To think that town/ city life is often healthier than rural life?

[BoogleMcGroogle]

I've just been speaking on the phone to a good friend who has just made the surprising move of leaving their big, beautiful 'forever home' in the rolling countryside and moving into an unremarkable bungalow on the edge of a large commuter town. They are so much happier and she was describing how their quality of life has improved. They are healthier as its now safe to walk wherever they like ( their dogs are fitter than ever), they have more time because of a shorter commute and less maintainence, they know and like their neighbours and have joined a local political campaign group, have more money ( only one car now), eat better because of the improved shopping options and their kids are finally able to learn independence now they can use buses and pavements. I am so pleased for them, as they weren't certain about this choice.

Similarly, when I visit London, I'm always struck by the older people, students and kids enjoying the cultural and sporting opportunities ( and cheap transport).

I'm not ignorant of the issues in urban environments, especially for some people. I worked for years in children's services in an inner London borough, although I'm not convinced the issues were less in the large shire county, where social isolation can be devastating.

AIBU to think that for many, if not most people, and especially older people age families the chances of enjoying a good quality of life are better in urban/ semi rural communities, rather than trying to live the rural dream?

And not all countryside is created equal where walking is concerned - at our last house in the country you mostly had to drive somewhere in order to go for a walk.

That's no different to living in a town then?
Thankfully where we lived in the countryside (not in the UK) we were lucky enough to be able to go on numerous walks from our doorstep but there is more space, less agriculture and more of a walking culture than the UK.

I'm genuinely interested in why people end up stuck in the countryside. ... surely opportunities are better in the city?

I don't believe for a second you are genuinely interested. Why not go and visit the countryside and look around you.

I have miles of countryside on my doorstep to walk in, we run a business here, the schools are good, the people are friendly. Dh could die or leave me and I'd be looked after by friends in my village. I like animals, horses, dogs, birds. I like quiet. Have lots of clever interesting friends. Enjoy visiting London every couple of months.

I grew up on the outskirts of Cardiff, nothing but fields and hills behind us. It was pretty idyllic as a child, but as an older person I much prefer living closer to the centre where we are now.

I’ve often thought that if you suffer from SAD it must be much worse in the country. The city comes to life as dusk falls. I like it when it’s wet and all the light reflects off the pavements.

We have a family home in the countryside ( no fast food deliveries, no sewerage, no gas ) and we have a home in the city too ( train, long drive or fly to get there ) we flit between the two and get the best of both worlds. Sounds idealic, but you get used to certain things, I have a beloved knife that's brilliant in the kitchen, can't take it with me so the one in city is pants by comparison, also miss my fav jumper if I wore it home and forgot to bring it back ... first world problems I know ! I do like having theatre and culture on my doorstep, do keep a two seater car there too. But have to have shopping delivered as car isn't practical for that! But in country have a 4x4 that I can fit hay bales in and a full weeks shopping !

I live At The edge of the Cotswolds in a town of about 30,000 people we have two biggish cities 10 miles away so a short drive but lots of countryside around us. Our town has three secondary schools two big supermarkets and a small Lidl. And all the usual things like doctors, library, sport centre etc. It's a great happy medium. I wouldn't want to be too rural or in a big city.

A friend lived rural in a big old house that they rented with three kids and a husband that worked away and she spent her entire day in the car running around dropping kids off to school clubs dentists, shopping for food etc etc trying to keep their house warm was an uphill battle. The pot holes in the roads costs her several new tyres and the tractors covered everything in mud and manure. She lasted two years.

Oh gosh absolutely. I would never choose to live rurally. I grew up in a semi rural village (although only 25-30 minutes drive from city centre) and there was almost nowhere to walk to. My parents left there when they retired to live in a busier town as they didn't want to be isolated, relying on cars in their retirement.

I live on the outskirts of a capital city now and on maternity leave currently, I often don't use the car as we have large supermarkets in walking distance. Good baby friendly gym options nearby so my exercise routine hasn't been affected too much. The traffic is pretty bad so I do try and avoid driving! We live 2 minutes walk from a train station so DH gets the train to work every day. We will only ever need one car (I hope). Even when we do drive for activities for DCs eg swimming, softplay, it's always short distances. DCs have plenty of varied exercise options as there's an abundance of different parks, softplays, trampoline centres, gymnastics, skate parks etc to choose from.

I agree mostly. When I lived in London I was fitter and didn't have a car. Now I have to drive everywhere. However I have more money and I'm not utterly exhausted. I'm currently looking for a bit more of an in between.

I said 'stuck' because abelour described being unhappy where she lived but has not moved away. I know people in the city do this too but Id have thought the move would be easier the other way around.

Thanks for the advice that I should get into the countryside for myself. My mother's family are north Norfolk farmers. I taught in a rural primary school and worked in a rural community psychology service. I've looked around the countryside, not just taken a muddy walk.

Sorry abekour, I meant dan who describes her dating responsibilities. I have a cousin in a similar situation. She would love to move away for work, but her parents can't get about without her driving them. She's not in a relationship and can't afford a house ( North Norfolk is expensive) so lives with her parents.

auberjean good point about the air quality. We were in Tower Hamlets and the air quality reports were just scary.

People in the countryside use their car for almost EVERYTHING. Where I come from (semi-rural and not totally remote), it's even considered a bit taboo to be walking from one village to the next or to the shops. Almost as if it means you're mad and you must need a lift. And when you do walk there is not always a pavement and, in proper countryside, not enough light.
So, yes, I think people walk a lot more in towns and cities, even if it's just to the bus stop.

I suppose pollution is the big issue in cities.

I find cities safer as a single women - more light and more people around late at night. The rich suburb of my city is really scary even at 7pm because nobody walks there and the big houses are all set apart from the drive whereas the terraced streets closer to the centre feel much safer.

