Those of you who have left the city to live in more rural settings: do you regret it? Any positive/negative unexpected surprises about living in the countryside?

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Financial_Sector_259@reddit

We are on the same boat, having lived my entire British life in London (just over 20 years) as I am getting older falling deeper and deeper in love with British countryside. want to buy a cottage with a bit of land down south about an hour train journey to London. I know it will be a challenge but I think it will worth it.

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Serious-Fail-5486@reddit

Fuck all to do long story short

I’d rather live in the city and enjoy city green space and have rural settings as my weekend days out/stay overs

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PippiShortStockings@reddit

Whereas I’m the reverse, couldn’t pay me to live in a city, but don’t mind popping in for a weekend of theatre.

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Serious-Fail-5486@reddit

It goes both ways doesn’t it

The caveat being it has to be the ‘right’ rural and the ‘right’ city

Both rural and urban spaces can be disgusting

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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

Bingo. I live in a small city. I has just enough to call it a city, but if I walk a few minutes I am in the woods or down by the River. This is the view from my window...

At night I watch Owls fly from tree to tree.

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Inevitable_Outcome56@reddit

That looks dead quiet 👌

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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

Yep, they are the best neighbours.

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MingePies@reddit

To each their own. I live rurally and would not change it for city life but I also completely understand the appeal of that for those that enjoy it.

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DeadPlank@reddit

The country mouse and the city mouse

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Serious-Fail-5486@reddit

Squeak squeak

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eww1991@reddit

And awful if you've got kids. I moved from near to Colchester (15 minutes on train, 25 or so on the bus) and being able to meet up with my friends from school whenever to North Norfolk. Two friends lived on the same village. An hour and a bit on unreliable, poorly timed busses each way to Norwich to meet up with any friends or waiting for a lift from parents. The joke is that if you stay there the only things to do are get pregnant or drugs.

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Otherwise_Koala4289@reddit

This is me. I grew up in a city and that's really informed my preferences. Don't mind visiting somewhere rural for a weekend, but after a couple of days I'm generally done. I really like to be able to walk to all sorts amenities.

I live in a town of around 20k people with a 40ish min train into London now and I wouldn't want to move somewhere any smaller or less well connected to London.

Interestingly, I did live in the countryside until I was about 9. My parents both now say they really regret it because they hated having to get in the car and drive 30 mins to do anything.

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Serious-Fail-5486@reddit

Having to have a car is something I really do not like

Being able to walk to decent amenities is a must for me

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Otherwise_Koala4289@reddit

My wife loves the idea of living completely rurally, but I've always said car dependence is a red line for me. I don't ever want to live somewhere where getting in a car is a requirement to go everywhere.

So a commuter town is a good compromise. Countryside walks within 10 mins walk, but lots of amenities also within 10 mins walk, and central London within 45 mins.

Expensive though!

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Serious-Fail-5486@reddit

Yeah the rural/urban equilibrium is extremely expensive, it’s what everyone wants

I am currently supporting my parents with their ‘forever home’, and my mother has settled on Harrogate as they go there a lot, and it’s close to York, Leeds and Manchester

You can also just fly out the door and do things immediately.

But there is a price tag associated, but weirdly it’s less than the suburban area they live now which baffles me.

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PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit

I regret nothing.

This morning I went for a pre-dawn bike ride over the Pentlands to watch the sunrise.

This afternoon will be taking the dog for a walk through the forest 5 minutes walk from the house.

Life's good.

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WinglyBap@reddit (OP)

I think forest is more attractive to me than open fields. My dog would also prefer this.

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thelaughingman_1991@reddit

I'm living out in the suburbs with my girlfriend currently, after living in a really rough part of my city for 2.5 years near the city center. During my time there, I witnessed a drug dealer's house on fire from my bedroom window, people shooting up behind my gym around the corner, people entering a house in hazmat suits opposite my house, two fights, people trying to break into cars, and a lot of postal thefts.

I now live in a clean, safe, welcoming environment, where I walk nearby feeling safer daily, saying hello to both locals and neighbours. Getting to the city center is a bit harder now and it's a bit more of a "day out", but I no longer go to sleep anxious most nights because of what's happening both inside and outside my home.

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SSMicrowave@reddit

Same. Except I did 15yrs of that shit. Theft, crime, drugs, new piles of fly-tipping every single day. Anything not bolted down got stolen. Garage camera going off at night with people shooting up or looking over my wall for stuff to steal.

I had sunk-cost fallacy as my house was actually nice. But it was an oasis surrounded by filth and decay.

Met my other half, we both had houses. Sold them both and now live in a stunning little village at the edge of town.

