Market Town or Idyllic Village

[Yk19]

So, we have decision to make on our next house move. We have put offers in on two properties. One is in a nice market town where our 3 kids go to School (primary but eldest about to go to secondary also same town) and one is a gorgeous village 4 miles (less than 10 min drive) away. We can't decide which to go for!

The village house has a huge garden (north west but is so big it doesn't matter hugely) is beautifully decorated and we love it. There is a pub, shop, hall and playing fields in village but it has a rubbish public transport service.

The town house needs a serious overhaul (part knock down and rebuild) l, has a north facing garden (but it is long) and is going to take some effort to get it to where the other house is...it probably will be a nice house but not quite as pretty or big (not much in it though sizewise). It does benefit from far more amenities close at hand but is still a similar distance to the nearest large town as the village.

What would you do? I love the idea of the convenience of the market town but we have fallen in love with the little village and the house there. Argh!!!

The other posters who say town because it is not fair on your teens are right.

I've lived in a rural village and teens need friends. The three teen girls in my village were nothing alike and were all lonely and it wasn't good for their mental health.

They can't just drive themselves to see friends.

We had a similar dilemma.
our kids are similar ages and we concluded we wanted the kids to be able to be independent as they got older - walk or cycle to their friends and the high school, be able to use public transport etc

the village option would have meant we would be permanent taxis and relying on the car all the time. I grew up in a village and my parents had to taxi me everywhere which was a pita for them and for me.

Town.
Not just so you don’t have to be a taxi service but also when you discover they have eaten the key ingredients for the thing you were cooking for dinner, which is a common annoying thing teenagers do, you can make them go to the shop to buy more.