We moved from the city as we simply couldn't afford to live there anymore but since we've been in the country it's been so much better.
My children can play out without having to be followed around to ensure they're safe
When I open my windows I smell fresh air, flowers and hear birds instead of smelling car fumes and rubbish and hearing people constantly.
we've lived in our village for the same length of time we were in our previous city apartment. Here everyone knows me, I have people I can call on in an emergency, people make an effort to be friendly and inclusive. In our old home no-one knew us, people were unfriendly and rude.
In our old apartment it took 30 mins to drive to the closest shopping centre (less than a mile away) due to traffic, here our closest town is 5 miles away and there's a supermarket there and if i drive 45 mins in any direction there are big towns with Tescos, etc.
In the city there weren't enough school places to take the numbers of kids who needed them, dd would have ended up in a school across the city in classes of 30+. Here they go to the village school across the road with between 6-12 children per class.
We have cats, and plan on getting chickens and once the kids are old enough we'll get a dog. There are horses, donkeys and cows in the fields around our house and a badger set across the fields outside our front door. We've had foxes playing in our garden in broad daylight whilst the children kicked a ball around them and pheasants pecking outside the back door. There are flocks of birds, swallows nesting in the neighbouring buildings, bats down the road and rabbits and hares in all the fields.... some are animals my children might never otherwise have seen.
My children play outside from morning til night with no fear of being hit by cars, bullied by older kids or anyone bothering them..... my biggest concern is the dog from down the road who comes to play and is so big I worry he'll knock ds2 over in excitement.
Yes the travelling to shops and amenities is the downside you pay but it's worth it, and you adjust quickly to stocking up when you're near shops and planning trips to swimming and other amenities to also act as shopping trips while you're there.
I've seen the difference between kids who grow up in cities and those in the countryside and I'm more than willing to put up with a bit of driving around when they're teens to avoid the horrors i've seen first hand with city teens.