What's it like living in Taunton?

[PronounsBaby]

Thinking of relocating there with my 1 year old for work.

What's it like?
Is there a community feel?
What cheap things are there to do with a little one?
I don't drive, will that be a problem? What's the public transport like?
What are the nurseries/schools like?

Would be moving within 3 miles of the hospital.

Any insight would be great! Thanks

Does no one know anything about Taunton? Perhaps there is literally nothing to say?! 🤔

It's as dull as dishwater. It's very average for a town of it's size, there's lots of traffic and in all honesty public transport really isn't great and I feel overpriced. Lots of closed shops and homeless people in the town centre. Not paticularly safe either, a bit rough actually. The crime rate is 112 per 1000 people which is really quite high. Not sure what the primary schools are like and the secondaries aren't great. Not much to do with kids, it's a soulless town with not much to do. I wouldn't say it's the best place to raise children. A lot of anti social behavior from teens in my experience. You may get a community feel in the surrounding villages, not so much in Taunton proper.

Thank you for your honesty @ladyfromslough ! Planning to visit before I make any decisions...will lower my expectations somewhat!

Mmm, I work there sometimes so don't know what it's like to live there but compared to where I do live the high street seems positively thriving. Surely everywhere has seen the closure of shops in recent years but shops/coffee shops in Taunton always really busy. Everyone seems friendly too but as I dont actually live there no idea what it's like at night.

I think LadyfromSlough is giving a very downbeat assessment. Taunton is fine. Maybe not exciting but there are many far worse places. There are certainly not loads of homeless people roaming the town centre and no more anti social behaviour than your average town. I really wouldn't describe it as 'a bit rough'. You have beautiful countryside close by a couple of nice parks in town etc. I can't comment on buses but there is a station with frequent trains to Lo Don or Exeter and beyond and great access to the M5 and A303. Traffic in town is only really bad at peak times if you need to cross the town.
The hospital is close to the town centre and there are some nice areas within easy walking distance.

I read it as "Trumpton".

I was going to say a lot of fires as there was (I think) one ever episode. <unhelpful>

It's ok in some parts, town centre is dying. Lovely country side, plenty of walks, close to the M5.

2 fire's this week 1 at a pub and another a listed building.

Agree with @ladyfromslough to an extent. I think it's a little bit rough. When I lived there I had my phone, had my house egged several times and I found it quite a depressing place to be honest. Not that pretty. Nothing there apart from barbers and empty units, although that's typical of many town centres these days. I wouldn't say there's hoards of homeless people though, just a few that tend to hang around the empty old shops. It's a bog standard commuter town really, but I can think of more unpleasant places in Somerset, let alone the rest of the UK

I love Taunton and find that the people who moan about it are the kind of people who’ve lived here forever and never lived anywhere else! It has the usual amount of closed shops and homelessness, in fact less than some places I know.

There are lots of independent shops and cafes, there’s a regular farmers market. Have a look at Taunton Independent Quarter on Facebook. There are lovely walks along the canal and river and a few really pretty parks. If you are visiting with your LO check out Vivary Park. It’s got a fab play area and a lovely coffee shop with homemade cakes.

I think it’s got a lovely community feel, I always chat with folks when I’m out and about. Strangers as well as friends! Buses could be better but they are currently trying out super cheap fares so you can get anywhere in town for £1 and as far as Minehead or Bridgwater for £2. And it’s so close to so much gorgeous countryside. I’m not a local but I never want to live anywhere else!

It has an excellent library and a Waterstones, two markers of civilisation imho.

13 episodes: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumpton

Oh and of course it has the Museum of Somerset inside the castle. It is free to visit and does children’s stuff during the school holidays. Also a mark of Civilisation!

Cool thanks for the tips!

@ladyfromslough nailed it tbh. You CANNOT live there or in environs without driving. It’s very much been overtaken by older powers that be who are obsessed with building retirement apartments near the cricket ground. It’s really a town for old people. One good secondary school, rest dreadful. Town centre full of closed shops. Independent “quarter” cute, but essentially just two small backstreets. The countryside around is nice, but zero transport links to those places.

The above aside it’s definitely friendly. But so, so boring.

Too many new builds popping up, in town and out of town. Won't belong before all the villages merge into Taunton and Bridgwater.

True there are some closed shops. Debenhams closing didn't help but this is true of most towns. Taunton still has an MnS, Waterstones, Boots, TKMaxx, Lakeland, Joules, Fat Face etc. It has a good selection of supermarkets. If you think Taunton is downtrodden and rough you have probably led a sheltered life! Is it an exciting pace? No. But there is a cinema a bowling alley a sports centre and all the usual facilities you'd expect in a medium sized town. But yes, having a car would make a massive difference. Just like anywhere outside a major city.

It's very close to stunning Exmoor 💙

I live here and think it’s great! I moved from London with kids several years ago. Mine are old now but living in Taunton has given them huge independence because they could walk everywhere from a youngish age. Everything in central. It’s really green with beautiful parks.

there is homelessness etc but that’s everywhere now. I actually think it’s far less visible than places like Bath and Bristol. There are some really good support charities.

It’s very convenient for the coast - 40 minutes to Minehead - and half an hour on the train to Bristol and Exeter or in London in less than two hours.

Feel free to pm me if you want more! We always thought we’d move out once the children were older but we’ve realised we are probably going to stay here now as we are happy here!

😆

I’ve lived here all my life and love it here. Yes there are ‘rougher’ areas but you get that in every town. The farmers markets are good, there’s lots of nice places to walk ie hestercombe gardens which my children loved exploring when growing up. Long run meadow by French weir park as well. There are some nice primary schools, they went to the best secondary in area and feel welcome to pm me on areas.
there isn’t a great deal for older teens apart from bowling cinema and swimming that’s the only negative. Trains and buses are very good. Always found the hospital great with my children/teens when they had emergencies etc. there were two fires recently but that doesn’t usually happen. You can get a steam train to minehead which my children enjoyed. It has grown a lot from when I was young and lots of building going on tends to be retirement apartments around town and further out housing estates but it is always popular for being to commute from London because of train links. Hope this helps

I was in the town centre recently and wow, what a dump! Empty shops everywhere, teen parents everywhere you look, graffiti all over, homeless people hiding in doorways, police sirens constantly going off, a pop up police station with loads of people in the queue. I hated it. It felt very rough. And i'm from Middlesbrough!

@dancingmum766 Are we talking about the same Taunton? Yours is not a description I recognise. There is a spot near the homeless shelter on East Reach that you may be talking of but can't think where else. I also don't get the pop up police station with a long queue. There is a large police station close to the town centre so why would people queue at a pop up?

I've lived here all my life, and love it. Good location for commuters in terms of proximity to the M5 and good rail links. The quantock hills are so close by for lovely walks and countryside. Equally there are lots of parks around with the main one being Vivary park which has concerts annually.
Yes there are several closed shops, but that's the case in many places particularly post Covid.
The high street is great and often has markets... the independent quarter is lovely especially by the river. There is ongoing development at the fire pool site which will be exciting to see and hopefully bring more business to the town.
As op said homelessness is not horrendous and yes there's often some seen on easy reach hye the shelter but I would say it's a lot better than other cities.
I've always felt safe here, maybe because I've lived here all my life and know the town well.

One of my friends lives there and likes it