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suitcasehandler@reddit

Not at all I’m not a social person so I don’t mind that there’s less “things to do”, I don’t use these things anyway and if I need something from the city - it’s 20 minutes drive, or 45m drive if I’m going in rush hours

I have picked up new hobbies, running, trail running because I can literally go outside, run for 10 minutes and I’m already on trail paths with beautiful hills and whatnot

I work from home so commute doesn’t exist for me.

It’s quiet here, everything seems slower, I feel much better mentally

I have same day and next day Amazon delivery, stores and superstores are 5-10m drive from me

It’s pure heaven tbh

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SSMicrowave@reddit

Exactly the same as me. Moved from fly-tipped urban decay to a village at the edge of the city. Spends hours in the forest and on trails with my dog. Clean air, peace and quiet, clean. People stop and chat. Its heaven.

But still 20-30mins into the city for events and whatnot.

Barely go in anymore though.

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Overseerer-Vault-101@reddit

Lived in both, my preference is country/seaside but within walking/cycling distance of a main train station. Noise is annoying in city but the country isn't silent, you may find bugs and other animals have a more annoying note and they don't care about noise complaints.

The sky is much nicer at night but getting a few beers after 8pm can be annoying as hell.

Also don't expect the police or ambulance to show up until it's all over. People are face friendly but judge more in the country.

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Quick_Fun_9619@reddit

I started my career in London, live in a hamlet in coastal South Wales now and commute in instead.

It's so so nice having the sea on your doorstep and only 3 neighbours to share it with

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qt4u2nv@reddit

Wow, how long is the commute ?

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Quick_Fun_9619@reddit

A good few hours, but work pay for first class and put me up overnight while I'm there.

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Silent-Ice-6265@reddit

My man is thriving

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Quick_Fun_9619@reddit

Thanks; fake it til you make it has been my motto!

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qt4u2nv@reddit

Fair enough x

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Wolf-Dagger@reddit

I’ve seen properties in Port Talbot marketed as commutable to London. 180 miles and 3 and a half hours by car. About the same on the train I think.

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MeltingChocolateAhh@reddit

Urban is better than rural imo. But, everyone is different.

If you dislike driving, well, learn to like it. And, make sure your car of choice is well-looked after. Possibly consider a home that is easy to reach when it is icy outside too. Most people have enough trouble pushing a push chair up a hill on a snowy afternoon in January to get to their flat, so imagine the difficulty living in a place with narrow roads, probably not gritted, and prone to flooding.

Unless you are very remote, the nearby a-road to drive on to get to a supermarket will still have traffic.

Most rural land is still privately owned. To be fair, most people won't mind you innocently walking on a field but this should still be acknowledged. And, it is most rural land.

I would suggest finding a small town, with a tiny population on the outskirts of what we would see as a "medium size town", then you'll find that small town will have a supermarket, maybe a nice little bakery and a bit of a community about it still. If you go completely remote, have fun.

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OctaneTroopers@reddit

I moved semi rural. It's the best thing ever as long as you have a car. I would however not like to live in the proper back and beyond. Village life is spot on and has a good balance of the amount of people, pubs, events happening all year round and plenty to get involved with if you do choose. 20 minutes away from the next town that has the supermarkets and close enough for a night out here and there.

One thing I do really like is you get an incredible sense of what time of year it is due to the farmland surrounding the area. I see them ploughing the fields, seeing the crops growing then harvesting and a feel a lot closer to the changes in weather and seasons as I go walking from my own front door regularly.

When I think back to when I lived in a city, night time wasn't really a thing as I could walk literally to the other side of the city and it would be fully lit all the way. So I am a lot more aware of the darkness but the darker skies are a winner.

The amount of wildlife and variety of it is insane that I see is really nice after all the doom and gloom and what we are told about it in the media. Birds being a big one which I can now identify by their sounds and what they look like and their names was a nice thing I started learning without me really knowing.

I could go on actually now I've started thinking about all the little ace things. I certainly would never move back to a town or city.

My bullet points would be. -Fantastic if you have a car -Like the smaller community -Fantastic sense of the seasons year round -If you're outdoorsy it's bloody brilliant -Getting your boots muddy whichever direction you walk is ace -the slower pace of things -green spaces and wildlife which I never knew was so prevalent and visible once out of the grey city.

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simmyawardwinner@reddit

all positives, no negatives. moved from central london to leafy surrey three years ago and so happy and healthy

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BaldyBaldyBouncer@reddit

I have done it the other way around. Lived in the Cotswolds for the first 32 years of my life but never had any hope of affording to buy a property there so moved to a city. Zero ragrets, I am only an hour away from where I grew up and can visit anytime I want, which is almost never, the place has turned into a theme park.

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Isgortio@reddit

My cousins grew up in Dorset after my aunt grew up near London, and they couldn't wait to move away. They all spent time in London, only one has stayed in London and the rest have gone back to the countryside. I remember one of them getting really excited that they were finally getting a McDonald's in their hometown because they didn't have anything like that before.

