Where would you love to live if you could…

[tramtracks]

If you children have left home and you haven’t any elderly parents to care for anymore where would you like to live and why.

I’ll go first - I’d like to be within one hour of an airport, have a Booths or a Waitrose - preferably within walking distance. Same for a nice cinema, coffee shop independent shops. Easy to walk to an area where you can your dog off the lead safely. Friendly neighbours. A train station. Preferably northern town.

Somewhere within walking distance to the sea/beach, excellent public transport system, nice neighbours, an Aldi nearby, good shopping area nearby with a good range of restaurants, takeaways, etc. Near somewhere with plenty going on but far away enough to be peaceful. Cinema nearby would be good.

Oh dear. New Zealand, or one of the outer Hebrides. Preferably uninhabited (apart from me and my pets, obvs) 😄

Whitby.

That's funny, when I read the first post I thought that'll be Whitby then!

North Devon. I live in Devon anyway but I love it up in North Devon. I love the beaches and the slower pace of life up there and would move there but there are hardly any good jobs up there and the house prices are crazy.

Ilkley then!

Two streets over. I picked this flat just to be close to where I wanted. I love the wider area - the streets are quiet with low traffic and kids can play outside, but it's less than a 5 min walk to a bowling alley, cinema, a bunch of restraints, supermarkets, cafes etc. The town centre is a quick hop on a bus away. There are good schools nearby. A perfect representation of a 15 minute city. A train station is in walking distance and an airport is only 30 mins away.

But two streets away are massive 5-7 bedroom houses with big shady gardens and a huge communal park all the kids play on after school. I'd love to be in one of those instead of my tiny flat. First thing I buy if I ever win the lottery is a house there (and hire a housekeeper!).

I love where I live…
Near the sea, I can see the sea from my bedroom windows. It’s a 10minute walk.
A seaside town with a promenade, lovely restaurants and then a fairground in the summer.
we have a Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and another local named supermarket.
A few boutiques.
A swimming pool.
lots of activities
12 minutes into the city for cinema etc.

a town I think. Somewhere like York (city but small) or Harrogate, or maybe wetherby.

we’re not far but we’re more remote than I think I’d like to be and we have two little kids; I think when they’re grown they’re not going to like it as much

@tramtracks we live in Bath - pricey , but totally fits your criteria, apart from not being northern!

As someone who actually lives there, Whitby fails on several of the OP's criteria though - no cinema (other than occasional screenings at the Spa or Coliseum), the nearest Waitrose and airport are both well over an hours drive away, and due to the high number of second homes and holiday lets, 'neighbours ' are likely to be holiday makers that change from week to week... and dogs are banned from the beach throughout the summer.....

I would split time between Stockholm/Copenhagen and Palma Majorca

I’d live in a three bedroom terrace house in Chelsea off Kings Rd, overlooking a garden square, with a small private garden. There’d be a cosy coffee shop on the corner with lovely pastries and simple meals. I’d be within walking distance of restaurants, shops, tube. My neighbours would be a friendly but not overbearing mix of artists, writers, eccentric millionaires and impoverished gentry, with a sprinkling of shakers and movers. Someone would organise a summer BBQ and Bon fire night in the gardens and another would host an annual Christmas party. There’d always be a few inches of snow falling Christmas Eve (after my family had all safely arrived). Heaven.

Somewhere warm all year round with lots of sunshine, long daylight hours and close to the beach

Sorry to hear that about Whitby @P00hsticks - we used to go for holidays when the children were small and there used to be regular film showings in some kind of community centre.

Somewhere fairly rural and coastal.
I don’t want to be completely isolated with no shops or transport links, I like a bit of hustle and bustle so would like to be a short (10 minute) drive away from civilisation. I don’t mind having neighbours either.
I love sea swimming and would do it every day if I had the opportunity.

Somewhere warm, sunny and by a beach. Spain probably

Somewhere warm, sunny and by a beach. Spain probably

In the UK? Rutland! It might be a terrible part of the country for all I know but we drive to and from Leeds a lot and always pass through Rutland (for about nine minutes 😁) and say how lovely it looks, we’ve all become a bit obsessed with it. We always see amazing bird life flying over there and so have decided it must be a little paradise. I was actually looking for houses to buy there yesterday and found a lovely little cottage.
We won’t really move though, too many friends to leave behind here.

Somewhere in UK where I could see a lovely beach from my windows and could walk to local shops.

Malta or Gozo.

Where I am now, but better weather please. And London flight prices and direct long-haul flights for the odd holiday would be nice too, but without having to live in London.

I think she's describing Roughlee Barrowford, not Whitby. I'd say Settle but it's too far from the airport.

We’re not trying to find somewhere that meets the Op’s criteria though, although I am very jealous that you live in Whitby, I imagine it’s not always as idyllic to live there as it is in my imagination!