Is it doable to live in a place that does not have public transport as you reach 60? If I cant drive medically I guess Im buggered! has this happened to anyone?

[Anotheremptynester]

I have found a beautiful house with a massive garden sitting in the country, in Sussex. I would be living 2 miles from a bus stop which is then a 35 min journey to a non main line station. Not all my children drive, and I keep worrying I might regret this. Have always lived near a main station to London. Plenty of non city people must be in the same situation, but has anyone found themselves stuck as they coudnt drive for medical reasons? or felt isolated?

We moved from London to very rural Kent nearly twenty years ago and although we love the countryside, we’re planning to move to our nearest market town soon because we need to be nearer to amenities without having to drive!

I’ve lived rurally for many years. If you make lots of friends that will, in my experience rally round and help anyone who can’t get somewhere. However I personally don’t want to be in that position in my 70s. We love living rurally but we aim to move into a small town in our mid 70s.

Although born in a town, I've lived in country areas for most of my adult life (I'm now in my 70s) and loved the life, even though I needed to get into my car just to buy a pint of milk. However, I have recently upped sticks and moved back to an area with better transport links. The deciding factor was a temporary injury a couple of years ago when I was unable to drive for several weeks. Although I had a lot of help from friends, I realised I could not contemplate living like that permanently and I followed the maxim ''move when you can, not when you must" I'm now settled in a small town with good shops and transport links and nearer (but not too near) to family. I'm also still young and active enough to make new social connections, as well as keeping in contact with my old friends.Everyone is different, of course, but feel I've made the right decision.

A friend has just downsized to a house on the rural outskirts of a small town in Devon. Although she drives she's only 15ft from a bus stop with a regular bus service into a bigger town with a train station. She's already planning to join the local U3A and local leisure centre in the bigger town and is great at joining things and chatting to people. The nearest hospital is apparently 45 mins away. I think she'll be fine, her DH less so as he's more reserved and his hobby is quite insular so he doesn't often interact with others.

I wouldn’t recommend it, they will struggle to find carers willing to travel to them if they needed it and are far from all the services they may require as they age.

I work with elderly people and one of the common complaints is that once they cannot longer drive they become prisoners in their own houses, hardly anyone visits at all and there is absolutely nothing for them to do aside of watching television. One of them even told me that they could film a James Bond film in her neighbourhood as there was not a human to be seen around during the day… for months.

I believe, however, that they are a great option in early retirement, the problem is you may not have the means or energy to move when it is no longer convenient.

I live rurally and have a huge garden. I'm hoping to downsize in the next few years. I really enjoy gardening but it's very time consuming and I don't want to pay a gardener in future or be begging my adult children for help. I also worry about not being able to drive in the future.

We moved from a 2 minute walk from a south London railway station to the edge of a large village about 20 years ago. We are currently reliant on cars for getting to work etc. The area works fine for none driving 'fit' retirees that can walk to the GP, bus stop, shops etc. there is a flexibus service if you have the time to factor in that it isn't a direct service.
You could have 15-20 years enjoying a rural location or you could feel isolated and stuck. Would you be happy to downsize and move to the nearest town once you are no longer able to drive/ maintain a 'huge' garden? If so go for it.

None of know what the future holds but it's more likely that we will need more help , medical appointments etc when we get older. I drive and live an hour from my mother, who needs a lot of support, the middle of the night calls when she needs something are so difficult and I really wish I lived closer. Her decline had been quite rapid, she was very active a couple of years ago, within months her mobility deteriorated and now she can hardly walk.
Think very very carefully, everything might be ok now but you might live to regret it.

Can you afford lots of expensive taxi journeys? If you can factor these into your budget then it’s doable.

That's quite a risk to take though, what if you need a lift and no one can help, it's also quite an imposition on others.

We're sort of in this position. Dh currently can't drive for medical reasons. This isn't just a problem for the elderly, he first lost his licence aged 33 and, 20 years on, we're now in the third phase of him not driving.

We live in a small market town in a rural county. Public transport here is available but limited compared to what would exist in a larger town. We have a main line train station and hourly buses to the nearest city.

We're just about managing with one driver but I'm tearing my hair out. It's not just about going to the hospital and visiting family but running errands, doing shopping etc all falls to me. We've already decided that we want to retire to the centre of the nearest city, it wouldn't be fun being elderly and isolated in the countryside.

Taxis in rural areas are also very limited, you can't guaranteed finding one when you need it, especially evenings and weekends.