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BaldyBaldyBouncer@reddit

My home town hasn't even got a supermarket because the local council keep blocking any applications for one. It's a 45 minute round trip if you want to buy any food other than artisan cheese.

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Used-Peak-5382@reddit

which is almost never, the place has turned into a theme park.

Lol its shit now isn't it, did the exact same thing but got out a little younger, and moved much further away. I enjoy the circus of "proper British countryside" every time I visit my parents for the first day or so, then usually end up visiting Birmingham or Bristol instead of stay in a rural setting.

Though I will say the shit little village I grew up in is really nice now, but it took 10 years post me leaving to be liveable without a car!

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indomitus1@reddit

Useful comment really answering OPs question 😂

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VerbingNoun413@reddit

!dick

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Lazzlewazzle@reddit

Just like those askreddits that ask a question to a police officer, and the first reply is always “not a part of the police however…

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BaldyBaldyBouncer@reddit

If you can't extract any information relevant to the original post that's a you problem.

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BeardedBaldMan@reddit

I live rurally. Key points.

Do you like driving, because you're going to be driving for everything?

Are you expecting it to be quiet? It isn't. The countryside is a factory for plants and meat. If you think builders have no respect for what time they make noise, farmers are in a different league. If something needs harvesting before the rains come in, then they'll be out there at 3am with the halogens on.

If you use the opportunity of moving rurally to get a giant garden or house, be aware of the costs and effort involved. It might seem like pointing out the obvious, but the maintenance of 300m^2 of garden is significant compared to 20m^2. When we built our house I hadn't realised what an massively increased amount of cleaning is involved by going big.

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MouldyFruit2023@reddit

Just as an FYI farmers don't harvest all year round :)

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BeardedBaldMan@reddit

There's also tilling, fertilising, sowing (before and after christmas), putting down herbicide, insecticide, hay baling etc.

Then for the dairy farmers they are definitely moving cows around and milking them everyday and that milk tanker is coming early in the morning.

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TheAngryBad@reddit

There's also tilling, fertilising, sowing (before and after christmas), putting down herbicide, insecticide, hay baling etc.

And if you're super lucky, they'll spread silage over the field right behind your house just as the weather's getting nice and you're considering sitting out in the garden for the first time in months.

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Isgortio@reddit

I often like the idea of the countryside, and I used to drive through it in the summer with the roof down. I regretted having the roof down quite a few times in some areas because they absolutely stank lol. Luckily I was driving out of it.

There's countryside not too far from my parents and we'd get the occasional manure smell wafting over, that was tolerable. But whatever I've smelled in the countryside in the last few years has smelled vile.

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TheAngryBad@reddit

Yeah, cow manure is a bit more common but you honestly get used to it - it's the smell of the countryside lol.

Proper slurry is vile though and really makes me gag. Luckily it's only a couple of days a year in most places.

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BeardedBaldMan@reddit

Slurry. Silage is what they feed cows.

That's nothing compared to pig waste or as we found last year chicken manure. My brother in law had this clever idea to cut his fertiliser bill and bought six truckloads of chicken manure and sawdust, with the only reasonable place to dump it was a field near our house.

The day it was dumped, and the day it was spread was just a case of going off somewhere else. Unlike cow manure at no point did you get used to it.

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TheAngryBad@reddit

Oops, yeah you're right.

And I know what you mean. The stuff they used to spread round here had a habit of creeping into your nostrils and staying there. That stuff was nasty.

OTOH, it's only one or two days a year so I can't complain too much.

(Or at all really - I'm not the type to buy a house next to a farm and then complain about farmers doing farm things)

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BeardedBaldMan@reddit

The stuff they used to spread round here had a habit of creeping into your nostrils and staying there

I have a feeling that when it's like that it's a form of treated human sewage, which is why it's a lot worse than cow slurry.

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MouldyFruit2023@reddit

Sowing? Yanky doodle do.

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Ok_Shirt983@reddit

They do do noisy shit all year round though.

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MouldyFruit2023@reddit

Do do.

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TheAngryBad@reddit

When it is quiet, though, it's really quiet in a way you just don't get in the city, or even suburbia. Just birds singing, wind whispering through the trees and nothing else. It's so blissful.

I remember sitting outside one summer and hearing a really vague, almost imperceptible gnawing sound.

It was wasps. The whole area was so quiet I could hear a couple of wasps a few feet away chewing on a fence post.

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BeardedBaldMan@reddit

It's also dark. Really dark. I quite like coming home and getting onto our road and knowing that somewhere out in the blackness is our house, completely invisible.

