Thoughts on moving from Basildon, Essex to Sudbury, Suffolk

[DaisyDooox]

What's peoples thoughts on Basildon, Essex? Currently live here but feel like the area is going down hill rapidly and have been looking at Sudbury, Suffolk which looks / feels lovely and a completely different world to Basildon! Feel like my little one will get a more wholesome safer childhood and better education compared to Basildon.

Sudbury is a nice enough small town. (My DF lives in one of the villages south of Sudbury.)

Definitely will be a contrast to Basildon - so much smaller, more rural. Does have trains to London, but requiring a change (at Manningtree IIRC) - quite slow though.

Some lovely villages around Sudbury (e.g. Long Melrose, Lavenham) and plenty to see and do if you like rural pursuits - walking etc.

Sudbury is decent. Attractive, quite a lot going on.

We lived in Pitsea in Basildon and moved to Norfolk 18 months ago. I can 100% say it was the best decision for our family and kids. I can't advise about Suffolk, but having lived in Basildon, I can say the quality of life is better, rural life is better. The house and garden are bigger( over double in size) I haven't had any regrets!

I'm local and Sudbury isn't considered great for children once they reach high school age. The schools are okay but not amazing and there is no post 16 college. There's also absolutely nothing for older children and teenagers to do without travelling to Ipswich/Bury but public transport is shite in this area so they'll be reliant on you.
In general this part of Suffolk is really nice, but I'd look at smaller towns & villages on the railway line between Cambridge & Ipswich instead, around 30 minutes from Sudbury but gives access to much better education and other life opportunities.

Hadleigh’s nice. Not too far from Sudbury. Schools, Drs etc all within walking distance of the High St. Buses to local college and into Ipswich and a bit closer to the A12/Essex border.

Do it. Basildon is not as nice as Suffolk .

Do you need to commute back to London? If so, that might dictate where you live. Do you drive/have a car? I'm not overly familiar with Sudbury, but DH and I moved from between zone 1-2 and now live 2hrs away in a quiet village and love it! We don't have kids, but my personal pro/cons of moving out:

-We previously walked everywhere or used the tube, now we drive most places
-My local shops has all manner of 'exotic' foods from around the globe. Here, I need to find specialty shops for certain ingrediants
-The peace/quiet is amazing! I now have a bird feeder and love the wildlife we get in the garden
-People are friendlier and more open to at least saying hello when walking to dog