Why do you live where you live?

[LetsRockityRock]

l often wonder how people end up where they live (flat, house, country manor, city centre, rural, next to a motorway, abroad, tourist hot spot, beautiful village, run down town).

I live in a small town outside of a big city. I am from the city, met my DH who is from this small town. House prices were lower here so we got more for our money, and now I prefer small town life to city life. I couldn’t move as have DH family on the doorstep and my family not far away. My town is growing though so I pine for less traffic and more rural views.

I live in SE London. Partly through inertia because I studied and went straight into work in London and never left. But I now wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

In theory I like the idea of more green space and countryside but in practice a lot of rural communities are very isolated and it’s very hard to make friends if you haven’t grown up there. London is expensive and can be stressful but I like the diversity, the openness and the sense of get up and go. I would find it hard to live in a small town now.

I mean, it's not my definition, it's literally how our council describe it on their website and in all their literature, lol.

I don't have children. All the local children get the train.

Are you a bit bored? Our council describe where I live as "a small, rural coastal town". If you disagree, feel free to take it up with them, lol.

Err, yes?

The correct side of the M25 to get to our parents once we’d had kids. Parent were 3-4 hours away in opposite directions. Moved out from London to this totally random place - just saw a house we liked on Rightmove, had never heard of the place before. But I’m SO glad we ended up here, so so happy! 9 years later, we’ll be here until all the kids have left school so another 16 years at least.

This thread has taken such a weird turn 🤣 is it rural or is it Rural or is it RURAL??

Enjoying the bumpkin-off 😂

As I said, take it up with our council if you don't agree, lol, I honestly don't give a shit either way.

There are loads of little countryside towns like ours btw, it's not some bizarre anomaly.

Middle East - moved 6 years ago from London. Originally because of DH being offered a job, although he now works for a different company who aren't even based here. We moved from one city to another due to me changing my job. He is either WFH or overseas.

Pros - winter climate, no income tax, very safe, multicultural, infrastructure, healthcare, staycations, easy to travel to Europe, Maldives, Thailand etc
Cons - summer climate (it's still around 40C in the daytime), distance from family, no Greggs, Primark or Pret a Manger!

We both lived in London when we met but DH had always wanted to be rural so we moved to a tiny cottage just outside Bath.

16 yrs later (I hated 'rural' all that time) I got pregnant and we moved to a new build on the outskirts of a small town because we could just about afford it. We have now been here 25yrs with no plans to move

There's rural and semi rural, then there's rural/remote villages. Apples and oranges.
I grew up/lived in Liverpool. Had no reason to move and both of us had a decent family, so stayed by them. We (wider family/adult children) are lucky to be able to get professional jobs, which means our money goes far. We couldn't have the lifestyle balance as easy in other places. I live outside of Liverpool now becauseof inheriting a house and liking it. It has a really nice town center, pubs/restaurants/parks and a theatre. With Liverpool/Manchester/Warrington/Chester/North Wales in easy reach.

Yes, a town big enough to have a railway station, a primary school and a secondary is not ‘rural’ to me, and I certainly wouldn’t go to a council’s website for accurate use of language. The area around it might be rural, the town itself, by definition, isn’t. The population density is far too high.

The reason I say rural is because we're 40 miles from most other amenities. We might have schools and a railway station, but that's pretty much it.

Like I said earlier, there's no cinema, no hospital, no chain restaurants, no chain coffee shops, one small supermarket, no soft play, no bowling, no swimming etc. It's a very small town with one "high street" with a few basic independent shops and a couple of bakeries - that's it.

Yes, of course it's not as isolated as some places but I do think there are several different types of "rural".

I’m a SW Londoner so that’s why I’m still here.

Yep, you'd be right.

I'd still say it's a rural, isolated small town though

We live in a quietish highland coastal village, busier in tourist season of course but still quieter than where we were before .We moved here from the Scottish Borders which was lovely but my other half hated being as close to his family, plus rising crime rates and drugs etc we just wanted away from all that. I loved it there but if half of you is unhappy then it's not fair to stay put.

I'm semi rural.

No neighbours, the lane has no name, but only ten mins drive to a small town.

Chose the location specifically, love it!!!!

Tiny village in the middle of Salisbury Plain. DH left the Army after 32 years and his last posting was near here. We liked the area so settled here.

Family live in Stirling, my siblings live all over the country, adult DC and family live in Oxford so not to far from them.

When we decided to move out of London DH & I both knew this was the area we wanted to move to because we'd loved it when we visited years before. I didn't quite realise then how beautiful the countryside here is. We live in a village a mile from the nearest small town, where there are shops, a pub, cafés, restaurant, Drs, school. We got a lot more house and land for our money, which meant space for our 4 growing DSs. Great views over countryside. The provision for DS2's SN is way better than anything we could have hoped for in London. Good schools for all DSs. There's a direct train line to London from our nearest station, so DH could commute. There's an airport in the nearest city with flights to Amsterdam, from where we can fly almost anywhere. We're 20 miles from the coast and can always find parking and empty beaches because we know the quiet spots. Will definitely stay in the area now we've made friends here and feel a part of the community.

I live in a city of 200,000. DH is from here and when we left university a business here was his best chance of getting into his chosen profession. We stayed because nowhere else suited us better.

If WFH had been popular earlier we would have moved to the rural area I’m from. Now we have DS we don’t think it’s fair to make that move until he goes to university.

A European capital. Wanted to leave the uk and got dream job here.

the job turned out to be mega stressful and the city isn’t the easiest place to live. Only been here a few weeks but thinking this won’t be long term.

It’s a stepping stone though, and an amazing opportunity. So plan to make the most of it while here. But not sure where ‘next’ will be.

I moved in with elderly parent when I sold my house during lockdown and my purchase fell through. I'm still here as it became apparent they could no longer live independently. I don't really like the area, but needs must. I'm planning on moving abroad when parent is no longer around.

Literally just moved house last week 160 miles from where I used to live for work. 2 of my DC's live close by now so we see them and DGC. Other DC still 4 hours away so no worse off and now only 1 journey to do. Know no one else here . Lovely house in the country. Needs lots of work. Hope it will be ok.

Because it’s quiet, peaceful, clean with excellent schools, close enough to London to be a doable commute 1/2 times a week, but far enough away not to be suburbia. A pretty cathedral city handy for the beaches of the south coast and my family 45 minutes away. We can walk in to open countryside, but also have amenities right here.

Only downside is it’s very expensive; we don’t have much outdoor space and may not be able to trade up, but it’s a pretty lovely place to raise DC and very green, so can’t complain. We feel very privileged.