Closer to doctor and hospitals in the city.

I suppose the advantage of the countryside is that you're more likely to be able to afford a garden or a big garden to grow your own veg and there may be nicer and quieter places to go for walks, though plenty of cities have nice parks.

For older people, city better for access to services, but they may have more community support in the country.

I also know of what I speak, my parents were both country people who moved to the city to find work after university. I spent loads of time at my grandparents’ house and although I loved it was always glad to get home too. Never had any hankering to live there and AFAIK my parents didn’t hanker to go back.

Other than the pollution I totally agree - I have to make a real effort to walk now compared to being in London, and so many people I know just go from home to car.

It's also much easier to get involved in exercise when there are more options - there's more likely to be something for you. I also now have to drive somewhere to go for a run if I want pavements and street lights at this time of year otherwise it's just too dangerous morning or evening.

I do find that my SAD is actually better though - I'm not commuting in a tube or train or bus with little light, sitting in the car in traffic does help with that!

Seren my mum would never contemplate returning to her 'idyllic' childhood home. Although four of her five siblings stayed their whole lives. It's a mystery...

"I think Rural poverty must be in a way much more soul destroying. At least in a block of flats the cold wouldn’t be as crushing, you’d have a wider variety of shops like poundland or home bargains if you need cheap nappies and wipes etc,"

Yes, small shops can be much more expensive and if you don't have a car to get somewhere bigger or it costs too much in petrol...
Rents and house prices are generally lower, but then so are wages.
You're also further away from any services that could help you e.g. doctor, Citizens Advice, etc.

I can see very rural being OK for small children - they can walk down to the village by themselves and people will keep an eye on them (or at least that was done when I was a child), but once they're teenagers it's miserable needing a lift to get anywhere.

but once they're teenagers it's miserable needing a lift to get anywhere

That’s not always the case though.

It simply isn’t possible to say “rural living = x” and “city living = y” because there are too many location variables.

It depends on location. We live in a semi rural location, on the edge of a village that’s a 20 minute walk along footpaths. Our house faces miles of country side with the South Downs in the distance. We are also a 25 minute walk from a mainline station that takes 45 minutes to get in to London.

We have the best of both worlds and over a weekend will be walking in mud and in London or Brighton. We are not cut off at all and benefit from being semi rural.

I could never live in an isolated rural location. But LOVE looking out to the countryside and it being on my doorstep. Some people LOVE having land, horses, privacy and have the time for the hardships.

We are all different and like different things!

Oh no I hope not we are about to move from central london zone 1 to the coubtryside!!!!!

Do find it ironic that people choosing a “cleaner air” lifestyle are actually increasing the need to burn fossil fuels (more use of their own car, more miles travelled by postal deliveries, food distribution, increased utility installation and maintenance etc). Cities might look dirty and have dirty air but they are a much more efficient way to accommodate a lot of humans than spreading the same number out across more area.

We live in suburban London. I agree with you op.

We have several parks in walking distance...5 swimming pools within an easy distance, also two football centres, a trampoline park, three bowling alleys, a climbing wall centre....buses here are very reliable and frequent, never wait more than 5-10 minutes.

Recently visited a friend in the countryside...impossible to get anywhere without a car, surrounded by fields and open space which you can't access or use.

I never want to move!

We live in rural Norfolk too, and love it. We can walk straight onto a footpath from the end of our garden and be in the village without setting foot onto a road. There’s a shop, two pubs, a GP, a primary school and a coffee shop there too. No playground yet, but they’re planning to build one soon. You can drive to town in 20 minutes, into two cities in under an hour. The broadband is fast enough for DH to work from home several days a week, and there are jobs for me in commuting distance when I return to work. We have a nice visitor attraction day out type place 10 minutes bike ride away in the next village, with other shops there like a butchers, hairdresser etc. There’s a playgroup for DS and a nice community feel to the place.

I wouldn’t want to move back to a city, personally. I like it here. Don’t mind visiting town, but we wouldn’t get anything like our house that we have here for the same money. We feel very lucky to be here.

I grew up in a small village just outside Cork, lived in London, Dublin and Bath and now live on a smallholding in the Scottish Borders. It's all about where you live. In Scotland we have right to roam so I can ramble all over open countryside and woodland, so the countryside here is accessible in a way it never was in Ireland or England. I live on the outer edge of a tiny hamlet but it is just off an A road so if I don't want to use my car, I can get a bus into the nearest towns for all my day to day needs and straight into Edinburgh, which I visit around twice a month. Myself and my pony-mad daughters can now afford to have a pony each as we keep them at home and we are constantly busy and have got to know a lot of people through the sport. Myself and my husband both work from home, so my teenage daughters are never stuck for lifts. There is an AWFUL lot going on in the countryside but to part of it, you need to have country pursuits. You can't just be a consumer, you have to have a passion for something. I cannot understand people who move to the countryside just for a bigger garden. Worst place to live was Dublin as we were in the suburbs and I do agree with a PP, it's either town or country, anything in between is the worst of both worlds. Bath we enjoyed for a time but we lived right in the city centre and got thoroughly sick of the constant anti-social behaviour. We love the peace of where we live now and working our own land for the benefit of our little herd of ponies and only hearing owls when we go to sleep at night! There is no way I would live in rurally in England though, cut off from most of the countryside - what on earth is the point?

With B4RN, internet access can be much better in the country than in town! UP to 1000Mbps, compared with our 50Mbps.

I don’t think this is a country vs city issue.

It’s a personality issue. I’m yet to see any persuasive argument as to how city living is positive. I’m just as sure many people feel there’s no positive to country living.