Help! I can't decide where to live 😩 oxfordshire/ Berkshire

[Mentalmummydoes]

Hi MNers,
I think this is my first time posting and I could really do with someone trying to help me rationalise my thoughts on our next house purchase.

A bit of background, my husband and I grew up in Berkshire... All of our friends that love us, warts and all, still live there. We moved to Oxfordshire 4.5 years ago. It's a great place to raise kids but we've not really made any friends! Made even more difficult because we chose a tiny school with only 70 kids in the entire school so not even met any parents that we really gel with!

The part of my brain that still thinks I'm 18 and wants to be near my friends is telling me to move back, my sensible side is telling me oxfordshire is a lovely place to raise our 3 kids.

We are about to buy our next home that we will be in for a long time I'd have thought. We love one that we've seen over here but would need to move the kids school. Does it make sense to just move back to Berkshire? If you've lived in both areas particular interested in your opinion but anyone who can help me make sense of my own mind would be greatly appreciated.

Even writing this out makes it seem like a ridiculous question 😂

Thanks so much!

@Svalberg Broadmoor is no bother, just a siren every Monday lol! @Mentalmummydoes I wouldn’t like to say as it’s so outing but it’s about an hour away in the other direction 🤣

[quote Sunshineday1]**@Svalberg* Broadmoor is no bother, just a siren every Monday lol! @Mentalmummydoes* I wouldn’t like to say as it’s so outing but it’s about an hour away in the other direction 🤣[/quote]
Yes, I used to live by there, including when they had an escape...

I've just left Berkshire after 16 years. I loved it when I first moved there. But 16 years later every single scrap of green space I'd once had around me was being built on. Once quiet roads were constant traffic. I could have been in the burbs anywhere. It just wasn't the same so I moved further North for more green space around me again.

Oh and I left the area being discussed above. So it's not green and pleasant Berkshire anymore imo.

Thank you all so much! I have slept on it and decided that sticking here makes sense. Even if it does feel "boring" it is only a max of an hour away from anything fun xxx

Hard to answer this without discussing exact locations. I grew up on the berks/oxon border. Both counties are nice but utterly tedious for teens unless you're close to one of the big urban hubs. I would think hard about local public transport wherever you buy otherwise your evenings will be being a permanent taxi service for over a decade

The last escape from Broadmoor was 20 plus years ago so not really a problem. Wokingham and Crowthorne are both nice but have big building projects ongoing. Both have good schools but oversubscribed so you may not get in. Houses are stupidly overpriced. Wokingham has better rail links to London and Reading but there is a train to Reading from Crowthorne too. Just not as frequent.

Just caught up in thread. I went to Didcot Girls School and grew up in a surrounded village (took train to school).
Please take heed of the parent taxi service warning, for your own sanity. You need to be prepared for it. I think my parents would say it was the very worst time for their marriage as they never saw each other, they were always in the car dropping or collecting me

@Weepingwillows12

The last escape from Broadmoor was 20 plus years ago so not really a problem. Wokingham and Crowthorne are both nice but have big building projects ongoing. Both have good schools but oversubscribed so you may not get in. Houses are stupidly overpriced. Wokingham has better rail links to London and Reading but there is a train to Reading from Crowthorne too. Just not as frequent.

I moved because of the shit rail links and the road traffic in the mornings, depends where you have to get to. The Broadmoor proximity didn't really bother me though it was exciting at the time, especially as 3 of my close neighbours worked there.

@YukoandHiro that is something I've been thinking about a lot! Out of curiosity, where did you hang out as a teen? I really don't know the area well at all and this does play on my mind. When you say about transport, are we talking about buses? The development I'm looking at has a good bus link I believe but not even sure where teens go to hang out around here.

I recommend looking at Marlow in Buckinghamshire which borders Berkshire and is accessible to Oxford. Its well known for being a great community and fab schools.

NC for this - my DH is from a village close to Crowthorne (Finchampstead) and it was pretty crap for a teenager, nothing to do and poor transport connections to see friends who were across different villages. It was either being driven by parents or cycling on dangerous roads. I have a good friend who grew up in Wantage and complained about a similar lack of stuff to do - it’s quite annoying not to have a train station as well (also applies to Wallingford).

We live in Reading now and I know a lot of people hate it but I actually really like it. There are some great schools here, plenty to do, lots of shops and restaurants, really good bus and rail service etc. It’s also a lot cheaper than Oxfordshire!