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tulipa_labrador@reddit

Also, be aware of planning permissions. I lived down a road of about 6 houses in the ass end of nowhere. You would’ve thought applications for extensions or an outbuilding would be more likely to accepted but almost all were rejected over worried about overdevelopment.

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TheAngryBad@reddit

On the flip side, if you have a house with a nice view over some fields there's a non-zero chance the land might be sold for development and you find yourself looking out at a building site, then a housing estate for the rest of the time you live there.

Happens all the time around here.

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Fwoggie2@reddit

The taxi thing is true. I got a taxi home from Luton airport after a biz trip and it was £180.

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ClaudiaWeckl@reddit

I mean you go leaving in the countryside expecting the countryside be itself, they need to farm/being noisy/stop the roads and smell, and lose their cows.

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Elster-@reddit

I am from the countryside originally and moved to the city when a teenager, lived from then until 30 in cities.

Then we got married and moved to the countryside to have kids. Absolutely loved it, big garden lots of space to run around. Perfect.

After 10 years we missed a few things of the city and moved back to the city. Back here now and think this is where we will remain, city based even if we move cities.

Go do it, it’s not for everyone and worse case, you move back. Even if you just enjoy for the moment

Best case you move, love it and that’s where you want to spend the rest of your life.

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Conscious_Analysis98@reddit

We moved to the countryside(not super rural but still countryside) before we had our daughter. Loved it then - peaceful, quiet, lots of nice walks for the dog and never minded driving

Since we've had a child, the appeal is less. Being in and out of the car with her 4+ times a day is hard work. When we stay at the in-laws and can just walk up the high street to places its so much easier and less faffing around.

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EntrepreneurAway419@reddit

Same! We lived in a little village which was nice but even my 2yo complaining that we had to get in the car. We moved to suburbs - quieter, more expensive(!) but we are walkable to everything and 10 min walk from a train station which the 4yo loves ofc

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Aromatic_Tourist4676@reddit

I live semi rurally by the woods and I enjoy visiting cities but love the peace of where I am and the ability to enjoy nature.

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Current_Fly9337@reddit

I am also semi rural, 30 minutes from Newcastle but wildlife in my garden and woodland on my doorstep. It’s close enough to still have the amenities of a city but the rural type village community. I wouldn’t live back in Newcastle centre, I need a quieter life these days.

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AussieHxC@reddit

Ooh whereabouts? I want to move back one day and as much as I loved the city life, I only want to live rurally since I made the transition

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Current_Fly9337@reddit

Hamsterley Mill. There’s so many places on the outskirts of town that are easily accessible but still give the countryside feel

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AussieHxC@reddit

Not heard of the place until now tbh. I've got friends down in Consett and Darlo but I reckon I'd prefer something north of the River. Somewhere near Rothbury would be what I'd like but I imagine it's a bit far for commuting and somewhere Morpeth adjacent would be more ideal.

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Current_Fly9337@reddit

Yeah there’s a lot of lovely places if you head north too. I’m on the ‘wrong’ side of the water and we have bad snow (proximity to consett). It’s really lovely but that’s the good thing about Newcastle. You’re only 20-30 minutes from town/coast/countryside. Places like Dinnington, Brunswick etc have a lot of greenery and can get straight on to the A1 to town

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Westgateplaza@reddit

Not sure if I can answer this but I would say I live semi rurally. I have never lived in a city but live in a village which is more like a suburb of a big town nearby. I wouldn’t personally live out in the sticks unless you like driving everywhere plus I like the feeling of security by having neighbours nearby. My brother/sister in law live rurally and it suits them but find the lack of convenience annoying (no Deliveroo, hard to get taxis, no shops within working distance, don’t really see anyone as they live on a lot of land and not many neighbours! Quite isolating if you’re not used to it).

I love having a middle ground. Currently looking out of my window - all I see are fields, cows, and a small river however I am still within a 10 minute walk of a big supermarket, a train station that connects me to two major cities and a thriving high street. We have some great restaurants within walking distance of us but can drive to a Michelin star if we fancy something “posh” about 10 minutes away from us. If I need nightlife, culture or buzz then I just jump on a train to my nearest city or London (about 90 minutes away to London on the train) and do a weekend away which we do a lot.

I love having my middle ground but if I had to choose, would rather live in a city than in the middle of nowhere.

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ForwardAd5837@reddit

No regrets whatsoever. That’s not to say I don’t miss things about living in a city - easily accessible amenities, choice of restaurants and theatres etc - but I wouldn’t trade any of it for the calm of sitting in my garden in summer time, with no noise (other than the odd tractor going down the lane we abut), or scenes like today where I sat having coffee in my nook, watching snow coat the fields. I can walk out of my door and have greenery, hills, water, fields and woodland inside 2 minutes regardless of the direction I head in.

