Move? Kent to Stowmarket? Please help!?!

[jkb]

Please can you help

We currently live in KENT.. in a semi rural village ( it has a nice primary school, a few shops, doctors, Librey, Chemist etc...) all within walking distance.
We are however looking to relocate to Suffolk. We need a bigger house & cannot afford it in Kent...we also wanted a better quality of life etc for our young children & wanted to get away from the CHAV's which live around Kent (yes I know u get them everywhere...but more so here :-( ) some of the people who take their children to my sons school would make your hair curl with their fowl mouths & chavvy accents...& I really dont want my children to grow up with that.
So... we thought .. SUFFOLK.
We are currently looking at STOWMARKET ??
I have however read a few things on here saying to avoid Stowmarket? & wondered what your honest (good OR bad) thoughts are? This is a huge decision to make for my family & I dont want to get it wrong.
& If Stowmarket is a No.. WHERE would u suggest in Suffolk? (cant be too far from Kent tho as hubby needs to travel by car once a week). I would love somewhere semi rural.. but where I can WALK to primary school, shops, doctors, toddler groups etc...

Any help would be greatly appreciated as it looks as if we have sold our house & so I need to sort my life out pretty quickly!

xxx

You can get a bit more for your money in Stowmarket, but that's for a reason (a bit downmarket compared to much of the surrounding area). I still think that there are some nice places/properties in Stow & wouldn't rule it out of my search (although many, inc.DH disagree!). You won't be able to make an informed decision until you've spent some time in the area.

Places I would like to live in
Gt. Finborough
Walsham Le Willows
Earl Stonham
Framlingham
Wetherden
Woolpit
Finningham
Debenham
Helmingham
Brandeston
(to name a few to start you off!!)

Sorry, a bit more!....

"WALK to primary school, shops, doctors, toddler groups etc"

There aren't that many villages in Suffolk that mean you can do this; Framlingham, Earl Soham, Debenham, Elmswell are some though.

Thank you Floopy21..... Is needham market nice? walking distance to shops too?

The estate we were looking at in Stowmarket was "Cedars Park"... have you heard of it? Nicer par or not so nice?

Needham is nice, & there's Needham Lake for a bit of a walk about...careful of properties likely to flood, there are a few in Needham, but should be fine if around the High st. There are two co-ops (mini supermarkets), depending on which end of town you're in, a community centre, a Doctors, a School or two (not sure what they're like), & very easy/quick to nip into Stowmarket for 'a big shop' or a swim at the Leisure Centre or something. Sonme really pretty buildings too.

I personally hate Cedars Park, but that's just me. Sprawling estate with more works planned/taking place. Everything looks the same, no gardens to speak of & every road/close is named after a bird which for some irrational reason really pisses me off If you're moving to Suffolk for the countryside, I wouldn't move to Cedars.