Has anyone ever moved to an area they just didn't like?

[FullofSurprises]

Just that really...
Have you ever moved to an area where you disliked? And why?

I moved to an area in the Midlands and I put my DD in the local school here. Ever since moving here it's been horrible. I've been shouted at by another parent on the playground. Had stroppy neighbours that won't let me cut my own apple tree in my garden. And basically the entire village is cliquey and horrible and I wished I'd never moved here.
Anyone else? Please tell me I'm not on my own.

[SomewhereEast]

I've moved round a lot, including living in several different countries and some really dodgy areas (grew up on a very rough council estate), and weirdly the one place I hated with an absolute passion was St Albans. I know its considered very desirable blah blah, but it really REALLY wasn't me. It was like a massive weight lifted from my shoulders when we moved away to somewhere my slobby parenting and messy house were socially acceptable

Which is a roundabout way of saying, yes you're not alone, and move if you can at all, because living somewhere you hate will really wear you down.

[strawberrymilkshakemonkey]

@Tittie

Midlands too, for DH's job. It's soulless, bleak, smells, not near any proper cities and I'll probably never find a decent job, not near any motorways so getting anywhere decent takes forever...and it's one of those towns that people never leave, so everyone knows everyone and they're all related to each other. Shops are crap. People are weird and unfriendly. But property is cheap so I love my house at least!

sounds a lot like a certain town beginning with M, known for pork pies.

[pepperycinnamon]

weirdly the one place I hated with an absolute passion was St Albans.

It wasn't my favourite place to live but at least it had a decent lake where I could pretend I was somewhere in the vicinity of a beach. Most of the Midlands lacks any decent water that I've been able to find.

[Iwalkinmyclothing]

Loveletters123 I know that feeling... stupidly I went back! It took a few more years to get away for good but I am so, so glad we did :)

[Drogonssmile]

Not me but my DH when he was younger (secondary school age) moved to Milton Keynes for his Dad's job and the whole family despised it. They ended up selling the house for half of what they paid for it just to get away in the end.

[Chociefish]

After a break up I moved from living in the sticks to the nearest city and I hate it. It's just not me. Tbf it's a lovely area, large houses nice cars etc.
Trouble is I look out my window and see a sea of roofs. I long to look out at trees, fields and hedges.

[VaTeLaverLesMains]

I moved to Earth about 50 years ago. Still getting used to it. Some people are friendly but not sure if I really fit in.

[elainesummers]

Oh no, I feel terrible now because I've just come on to this thread to say the Midlands as well! I even lived in a supposedly nice town but it just wasn't for me at all. I'm sure plenty of people love it though, different strokes for different folks as a PP said!

[lissie123]

Lived in the Black Country until I left home at 18. Could not wait to leave. Hated it. Still don’t like it. But B’ham I love. Now live in the Cotswolds and love it.

[felineflutter]

wouldn't be surprised if some of you were complaining about areas around Erewash, Chesterfield or Mansfield. They fit the bill for grim, grey, depressing former pit areas.

Erm nope, sorry.

[OxenoftheSun]

The Leicestershire village I used to live in was prosperous, pretty, surrounded by rolling countryside, and was once deemed one of the most desirable places in the UK to live, by some poll that measured income, crime levels etc. I gave it every possible chance, over and over. Now I’m impatient as to why I wasted so long there dealing with insular people and xenophobic micro-aggressions.

@StoneColdBitch, you’ve just reminded me of something I’d completely forgotten. Within a couple of days of arriving with a small baby in midwinter, I texted the contact number for the local baby group to see whether there was another meeting this side of Christmas. My text literally said ‘Hi, I’m new in the village and have a six month old. Is there a baby group meeting next Wed? Thanks. Oxen’

I found out later that the organiser had apparently found this hilariously ‘snobby’ because it was written in standard English, not textspeak, and had actually circulated it around other members with the caption ‘We’ve got a right snob here [laughing emoji]!’

And that was pretty much the level human relationship functioned at. London was a millions miles friendlier.

[OxenoftheSun]

Ido agree, too, about distance to the sea, @pepperycinnamon — I grew up close to the sea and I can hear it from where I live now, and I didn’t realise I would miss it so much.

[nowlook]

The Midlands is 11 counties! My bit is ace

[Adelais]

Curious to know which areas people are talking about now as I’ve lived all over the East Midlands and some of the descriptions sound like places I know!