I love it. I miss elements of the city, but not having those things be immediately available enhances my enjoyment of them when I do go into the city for a day or couple of nights.

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Makemeup-beforeUgogo@reddit

My sister lives in a place like that, but now she has health issues, she’s moving because it’s not so easy for her to drive into the village anymore. The compromise is always ability to travel and access, often dependent on car etc.

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Maxi-Moo-Moo@reddit

Go middle ground. Going from having everything on your doorstep to having to walk a 4 mile round trip for milk in the snow/ice will be a shock to the system. You have to be prepared and plan ahead to be away from convenience. Do some long stays in a secluded Airbnb or caravan park and don't use your car. Will give you a bit of a taste of it.

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BronxOh@reddit

Moved from a city to a large village and hate it but it’s actually made me want to go even more rural.

Key points - the village culture is very anti renter, old money and nosey. So when x2 30 somethings moved into a rented house the gossip started. - you need to drive everywhere. - our nearest town is woefully boring and a commuter town with little to offer and we burned through it quickly. So we have to drive 40+ minutes to do anything like a date night out. As the local pub in the village is like a locals only club. - but I do love just being able to wonder out quickly into quiet fields and canals and love the quiet.

It’s made me want to go even more rural, no people, just a house, my partner and my dogs.

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rhys66066@reddit

Can you expand more on anti-renters in villages? That sounds crazy

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BeardedBaldMan@reddit

nosey

One year I was at my parents for Christmas and we had a phone call. "Do you know who that black golf belongs to? It's been parked up for a day or two and we're thinking of calling the police"

After explaining it was my new car we had the response "Thanks. I'll let everyone know you've got a new car. "

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BronxOh@reddit

That is wild! We have similar, “who’s is the parked van that’s by the reservoir?” It’s normally just a driver on their break.

When we moved in people thought we didn’t work because they didn’t see our car leave the drive way, I cycle to the station. So started asking our landlord what our professions are.

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barriedalenick@reddit

I lived in London for about 40 years and left for rural Portugal 5 years ago. I am remote but by no means isolated in that the local town is only 6km away. I have nothing against London or the UK but I do not miss either of them much although I still follow UK news and sports. I do miss ready access to pubs and to the variety of food available but we make do. Things are different - I see cows on the roads, the occasional flock of sheep on my land, birds of prey flying overhead and storks collecting nesting material from the rice fields. The river is just down the road so I can go kayaking, have a dip, or just sit and watch the birds flying home in the evening. I can ride my bike for hours without getting overly bothered by traffic. I pick olives, oranges, and grow lots of my own veg. However it is 40km to the nearest Thai restaurant and I wish I had a bar I could walk to for a beer.

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Temporary-Zebra97@reddit

Negatives: Only 1 takeaway delivers here which is a shame as its piss poor, cuisine in nearest town isnt very ethnically diverse, nearest shop is 3 villages away. Apart from school bus zero public transport so you need a car. Internet was shit when I moved in, but that was an easy fix. I had to buy a ride on mower.

Positive: My nearest neighbour is half a mile away (sheer bliss after having shitty neighbours), Space both internal and external, I could afford much more house and gardens, the village is a community, very helpful and mindful folks, Befriending a farmer is an awesome thing, very handy people to know. Deer, Badgers, Rabbits, Hares in the garden. Only a 15min drive to a mainline station or 30mins drive to a city means that civilisation is never that far away. Ride on mower came with two beer holders.

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math577@reddit

Moved from Bradford (spent nearly 2 years in my early 20s in Oxfordshire countryside) but recently moved 10 mins from the East Yorkshire coast to a new build in a village with about 1,000 and work in the nearest town.

It's the best decision I've ever made in my life.

Granted the people I work with aren't very bright and are a bit lazy which I'm not used to but I think that's just the culture change from the high stress "fast paced environments" I've been around when there's been a talent pool of millions of people on my doorstep competing for work.

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blueblue_electric@reddit

The two people I know who moved to rural areas have less accessibility to it then I do in London, my part of London is 32% green yet on the Elizabeth, District and Central Lines.

Those other people I mentioned, they have one park and a lot of farm land they cannot walk on.

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atsigg@reddit

Not much else to add other than check your flooding maps and local planning website. We have beautiful views of open countryside in two directions and both fields are now slated for future development. We’ve come to terms with it and actually welcome the potential for more walkable amenities, better roads etc. but just a warning that rural areas can sometimes transform faster than cities as there’s less in the way. We also weren’t quite prepared for how physically cut off places can be after heavy rain or snow. Some roads are just completely impassable and you just have to wait several days for things to drain/melt away. It really does instill a ‘prepper’ mindset about building up food stocks etc.

