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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Am I being unreasonable/lazy to not want to move to a very hilly town?

99 replies

Amandette · 27/02/2019 23:48

We (myself, dh + one dc) are moving to a different part of the country.

Dh and I will both be working in a particular city, and have been looking at towns a commutable distance away.

We’ve narrowed it down to 3.

Town A is dh’s favourite by far - in all fairness, it is a lovely town, with a beautiful high street, great schools, low crime etc etc, seems to tick all the boxes. But the high street is at the bottom of a valley and all the houses are on the really steep valley sides above it. I’ve heard that you can’t really park on the high street, so any trip to town to go the shops or anything else would end in this massive climb home.

I would prefer Town B or Town C which aren’t quite as picturesque/upper middle class but are far flatter.

Dh thinks I’m being lazy. AIBU to discount a town for this reason?

OP posts:

Merryoldgoat · 27/02/2019 23:50

Nope. It would get really old really fast.

Pishogue · 27/02/2019 23:51

Personally I think you’d be quite mad. Assuming you haven’t got a disability that would making dealing with regular hills difficult.

radishingravish · 27/02/2019 23:52

I live in a hilly town :) Takes about 15 minutes to walk down and 15 minutes to walk back up from my house. I like it and it keeps me fit. Think about all the good it will be doing for your health. Or the extra bag of crisps/slice of cake you will get to eat.

Ribbonsonabox · 27/02/2019 23:53

Is it Hebden Bridge? Gorgeous place...
Look on the bright side once you've got used to it you will be super fit!

JumpOrBePushed · 28/02/2019 00:01

It’ll keep you fit OP, just think of the health benefits

Seriously though, I live on a hill. It’s fine most of the time, you get used to walking uphill.

The main problem is winter. Ice, snow, and hills aren’t a good combination. Some of the minor roads round us are too steep to drive up when covered in snow. How much of a that is depends on how close to the bigger, gritted roads you live.

BackforGood · 28/02/2019 00:01

Another who thinks that you would appreciate your fitness and the extra calories that are used everytime you walk up hill rather than on the flat. I genuinely do think you would get used to the hills very quickly.

HeddaGarbled · 28/02/2019 00:21

I used to live up a hill from the town centre and it was a pain. Carrying heavy shopping bags, pushing a pram/push-chair, walking back from school with extensive school paraphernalia were all made more arduous. Icy weather was dangerous.

The bliss when we moved somewhere flatter. I walk more now and use the car less.

PickAChew · 28/02/2019 00:26

I live uphill from our city centre. I'll happily make the 25 minute walk in but will catch the bus back unless we have neutral weather and I have no heavy bags!

BuildingBackUp · 28/02/2019 00:38

Yanbu op.

The village we live is really flat and I think it’s a huge benefit.

We can all (even young dc) go for a cycle of a fair few miles around the village, straight from the door, and it’s all flat.

Same with walking - I’m far from lazy but I’m out and about with Ds3 in the pram loads and having to navigate hills all the time would get old fast.

EatsFartsAndLeaves · 28/02/2019 00:41

Watch out also for flood risk, and for one side of the valley to get very little sun.

HazardGhost · 28/02/2019 00:42

YANBU! Hill walking is fine when you have the energy, wellness and nothing to carry but regularly? With stuff? On a tiring day? Nahhh.

Monty27 · 28/02/2019 00:56

Yanbu! I live at the top of hill in a residential area. I dread that walk walking from the train and feeling shattered let alone carrying shopping or wheeling buggies.
It does keep you fit though. And a great view

Sycamoretrees · 28/02/2019 00:58

The walking up hill and the lack of sunshine and light if you're in the wrong position in the valley (especially in the evenings) would be a deal breaker for me!

MrsTerryPratcett · 28/02/2019 01:01

I know someone that lives near Lake Garda. Very hilly. She has the calves of a 20 year old in her 80s and is very fit. With no exercise except walking around.

Blondie1984 · 28/02/2019 01:10

It's the same where I live and whilst it does indeed keep you fit and mean you don't need a gym membership, it can be a pain when it snows/is icy - I've lost track of the number of cars I've seen skid down the road or had to help push up it....so I something to consider if the place you're moving to has a lot of snow (e.g. Scotland)

JasperKarat · 28/02/2019 01:18

I used to live in Durham city, very hilly, but worth it. My advice would be to take a backpack into town much easier to get any shopping back if you're walking up hill, don't discount somewhere lovely because of the hills, they're great for keeping your legs toned!

Holidaycountdown · 28/02/2019 01:24

Sounds like Berkhamsted 😂 the hills are huge...parking isn’t that terrible though!

Original poster

Amandette · 28/02/2019 01:56

Sounds like Berkhamsted 😂 the hills are huge...parking isn’t that terrible though!

I was trying to keep it vague, but you guessed it! It is Berkhamsted.

Dh is set on it, I’d rather live in a nice part of Hemel Hempstead.

I’m interested to hear that the parking isn’t too bad though - we have some friends who used to live there (though left a few years ago) who said it was dreadful, but maybe things have improved since then.

OP posts:

Monty27 · 28/02/2019 02:03

It definitely depends what is on the hill
Whether it's pretty or not. I monitor seasonal changes when I am trudging up the hill as a diversion.

Linning · 28/02/2019 05:59

YANBU OP, I live in the San Francisco bay area, there are hills on each side street of my house and it is an absolute pain.

I (used to) love to walk and would walk for hours before moving here but now everything is a bit of an excursion and as a consequence I find myself driving much more because I can't bare the thought of walking up those hills all the time (and driving and parking up steep hills is a pain in itself!), I walk when the weather is nice and to go to places I know will be mostly flat but anything else and I can't be bothered anymore. If you have a baby or young children, you will find yourself staying fit but also miserable everytime you have to walk back home (especially when the weather is shit and you find yourself having to walk 10 minutes up hill, a distance that would take you 2 minutes if it was flat) and nothing more miserable than resenting have to walk home.

So yeah, I would advise against it if you can!

DroningOn · 28/02/2019 06:08

If that's the only reason in spite of all that's good yabu

TheLastNigel · 28/02/2019 06:13

Berkhampstead is lovely though, and Hemel Is generally rough as anything-I would take a hill in Berky over almost anything in Hemel tbh! (I work in the community in Hemel and I'm yet to find a nice bit of it).

MiniCooperLover · 28/02/2019 06:16

Berko is lovely, Hemel is not. Not even the nice bits OP, avoid it!

Sanguineclamp · 28/02/2019 06:21

Personally I'd base my decisions on schools. Education would be my first priority.

blueskiesovertheforest · 28/02/2019 06:26

I'm very sceptical about it magically making you fit - it's more likely to dissuade you from bothering to walk if you're unfit to start with. You'll end up taking the car more rather than less, and driving to another town!

Are you intending this move to be permanent? Is it somewhere you could manage in old age or are elderly, less mobile people more likely to be housebound?

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