To wonder if you are happy living where you are now?

[superstarheartbreaker]

And if not, where would you like to move to if you were in a position to do so?

I live in a lovely little market town and it's where I grew up. It's beautiful, surrounded by country, I have great friends here and dd is settled in her school.
However, i miss urban life, the culture, the opportunities, the work scene. , the men.

If I could I'd move to the nearest big city Bristol which I love but I'm a single mum and I fear a move as I have a lot of support here.

Nope, hate where we live. It's a Surrey dormitory town, no soul and the locals are very unfriendly. Secondary schools are shit and house prices are through the roof. We moved here because it's only 4 miles from my work and DH used to work in London. But now he doesn't, and I'm leaving my job too. So we're off to find our forever home somewhere to the north-west of Cambridge.

Roses that sounds awful. Hope you manage to get out soon.

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thanks for the uplifting story.
I am sitting here in tears.
One of my kids has SN and it is being ignored both by school and nhs (much easier in Scotland - less legislation).
My H is an arse. We have been separated but stuck in the same house for years.
We are English in a very very nationalist Scottish village and getting a LOT of stick atm.

If I wasn't 40m from the nearest train station I would just get on one today and go (with kids obv) and never come back.

Roses I hear your despair.
Your area sounds a lot like mine.
H wont change job (not an easy thing in current market, admittedly) and we cant afford to live less than an hours commute for him. So endless money wasted on cars. I have to have a car as there are only 2 buses a day to my nearest food shop (15m round trip) and also if I can find work (shepherd anyone? No? how about groom then? no? okay, lambing work? no? ah, I know - tractor driver?)

Morloth. I'm like you living in Stepford land or at least a Stepfordish green naice part of London. It's too far out for me really but DC and DH love it.

So I too am taking one for the team.

I wrote a message that got swallowed but basically love Bath very glad I left London

Sending you some firstchoice.

Oh, firstchoice - that sounds really, really tough. I was living with my ex for a long time after we separated too, for exactly the same reasons, and it was hell. Also, I am from the south, and several people hated my accent (to the point that a few of them would mock it right in front of me in a nasty rather than a teasing way). They assumed I'd automatically be a rich snob, even though I grew up in a really poor place. I tried and tried and tried to SHOW how much this was wrong by being really community-orientated and a helpful and friendly neighbour. I got somewhere with some people, but I just couldn't get past the prejudice with others, and they were really vicious. It was soul-destroying. It must be even more difficult where you are, particularly at this moment in time.

I can still vividly remember the phone call with the Estate Agent telling me it had sold at long last, and that I needed to move in a week and a half. I was so intensely happy and relieved that I burst into tears as soon as I out the phone down. This WILL happen to you. You WILL get there and you'll be able to move somewhere where your needs and those of your kids will be attended to. Furthermore, you'll have your own space away from your ex. It'll be brilliant! Just keep focusing on it, and kicking your estate agent's ass to get things moving!

firstchoice that sounds so tough really hope you can get out.

When we were first looking at leaving London me and my DH stayed in Bath near my family for a bit and then stayed near his family in a small town in Ireland for a while to see where we thought we could settle. The reasons for choosing Bath were many but the main one was I felt I would always be an outsider there and so would our kids.

Really feeling for those who hate where they are especially with children. It must be so grinding dealing with it day in and day out

I live in a suburb of a county town just outside the Home Counties.

No, I'm not happy here. We have no friends nearby and no social life here. Every attempt to join in community stuff has ended badly so I've lost all confidence. We chat to neighbours if we see them but there are no friendships in the making.

If I could live anywhere in the UK I would like to try London. I feel I have missed out on city life. If I could move abroad I would live in Munich.

More likely we will move back to the village we moved from as soon as we can, it will be our last move and I can see us growing old there.

Yes - I love it. I live alone in a 1930s lane-house in the French quarter of a big Asian city. It's not the life/location I thought I would end up having, but I am (finally) very happy here.

I'm in SE London and whilst in many ways I love it, we're getting a bit fed up (DH very much so). There is no 'off' switch where we are, if you go down the local high street at any time of day it is relentlessly busy, crowded narrow streets and every seems so miserable and angry all the time.

The traffic is a killer too, getting out of the city can take a stupid amount of time.

We are in a very trendy bit of town, but, y'know, we're just not down with da kidz these days and it's still pretty grotty and the problems are still there - gangs, drugs, gun and knife crime.

I feel that I did make the most of London when DD was little, we did so much both locally and in the centre of town and it was great. But now she's off to (a big inner city with no playing fields for miles around) school and London at the weekends and holidays is pretty grim, so what's the point?

sigh. Not sure what to do or where to go!

Reputable, I'm so far from my family. I like my house and friends and life here but it will never be home.

I'm about to move back to the NE after 28 years in East Anglia and I can't wait to go home
Moving into a lovely big Victorian terrace which will be a nice contrast to our pokey new build.

I live in a suburb of a city. I love it. Bars, restaurants, cinema, cafes, shops all within easy reach without having to go into the city centre, but then the city centre is vibrant with lots of variety so I like having that so close to me. Ridiculous amount of activities for the kids to choose from. The kids are in great schools (for now - hopefully they will get into great secondaries but there is always a risk in a city).

