London > Milton Keynes: to move or not to move

[LadyFatboobs]

A massively outing post so HAI GUYZ if you are reading

We live in Surbiton, small cottage, no garden, 2 DC under three, plans for another in summer ‘19, both contractors in the public sector, both working 4 days a week, both a bit fed up of the crush and busy of London.

We like the look of Milton Keynes; it’s a new town, it’s spacious, it seems to have lots of ambitious plans for the future, cycle ways, nice parks, lots of greenery, a snow dome (yeahhhhhhh), seemingly decent and efficient public transport links and it goes without saying we could get a barreload more space for the £400k we currently afford 68sq.m with.

We like the look of Shenley Brook End, Shenley Church End and the other Shenley, Great Linford beside Gifford Park and Furzton.

I have concerns we may end up mugging ourselves off commute wise (if we stay working in London) and as we will know nobody there, how easy is it to make new (mum) friends?

Also I love a Parkrun, looks like MK only has one?!

Please tell me if you’ve moved from London to MK, do you like it/love it/regret it and what would you change and why?

I don’t care if it’s “suburbia/concrete cows/roundabouts”. It seems nice and that’s just fine by me.

Also - the soul comes from the people. We have community events almost every weekend. The neighbours say hi to each other etc. As a born and bred Londoner I found it hilarious and quite quaint when I first moved, but now really enjoy that aspect.

People saying it's soulless can only mean that some buildings are ugly and it lacks history. And yes, my god, are some of the buildings ugly! And obviously it lacks history. But it makes up for it in other ways.

I think you'll find that most people telling you it's soulless haven't actually lived there. As I said, people love to hate it. It's a thing. Their loss 🤷‍♀️

Or kids / parents will choose an excellent state secondary usually within walking distance of their house

Yes @copercabana yes this - that big secondary on Shenley (it must be 100000000sq.m or something - totes massive) is pretty much what we want our children to go to...newish, good OFSTED, comprehensive, with good PE type facilities and what appears to be a playing field on site (I think)

The only other place I’d consider a move to [DRIP FEED] is Woking, as I am weirdly fond of the place and I also get the impression it’s not as GRAMMAR OR BUST as the rest of Surrey.

@bookmum08 that Eminem thing made me LOL

@blackandgold or was it @jojoanna you bet we need the population to keep hating on MK, we could quite literally get our dream house there (and I don’t give a shit if it’s by Bovis and not hand crafted in 1800 by elvish wood dwellers)

@greatbigwho don’t tell me that, DH thinks I have an actual certifiable problem as I’m a stationery junkie

I hear you @sar302

These are the same folk that would shit a wigwam at the idea of some old and disused fire station or something being turned into modern key worker homes that have offices and shops attached etc

God help those who wish to react efficiently to the SE’s continued and massive population spread and make places practical to live as opposed to retaining all the period features

No not me ! I love MK

although historically a lot of children have got into the Buckingham and Aylesbury grammars, I believe this year the admission area was much smaller and only children from a few parts of mk (the very nearest bits to Buckingham and Aylesbury) got in.

I like the hideous buildings. It makes MK unique...

You need to be in catchment for good secondary- they are all oversubscribed here.

I like the hideous buildings as well as the really good ones, of which there are many. I've turned into a bit of a modern architecture geek since I lived here. Come on this tour and you'll be shown my house!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/heritage-open-days-2018-bradwell-common-tickets-45854633443

The vast majority of people I know in MK don’t worry about Grammar schools as the secondaries are generally well regarded (provided you are in catchment as a previous poster pointed out). People are generally more relaxed about schools generally compared to some of the issues I read about on here, elsewhere in the country.

People are generally more relaxed about schools generally compared to some of the issues I read about on here, elsewhere in the country

I get the same impression