Everyone should move away from the cities

[FastQuoter]

Hey everyone. Posting here for more discussion. I want to start a conversation that needs to be had. I've read a number of posts regarding families escaping the big cities for elsewhere and it's been an interesting read. I've used it for my own research too because honestly whilst living in a city has its perks, there is a big trade off regarding one's health, stress levels and community, amongst other things.

I read where village/rural communities across the UK are hostile to Londoners moving in - but it's going to be more of a thing and should be encouraged!

Essentially, I myself, and many other of my friends I've talked to, believe that living in a more village/rural setting is ideal, but we fear the unknown. We fear the reception from others and if we'll fit in here in the UK, which is fair enough but hear me out! I believe more people need to live in rural settings, go back to our roots, the way our ancestors lived.

Grow your own food! I'm telling you they'll be a time soon when such a skill will be vital. Sustain yourself and do not rely on the government to feed you. Please!

Learn to work with your hands! Whether that's sewing (like our mothers and grandmothers did), cooking from scratch, embroidery, hair making, etc etc there is something wonderful about seeing the fruits of your labour. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing."

Beneficial for you and your children If you have young children, I can't see anywhere better for them to grow up. To be surrounded by nature as God intended (God put Adam and Even in the garden of Eden). The learn life skills from young.

Please be kind in the comments, this is my view and I certainly welcome rebuttals and counter-arguments but do be respectful.

Long commute if you work in a city.

If everyone did it then the villages would surely become the cities everything would just sort of shift. A lot of your post I don't quite follow though, I'm pretty sure you can cook from scratch and sew whether you live in a city or a village.

But I like living in a city and so do my kids! So much going on, good public transport. You can grow your own food in the city as well, many of my neighbours have allotments and I benefit from their hard work!
Honestly, city is the place to be!

Ok.
Yeah I'm happy to leave my city.
Can you pay for me to do that and find a decent SEN school for my daughter, job for my husband.
Oh.... might need some driving lessons and a car as I hear public transport out there is terrible.
Thanks 🙂

You won't be commuting. You'll be growing your own food, weaving your own textiles etc.

What are you on about? Your view of anyone who lives outside of a city is pretty warped. I live in the countryside and avoid cities as much as possible, but I’m not here living without internet access or electricity.

I completely agree that country living is better - the sky is clear and it’s quiet. I think nothing but positive things about people who choose to move from London to my town, as I personally think city living would be a nightmare.

Are you planning on moving more rural? You can grow your own veg and learn to sew anywhere in the uk….

I’ll be honest, I can’t be bothered to embroider. Think I’ll just stay put.

You should read more about sustainability. City living is more sustainable. Less car journeys, more economies of scale. By all means if you want to move to a village do it, but don’t kid yourself that rural living saves the planet.

I'm interested to know what 'hair making' is?

I used to live rurally and I really missed tapas bars and public transport.

I bloody love living in a city. Great parks. I have a beautiful garden. I can cycle to work and DS can walk to school.

Can't be bothered to make hair either 🤣

What a load of bollocks

Live how you want, city, town, or village

Sounds like Pol Pot's plans for an agrarian society

People live in cities because of the infrastructure. Small villages and rural locations don’t have the infrastructure to support a mass influx of people from cities.

In the UK, growing your own food is essentially a fairly expensive hobby and not a way of practically sustaining yourself and your family. And most people don’t want to eat the kinds of seasonal foods you’d end up growing.

Anyone in any location can learn to craft things with their hands. Rural living is not a requirement.

Living rurally can be beneficial for children, but it can also have significant drawbacks. It’s not the simplistic picture that you paint.

Lastly, are you an AI? Your post certainly reads like one.

Agree

Ultimately the closer you live to facilities the more likely you are to walk, access public transport etc.

Personally I do prefer living outside of a city but it’s definitely not the answer for sustainability.

Don’t we just grow it?

I moult loads of the stuff, if anyone wants to save their effort of making their own I’ll just empty the hoover for them.

I have friends who grow their own food in the city. Some have allotments, some are lucky enough to have large detached properties with gardens big enough.
I like the idea but growing food is hard work and costly and honestly I don't have the time.
I can sew/cook etc and and am very practical though. As you get older you're better living nearer hospitals and amenities as you never know when you might not be able to drive.
My teens are very happy and independent in a big city, we can be in the countryside/up the hills/beach in 15 minutes for our nature fix.
Best of both worlds.

City living can be substantially lower in carbon footprint , reduce loneliness , lots of cultural stimulation and job opportunities. it also tends towards o make more efficient use of land leaving more for agriculture

personally ( despite living rural) I don’t want to go back to how our ancestors lived - flushing toilets, antibiotics , central heating , TV Easy travel - all great things

what we need to do is fix the cities not build mini cities all over the uk

idolising some past generation life is sad though - are you masking a deep depression?

I moved more rurally in 2019. I was lucky and worked from home....until I got made redundant. I now commute nearly 2 hours each way, 3 days a week. We knew that was a risk when we moved here so not complaining but it is hard! My kids have undoubtedly benefited though. I think your post is a bit strange though. We don't all grow our own food and sew for fun!

To be fair, I can only get a chippy, or a Chinese. So that’s quite rubbish. I’d definitely like more healthier and varied takeaways available to me.

My young adults are happy that they grew up in the suburbs of a city.

Lots to do in the city and they have easy access to green spaces to have a kick around. They can get around without depending on me and found jobs which also contributed to their independence.

I moved out because of the cost of housing and have no regrets- even when my kids move out I will stay in the suburbs for convenience and a simple life. My job is in the city too so I’ll be happy to stay.

This was originally on the Blackmumsnet sub and op hasn’t obviously edited the post

I grew up in the countryside - NOTHING would make me go back there. Isolation, rubbish public transport (ie non-existent), frequent power cuts, no mains drainage or gas.
I live in Zone 2 London: grow my own veg; do a load of "useful" crafts (I presume you mean hay making rather than hair making) to sustain house and home; and have three commons within walking distance.
PLUS: I have a great community of neighbours; don't pollute the earth by driving; and don't drive up house prices in rural communities meaning that people who are born there, cannot afford to live there.
Oh yes, and I forgot the non-existent mobile signal.

Bizarre OP.
When I lived in a city I had gardens all around. Pedestrianised areas.

When I lived in a village, an A-road full of lorries day and night ran right through it. I didn't let my kids walk some stretches of it as it was windy with narrow or no pavement in parts.

You need to get in a car to go everywhere- no popping to the shops unless you want a bottle of Prime or Tyrells from the corner shop.

At my sister's who really is in the middle of nowhere you get snowed in and there are no pavements at all to avoid the tractors and vehicles trying to dodge the many potholes and pass each other in unpassable roads.

No shops and not much mobile signal, dodgy internet so I couldn't work from home.

You are crackers OP. Villages aren't the utopia you believe them to be.

Is this a stealth trad-wife post?