Countryside is fairly near. I like to visit but would feel restricted there.

The suburb I live in is almost like a bubble - the school/church/high street are the main focus and you pretty much know everyone. Even though we're bang in a city, it feels safe. My eldest is now at an age where we're letting him have more repsonibilty and freedom so it is nice to be able to say "yes you can go for a hot chocolate in the cafe down the road with your friend".

In hindsight, I would've bought a house with a larger third bedroom but we bought it before we'd consdiered having kids. I'd have also opeted for a more cul-de-sac location as we get a lot of through traffic. That said, neither of those points bother me enough to move. The plus points are we've a big garden, quiet neighbours, decent sized downstairs with a nice "flow". We've got friends nearby.

Posted earlier but lost it :(

I love where I live - we're in a semi rural area in NSW with supermarkets 5 mins in one direction and farms 5mins in the other direction. We're also 2 hrs drive from Sydney and slap bang in the middle of wine country so it's beautiful here.

The only worry I do have is with the high youth unemployment (currently at 26.3%) and with one teen leaving school at the end of the year and another leaving school at the end if next year it's a big worry

We will be moving at some point as out rent is really high but I'm sure we'll stay in the area.

It did post Maitland

for all those who hate where they live. Must be grim.

I love my house. Hate the street.
Location is good, can walk into town in 15 mins and we can walk 15 mins in the other direction and be in beautiful countryside. Excellent primary school less than 5 mins walk. Secondary DD goes to 5 minutes the other way.
Can drive/train to Liverpool or Manchester in an hour or less and stunning coastline an hour the other way. My parents and PIL are very close. House prices are cheap, our mortgage for a 4 bedroom 4 story house is under £300 a month.

Town is dying though. Pound shops, phone shops, charity shops and pubs mostly. Very very poor areas, lots of crime, not many jobs. My house is surrounded by houses rented out by the room, lots of incidents involving police. Secondary schools are pretty crap, as is 6th form college.
I am really lonely too.

Love my house, road, area in zone 2 SW London.
Love that we have everything within walking distance, love that DH and I have easy commutes, and primary schools and nurseries are excellent.
Love that we live in a mixed neighbourhood but it still has good shops and is perfectly safe to walk around after dark

Hate that we will forever be saddled with an enormous mortgage but the idea of having a huge commute to be further out fills me with dread

I don't hate it but I don't love it either. It's an OK village on the outskirts of a slightly grotty city. Nice view, tedious hill to trek up on the way home. We've got a little Sainsburys, a couple of cafes, numerous pubs and one dreadful sort-of-nightclub. Two good primaries and one decent secondary. Quite a nice playground for the kids. Not a lot of anonymity, which feels claustrophobic to me - I'd prefer a bigger town, really.

We live on the edge of the roughest part, but even that is not very rough. Would like to encounter less swearing and pot smoking en route to the park with DD but oh well.

There's nothing wrong with the place and it's a good place to bring up a family, but I'm bored. And we moved here from a town I was completely in love with, which was really hard. We can never hope to afford to go back, so I'm here in this slightly dull place where I don't think I fit in that well and it simply isn't home. In my old town there was a bit of magic in the air when I walked home of an evening, if that makes any sense. Now there's nothing at all.

Lovely tidy and peaceful. Still can't believe how lucky I am too live here.

cheerears

you sound happy can you share where you live. ish or cryptically ?

I live in a lovely village on the outskirts of a big city. Brilliant schools, countryside 5 minutes walk and beach 30 minutes drive away. I would love a country house though in the middle of nowhere though!

I am happy where I am - right on the beach practically in a village ten miles outside Edinburgh. Fab views and light in our house (though it's small). City on our doorstep, but not in it.

I love where we live - in a little village on the outskirts of a market town in Norfolk that no ones ever heard of because it's not on the North Norfolk Coast . Free parking , a proper farmers market , not one that sells artisanal hand thrown cheeses for £150 each , good schools , no traffic , people that don't drive as if they have a death wish , no haste , no rushing. Everyone in our village has the same animals as us , so we consequently have a feed merchant , farrier , vet and hay man , plus instruction all in the village . Two medium size supermarkets in town , but every kind of independent shop and service you could ever need , from accountants to computer engineers . New superfast broadband . Free parking outside the mainline station to London , and a guaranteed seat on the train . No houses in my immediate view from my house for at least three miles either in front or behind the house . Neighbours who keep an eye and ear out for you , and have a habit of leaving sacks of produce on the doorstep . Not far from the beach , hours journey to two very nice cities if we want nightlife . What's not to love ?

Yes. Love everything about the house, street, and area.
Lovely town with loads of nice restaurants/cafes/independent shops/parks/pubs with real ale and good live music.
Loads for DC to do-cinema, leisure centre, skate park, activities and good schools. Countryside for dog walks minutes from the house.
Yet near to transport-trains, motorways, airports and couple of big cities.
Reasonable house prices.
I like to spend weekends/holidays in big cities but wouldn't move to one.