfect for my teenagers as well as their are walking distance from friends in the city and can go to London. That said, this City is very much one where people go everywhere on foot and most people that we know don't live in the suburbs which is a car or bus journey away for that reason. Equally, we need to be near a station for work and we do have a small yard for a couple of chairs and washing.

At your DC's age I did want a big garden though so I can see the quandary but when you have teens mine don't care about that as they want to go out and walk home down friends and parties and gigs etc.