After lockdown has opened up our eyes, do you still love where you live? Has lockdown made you want to move school/area?

[Chiccie]

I live in a commuter town and I’m used to driving everywhere. Lockdown has made me realise that I really want to live in a community where I can have neighbours as friends. Has lockdown changed your opinion about where you live?

I think what distinguishes our village from the villages some people mention, where they can't get to know people, is that very few people have always lived here. It's quite close to London, and families with young kids generally move here and a desperate to get to know everyone else! Once people come here, they generally stay, there isn't high turnover, but people in their 30s-40s are generally quite new, and even if they did live roughly in the area as a child, will have lived and worked somewhere else (London, overseas) in the meantime,.

I was getting so bored of where we live before lockdown but I've fallen back in love with it. We are so lucky to have a massive range of varied walks on our doorstep - hills, woods, bridle paths through farmland, sandy heath, a lake, some commons. We can do a different walk in nature every day of the week right from our front door. We get fabulous wildlife - deer, woodpeckers, parakeets and herons, foxes and river voles all seen from the kitchen window. And local businesses have been brilliant with fitness classes going online, local cafes staying open for takeaways and WhatsApp groups helping each other out, giving, lending and swapping things to relieve boredom and help out people on a tight income.

I'm so lucky, I live in an area with fabulous views, loads of walks and we've really made the most of it. I would have hated to be stuck in a city over the past year.

The covid police taking photographs and posting on community Facebook of people in their opinion breaching covid rules has done it for me. House on market when or if things start to move towards normal

No I like where I am and the schools

Love living in London and lockdown hasn’t affected that.

There is a part of me that would like to live by the sea, but I have become so used to the convenience of a big city, I don’t know if the fantasy would turn sour for me.

I’m lucky I live in a part of london with lots of green space, decent neighbours and my area is quite friendly. Lockdown hasn’t been too much of a burden.

It's made me grateful to have emigrated from the UK. I live in a major city (the only UK city that is larger is London) but our covid rates are very low. While we've not been allowed to visit other people's homes since about November, schools, bars, restaurants etc are still open (although they did mostly close for a few months towards the start of the pandemic). We have beautiful coastline, mountains and forests all around so there's plenty of opportunity to get out and about, even if things close again.

It made me want to move so we did

• but town just a mile away - it was the lack of space when we all wfh and homeschooling in same space that made it happen.

We are hating all the public trampling over our once deserted countryside.

Otherwise we liked where we lived, but sadly all the housebuilding of past years has meant our quieter 'country' area isn't really 'countryside' any more, it has an army of walkers, loose dogs, cars parked on single track roads, runners, cyclists traipsing past. When eldest was born over 20 years ago I used to take her for a walk in the pram every day for at least an hour and never see a soul on the roads/paths all afternoon unless I went to the shop (30-40 mins away although that shop is shut now). Now you cannot walk 10ft without passing someone, that is the difference. However the nice older neighbours we used to see in their gardens all died off over the years, luckily the latest batch of incomers are a nice enough bunch and we get on well.

"@Ariela We are hating all the public trampling over our once deserted countryside.

Otherwise we liked where we lived, but sadly all the housebuilding of past years has meant our quieter 'country' area isn't really 'countryside' any more, it has an army of walkers, loose dogs, cars parked on single track roads, runners, cyclists traipsing past. When eldest was born over 20 years ago I used to take her for a walk in the pram every day for at least an hour and never see a soul on the roads/paths all afternoon unless I went to the shop (30-40 mins away although that shop is shut now). Now you cannot walk 10ft without passing someone, that is the difference"

You really don't like people do you? Have you thought about buying about a house with acres of land? That way no one can cross your land. Let me guess, you cannot afford it! If you are not happy with residents/neighbours using the free space to improve their physical heath or walk their dogs, move! I say that as someone who owns lands and shares it.

I generally like my area, and we chose to move a few streets away when we upsized several years back.
Close to local shops/ community services.
15 min drive from city centre and retail parks.
Countryside within 5 minute walk. Green spaces within 2 minutes.

