Has this year made you think a lot about where you live ?

[Lardlizard]

It’s certainly made me pine for the sea more !!!

I have way more love for our house which is a work in progress but has been big enough for us all to live in without hating each other this year (7 of us!).

On the other hand, I’m the same as you re. The sea. I miss it terribly having grown up on the coast.
In the summer I missed wide open spaces, we live in quite a green London Borough but it’s not the same as the rolling hills and sea of where I’m from in wales.

I do miss the sea which I grew up by and within four minutes could have my feet on sand. But I do love the small town I live in plus we have remodelled the garden a lot over the summer with a major project.

I love the area (one minute walk to the sea) but I have found it hard in a teeny tiny terraced house and I am definitely thinking of moving next year to get more space.

Yes, it's made me appreciate the green space around here more. Its also made me realise that, the bit of town we used to live in had even nicer green space and it would be good to have that within walking distance again.

Yup. House is on the market and our dream to move north is to be a reality.

We moved house just before the first lock down, and we were initially unsure if we had done the right thing - we moved from a city suburb to a small village, having never lived in a village before, and not knowing the area well.
I'm so grateful to be here - spending lockdown in our garden with beautiful views, going for walks around the farmland and feeding the swans at the lake is so much better than plodding round our old estate trying to avoid the crowds! I do feel like we should have gone a bit more rural though - we picked this village because it has easy access to the city, now I want to be right up in the hills instead of looking at them from our windows.

I appreciated where I lived before, but do so even more now after this year.
I can walk or cycle straight from my house into the countryside in under 5 minutes- woods, open fields, SSI area, ruined castle, river...
10 minutes drive and I'm at the sea.
So lucky.

@kittykat35

It has made me realise that I LOVE where I live and I wouldn't change a thing, we have a small town, access to a city, plenty of coast, mountains, rural walks, history and lots of great industries. I wouldn't move for anything really.

@kittykat35 where do you live? It sounds awesome!

Yes - we live in London (zone 3) and there has always been so much to do that we never fully explored the local wetlands, forest, canals and marshes, many parks, etc. At the beginning of lockdown I was apprehensive that we would feel trapped, but in fact I love it here even more.

I've always loved city centre living and this year has just confirmed that it's the place I need to be, I would have been really bored with rural or suburban living. We live in central London (zone 1) in a flat with no garden, and people tend to assume there is nowhere to go for walks or recreation and children would get bored, but we've been busy outdoors every day since March. Even in the city centre, there are lovely garden squares with beautiful floral displays throughout the summer, the Thames Path, civic squares where my toddler could run free, as well as lots of standard parks and churchyards. I hadn't even visited most of these places before March, but we spent months exploring everywhere within walking distance and discovered lots of interesting, historical places. We've still been able to get to the beach easily during the summer as well (train was far quicker than driving), and it's been easy to get to bigger green spaces since we started using public transport again. Everything has opened up here much more quickly than in some parts of the country - we've been back at toddler groups since August, had outdoor music sessions even through lockdown 2, and have been going to different museums and attractions every week since they reopened. We've booked three theatre shows, a Christmas concert and two Santa experiences over the next month - plenty for families to do here.

Love where we are-tiny rural hamlet with hardly any people and lots of space-and not a single Covid case (loads in the wider county).
Feel very fortunate, it’s an ordinary house and garden but very quiet and private.
We have felt very safe at home.

Some people would find it too quiet but we like a quiet life!

@TooManyPlatesInMotion I'm in Ireland

It's crystallised what Hugh Grant had already entirely summed up for me in Four Weddings:

I think I had better be where other people are not.

@TheYearOfSmallThings Yes - we live in London (zone 3) and there has always been so much to do that we never fully explored the local wetlands, forest, canals and marshes, many parks, etc. At the beginning of lockdown I was apprehensive that we would feel trapped, but in fact I love it here even more.

Do you live in Walthamstow :) I feel like this. I love London so much and I've always taken advantage of the city things..concerts, theatre, museums etc, but we are 10 minutes walk away from Epping Forest and we did so much walking there during the first lockdown. It feels like we have the best of both worlds.

Our house has started to feel too small though...now that my husband is working from home full time it feels too cramped. Thank god I still get to go out to work.

Yes, my house & garden are much smaller than I would like because London however I live where I grew up & my parents are a 15min walk & inlaws a 25min walk.

The pandemic has made me appreciate family & good health more and they are very hands on with dc.

We were planning to move further out but I'm not sure now.

I’ve always liked where I live now, having lived in many other places.
What has been a revelation in my SE commuter town is the explosion of general goodness, neighbourliness and care for the vulnerable. The deliveries, the networking, the offers of help, the ideas that have sprung up for children.
Local shops rising to the challenge, it’s been very cheering.

Lots of school mums & neighbours are moving out though. I personally think it's crazy to not live near family if you can eg jobs, good relationships.

I would love to live near the sea though

Yes, but not in a good way at all. I've lived in the same, very small rural village all my life and it's just all very enmeshed, kick one - kick ten others type of a place.
All I've heard is drama, gossip, bitchyness, curtain twitching, naming and shaming on Facebook etc.
I've seen my area in a completely different light this year and I've decided I'm off, as soon as possible. I long for anonymity!

It’s made me feel more grateful for where I live which is rural, in a small village with great community spirit. And confirmed to me that I really need to not work in a large town environment. In fact, to be fair, I’d rather be able to work in the village!!

I live in rural Somerset and since lockdown London people have been snapping up houses all around causing the house prices to rise ridiculously, including Sarah Beeny who has bought a farm in Bruton.

Soon locals wont be able to afford to live here, I'm an outsider too, moved here before lockdown.

@madcatladyforever

I live in rural Somerset and since lockdown London people have been snapping up houses all around causing the house prices to rise ridiculously, including Sarah Beeny who has bought a farm in Bruton.

I don't necessarily disagree with your broader position but to be fair Beeno bought that place two and a half years ago

@madcatladyforever I’ve lived in Somerset all my life...house prices have been rising steadily over the last few years to the point it’s become impossible to buy a home here anymore. For someone like me, anyway

I’m in the London burbs and have felt v happy to have a big house and garden and lots of greenery around. It’s a very friendly area so it’s been great to chat to neighbours at a safe distance for a bit of human contact when you’re not allowed to go and see friends and family.