serious case of grass in greener ... anyone leave london then go back again?

[lacarte]

we left london a year and a half ago (priced out) and we are now regretting it and considering going back. have incurred massive cost in buying a house which needed far more work than we thought, but the commute (we both work in london) is worse than expected mat 60 - 90 mins, the nursery is near home and so a long way from work, we don't feel at home here and altogether we feel miserable (and a bit stupid) about it. would it be crazy and irresponsible where our LOs are concerned (one nearly 5 months, one 2.5yr) to go back? anyone done this?

I would look seriously into the issue of schools and base my decision on where to live on your chances of getting them into the type of school you want.

Lacarte, I live in mid beds too and I moved from London, I think I loathed it for the first 7 years I was here. Took me a long while to make friends due to working in London. And I felt isolated. I do understand how you feel, there is not a lot to do here but, I stuck it out and I do love it here now.
I think it takes a long while to establish yourself, esp. when you have to 'hunt' for things to do.
I guess tho', if you're really feeling that miserable, it might be worthwhile looking to see how much it's going to cost you to go back and work out how many sacrifices you will have to make, in terms of size of house, schools etc.