Being able to walk to the high street vs having a garden

[tangobravo]

Which is more important to you? Budget means either a terrace without parking or garden, but walkable to a gorgeous park and the high street (good mix of amenities) OR a bigger house with a lovely garden, driveway etc but would need to drive (around 10 mins) to high street/amenities. Good schools in both areas, access to work similar in both areas. 2 kids age 2 and 4.

YANBU driving to places when needed is worth having more space and a garden
YABU driving to places when needed is a PITA and not worth having a garden for

If you’re used to it, and you are walkable to most things, it ceases to matter.

We very rarely use the car.

Walk to nursery, walk to train station, walk to supermarket. The car is only for big trips, every month or so.

We moved from a small house with a small garden but we could walk to the city centre.

Before covid hit we moved to a much bigger house, bigger garden and it’s a drive the city centre.

I would go for the bigger house hands down. The rubbish weather for days allows us not to get on top of each other in the house. I can do chores in the summer and let the kids play in the back garden safety while I potter around.

However our bigger house still has good connections to the city so this doesn’t limit us when they are teenagers.

How long to walk to town? A ten minute drive isn’t far to walk with older kids if there’s good pavements.

Garden.
I live a five minute walk from a "trendy" high street (regular plus independent shops, bars, restaurants, community hub etc).
I moved here 17 years ago - I barely go up to the high street these days.
The novelty wears off pretty quickly and all you really want is a giant Tesco for everything.

I need and have both. They were none negotiable.

We live in an amazing, beautiful area that is rubbish for parking due to the age of the properties - think narrow lanes that you can’t drive down, or too narrow for parked cars. We would never move, but the 10 minute walk to/from the car is a pain with small children and daily luggage. We don’t have a high street, nearest is 20 minute drive away, but we have a village shop which does us well. I’ve also lived in a house with a ‘remote’ garden, and we barely used it and was so grateful when we got this house with a garden just outside the front door. I would choose parking and garden over the ‘convenience’ of being able to walk to shops that I would only use occasionally, if at all.

Def garden.
There are some days when it is inconvenient to walk to the park.aybe it's the weather or you just can't be arsed to dress then kids and yourself.
Or you have to cook dinner, but the kids could benefit from some outdoor time.
If you have a garden they can play outside even in little increments. Ie 10 minutes.
They can play whilst you cook, do the laundry, write an email or when you are in your pj's. They can't go to the park when you need to do those things!

Also bear in mind that at the moment your lifestyle involves walking to the park and shops daily but in a couple of years time the kids will both be at school all day and won't be around for that sort of thing. Then you'll probably be glad of being able to throw them in the back garden after school while you make the dinner!

100% house with garden and driveway.

I live in a terrace and oh lord the parking wars that go on are mental and stressful. I would also really miss not having a garden, I would spend way more time in a garden than on the high street.

Definitely!

It matters a bit less at the moment, because a 2 year old needs so much supervision whatever they do, but OPs DC are about to hit the time period when they can play outside by themselves for lengthy periods while she gets on with stuff. People can and do manage fine in homes with no outside space. But it's so helpful to have the option of kids being outside without having to be taken somewhere and actively supervised. Makes life easier to have the option.

It's not a question of being unreasonable, it's just down to personal preference. Mine would be to opt for the garden. Having an outside space is a breath of fresh air. Literally 😀

I would take the one further out with driveway and garden and walk to town/park

High Street, we are city dwellers and couldn't deal with the hassle of driving to shops. We live 3 mins walk to our high street which I really love - not just for practical things but also activities, events and fun trips out. We are in London zone 2 and we never have to drive anywhere Every weekend is like being on a city break because it's so easy to go to interesting attractions and events. We have a garden but it doesn't get used much, especially from September onwards. In summer and school holidays we'd rather have a trip out to a big park or adventure playground. In term time it's wet and dark a lot of the time. We have a big playroom and the dcs have a large bedroom so there is plenty of space for them to burn off energy when we're at home.

Garden and drive 100%
They are the two filters I put on right move all the time when looking.
I don't think it's a hard decision at all. It's lovely to be sat in your garden in the summer evenings and building snowmen when it snows. I like having my own outdoor space
However I have a car -cenrtic ( and bicycle) lifestyle as I am an essential car user for work. When the boys were small we used the car to take them to scouts which was 5 miles away, football tournaments and kick boxing competitions etc .We went away most weekends to Scotland and used the car or van for that.
I lived in a terraced with no parking or garden when I was single decades ago and hated the no parking then. I imagine it would be 100x worse now.

You can't control how the high street will change over the years, it may not be as nice as it is now in 5/10/15 years - but you can make your home and garden nice! We chose garden over amenities and it does mean I'm driving more but it's worth it to us.

Being able to walk to amenities is nice but with kids that age I'd take the garden every time.

We live somewhere where nothing useful is walkable but we have a lovely house, big garden etc. DD is 5 and she and her friends love running around the garden, bouncing on the trampoline, paddling pools in summer etc. Also, I'm a big BBQ fan so want some outside space for that. I wouldn't trade our setup for anything!

Garden for kids that age.

I honestly don't know. There are advantages to both. Near me there are many modern flats (some have parking and a small outside space), right near a common with ponds, not far from woods, a lovely high street with attractive shops, supermarkets, post office, pharmacies, cafes and restaurants which has outside seating for good weather, and a real buzzy, but villagey, atmosphere. That's in a SE London borough. I'd have been happy to live in one of those as a young mother, it is far better than the terraced house with garden we had as our first house. I wouldn't mind it now I am old! Too expensive for me though but I'm OK where I am so no complaints.

People who live in smaller places such as I described tend to move on to something bigger with a reasonably sized garden and garage in time but, when you are still young-ish, it's a good idea, imo, to have less responsibility (such as 'doing up' and maintenance), and more time to enjoy life, especially with a small child and if, as I did part-time, you are working.

I know a thirty-something couple with a five and a half year old who bought a small ex-council flat two or three years ago, after renting a shoebox of a house for a few years. It's not grand, there is parking, no personal outside space, but they've made it really nice and just down the road in one direction is a beautiful meadow. In the other direction is a busy high street with all amenities. They both earn, their child goes to a lovely school and they are happy, the property is theirs and in a few years, they'll move. It's just right for now.

Nobody can make your mind up for you. You just have to weigh up the pros and cons and take a leap of faith.

Having grown up somewhere where you had to drive 8 miles to the nearest shop I would choose walking to amenities every time.

Is it small garden/yard, or no garden at all?

I wouldn’t choose no garden at all with small kids (older kids, maybe).

If there is a small garden that’s different, there’s a lot you can do with a small garden. In that case I’d choose the more central option. It’s personal but I feel trapped if I have to get in the car to go anywhere.

I’d put schools top of your list of considerations though. Being able to walk to school at primary age is a massive benefit IMO. And also ties in with being in catchment.

Having children of the same age, I'd choose the garden and parking option. Getting kids in and out of the car is a chore at the best of times.

Also, we live near a lovely park. We have been so many times that I'm sick of the sight of it but tolerate it because the children like it.

I think I'd get cabin fever without a garden and feel like I have to be 'out' all the time.

People are saying the garden for "the kids" - I am more for ME (if I was the OP 🙂).
My own private outdoor space is my dream. I'd be happy with a balcony in my flat.
I could have plants. A place to hang washing. A place to sit and get air.
You can purchase food and clothes to be delivered. You don't need to go to an actual shop.
But you can't sit outside online 🙂

I love having a garden too, but would say not having to trek the kids to the park whenever they need to run around is a benefit for me more than it is them!

Parking & garden. Sounds like amenities are walkable too in your situation