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whitmorereans@reddit

We moved out of Birmingham to somewhere very rural eighteen months ago. We’re about five miles from the nearest town and have zero regrets, after a while I felt like a cloud had lifted that I’d got so used because it was normal to always be on alert. I’m surrounded by amazing countryside and lucky enough to in the middle of a lot of public footpaths. Some things are more difficult as you have to drive if you want/need anything but you get used to it - if we want a takeaway then I’ll drive over to the next town, order and go for a pint. I’ll never live in a city again.

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legosophie@reddit

No regrets. Moves from London 4 years ago to a market town 1 hour from London on train (both hybrid commuters). From our front door we can walk into countryside in 15 mins but also are 5 mins walk from the highstreet. I find there is more to do, we are 25 mins drive from 4x big towns with all the fun things you want to do in the city but also near the coast and lots of outdoor activities. We never lived that close to anything in London really and we realised before we moved we spent the majority of our weekends not in the city (we made a spreadsheet of evening we did for 6 months to compare!). There’s defo a middle ground between living in central and rural wales!

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wie_bitte@reddit

Lived in Glasgow for my adult years (18 years or so). After completing two Masters degrees and working in various industries i decided to move to one of the most remote parts of Scotland i realised i feel more at home here than i’ve ever felt in Glasgow. The move meant another major career change which is still coming together. I’ve realised that people are quite entrepreneurial out here and that is that path i’m on now working and building a business for myself! There are many challenges being so remote but i’m not missing the city at all. Never been happier.

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TheTyrantOfMars@reddit

Nope 100% saved my life, eventually I want to get a farmstead and hide forever

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txe4@reddit

I have done this and can only recommend it as The Dream.

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K0monazmuk@reddit

This is the only way to go, good luck pursuing your dream - its mine too ( Although i already live in the countryside )

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Glittering_Vast938@reddit

There are actually more places to walk in a city - in rural areas there are few paths alongside NSL roads and not that many properly maintained public rights of way. You still have to drive to get to nature reserves.

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Otherwise_Koala4289@reddit

This is why on average people in cities walk more than people in rural areas.

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Glittering_Vast938@reddit

Definitely, and I see more nature in my local city than I do in my rural village.

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Lazzlewazzle@reddit

Aye you can walk from piss alley to shithole lane

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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

Yep, now I live in a city I walk everywhere. When I lived in the country I had to drive everywhere.

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Remarkable-Ad155@reddit

This is a stretch, tbh. I live in a small market town and can easily walk into.the countryside in pretty much any direction without taking a car. (You will likely need a car living out in the sticks anyway though).

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Dennyisthepisslord@reddit

I live in a large village with lots of greenery and yet only 40 minutes from the middle of London

A good mix. I couldn't live in London though it's a bit grim unless you are a millionaire

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txe4@reddit

Never ever for a second regretted it whatsoever.

In fact there is a portal, invisible but real, between town and home. When we pass through it, we land in the 1990s. Mobile phones are shit, the internet is very slow (our neighbours have <1mbit DSL) but there's no litter, people leave stuff unlocked, and people are actually nice to each other.

There is no ethnic diversity whatsoever and all the people with nice houses are old or very old. Take from that what you will.

(Almost) everything costs more and takes longer, though. There are more ways for it to cost more and be hassle than you can imagine. If you have mains water, sewerage, gas, power, and fibre internet - unironically say a prayer of gratitude for what you have.

I remain staggered that a major retail chain will drag our groceries 10 miles and heap them up on our doorstep for A POUND. That's epic.

You WILL have to drive a lot, on the other hand it's generally quite nice compared to driving in town and you can usually park.

I would strongly recommend being within an easy drive of *a* town. It can be a backwards shithole where everyone's on disability/drugs, that's fine, you don't need to live in it - but if it's got Lidl/Tesco/Screwfix, builders/electrical/plumbers merchants, a bank, a hospital, etc, it makes life a lot easier.

Being able to pop out for stuff, and even if not on a gritted road at least *park* near a gritted road, is a different level of difficult from "4 hours round trip to get batteries/screws/washers/lube/nutella, when it snows you can't leave for a week".

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tulipa_labrador@reddit

Don’t just ‘move to the countryside’ lots of land is privately owned and you can’t trespass on it. If you’re able to find a home where you’re within walking distance to multiple publicly accessible landscapes, fields, forests & (even better) some water source then you’ll have a lovely time. It’s more about accessible options available to you, as you will get bored of that one route quite quickly. Also make sure you’re still within driving distance to a town that has some life in it, not a corner shop & a chippy. You want to be able to have options for dinner out, pick up treats from a bakery, have a browse in the shops, go for a boogie at a bar once in awhile.

