Help me work out where to move to

[ZanyQuail]

My husband and I are looking to move closer to my family, who are based in Cardiff. We want to be a maximum of 90 mins away from there by car or train. We have 1 daughter, who will be turning 2 this year. My husband would rather not live so close to my family that we are 10 minutes away, so Cardiff itself is probably out.

Budget of around £650k max for 3-4 bedroom house.

Our priorities are:

• good high street or city centre within walking distance (with a library, good cafes, ideally some independent shops and restaurants, and some culture e.g. a theatre).
• good state primary and secondary schools within catchment.
• green space and a good park within walking distance.
• no more than 2 hours away from London by train.
• commutable to the nearest big city by bike (cycle path ideal - my husband's job will be in demand in any big city, and I work remotely)
• ideally fairly close to the coast (max 1 hr drive-ish), could possibly compromise on that one.
• an area with a community feel, if possible.

Unfortunately we are currently spoiled and have all this already (aside from the secondary schools), living just outside of Norwich city centre. We love it, but I just can't take the 5-6 hour drive to my parents anymore. I miss them too much, and we're going to need a support system nearby if we have another child.

Does this place exist within our budget?!

Thanks in advance!

Worcester is slightly more than 90 minutes away but would meet your other criteria. You could get a really good house for that budget. I don’t think it’s an hour from the coast though

Bristol? Worcester is nice too, that’s my closest town, but I think Bristol probably ticks more boxes.

Bristol? It's about an hour away from Cardiff. Your family.might wonder why you're there and not Cardiff though.

I'd say Bristol but don't underestimate the travel time to/from Cardiff. The Brynglas tunnels section of M4 is jammed daily.

Alternatively, Penarth is nice with easy cycle access into Cardiff..Again, traffic could be an issue at peak times

Bristol, or Bath / Chippenham tho commute would be longer.

Crickhowell without a doubt

Thank you! This is somewhere I hadn’t thought of and actually looks perfect.

Funnily enough Penarth is where I’m from and where my parents live still!

Ha, no they’re just thrilled at the prospect of us being fewer than 6 hours away!

Bristol would tick your boxes apart from the secondary schools (hard to find a larger house in the catchment of one of the better secondary schools for your budget).

I do sympathise with your husband not wanting to be on top of your family, but there would be huge advantages to being in Cardiff (e.g. your parents could step in if a child was ill, which they won't be able to do if you are 90 minutes way). To really make the most of a support system I think you need to be closer.

Thank you! He did say he’s feeling a bit more open to Cardiff but I also do appreciate it might not be ideal for him.

we’re so used to doing everything alone that even a bit of help is going to be life changing I think!

OP I was going to say why not move to Norwich it will tick your boxes and then saw that you already do. Can you not persuade them to move closer to you.

There are fantastic parts of Bristol but for the best schools you need £700k+ to be in catchment eg Redland, Westbury Trym area.

I’ve been trying for nearly two years and have accepted it’s not going to happen, and it’s understandable as they have strong ties to their home town.

We are also far from lots of our friends currently and haven’t been massively successful with forming strong friendships here (despite meeting some lovely people), so we’re feeling it’s the right change for us. But we absolutely love Norwich as a place!

You would get much more house for your money in Cardiff than in Bristol or Bath.