Pros and cons of living in the countryside

[sharkstale]

We've made the decision to move to the countryside next year.
My daughter will stay in the same school (will be in yr6 then) and move up to the same secondary school as planned, so she doesn't have to leave her friends. It just means more of a drive (roughly 15 mins, so not too bad).
My son will be 2.

To anyone who lives in the countryside, what are the pros and cons of living in the countryside?

I'm looking forward to more nature, open spaces, quiet surroundings, and good views.
Not so much looking forward to more spiders in the house as we don't tend to get spiders where we are now and I absolutely hate them!

Currently in a new build, so wary of things like damp problems and higher heating costs in an older house.

But I'm sure there will be more pros and cons than just these, so would like to explore them more before committing to moving.

I would never move anywhere where there arent pavement on the road I live on or adjoining roads.

I would want to live near bus routes and near a station

That can be obtained in the countryside (and for gods sake dont start calling it 'rural'). But I would imagine it then comes with a hefty price

Theres living in a house with no immediate neighbours, a house in a cluster of terraces like you see sometimes on a country lane (no parking usually) or living in a village which is in the countryside, so it depends what you're thinking of doing

I certainly dont think its great for kids but then I grew up in London so its hard to envisage.

Will it be ideal when you’re spending your evenings and weekends ferrying your kids for the next two decades?

We're on the edge of a small town which is pretty ideal (for us). We can walk to the Doctor's, Dentist's and shops if you're not buying much, but straight into countryside in the other direction with open land behind us and lots of walks. The road is still a bit busy, but on the plus side it does get gritted and cleared of snow. The roads out into the countryside can be pretty hazardous in bad weather.

I think countryside living is great for small kids, but town or city is better for teens.

Some of the things mentioned here, i.e. storms/power cuts I doubt are going to apply when the OP is talking about being a 15 minute drive from a secondary school.

I loved growing up in the countryside, I had friends within biking distance. My sister hated it. Can't please everyone!

You're 6 miles outside of a city yet cant walk to a bus stop or shop or GP surgery?

Where is this?

People in the countryside walk far less than town or city or big village dwellers, they are hugely car reliant.

Yes the lack of pavements, I hated going out for a walk along country lanes which were the national speed limit, I didn’t want to traipse through fields when I wanted to give the dog a quick walk.

Can be crap if you lose driving for any reason. Things like getting cars serviced can become a logistic nightmare.

Even though I live out in a village, I made sure there is a good bus route to civilisation close by that is easy to hop on.

I have a secondary school at the end of our road and we get multiple power cuts every single winter!

There is a bus stop with one bus an hour. No GP surgery. No shops. One petrol station. Fields but none accessible to the public. We have neither the benefits of country life nor the benefits of city living. We have less than a village.

We've just moved into town from living 15 mins drive further out. My life is immediately so much easier!

I'll miss the nice woods nearby. But I won't miss having to work out how to fit a 30 min round trip drive to the shop into my day because we've run out of bread or bananas, life stopping if the car breaks down, not being able to walk/run anywhere after dark as there's no safe way to do so, or the huge risk of my toddler having a danger nap on every single trip back from nursery/swimming/the library. Oh, and I will not miss the potholes on single-track roads!

We love it !
Downsides are lots of driving to get children anywhere.
power cuts.
No takeaway delivery.(probably for the best!)

I grew up in the countryside and hated it. Too far from friends(not walking or cycling distance), my parents weren't always available to bring me where I wanted to go. Siblings were all much older so I spent a lot of time on my own. Would never choose that life for my kids. Oh and what was posted above is true in my experience, drinking/drugs/sex quite young out of sheer boredom.

That is a very good consideration good bus route. Where my auntie lived (now dead) by the sea but also countryside they had a good bus service. Cabs are expensive and takeaways rare. Even outside Bath where DB’s in-laws live there’s a park and ride bus stop/service and a bus to Bath and then further on where their son lives there’s also a bus service. Trains appear to be few and far between apart from Bath Spa. I’ve got lost coming back from the park and ride bus service and I recall thinking had I seen any news of attackers. I mentioned this to my SIL last year and not far from them yes a woman had been murdered near a nightclub, albeit a long time ago.

