We moved from London suburbs to a small town in Devon. I had, before marrying, spent my entire adult life (20yrs) living in the centre of London and missed it dreadfully when I got married. When dd was born I knew I would never go back but still seriously couldn't stand the smug suburb we lived in.
Here, in our small town, we have a much better life than we had in the suburbs. We have much fresher food, we are closer to dd's school friends, it is safer for dd to wander around town on her own, she used to walk to school on her own from age 7 (she's just changed school and it's that much further away, but we reckon she can do the walk come September).
It took a while to get to know people and I certainly didn't rely on the school run mums. You have to have been here 20+ yrs before you're a real local! We are lucky in that dh is a musician and he gigs so that was our first entree into local society! Join clubs, go to pubs (and it's much easier with children to go to pubs and restaurants and so on here).
People, we have found, are much less judgemental here, are more inclined to let small children be small children, to let adults be who they are rather than expecting everyone to conform to a norm - a thing I found absolutely ghastly in our old home in the suburbs.
The air is fresher, there are fields with cows and sheep around, bluebell woods; all this in walking distance. A traffic jam lasts less than 5 minutes.
We are close enough to Exeter to get in to the shops if we need to, but everything we need on a day to day basis is available here in town, with numerous independent shops too. If you need work done on your house or garden, there is always someone who knows someone, and then you find this guy is a brilliant plumber and doesn't charge the earth, and eventually becomes a friend etc etc.
The only downside here is the lack of cultural diversity - most people are white - but we are seeing that change gradually too.