What things do you wish you lived near to?

[cakefortea22]

Whenever I visit a new town or city I feel jealous of the amount of places there are to sit out in lovely surroundings and have a nice breakfast. I live in a village that has a shop and a church, nothing else. I could drive 15 minutes into town and get a breakfast but it would be at a chain pub on a main road. There's literally nowhere nearby where I could sit outside, people watch and enjoy a nice breakfast and a good coffee on a little cobbled street while reading the paper on a Sunday morning. And it upsets me.

What do you wish you lived close to?

I have a lot of these things & I don’t take them for granted. What I would like though is a really nice garden centre with a good cafe. But that’s not that likely in inner London!

I posted earlier that I'd like to live near the sea and a shop.
This thread makes me appreciate what I do have though. I have fields all around and a step outside and I'm in countryside with lovely walks. I have no interest in anything a city has to offer but I can drive to one in half an hour. The sea is 45 minutes away if I want a beach walk.

I've planned a holiday up to Northumberland for next year just so I can visit Beamish Museum and devour their delicious fish and chips. I am prepared for the queue!

I live in London so there's a lot around me. But what I would love is:

The ocean. I paddle board, swim and surf but it's so hard to get there to do it.

Rolling fields. Open space. I grew up in the Yorkshire dales and I miss them.

Japanese convenience shops. They're WILD. I want one.

Never really understand what people want from banks. Haven't been in one since I was 19 (I'm 28 now!).

Access to their money when a debit card takes two weeks to arrive.

I live 10 minutes drive from 2 different beaches, also 10 minutes drive from glorious woodland and I also have a country park on my doorstep. Not bad for a council estate.

Reading this is really making me appreciate where I live! It’s got most of the stuff people are craving.
Good bars and cafes in walking distance and more 15 mins away by train (station 5 mins walk).
A nice community feel
A good bookshop
Seaside (well, technically estuary but proper sea no distance) and a proper Promenade and pier.
good theatres within 15 mins by car, bit more by train (due to needing a change and always having to wait!)
good shopping centre (with John Lewis and Oliver Bonas for whoever wanted that) 15 mins away.
Less than an hour to mountains.
Lots of interesting small towns(villages/historic houses nearby

Where is this Nirvana?
Penarth. Across the Bay from Cardiff.

Preston?

I live near the sea, have countryside dog walks on my door step and near the Lake District which have all been mentioned already but I’d like to live somewhere where it wasn’t always raining and/ or windy.

@Idratherbepaddleboarding did the Tesco give it away?

I live just outside the Lake District national park. My village only has a shop, a church and a primary school, but I have beautiful scenery, lovely walks, pretty villages and loads of nice cafés nearby. And lots of rivers, lakes etc not too far away.

If I were being fussy, I'd like a John Lewis or other decent department store nearer than an hour away, and a wider range of restaurants nearby.

@cardibach I have a friend who lives there- lovely place!!

Definitely the sea.

But really the answer is 'anything'!

I live in a village that I hate which has one miserable shop.

A lovely department store but they don't really exist any more. Even in London they are thin on the ground.

Silence and darkness.

Why do so many people want to be near a department store? Genuinely interested. What is it you buy in a department store that you can't buy online or in normal clothes/other shops?
It wouldn't even cross my mind.

I live near a bit city on the south coast, and I feel it has everything. Seaside, shops, bars, restaurants, galleries, all a bus or cycle away, not far from London, good weather, south downs for beautiful scenery, lots of castles and places of interest. Tons for kids to do.
The only thing I really would like is a woodland walk from my doorstep.

I live 100 metres from the sea and 20 miles from a reasonably large city. However the town that I live close to has very few decent restaurants and cafes, so it would be nice to have more of those.
All in all though , I feel lucky to have lovely scenic walks and places to run close by and easy access to a city if I want more urban life!

The M4, because of the time it takes on the M5 to get out of Devon and Somerset.

An airport. I'm a bit of a plane geek (with a fear of flying!). Myrtle Avenue is my idea of heaven.

A lovely bakery.

The one thing we wanted most was to be walking distance of a lovely pub, so we literally made that our top criteria when looking to move 😂 We now have three to choose from but one is particularly lovely - 1700s with a fantastic beer garden. We also have a great chippy at the top of our road and multiple good restaurants, bars & cafes within walking distance. What I’d really like though is a Waitrose. I get it delivered weekly but the nearest branch is too far away to visit really

They're calm, elegant places to go for when I want to browse. Toys, lipstick, scarves. cutlery; all under the one roof and good quality as someone has done the thinking for me. Seasonal displays, a tea and a cake. I don't always want to buy online. I like to feel and see the products, pay and walk out with it in my hands.

And that's not before I get to the furniture department. I'm like a child with their face up against the toy shop window.

Fair enough. I think maybe I just don't like shopping in general as I find decision making so difficult, so department stores just remind me of desperately trying to find presents at Christmas, but I can see the appeal if you enjoy browsing.

Ooh yes, I’d like a Waitrose too!