Is this a true assessment of rural life or am I being a bit of a dick?!

[Rurrrala]

I live in a lovely village. I grew up in a rural location so this what I am used to. But… I spent ten years on the outskirts of a city and I miss it.

Everyone keeps saying rural life is better for kids and I do think that might be true. But I find it a bit backward! In terms of mindsets. Even those who are apparently more educated as quite narrow minded (in my experience). It’s shocked me a bit moving so far out of a city, I never thought that there was so much difference.

I am being told by everyone (ie family!) that I will regret a move to a busier place and that it’s unfair on dc who now have an idyllic life that is quiet and calm. It’s making me second guess myself. I know nowhere is perfect but I feel like life is so quiet and a bit empty here.

As with everything it depends - my village is full of creative arty types and hasn’t returned a Tory councillor in years

I live in a very rural Cotswolds village that is very open minded and diverse. Probably more so that most bigger towns. It's also incredibly welcoming and helpful. In the storm there were offers of rooms to stay in and help rebuilding etc. I'm sure that some villages can be insular, but definitely not all.

Yes there are definitely outliers but they are the exception not the rule (you don’t live in Frome do you?? 😄).

I think it’s kind of true of any small town. I grew up in a London suburb, but the community very much had a small town mentality. I want to move further in London with my daughter and surround myself with different people.

Maybe you could find different people in your town spend time with them? Or get online and meet people from the big cities and drive-in whenever you can to spend time there?

I try and take DD to activities further in London than we are for the same reason x

"Right wing thinking" ≠ "backwards" or "narrow minded"

😂 I wouldn't dream of it! I'd suggest you do the same. Or have the foresight to realise there are a lot of rural communities in this course and they are not all one homogeneous mass.

It is an insult to me. I know many older people who live very affluently and rurally who are nothing at all like that. Assumptions are very dangerous.It varies greatly by area.

I grew up in a village which was great when I was little but by the time I was 13 it got boring, fast. All the things I wanted to do were in Town, about a half hour drive away.

I moved to London aged 19, and nearly 30 years later feel I've had my fun, but a rural community is still too quiet for me, so I'll be moving back to the Town I found fun in aged 13.

Apart from daft opinions on "too many immigrants" which hardly affects my mostly white, Conservative voting family, I don't find their views on things to be much different from the people I meet in the City. In fact, many City people have moved to the community! It's not as backward as people think. I don't like everyone knowing everyone else's business though.

lol no - I think frome is more of a town but my village is a bit of a mini frome 😆

and yes there are. I mean there tories on my very street! Tho tbh I think a lot of rural tories are more old school one nation tories rather than fans of Johnson/truss/badenoch

Of course it does! But I’m talking about facts and statistics not assumptions. I don’t know what you mean by “nothing at all like that”? I didn’t say racist or bigots or anything perjorative, I said right wing, I.e. Tory voters.

Tbh she is calling people with opinions and beliefs different to her own "backward". I can understand why people haven't responded well.

Very true - which is why so many returned an LD MP in July!

Now I’ve got Totnes vibes @Theeyeballsinthesky 😄

I moved from the outskirts of London to a tiny village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands two years ago.

I bloody love it here.
Community spirit is strong, it's so safe the last recorded crime was years ago, and my son has absolutely thrived here.
He's healthier, much happier, and now has the kind of childhood where he goes out to woods and beaches, plus to the village shop, with his friends all day and the only thing I have to worry about is the occasional lorry in the road.

Back where we used to live I couldn't even let him go to the park as it was populated by drug dealers and gangs.

You know what, yeah it's not as diverse but I honestly don't care, some of the locals have different views to me but I honestly don't care about that either, because, at least in public, must of them are nice people who'd literally give you the shirt off their back.
They all know whose kids are whose and watch out for them and over them

When I had my new baby the amount of things we were given was just amazing and so helpful. Everyone asks after each other and worries about others.

I've realised here that life ain't about getting coffee at 7am or takeaway or having a diversity box ticked. It's about fresh air, community and knowing my kids are safe and that there is quite literally a whole village out there watching out for them.

I think that rural living can by idyllic for younger kids. Less so for teens.

iIt seems that every problem anyone brings to mn is compounded by “we live very rurally” talk.

Im a city girl through and through. I genuinely cannot think of anything worse that rural living. Listening to the archers is enough for me.

Johnson, Truss and Badenoch are deeply, deeply offensive to me.

I grew up in a very rural village where my elderly parents still live. It is idyllic and I'd happily move back there now, but as a teenager it was hell and I couldn't wait to leave. I passed my driving test 3 weeks after my 17th birthday because I was so desperate to be able to drive and not have to rely on my parents to ferry me everywhere.

I brought my DC up in central London. It was great. We had a garden but there were also good parks and green spaces nearby. There were lots of sports facilities, including pools, ice skating, climbing, and canoeing in walking distance. There was always something to do with the DC at weekends and school holidays, lots of it completely free. Every year we bought a family annual ticket to some attraction (London Zoo, Tower of London, Museum of London, etc) and make frequent use of it. It made it very easy to keep the DC occupied, especially on wet, miserable winter weekends. The DC could walk to school and to their friends and did so by themselves by the age of 10.

When the youngest was 10 we moved to a lovely village because of an employment change. He was mocked and bullied at the village school for having hummus in his packed lunch and for mentioning that his best friend in London had two mummies. He was genuinely shocked by the attitudes his new classmates displayed about race, sexuality, etc. It was a serious culture shock for him (and me).

I live in a lovely village now but I worked in London for many years and visit friends and family there and go to the theatre, exhibitions, etc in London at least once a month. I'd go mad if I didn't.

All my DC now live in big cities by choice.

Just my experience. Make of it what you will.

Oh and if "backwards" is what I have here then bring it on!
Because my old progressive area was a fucking shit hole with no where safe for children and I couldn't trust my neighbours not to rob me, never mind know their names or have them watch my kids 🤷🏻‍♀️

But you know, I'm poor and working class, so was my old area and so is this village.
It's just poor and working class in urban areas in "progressive" towns means keeping your door locked and here it means looking out for each other.

Our village has a drug issue (mostly weed but ket was popular a few years back), and the very small market town nearby has had several stabbing incidents, of which 2 have been fatal. Even rural areas have their "dark side".

Well, I grew up in the countryside and wouldn’t do that to my kids 😁

That doesn’t change the fact that people in rural communities are more likely to vote for them 🤷‍♀️. I fucking hate all of them so I’m not defending them, just saying it’s a fact.

I hate the 3 Tory leaders not the rural communities just to clarify 😳😬😄

Yes I am always shocked when I visit rural areas how outdated they feel.

Why don't you move to the edge of a large town

That's where I live

If I turn one way out of my house I can be on a massive common surround by countryside and a river in one minute

If I go the other way I can be in the town centre in 15 minutes (walking through parks to get there)

There are theaters, restaurants and everything else there

If you feel happier in or near a city then move. It's a personal thing so there's no right or wrong.

I grew up in the sticks and always wanted a bit more life around me. I now live in London and am raising my children here and I absolutely love it. It's right for me. But my brother lives on a moor in Yorkshire and he loves it and therefore it's right for him.