Totally blank slate and open to just about anything in the UK, so would be grateful for any specific recommendations (ie town/village/suburb rather than city/county). I know we’ll never tick all of these boxes, but these would be our ideals:
- Somewhere we can comfortably live (in a nice 3-4 bed, normal living costs, ie no private school fees or similar expenses) on a household salary of £100-130k.
- Somewhere welcoming, where it’s genuinely achievable to make in-roads into the community and friends as a newcomer. (Not necessarily the same as a place where people are friendly. e.g. we currently live somewhere people are superficially nice, but your face will never fit if you haven’t grown up here).
- This will sound awful, but somewhere it’s easy to meet intelligent, kind-spirited people with a decent standard of literacy. And also somewhere where racist/anti-immigrant sentiments are not the norm. We’re not personally affected by this, but find it soul destroying and consequently hard to meet people on the same wavelength.
- Somewhere pretty, with a nice high street that still has some life. Or if it’s a village, somewhere with places to eat, drink & shop accessible on foot.
- Up to a 30-40 min drive/train journey to a varied employment centre (or an hour if it’s London) with good opportunities in both the private & public sector.
- Somewhere where a wide range of stuff is going on. Lots of community groups, cultural events, classes, people coming together to make things happen. Accessible to some major events/attractions.
- Lovely walks on foot, amazing day trip options, and ideally good train connections.
I have a feeling I’m describing a utopia that no longer exists, but I live in hope. :)