Is where you live friendly?

[headintheproverbial]

I grew up in the North and even now when I go back I find people just so friendly and warm.

We've lived in London nearly 20 years now and there's so much about it I love but we're - like oh so many - considering a move further out. We both have to be able to commute to London maybe once or even twice a week so we can't really be hours and hours away. Having researched options in the south I just wonder how friendly and welcoming places are if you move there without ties. Most of all I'd like to escape the competitive parents of SW London - I feel like most conversations I have with other mums are about schools and it's all just exhausting. With two really busy jobs we don't have much time for hobbies right now so we'd rely on making (nice!) friends at the school gates as it were.

I probably sound awful. I just want to raise my children somewhere normal and fun and friendly.

No, everyone is in their established groups and I don't fit into this monoculture suburb. I've had to make friends outside of the school run.

I'm originally from the Midlands and have lived in Yorkshire and Glasgow, but now live in Milton Keynes and find it very friendly. I don't have kids so don't do the school-gate thing, but most people say hello in the street, I know all my neighbours who take in parcels and share their allotment gluts, just started a new yoga class and was made super-welcome, that kind of thing.

Maybe as it's a new town (albeit one that includes old towns and villages) more people are "outsiders" than not? There are 200k more people live in the area than did 50 years ago. And as it keeps growing, there are always lots of newcomers.

It's extremely friendly. But it's in London. So you probably wouldn't like it 🤷🏻‍♀️

Very.
A tiny village in Scotland.

Yes

Yes very, but in East London. West London wouldn’t appeal to me for the reason you gave.

No.
I live in “The most brute and beastly shire in all the realm.” (Henry viii)
Even a smile is treated with suspicion.
We detest friendliness.

Pretty friendly. There are cliques. But the general level of smiles and hellos on the street is good. Lots of sharing of extra plants and passing on of school uniform, old toys and furniture etc. Neighbours always willing to feed pets and take in parcels. It's very safe. But it is along the SW London commuter belt and there is a LOT of talk of schools/catchments/exams etc.

I live in a nice part of a northern city. The natives are very friendly and down to earth, but a lot of well spoken incomers won't say hello or give you the time of day. Very strange.

They're very friendly round here. Good community type feeling as well.

Yes, Brighton.

DH - originally from East London always comments on the friendly bus drivers/chatty bus people (less so since Covid)

I come from a quite poor town in the north west but live in London. I find London much friendlier! I think it's because life in my hometown is quite tough, you might find more affluent places more welcoming.

Yes , rural NW town

Valleys South Wales and incredibly friendly. Good terms with all neighbours, talk or at least say hello to everyone we come across.

Not at all. As @wednesdayweather says lots of established groups. One or two of the neighbours always seem on edge, like they could turn nasty any minute.

Yes small town south east coast. Very friendly, I love it. People stop for chats in the street, neighbors all come and introduce them self to anyone recently moved in etc.

Also from small town in the north and find London much friendlier!

Suspect school talk also depends on which school your children go to - there are a small group who maybe discuss it at out DC school but vast majority don’t. It’s a pretty regular school with regular parents ( could be because it isn’t the outstanding school of choice in the area I guess.).

Also in London and find it really friendly in my area SE London Greenwich/Blackheath/

yes, im in a large town about an hour from london, and I find it quite friendly. Nice community, but not overbearing or intrusive either.

I grew up in Surrey and found everyone very friendly. I now live in east Anglia, I won't say the exact area in case anyone gets offended, but lots of people here are awful; it's full of people that think they're tough and want an argument, and if they haven't known you from birth they don't want to know you. We moved here when I was at the start of year 11 and on my first day at school here someone threatened to punch me as I was 'new'. If you try to chat to randoms in shops they usually blank you.

Whenever we go anywhere outside of our town and immediate area I notice instantly how much more open, smiley and friendly everyone is!

To add, all of my friends in my area are others that moved to the area from outside too!

For all those replying please say (roughly) where you are so I know where to look or avoid!!

Semi-rural East Anglia. Very friendly - if you make an effort, you'll be absorbed. I was out with a group of mates recently and it included people who have lived in the general area all or most of their lives, people who've been here decades and someone who moved in a year ago.

The downside (if it would bother you) is that it's hard to have a private life. I can go for a dog walk five or six miles away and still bump into people I know, and the other day someone I'd not seen in months asked how my trip away had gone...

Very friendly and welcoming, rural Oxfordshire.

Aberdeenshire; known in Scotland for being quiet, & reserved. Pretty much the antithesis of Glasgow BUT I know all my neighbours, we help each other out, we can laugh at ourselves and I find people pretty genuine .
I have lived in many other countries over the years, and I generally find people to be pretty friendly wherever I have been.