Would you live in a main road?

[MamaDuckling]

I'm about to go and see a property, perfect in every way except that it is on a busy road. Not A Road busy, but B Road busy. We are looking to extend our own place, or move for more space.

We have 2 young D.C, but I can't say the back roads are actually safe for playing in around here either, it's suburban London and no culture of playing in the streets. We're currently on one of these quieter roads and could create a similar sq. m but it's going to cost more than moving, and would feel squashed in places.

Location of house is very much the same area, good for school, station etc. maybe a few extra mins to school and playground, but about 10mins tops altogether. It's just cheap because it's on the main road.

So, do any of you live on busy roads with kids? Is it ok? Would you entertain the idea or stay on quiet side street? This one has small gated front garden so pretty safe...

I live in a sort of busy road like that; we're in a small town but my house is on one of the main ways into the town from the bigger nearby areas, so it's use all the time but the speed limit is 40. I don't have a problem with it, but there's only 5 houses in the row and we back onto a gold course so once out the back, it's really nice and quiet with great views and the gardens are all large. Also, on the other side of the main road out the front are farmers' fields, so also nice views. If I didn't have those, then I'd hate it since we don't use the front garden at all. There's also no pavement out the front, so I never walk on the road with the kids and again, wouldn't have accepted that if it wasn't for the back of the houses and the size etc. You just need to look at the benefits in exchange for the inconvenience, but we've never been bothered by noise or headlights or anything.

Is there a garden? I've found that once kids are past buggy age, being by a bus stop is invaluable and the main road doesn't really register (I'm a few yards off an A road, grew up on busy urban B roads).

Wander by late on a Saturday night and see what you think - lots of sirens and drunks might bother you, but if you're inside with good curtains and noise-reducing glazing, could be fine.

I'm on a road as you describe. It's well lit, roads are cleared when it snows, people are passing through not lingering/playing football etc, police cars drive along at all hours, it's easy for others to find...important for any emergency services. I am also a bit more anonymous than in a small road/cul de sac, which what I prefer.

Not on a bus route but the bus stops are a short walk away as are shops/doctors/other services. No road noise due to a deep front garden and double glazing. Suits me down to the ground. I have no children [mine are adults now] but I would still live here if I had a family for the convenience of it all.

I’d be worried about the pollution - spend some time googling on the risks of traffic fumes for young children.

I hate the vibration from traffic, particularly if you have heavier vehicles coming past too quickly. For that reason I would entertain it.

Thanks everyone, so I saw it, and loved it....

House A (out current house), two roads back from said main road, pollution probably the same? 2.5bed semi, extensions will double the size but it will always be a Victorian semi, and pokey in places. Nice garden though, and closer to school.

House B (dream house, main road), natural 3 story, 4 big bedrooms, Victorian terrace. Grand proportions and lovely layout/flow. Garden fine, backs onto other gardens so not overlooked.

Would you extend A, or buy B? B does need some work but mostly cosmetic. House A needs a total rebuild to achieve same sq m as house B.

Pollution from vehicles is usually higher by the road than two streets away. There are maps showing pollution - I don't know where you find them but I'd start with a google on the Mayor's site (I don't live in London). You may find it's not a big issue where you are thinking of buying.

The other thing you need to consider is noise. Not everyone minds about this but some people find it very intrusive. You need to sit in the garden at rush hour to find that out. Not very easy to do at this time of year!

I live on a busy main road and i like it. I feel safer knowing there's people passing by all the time and I've got triple glazing on the front so don't really notice noise. The only downside is parking.

Pollution is much much lower even two streets away from the main road. Our nearest main road breaches all kinds of safety standards for air quality, but the school only one road away has been tested and is fine. Try looking at the mayors website or your council for local pollution maps.