The only thing I would change if I had a magic wand, is to make the school community less insular. I made the mistake of working when the DCs were little so we never slotted with the SAHM tribe after I stopped working, and the friendship groups formed in nursery are very school nursery/ working parent based and my DCs have struggled socially for it.
It's also very clichéd in interests, boys like football type thing.
Plus families tend to be local so most have local support, which we don't have, plus difficult to build mutual friendships of support with willing young grandparents falling over themselves to be involved and freeing couples up for a social life.

But the actual area has worked well this year.

"@Ariela When eldest was born over 20 years ago I used to take her for a walk in the pram every day for at least an hour and never see a soul on the roads/paths all afternoon unless I went to the shop (30-40 mins away although that shop is shut now). Now you cannot walk 10ft without passing someone, that is the difference"

Eh? Just because you do not want to see people does not mean others do not.

Shame everyone who you liked/fitted in your schedule died.

Lockdown has confirmed I am where I want to be, on the outskirts of a small town with lots of fields and country near by. I'd prefer to be closer to the sea in an ideal world but budget doesn't allow and it wouldn't work for schools in reality.

Very content with what we have. Walking distance to everything we need, beautiful country walks, river and canal. Small supermarkets are easy to access and we still have local butchers and bakers ( who even deliver for free).
People are mainly generous and respectful. ( unlike my home town where my DP's are), tho some surprisingly frequent incidents with a group of young people hurting others.

We were seriously considering moving pre Covid, to the point where we had had the house valued and were actively looking in other areas.

Now .... thank god we didn’t move. Our house has lovely countryside around it and fabulous walking around open access country side which has been a fantastic benefit during lock down periods. We now have estate agents actively asking us if we want to sell because houses like ours (4 bed detached on gated close, with home office, in rural area with excellent facilities within easy reach*) are going up in value as demand exceeds supply. We’re staying put for now.

• .... not a stealth boast. We’ve lived here over 20 years and things have changed since we moved here.

We moved just before lockdown. I love where we live - my ds goes to a wonderful school and we have met neighbours who, after a year of living through this together, are now some of our closest friends. We live close to countryside but walking distance from the high street. However we paid a massive premium to live in this area as it is close to a train station and has a short commute into London. We thought it was worth it so my dh could spend an hour more a day with the kids. Ironic that he commuted for a month before lockdown and has not been into London now for almost a year. When I think of the lovely houses we looked at before we bought this which were so much bigger and needed so much less work but not in such a convenient location I do feel a tiny bit of regret. Hopefully a short commute to London will be worth it again at some point.

Before the pandemic I loved my town for its vibrant events, gorgeous architecture, variety of quality independent shops and lovely restaurants.
Now I love it for its beautiful canal and river walks, and sense of community.
I hope never to leave.

I used to be Ok with my place but now I hate it.

The area is increasingly built up. New flats overlooking my garden at the back. Neighbour built a huge 2 storey 'garage' that looms over my garden. I feel hemmed in on all sides.

I used to think I didn't mind our terraced house but it turns out that was just because I was rarely home. now I am driven mad by all the noise from both the neighbours all day and half the night.

I grew up in the country and increasingly I want to go back.

The City used to have all the compensations of cultural events, nightlife, varied food and drink and shops etc but now that our only entertainment is going for a walk I realise I actually rather love going for long walks.

I have started to make an escape plan.

@GloriaGuadalajara - where do you live? It sounds lovely.

Lockdown has made me even more glad to be living where I do. We moved from a village in a lovely but increasingly busy area in the SE of England to Cumbria a few years back.

The sheer sense of space here, the ease of going out for walks without rubbing shoulders with people, the variety of places to walk from the house and the beautiful views from the windows have made lockdown much more bearable. We already loved it, but this year has made us feel extra lucky. It's rural, but not lacking in essential facilities close by. The weather is appalling though, even by UK standards.