To think more people will want to live rurally now?

[Butterfliesandbears]

Property in cities has generally been more expensive but since covid it seems like maybe rural/village living will have the edge?

• larger houses/gardens
• can work from home
• countryside nearby for walks

-more space/less crowded generally

Or am I overstating it do people think? Will city living continue to be popular?

I bloody hope not.

The schools round here are all oversubscribed and health centres and other facilities can't cope with the extra commuters and their families who have already moved into new housing estates. The roads are a nightmare in the rush hour, and the public transport is woeful. Utilities are struggling. The drains are awash with run-off from the new roads and houses when it rains, and we now get flooding where it has never flooded before.

Yet in this district, developers are building new houses on every available piece of land they can get hold of - tens of thousands of them. The villages are getting larger and larger, and the countryside between them is getting smaller and smaller. It is fast becoming a suburban sprawl.

Soon people will find that the very reason they moved here no longer exists and there will be no 'rural' left.

Interesting. As a Londoner, I'd like to have nice views, a bigger garden, more space to do hobbies and make noise in, and space to be away from neighbours making their own noise.

However, at the start of lockdown and reading about the trials the rest of the country had, I was damn glad to be in London. No food/toilet roll shortages in our local shops, no massive queues, people volunteering to help self-isolators, people watching out for each other and giving each other space without going crazy reporting each other to local police or criticising each other on social media.

more space/less crowded generally
if everyone moves out to the country the country will become the new cities

Having grown up rurally, I would never move back there is nothing to recommend it. And WFH is not something I have enjoyed at all, so was delighted to stop that.

I disagree. In fact, I think as unemployment rises, people will be drawn to cities to get jobs. If you live right out in the sticks then its going to be harder to get to work. Not everyone can work from home indefinitely.

Sure, then they can enjoy delightful rural pursuits like watching city dwellers descend on their towns, park illegally all up the main roads, hurl litter everywhere and shit in the playgrounds.

Tourists descend on cities too you know, and are also a pain in the arse.

I suspect they will.

The they will find the reality (my reality) which has been complete hell during lockdown. Yes we are have loads of space to let the children run around with huge garden and surrounded by fields, but working from home has been virtually impossible with a top speed of 1.5mps only when the weather is good and no mobile phone reception.

I've been in tears most days trying to juggle small children with the impossible demands of work (public sector so can't be furloughed) and no IT infrastructure. Can't video call friends and family for the same reason.

It's been so lonely as well. Our nearest neighbours are a few miles away, no friendly waving when out for a walk or brief socially distanced chats or smiles of solidarity as you pass each other in the street as there are no streets. No clapping on a Thursday night. No respite from the cooking, cleaning, working, childcare routine because there's nowhere to go and no takeaways will deliver to give you a night off.

Probably not. I live in a village. I'd move to a town/city in a heartbeat if I could have the same size of house but we'd never be able to afford it. I much prefer city/town living but don't want to compromise on how much the mortgage is. In a city or town there's just so much more going on on your flipping doorstep. No needing to drive for 30 minutes to an hour to do anything.

I live in Lincolnshire which is devoid of public transport, transport links and has no big venues so nothing comes here on tour...

Housing is cheap, we have a lovely house & garden backing onto woodland and lakes that we would not afford in a lot of places. We both have family and lifelong friends here. We also have good friends from Spain and Eastern Europe and nigeria that have moved here.

I suppose my ideal would be a similar rural type home but closer to a big city... But then the cost would be a lot more! And is want to bring our friends

DD is at uni in Liverpool and loves it and says she's never coming back to live here!

This thread has made me realise what I have done - I have lived in a town, then London, a large village, a small village and a hamlet, in that order.

The large village had 5 hairdressers (?!) a co-op, Londis, laundry, post office, Chinese, Indian, Bakery, deli, 2 estate agents and 3 pubs. Primary and secondary schools, 3 nurseries, and a public library. Busses.
Small village had 2 pubs which also served food, a Londis, a part time post office. Primary school, nursery, cricket club. Just had it's bus service scrapped.
Hamlet has a petrol station/shop and a farm shop. Lots of busses. The only take away that delivers here is Dominoes .

I think people will realise they can work from home, but whether they want to do that in a rural setting will depend on what stage of life they are at, and what they like.