As someone who visits older people daily as part of their job I say you would be mad. The majority of people give up driving by the time they are mid eighties, many sooner for medical reasons.

how will you get to the shops and doctors? Even if you can walk to the bus stop how long will you have to wait for a return bus.

isolation and lack of socialising/conversation can cause dementia like symptoms.

It's not just a matter of cost. My impression is that where my parents moved to the taxi drivers are fitting taxi work in around other things. It's not like living in a city where you'd be unlucky to have to wait more than an hour for a taxi. I tried to book a taxi once and was told they were already booked up for that time, three days in advance, so that was that. Others didn't even answer the phone. A very kind neighbour took us in the end.

Yes, been an issue with my elderly relatives. And made worse as local subsidised buses in rural areas are being hit by council budget cuts. They used to have a bus through the village but now a mile to walk on country roads to the next nearest bus route.

I wouldn’t, I am attempting to support a couple of relatives now who are basically housebound. They are about a 10 minute walk from a bus stop but they won’t go alone, so even with public transport available they aren’t moving. The constant phone messages and drip fed individual items required from shops are overwhelming. They want all of the benefits of a care home but don’t want to go into one (which I understand). I feel that this is all going to become a massive problem in the coming years with more elderly people than there are people to care for them individually. It’s really made me think about how I don’t want to be a burden on others, so I’d be trying to make things as easy as possible now.

We are thinking of moving out of London in a few years time, ironically to Sussex. We will be about 60. The place will have to meet the pint of milk test. I want to be easily able to buy basics without having to drive.

Mmm I wouldn't, personally. I have a bus stop a ten minutes walk away (though the buses are only one an hour) and our garden is half an acre or so but that's enough for me, and I drive. I wouldn't want to be that far away from transport!

I have a friend whose health has declined and they are in an idyllic spot rurally, but they are so isolated now that they have lost mobility, it's very sad.

In my job I hear of a lot of older people becoming isolated when they aren’t able to drive anymore, especially when they live rurally. It’s definitely worth considering how you would access the doctors, the shops and social activities in the event you can’t drive.

My aunt lives in a highly inaccessible house in Cornwall and gave up her car some time ago for eco reasons. She has managed extremely well by bonding with her neighbours. They really look after her.

I'm 59 and live rurally. A few years ago I couldn't drive for about a year following an accident. It was incredibly frustrating, especially once I was actually better but dudn5have a driving licence. I coped because I have a DH and DC who can drive and a good supportive network of friends who helped a lot. Plus I got my shopping and prescriptions delivered and went by taxi occasionally. I hated it though and was very relieved it wasn't permanent. Not being able to do anything out of the house spontaneously got me down a lot as time went on. There were occasional really difficult moments too like one day one of my DC was taken ill at school, 20 miles away and my DH was out of the country on business.
It was tolerable for a relatively short time but we would have moved if it had been permanent. DH and I are not thinking of moving right now but I think we will move to somewhere in a small town or at least on a regular bus route to one in the next decade or so. I love where I live but I don't want to be a prisoner here in my old age. I have seen too many old people leave it too late to downsize and move on so I plan to be gone from here by the time I'm about 70 or sooner if DH or I develop any health problems.

Think very carefully before doing this. It’s lovely when you are well and driving, and very isolating when you’re not.
My PiL live in a Cotswold village, about 20-30 mins from a couple of decent towns. There are no amenities in the village other than the church and a primary school.

This was all good until they both lost their driving licences for medical reasons. They now rely on the twice a week bus (Wed and Fri) to go to town for 2hrs to do everything they need to do. They are reliant on friends, neighbours and taxis if they need to go anywhere at any other time. This is tricky for their increasing amount of hospital appts and if they want or need to go to town for more than 2 hrs, meet friends etc And of course, the bus doesn’t go to the town with the train ststion!

We live 4 hrs drive away. DH is soending more and more time going down at weekends, which is essentially his whole weekend.

On the other hand, some family friends in their 80s who no longer drive, live in a small town where they can walk to everything they need and they joke about how they always meet someone they know when they go out.

Why can’t you drive OP ? I am asking genuinely not to be goady .. but to let you know there is so much help out there to learn. Of course if your medical condition is sight or day time uncontrolled epilepsy.. but my best mate is is spina bifida from birth ? No attachment to her legs and therefore completely wheelchair bound - used PIp motability to teach her to drive and then got her a specially adapted car at 66 years old..

When I made my last house move in my mid fifties I made sure that despite being able to drive it was:

Two/Three minutes walk from a corner shop
Two minutes walk from bus stop into nearest city or out of town big shopping centre.
Within ten minutes walk of train station. Alternatively can get the bus there.

I really wanted to future proof such an important purchase.