Thanks for the pollution pointers, I'll def check them out

We bought our current home when our dc were little (oldest 6, youngest 1).
We have a busy road at the front and railway line at the back, so for the price we paid, we got probably twice as much space as anything else we'd looked at.
It 100% was the right decision for us. The extra space and flexibility of that space has been invaluable over the years. I would definitely make the same choice again. Another bonus - which never occurred to me when the dc were that little - is how convenient it has been over the years for people who have offered to drop my dc off / pick them up for various activities / clubs over the years, as "they are passing anyway".
One thing I'd like now they are all adults is more parking. that can be a problem on a main road - although, in some towns, there is only on-street parking outside roads away from the mainroad and a battle to find a space anyway so that might not come into play for you ?
dh now says "in our next house" .... he'd like to be away from traffic, as he finds it harder to sleep now he's getting older, but it's easily resolved with ear plugs, and you don't notice it in the day. It has never bothered me except one night a year when Network Rail do something to the rocks on the track and THAT is noisy.

I live on a B road and it’s absolutely fine. Easy off street parking is a must for me, which we have in abundance. We can’t have lorries pass our house though as there’s a narrow bridge they would have to (and can’t) get over, so that helps us.

I've checked and it's below 40pg, which seems to be the governments target. It's 38.

I have been to a number of houses on main roads (friends or work). Personally, it would depend on the front garden for me. If it’s a deep front (a good few metres), then I would be more likely to consider it. With a hedge and planting it’ll get privacy and could be quite quiet + you’d get off street parking.

A 1-2m of a front garden, would be a deal breaker. Not enough space to screen yourself, more noise and I’d feel very unfortable if I had drunk people walking past late at night and speaking/shouting at the top of their voice. Not implying any anti-social behaviour but if there’s are pubs in the area, it could get pretty noisy as people can be a bit oblivious after a few pints.

Yep, it has 4.5m at the front garden, which is gated and we'll planted

Like this

I lived on a busy road (until I moved). Didn't make too much difference for the dc - they had a large garden to play in. Main problem was traffic noise and I became paranoid about air quality and pollution and didn't like to open windows in the summer.

We lived on a road very similar to that for about 2 years when renting in London. It was zone 2 and was a busy B road although it did have on street parking. We had a bus stop literally outside our front door, and a brilliant pub/Starbucks/newsagents/takeaway etc etc all within 20 seconds walk. I loved it-our back garden wasn’t noisy at all, and we were out at work all day so noise didn’t bother us. Kitchen and family room were at back of the house so we didn’t sit in the living room till later generally anyway so didn’t notice traffic noise.

Sounds like a lovely house. I think that I would like the back to be south or west facing to compensate as you are likely to spend a lot of time on that side of the house and would want it to be bright, warm and sunny, rather than darker, cold and dull.

Would also check if there were double decker buses that pass by, where passengers could stare in through your windows.

Picture is stunning! OSP or at least guaranteed on-street parking would be important - wouldn't want to hoik bags of shopping, car seats, push chairs etc to far.

I live on a very busy main road, 40mph but you often get cars zooming past doing at least 60mph. We live just down the road from a motorway junction so we have lots of big trucks and lorries driving past too. I thought it would be worse than it is. Can't really hear the traffic and parking isn't really an issue for visitors as our drive is big enough for four cars at a push and you can park on the road too.

I was worried about DS but we have a gate on the drive and just make sure the front door is always locked so he doesn't sneak out!

If you use the car much, I’d be worried about parking. And personally, that would be too close for comfort in terms of noise. Also the windows look like original sashes? Single glazing is horrible for noise levels, secondary glazing looks awful and replacing original windows with double glazing would make me feel mega guilty.

Hmmm it's west facing garden, I think, as in it is e/w direction, not n/s. How do I tell??
Noise wise, it has the original sash windows with an internal screen to the front rooms. In time I'd swap these for triple glazed replica dash windows.
There's parking in the side road, it's literally on the corner, and side/back access too, so in theory can park in a bay on the side room and come straight into kitchen through the back.

Are we generally thinking this is better than my current house with extensions though???