I live neither in a city or rurally ,but we have rubbish public transport ,only a small local shop, all the local pubs ,restaurants closed not offering take outs,very few places deliver here on justeat ,ubereats so I think I would move somewhere closer to the city

I love where I live, the balance is perfect in my opinion. It’s a large village, close enough to the motorway for commuters and a supermarket, a few pubs and restaurants and close to countryside. Five minutes walk takes you to unspoilt countryside, with a dairy farm we often visit for ice cream. Yet I can (when they open!) walk to the village for a Costa or a haircut and there are loads of families living nearby. No Uber eats (or Uber at all) but I can live with that. Completely rural would be too much for me though.

Definitely not for me! Found it hard enough living a 10 minute walk from our small town centre, without a car.

@lowlandLucky

Give it a year and all those that have moved from the city to a rural location will be climbing the wall and will be desperate to get back to the city.

It's just the human nature of craving a different living situation during such an awkward time and wanting different surroundings, bored of the same four walls and local walks. Not sure people are thinking it through as a long term solution, it's the ultimate grass is greener on the other side mentality.

I live in a fairly busy/noisy area in a big city and would happily live somewhere a lot more secluded until this all blows over (albeit with access to at least a supermarket reasonably close by). Generally though I like where I live, i'm just not used to being at home 23 hours every day with the other hour a local walk.

Apparently there is huge interest in our semi-rural part of the world. This doesn’t surprise me at all as the commute is no longer such a big deal.

There are pros and cons to both. I would love more rurally if I could but the kids would hate it so we are in a small market town

for me, the benefits of rural living are-
fresh air, seeing the stars at night, walks on our doorstep, friendly neighbours, local food from farm shops, bigger house and garden, nice view from garden.
what I miss from London-
public transport, events and culture, cafe life.

My kids aren't fussed with going into London. They find it dirty and smelly!! My older one does go in to watch sport matches about twice a year.

For me, lockdown has convinced me of the benefits of living in a city centre with all necessary resources and facilities within a few minutes' walk.

I would love to live rurally.
a. I am not privileged enough to pick and choose
b. Would be worried about services such as access to NHS and other stuff like broadband
c. I would love a garden but a.
d. Ok if you have a job but am not a farmhand.

funnguy
That's where the prices vary. Rural living close to a city with all its facilities is very £££.
Proper rural living, without those benefits is a bit cheaper.

@trappedsincesundaymorn You must live in the 1930s. I grew up in a very small village in the Cotswolds. We have internet, we have phone signal, we have (some) takeaway deliveries, we had a Post Office, fuel is cheaper than cities (we always make sure to fill up before we leave from visiting my parents), roads are always salted.
In my experience, the countryside has always been in high demand. There was always more than enough Londoners moving out to the Cotswolds so I'm not sure why this is considered to be response to Covid?!

The more people that love rural then the less it will be rural 🤭also come back in 2 years and this will be all wrong. It will not happen as many people like towns/cities and a vibrant life. You are being unreasonable but time will tell.

Our small town has three general shops, three pubs, two cafes, a florist, a hairdresser and is a 20 minute walk from the station. There’s a choice of four supermarkets and an M&S foodhall within a ten minute drive. The primary school is literally the other side of the road. Broadband is scorching.

I somehow don’t think the people moving here with their hour long commute into London a couple of times a week will regret their choice.

Ok if you have a job but am not a farmhand

You do realise that lots of people in rural areas have "normal" jobs? Rural areas still need teachers, teaching assistants, doctors, nurses, building surveyors, solicitors, accountants, social workers, builders etc? All jobs that friends of mine do.

We live in the middle of the Lake District. Our broadband is pretty good and there hasn't been anything we couldn't do in terms of live streaming meetings/events during lockdown. In fact lockdown has really narrowed the gap in services between rural and urban areas. Medical appointments by video/phone, classes that we would have to travel to towns for, online uni open days etc. It shows how much can be done remotely if needed and will, hopefully, create better opportunities in the future for people that live in rural areas.

I think I have the best of both worlds, I live in a rural village.

We have a village shop and a co-op both have been well stocked during the pandemic. I could get loo roll in the corner shop when all the supermarkets in the nearby city had run out.

I could bike 5 -10 mins out the village and buy eggs from numerous farms when all the shops had run out. I also have enough space to keep my own chickens.

We have great fast, fibre broadband....no problems with zoom meetings here.

We have great public transport....hourly trains and buses. By train I’m in the Nearest city in about ten mins. In an even bigger city in 45 mins.

We have a chip shop and a pizza place. Sadly Deliveroo does not deliver. But the amazing walks from my doorstep and lack of traffic make up for that.