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Revolutionary_West56@reddit

Second this. There is a middle ground

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urban_shoe_myth@reddit

No regrets, but I'm glad we waited until the kids were off doing their own thing, they would have been bored to tears. Nearest city with stuff to do is a train and bus away, best part of 2hrs trip.

We'll also definitely need to move again when we get older, there's a tiny corner shop 10 mins walk but if you need anything outside of milk, bread, cigarettes, 4 pack of beers, or Haribos, the next nearest is 40 mins walk. Anything over and above that co-op's capacity, it's nearly 2hrs walk. It's fine while we're still driving, but when one or both of us can no longer do that, we'll need to be nearer.

The locals don't like outsiders. They've spoken to us out of curiosity/dog walker politeness when we're out with the dog, but otherwise all we get is dirty looks. Guy nextdoor was quite chatty when we first moved in and told us he married a girl from Bright Lights Big City and nobody spoke to her for the first 20 years they were together. Now, whether that's a her problem or just because the locals are just that way, I don't know.

I do miss just being able to nip to things though. Like I was planning on going into the city today as I'm off work, thought I'd go check out whatever sales are on. But when I thought about it I didn't want to go in the car because I didn't want to deal with parking, and as it's quite close to a bank Holiday, the one train that runs once every two hours to get to the bus station for the connecting bus, isn't actually running today (no service until Monday 5th Jan). So it would have meant a 40 minute walk to the nearest bus. I couldn't be bothered with the faff. Saved me money, but I really do miss things just being convenient.

On the plus side, it really is lovely. Quiet, nice views, able to sit out in the garden without road noise or pollution, great for the animals. Plus we got a lot more house and land for the money we had, obviously that's going to be dependent on location, but if what we now have was where we lived before, it would have been three times the price (if not more)

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Revolutionary_West56@reddit

I haven’t moved to a proper rural place, but I moved from zone 2 London to the suburbs close to the river and loads of big nature parks and don’t regret it at all. Sometimes London social things can be a pain coming home, and commuting to London to work is draining if it’s more than 3 days in, but my anxiety is a lot less now and everytime I come back after a stint in London feel like I can breathe again

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Dazz316@reddit

On the edge of a small town/village.

I have 2 kids now, my son is 8 and free roams now. There's a small park near us, the streets are quiet enough he just cycles around them with his pals. It's nice. There's a duck pond round the back of hour house a few minute walk away. It's quiet too which is nice.

That said, choice is limited. There's a few chinese places round us but they're kinda crap, we need to drive a ways to find a good one. There's a thai just out out delivery zone and thai is my wife's favourite. We happen to have an amazing Indian nearby, but the others are turkish places that also do curries and are kinda shit. Cinema, theatre and other events are a day trip into town, and the events that do happen nearby are kinda naff. When I lived in the city, things like that were just easier to come by and better quality.

When I was a teen and couldn't drive, walking to the cinema with my pals, going wherever I wanted to shopping centre's to by stuff was just not much of a hastle. We could walk anywhere. When I talk to people who grew up rurally, it was more of a rare thing they did by getting the bus/train into down. And once I started drinking, I had more options too, from knowing more people of friends of friends with parties in reach, many more pubs and clubs to go.

Yeah the village pub sounds nice, moreso at my age, but as a teen/early adult. Nah.

I think young kids and their parents it's ideal. Teens and older parents maybe less so? Certainly approaching retirement I'd be happy in a village/town.

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dlt-cntrl@reddit

I didn't move from a big city, more a mid sized one, and grew up semi rural.

Now I'm in the countryside but near to villages and a large town where I work. It's 15 mins drive away.

These are the things to consider:

How far away from amenities will you be? Dr, shops, entertainment including pubs and restaurants. We are on a row of 4 houses, then nothing but a few more houses and farms for miles. If we want to do anything other than sit at home (we are home bodies), it's at least a 15 mins drive.

Internet can be very patchy, could be a problem if you work from home.

Smell and noise from nearby farms. We have 2 farms in smelling distance. It doesn't bother us at all except from the very rare bad pong from fertiliser in hot weather. We just shut the windows and you get used to it. Some folk who have never experienced having something like that nearby expect the farmers to do something about it. Not possible, and causes bad feelings all around.

Will you be lonely? Rural folk can be incredibly generous and welcoming, especially when you meet them half way. But some places are insular and will take a lot of coming around to incomers.

I don't want you to be put off from rural living, it's great, but do your research and manage your expectations. It can be intensely cold in the winter, isolated and lonely. It can also be the best decision you ever make, as long as you go on with your eyes wide open.

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DaVirus@reddit

Best decision I ever made. Not only did I get a much bigger house, I feel safe and cozy.

Moved from Cardiff to the Valleys, am surrounded by mountains I can enjoy, have incredible views and can see the sea from the top of one.