[jessstan2]

Yes. When first married, bought a house in Sidcup. It was all we could afford and Sidcup itself isn't too bad but our house was in Blackfen which was absolutely horrible. It made me quite depressed. We were there for nine long years and I was so glad when we eventually moved.

[PingPongPam]

London for me. Just missed the countryside, beaches and community of people looking after each other. Everything seemed to revolve round eating and drinking out which is ok but not enough for a life for me. I just didn't fit in.

[yoikes]

This thread is fascinating!!
I'm in a small town in Leicestershire too (I'd love to know where you all are!!) and feel much the same as many of you.
Sadly, an elderly frail parent and dc2s school is keeping me here atm :(
But if dcs2s school doesn't work out and dh agreed I'd move tomorrow :(
House is nice. Area is nice. But the people are insular and xenophobic. My county is 98.8%, virtually no immigrants white and yet ukippers and brexiters abound :(

[yoikes]

Erewash is indeed grim! (Don't live there)

[Yamashita40]

Not lived there but every time I come to South West Yorkshire I just don't feel right. I spent loads of time in Huddersfield as a student and never grew to love it. Just been on holiday (not my choice of location) to a place near Barnsley and I really was not keen on that area either. We visited Wakefield, Rotherham and Doncaster while we were there and I'm not sure if I missed the good bits.

It's a shame because there are some lovely parts like Leeds and some lovely countryside. I absolutely love North Yorkshire and would move there tomorrow. I have to say the people we came across were without exception very friendly which is something we don't often come across in N Yorks. Maybe they are tired of tourists?

[mammmamia]

We moved to Northampton from central London years ago for DH’s job. We were late twenties and no kids. I moved jobs and worked locally.

I didn’t hate it but it just wasn’t what I wanted at the time, at that age. I missed the city and my family and friends a lot and used to get back to London as often as possible.

I did make some nice friends at work and I didn’t mind the town too much but ultimately I knew it wasn’t going to work out long term so I didn’t make that much effort. We lasted there for a year and a half before moving back to London.

A big factor was the feeling that I was never going to progress at work because although it was a big company no one ever left and there was nowhere to go. I moved back into a city role and my career and earnings really took off after that.

I kind of feel like I wasted that year but having said that I was very stressed out in my previous city job and leaving that to move to a slower pace of life did wonders for my mental health. It wasn’t what I wanted long term but it did help so I guess it was worth it.

[StoneColdBitch]

@yoikes The level of anti-Europe sentiment in this part of the Midlands is staggering. One of my husband's colleagues told my husband he should stop his wife (me!) from being publicly pro-Europe on social media as it would cause too much controversy for the business to be associated with a Remainer, however tangentially! Sadly having lived here for a few years I think he was right! That anecdote sums up this part of the Midlands though - not only is there xenophobia, but the assumption was that my husband was somehow in charge of what I am allowed to say!

@OxenoftheSun, everyone here thinks I've got two heads because I have a degree and waited until I was in my 30s to have children. Everyone else I meet at baby groups was born and bred here and most of them had children in their late teens or early 20s.

[jessstan2]

StoneColdBitch, where I lived in the Blackfen part of Sidcup is very pro-Brexit; up until not that many years ago the headquarters of the National Front was just 'up the road' in Welling. It was and is a horrible area. Chislehurst is so different even though not that far away.

[800msprint]

Me. Still trying to get the guts to try somewhere else. I love London but not sure want to move back with kids. So forever tying myself in knots about it. Currently in the dead commuter zone. So bored. Not quite as bad as you though. At least the people are friendly (most of them).

[merrytombombadil]

Yes, I lived in an area I hated and was fixated on moving back to the area I'd previously lived in. It killed my relationship. The sad thing is, after we split i ended up in another town, not far from the one I hated and was happy there (it was a different kind of place and initially only intended as a stopgap, but I loved it and stayed) - if I'd realised earlier there was a suitable compromise, we could've moved there and it would probably have saved my relationship.

[OxenoftheSun]

Yes, exactly to everything you said, @StoneColdBitch, from the knuckle-dragging Brexiteering, sexism and bafflement at my advanced age as a mother. (And I’m from one of those pesky old European countries, so even merrier...)

God, it was a dispiriting time.