We live between Reading and London (closer to Reading).
DH works on the outskirts of west London, sort of near Heathrow, Kew, Richmond sort of area.
Neither of us is from the area we now live in, so we have no family or old friends here etc. I haven't been happy here since we moved here about 6 years ago. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I just don't know anyone here, despite my efforts to make friends. It is a small town, where SAHMs like me, tend to have their families and school friends around. Anyone who is a more recent addition to the town like we are, seem to all work. I've really struggled to make any sorts of connections here. It is expensive here, but still not London prices. But it also doesn't have the plus points London does, like museums, theatres, transport links etc.
DH doesn't mind it here and is very practical about it. He doesn't miss seeing friends or family especially. He is happy for us to move as well though, but obviously not somewhere with no schools or a massive commute for him.
We have talked a lot about moving and have been talking about it for years. But until now, it didn't seem possible as we were tied into our mortgage. Now we actually can move in theory.
So,
Option 1
We have friends, including some of our best friends who we know since we were at school or university, in London. London has better links to where we are from. Also, DH wouldn't have the big commute to work if we lived nearer.
So, one option would be moving to London or closer to London, which I think could be really nice, as we would see more of friends and family and also have more on our doorstep. Dh commute would be much shorter as well.
Option 2
Dh is likely to be doing some days from home from now on, (currently WFH full time, but that will change). So theoretically, we could move somewhere rural and beautiful, and he could do the even bigger commute on office days. I would love this for our young dcs, as I would love them to have a more outdoorsy lifestyle. But on office days, DH would have a huge commute which I think sounds horrendous. He disagrees and says he would do a bigger commute as long as it's under 90ish mins.
Option 3
Stay here. It's fine. It has great schools and is safe. We can afford A house, even if it isn't our dream house or anything like it. Dcs are 6 and 3 btw, so one is at primary and is happy there, which is an issue.