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.

If they did, I wonder how many of them would turn up on time, or even turn up at all 🤣.

I would say do your due diligence and check for any planning applications nearby and check the local planning departments draft local plan. The government are putting huge pressure on councils to build more and more houses and even where planning is refused for good reason such as flood risk or lack of water/sewerage infrastructure, it's being overturned on appeal. In the 8 years since we moved to the (what was lovely) countryside there has been a huge increase in new build estates, 3 in the lane we live on and another being pushed through for a further 750 (ffs) houses less than a quarter of a mile away. Its been even worse in the nearest town where they've built five new estates in the last 3 years alone. Developers are falling over themselves to make a fast buck from building cheap poor quality houses, and small scale farmers unable to make a decent living are selling them the land.

I’ve lived in both city and country.

Country pros- more wildlife, less people, more space, fresh air.
City pros- Everything is fairly nearby, more going on, easier transport links.

Country cons- Mud, lots and lots of mud, more chance of getting mice in your house, agriculture (oil seed field pollen, spraying, harvesting dust, general shit smells), shoots, shooting and wankers with guns, popping out for milk/bogroll becomes more of an expedition, village politics, power cuts, things not being on the mains (gas, sewerage).
City cons- People, traffic, general dystopian grimness, smaller houses for more money, more crime, parking, noise. Did I mention people?

Tbh, I’d move back to the Sticks in a heartbeat.

But your teen years are not the teen years now. I’d have hated country living as a teen but now all the kids are online. Mine game until the wee hours with friends. That’s pretty much what they want to do with their mates.
Mine love country living. Quad biking. Shoot. Archery. They swim in the river.

Sorry that’s just not true. My teens certainly aren’t “online all the time” they are socialising with their friends and at their Saturday jobs. I would hate it if they lived somewhere where they just sat online all day at the weekend for 8 months of the year.

Tbh if you're only 15 mins from a decent sized town I don't think there are many down sides, that's a short drive!

I suppose from my experience is have these.

Pros: it's beautiful, there's space, I can keep ducks and chickens and bees, and plenty of space for my dog. Fewer irritating people. There's something nice about feeling like you're living in time with the seasons.

Cons: no take ways in a reasonable distance, no popping to the shop if you've forgotten something, stress about getting into preferred schools and long days for dc travelling to school, people in small communities will help you in an emergency but they would really embrace you as one of the community for quite a few years because they don't expect you to stay. Getting snowed in. Power outages. Not being able to get tradesmen who are willing to come to your area.

15 minute drive isn’t much. We live in a village & are about that far from the nearest town. Yes, we ferry the teens around a lot, but living out of town meant we can afford a 5-bed detached house with a big garden which we all love. They do so many varied sports and activities all over the place, that even if we lived in town we’d need to get the car out for some of them anyway.

In our last house in town they hated waiting for buses, so they vastly prefer the mum & dad taxi service! We’ve happy to provide this - we knew full well when we moved here there’d be more driving, and it’s worth it for the life we’re able to live here.