To ask you what the area you live in is actually like?

Definitely move. We moved from somewhere very well off to somewhere less so and candidly I’m missing the well off place now my kids are teenagers. I didn’t want them growing up in the snobbery and competition/one-upmanship of where we used to live (just outside London) but now they associate with a lot of people who have no aspiration, and it’s an uphill struggle keeping that going from home even though the school is good.

Pretty rural, West Sussex. A few teenagers live in walking distance and both families are very nice. Never any trouble in the nearest village (that I hear of at least) but as soon as you start getting to towns then there are a few issues - mostly related to e bikes, littering and minor nuisances. I think there is more accountability in small communities, which leads to better behaviour.

Also grew up in a village around 10 miles outside of Northampton, and feel very lucky with where i grew up, nice village, nice friends. Live in a similar size village but a different side of Northampton now, occasional antisocial behaviour but nothing major. Again feel lucky that I’ve been able to bring my children up in a nice area and they have nice friends.

A shithole new town in the NE. Kids run riot and crime is high. Lots of racists as well. Hate living here and can’t wait to move

Maybe I'm missing something but I'm struggling to understand what's so bad about kids being sweary and letting off steam. Surely the park/common is the place for that if there is one. I did grow up rough though, so maybe I'm just used to it.

I now live in a gentrified, leafy suburb of Manchester that's quite nice and very safe with loads for kids to do.

We're in an affluent part London zone 2. Life is very busy and touristy here. None of the local kids play out. They go on pre-arranged play dates, do lots of extracurriculars and holiday camps, and are taken out to attractions. It's buzzy and fun and everything you could ever want is on the doorstep, from flagship parks, destination shopping, world-class culture and attractions and any sport or hobby you can think of. I really love it but many people would find it too busy.

There's a rough edge to it - lots of local drug and homelessness issues, stabbings and pockets of deprivation. My dcs go to a fee-paying school and are in a bit of a bubble away from that.

Most of the towns/villages near me are plagued with the antisocial behaviour of shitty kids. I genuinely wouldn't know where to go to avoid them.

This is my understanding of outer London too. I would like to live in splendid isolation tbh.

I live in rural North Wales. When I said that I was moving here, a lot of people got the area up on Google Maps and were horrified about how green and rural it is! My sibling, on an enforced visit by our mother, said in disgust, "It's the a* end of nowhere around here!" It's very safe- to the point that quite a few of us don't lock our doors- and not much happens around here. You're more likely to see more farm animals, pheasants and rabbits than you are to see a person if you take the dog out for a walk. The biggest social event of the year is the annual sheep shearing event. If it snows, the children go sledging down the hills of the farm around us. If it's fine weather, they're off cycling.

The local primary school usually has around 20-30 children on roll at any time. It seems to be a good place to raise a family, but I imagine that teenagers would probably find it quite boring... hence why a neighbour's two are so into riding their bikes to go and see friends, or pop into the nearest town.

However, if you're looking at heading north, some of the Scottish islands would tempt me to move there in a heartbeat!

Small village in Wiltshire, it's lovely but I wish the nearby A road was always like it was during Covid. Then it would be perfect.

Mine is quiet and peaceful. I love right by a play area and I never hear lots of screaming and swearing at all. It's a beautiful little village in the Lichfield District

It's not like that here, it's pretty safe and friendly, but touristy in the summer - Suffolk coast

Nice semi rural market town in the North West, good transport links that are a godsend.

It is as most places a tale of 2 cities as only 3 miles away its rough and a lot of low level drugs going on I certainly would not have wanted to raise my children there.
Im grateful everyday for the green space and sea that we have within walking distance.

I live in a North East town, right on the outskirts. It's a "new town" which means it's quite well set up for kids to play out, plenty of green spaces and parks. We are quite behind the times in a lot of ways up here and kids play out just how they used to in the 80s/90s and we've never had any major issues

Central scotland. Its fine where i am and there are a few local play parks within walking distance. There are the wee wideo posse but im sure every town has them. We just tend to ignore them.

Surrey, we all agree here that we live in a bubble here compared to most of society.

Outer London, nice neighbourhood, very safe, most people are decent, don’t feel I’ll get stabbed by youths in hoodies. I wouldn’t want to raise my kids in a rough area and in your shoes I’d move if I could afford it.

Classic Surrey “market town” that is just outside M25. Quiet (i.e dull) but in a beautiful location and easy access to London, airports, coast etc. Some low level crime, a few “hooded youths” bombing around e-bikes, and apparently some County Lines activity near station. But feels safe - I don’t worry about my teenagers like I would have done had we stayed in London (although I still love London!)

I live in a village in the Peak District and it's really nice. Very quiet.

We live very rurally in the south west. Our closest full time neighbours are about 3/4 of a mile away. My kids just roam. They have fields and woodland and rivers to play in. My youngest has played out alone from 4 as we are not close to a road (private drive only and I can see anyone who comes down it). We have a WhatsApp group with all the nearby friends so we can find whose field they’re in when we need to collect them for dinner. They have a very old fashioned childhood. Riding bikes and campfires and coming home when it’s getting late (obviously not on school nights or when they have sports, activities, etc).

I think it matters less what part of the country you live in than the sort of area. You can live in the South East or Wales or Scotland. But you need to be able to afford to live in a nice area that provides you the lifestyle you’re after. When we bought our house, we moved 2 hours away and started life totally over purely for a bigger house, land, amenities, hiking, beaches and a nice community.

We're in a small village, about 500 people, with an old part and a small 1980s estate. We have woodland and fields immediately on our doorstep, fields over the back gate, woodland across a minor road. A stream about 50m away. Plenty of quiet lanes to play in, lots of footpaths and places to explore. We have more and less unruly kids, everywhere does, but very little if any really nasty element. Generally people get on.

Ds is older now but he can cycle safely to a traffic-free common, and then in to the nearest town four miles away. He can get to his Saturday job under his own steam.

It's not trendy and I've taken a decade to renovate our house but it's been a good place for ds to grow up.