Just be prepared that if you miss that bus you wait an hour for another one. Personally I’d prefer a village with at least a village shop.

Internet isn’t great, phone signal non existent. DD is 13 and I’m morphing into a taxi service. Can’t get any decent food delivered or get a good coffee anywhere

as for pros, it’s quiet, nice green space for runs or exercise

You wouldn’t believe the stories I heard about drink drugs etc due to boredom. Maybe it’s improved a bit now but it was quite common then. Having said that relatives who live in the countryside have ridden horses since they were young. I’d also think about potentially jobs when they get older. My relative is a dairy cow milker but also studying accountancy for farm work. She lives in Shropshire.

Similar to the problems here. We live in country town, nearest hospital is half an hour away in the car. We can drive atm, but as we age will be more reliant on public transport. But, its relatively safe, quiet(totally silent after 9pm). Beautiful, goodish local shops around the corner.
If your in a new build, is it an estate newly built in the middle of nowhere or attached to an existing town or village? If so you may be struggling for essential infrastructure and services close by. And just because you are "countryside" now if more houses go up you wont be.
Saying that, id love a new house with no damp, straight walls and decent windows.

Keeping kids occupied through the rainy months can be tough - I love being able to get outside, but kids don't always feel the love for a walk in the rain, and it gets frustrating when every weekend is gloomy and all of the indoor options cost money (cinema/swimming/soft play/bowling).

If your teenager's interested in rural/outdoorsy things like riding, hiking, mountain biking, it'll be easier than if their social life is more focused on the city. It can be harder for them to find work when they get into the teenage years, and that definitely falls under the 'mum's taxi' service - my mum spent a fair bit of time driving me home from my Saturday jobs after the buses had stopped running.

The years when DC are young go so quickly, you will be at the teen stage before you know it.

DS is trying to get a part time job, there is one shop and one pub in the village so very few jobs to go round. His GF lives in another village 10 miles away with no bus route between them. They rely entirely on lifts from parents. At 16/17yo they want to go places under their own steam like their schoolfriends have been doing since their early teens.

I love living in the countryside. I love walking the dog across fields twice a day. DH loves being involved in various village organisations. We didn't think about the impact on DS until it was too late. The years go by so fast.

I will move to the nearby town when I can no longer drive. It would be too isolating to stay here.

I'm talking about where I currently live, a village would have more than we have here! It's a brand new estate which looked like it offered us the best of both worlds - the reality of living here is different. You can't walk anywhere, you have to drive anyway, so I'm not sure if it would have a huge impact in that respect by moving a bit further out. Apart from risking danger naps as pp said 😂

I cant remember where I was some months ago, driving on a busy A road somewhere, it was in the middle of nowhere but in between 2 big towns if that makes sense, there was a new housing estate being built with the access road leading from the busy road I was driving on

If you tried to walk out of that estate you would have no where to walk, you couldnt walk on that A road, no pavement

If you were visiting someone on that estate, there would literally be no where to park given you clog up the roads unless you park half on the pavement, the cars are usually on driveways on new estates becuase they cant fit in garages, you wouldnt be able to park on the A road adjoining the estate (and couldnt walk from your car to the estate anyway). Complete madness to build in such a place

I remember it because there was a thread on here at the time with people frothing about people parking half on pavements and I thought at the time, you wouldnt have any choice when you're visiting these sorts of places. No public transport either

And I wouldnt cycle on such a road.

Exactly that, a new estate built kind of in the middle of nowhere, on the outskirts of a city. Although we appear to be in countryside, there are no river walks, no accessible fields (all private), no views as houses built up all around and yes, a new planning application has been submitted for another new estate next door.

That is a big concern of mine re damp. I love older houses but I'm not sure how I'd feel about it now I've lived in a brand new house. And heating bills.

I live in a rural area. I chose a village with good public transport. I can’t drive and it’s three miles to the nearest town.

I desperately wanted to live in the country, nice village. But DH desperately wanted to stay in town.

We agreed for the kids sake to stay in town. Our house has turned into a meeting point, people come, people go, the kids have independence, their friends treat it like a second home, we rarely have to drive them about anywhere and everyone is very happy.

Luckily we are a costal market town, so its a two minute walk to get into the countryside for dog walks, fresh air and water.