Do you like where you live?

[800msprint]

Where do you live? Why and do you like it or not?
I'm in a commuter town. I don't like it but I'm not sure of where best would suit me.

Sometimes I love it, other times it’s stifling! I live in the (large) village I went to school in. Everyone knows everyone and that can be both a blessing and a curse. I have a brilliant, supportive group of mum friends and I’m close to family. DH loves it as it’s far enough away from the shithole town he grew up in but still only 30 mins from his mum.
We have a nice, detached house in a quiet cul de sac that has an entry to a nature reserve (that we hardly ever use); good local schools, close to town/city/beach - can get to all within 5-15 minutes.

But... we used to live right out in the sticks and I loved it. Loved the peace, the view, the lack of pressure. I miss it. We moved back due to lack of infrastructure

We are undoubtedly very lucky regardless.

I live in South London, relatively quiet/pleasant area with bus/tube links to every part of London. Its a culturally diverse area with a good range of shops. Its not completely crime free, but where in London is...

I moved from London proper to a little town just outside, always known about it, came here a lot as a kid for the crappy little shopping centre and park, always thought it was full of inbreds and old people and a bit of a dump. I really had to search my soul before I moved here because I have always lived in London, as have all my family, and saw that as part of my identity.

And now I love it! I can see why my DM used to come here shopping, it’s small but has exactly what you need. Its quiet. There is no looking around and lamenting that it has lost its glory days (like in my old town) as it never really had any to start with. It’s always exactly what you expect it to be. The kids love it and we are very close to our family in our old town. Great links to the city. Great parks.

14 minutes from Charing Cross in a very lovely part of London. Feel completely at home. My 'view' is of Canary Wharf and as far as the Shard on the left.

It's only been a couple of years and I still feel like my life is an adventure every day.

West Sussex near the sea. Good transport links to the nearest small city, close to the coast and I like my house. Would like better transport links to London, which isn’t that far away, but thanks to Southern Fail and South West, it’s more difficult than it should be.

Nevertheless, lovely countryside, theatres, museums, shops, as well as the sea.

Love where I live. University suburb of a midlands city. Not pretty in the slightest but friendly people and great sense of community. Great local amenities- parks, shops, cafes, library, doctors, dentist, school. Also close to city centre. (Terrible parking though.)

No, I don't. We needed to be close to mil because at the time she looked after dc's 1 day a week. They live in Wanstead east London which is beautiful.

We are 10 mins down the road and it's crazy how much difference there is. Lots of litter, homeless people on the streets. But we live in a quite road with lots of families. Dcs go to a very good school which we can walk to. They also have an excellent breakfast and after school club. And it doesn't take long to Liverpool Street etc.

You have to out weigh the goods and bad's I guess.

I hate the town itself but live in a nice part of it. Have lived in much nicer places but at the end of the day it's family and friends that are more important.

East London - hate it. Can't wait to move.

I live just outside a national park and can be walking in mountains within 20 minutes from home. I'm also approx 10 minutes from the sea.

Starting to hate where I live in a suburb of Birmingham. I love Birmingham itself but where I am has turned into a hotspot of crime.
We currently have a man following girls and sexually assaulting them. I just hope he is caught very soon. There are also muggings and carjackings on a daily basis. We recently had a car taken near us with a 4 week old baby in there. The scum knew the baby was there and ran over the mum who was trying to get her out. I’m afraid to let my daughter out in her own at the moment.
My road has some lovely people on it though.

East London. Very friendly and 'trendy' and can get into central London in 20 minutes, good schools and a nature reserve close by. Do I love it? I don't think so, it's tatty and grubby and there's a whole layer of crime and behaviour which whilst it doesn't directly affect me, means there's a certain 'vibe'. I'd like to live by the sea, but I like London. Would just prefer a prettier bit.

Small town in Essex, very green, near to river big sailing community. Excellent schools. Low crime. Easy access to London. Immaculately kept. Lots of lovely people, lots of racist nimbys.

Good hospitals and other services.

I often don’t recognise the England described by MN.

Love where we live!
Tiny rural farming village (less than 100 houses) on the Leicestershire/Rutland border. Beautiful, quiet, affordable. Easy to get to London and Birmingham though due to good transport links (although no bus service in actual village). We are not far from M1 or A1 and Leicester and Peterborough for trains.

I started life in Bristol then Milton Keynes, London, rural Bedfordshire and now here. Love it and you'd have a hard job getting me to leave.

I live in the north east of scotland and love it here.

I don't like my house much but the area is quiet and everything is within walking distance.

Oh dear feel a bit sick now. We HAVE to move. Did most of you choose to live where you did? Or happy (or not) accident?

What a lovely thread. I live in Worcester and I like it a lot- it has everything I need, some lovely green spaces and it just the right size. It does have the usual problems for cities of this size- traffic in the town centre and the lovely arcades where independent shops used to be seem to be emptying out. There are quite a few empty shops plus the usual problems with litter and antisocial elements. I think this city has wonderful potential but there is work to be done to get it into shape.

No hate it - small village in boring bit of the country, 1 hour north of London.
We moved from London 5 years ago, we have a great house but I definitely don’t fit into village life.
Hoping to move next year as youngest DC goes to university in September. Where we go is the problem, I want want to go back to London DH does not. Can’t go near the sea as DH works in London and is already doing a commute so would not consider anything over 1.30 each way (which rules out Brighton unless you live in the station).
I will never live in a village again if I have my way.

Sheffield. Amazing city with the Peak District on the doorstep. Theatres/ music/ sport/ nature.
Came to uni and stayed.

Blackheath in South East London, can be a bit boring but lovely for families and good transport connections

Hate it. Run down market town in the midlands. Been here years but never felt settled. It's unfriendly and just feels miserable, there's nothing at all to do.
I want to be near the sea but I'm not sure where. I love the idea of both countryside and city life.

@800msprint
My DH moved to where I lived when we met but he really wanted to move back to the area he grew up in - we visited often for weekends away and I fell in love with it too, so as soon as I could get a job up here (DH's job was mobile) we moved. It took us just over 2 years to achieve it and I am so glad!

The only downside is that I had to leave all my friends and family which was tough but I don't regret it. Our life here is lovely. My parents are just under 1.5hrs away so not too far for visits.

So yes it was definitely our choice. I have been here for almost 4 years now and it couldn't be better.

In a nice suburb in Leeds. Love it. Brought up in the Lake District but prefer life here.

No I hate it. Total lack of aspiration, nothing inspires me, the difference in taste and clothes even... it's all so bland.

Amazing what a few miles can do.

But....a short drive gets us to nice areas

Yep love where I live! East Devon seaside town. Beautiful sandy beach, we have lovely coastal walks, a decent sized town and lots of different walks we can do nearby. It does get very busy in the summer but I'm used to that now and we're only a 20 min walk from the beach if we don't do the 3 min drive. We have lots of beaches in the best towns and villages east of us. We are close enough to Exeter, have a decent train station and motorway up the road for links elsewhere and only couple hours away from Bristol etc. love the south west, especially as Devon borders cornwall, Dorset and Somerset its very expensive to live here though! But I've grown up here so used to that I guess.