The only crime we have is the occasional teenager getting up to teenager shit.

The nigh is dark and I can see stars.

Only down side is that if I want a random bottle of wine that takes a 10 minute drive.

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MrSchpund@reddit

Erm …

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Remarkable-Ad155@reddit

Depends what you're defining as rural and your own mindset tbh.

I live in the area I grew up in, having been in bigger places in between. Might be biased by having grown up around here but I think a lot of it's in your head. The UK is not a big island. Unless you are moving to parts of Scotland or mid Wales, you are not going to be far away from bigger places, provided you are willing to jump on a train or take the odd drive.

You can very easily keep in touch with people in bigger places and enjoy visits there if you want to and are willing to make the effort, and tbh the same goes for your new environment. You will get out of it what you put in.

That said, I personally have a limit on how rural/remote I'll go. I live in a smaller place, nearby to where I grew up but we are still talking 5k population. I live walking distance to a train station, several pubs, couple of restaurants, shops, other amenities. My wife's family come from a full blown village setting where you are tied to a car for anything other than going for a walk around where you live. That would grate on me abd I imagine the same for you if you are concerned about missing the city.

Honestly think the market town / bigger village life is hard to beat though. We have more or less zero crime, friendly community, more for your money housewise, great school and easy access to the countryside but we're a short hop on the train to 2 very nice larger towns for nights out etc and only an hour from 2 much larger cities. It's kind of a best of both worlds.

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Physical-Rabbit-3809@reddit

I grew up on a rural island and then moved closer a city and instantly regretted it. When we had my first son we saw it as the perfect opportunity to find somewhere more rural. We moved out to the middle of almost nowhere and we're happy again.

We had someone just shooting up right in the middle of our street, someone committed arson not far away for our house and we had a known sex offender just a street over. There was rumours someone was murdered round the corner from us. One night I got out of bed to use the toilet. The bathroom faced our front door and I had the bathroom door open. Someone tried the fucking door handle as I sat their mid shit at 2am.

I didn't even live in a dodgy area but the surrounding areas were dodgy. Folk aren't too nice either and even I found that I had become way more rude to people in general because I just assumed everyone that came up to me was a bloody smack head.

The worst you deal with in the countryside is the teenagers are all total arseholes because they're all bored out their minds which I'll take over dangerous adults.

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Wolf-Dagger@reddit

Convenience is a bit of a myth. The very large spar in the market town a few miles from me is open 7am - 11pm 7 days a week. So running out of milk or essentials on a Sunday evening is less hassle here than living in a city.

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Guilty-Jellyfish-855@reddit

I don't regret it at all. I think the biggest qualm I have these days is having to drive everywhere whereas before I didn't even own a vehicle. Meeting friends for a drink means someone's driving, if your car has broken down you're stuck, public transport is minimal and taxis cost a fortune, things like snow and stormy weather can be an issue depending on your vehicle/access to your house.

Most surprising positive was really letting go of pressure to always be going somewhere/doing something, I feel much more relaxed and happy just to chill at my home/my garden. In hindsight I've always been a home body who just forced themselves to do/go places, with lots of FOMO and guilt. Now I live in a very beautiful area, I feel so incredibly grateful every day to live here and have access to some amazing nature and scenery on my doorstep as well as a cute little cottage to hunker down by the fire at the end of the day.

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Neither_March4000@reddit

I love it.....but it's not easy finding somewhere you can afford, rural properties are at a premium.

I don't miss anything about city/urban living. The noise, pollution, the press of people, the stuff that a lot of people enjoy in city living e.g. the convenience, entertainment options, restaurants etc was never something I pursued anyway. I hated the constant noise and disturbance from neighbours, I couldn't wait to be in a situation to get away from it.

But living rurally does have things to need to be aware of and address e.g. no mains sewerage so septic tanks for your sewerage and grey water (so annual emptying required), muck spreading by your local farmers, no mains gas (so you're buying oil/lpg and/or wood). No handy 'take-away', shops etc. internet access and mobile signal can be a challenge (although I actually have full fibre to the door)

You need to be more aware of the weather, so you're good for food and fuel if you get snowed in for a few days. Also you'll probably be a bit more vulnerable to power cuts. If you don't drive you're fecked.

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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

I moved from a rural coastal town to a city. I would never go back. The spot I have in the city centre is way quieter, has better views and now I actually have access to basic amenities without being reliant on a car.

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loops1204@reddit

My tolerance for traffic has gone way down when I go back to a city

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ClaudiaWeckl@reddit

This is what I’m doing now, before I lived in Napoli, then moved to Dublin, Reading, now I live in its outskirt and I’m moving to Aldermaston.

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Amda01@reddit

Lived in London for 15 years. It was great in terms of I had everything at my doorstep. Hated the constant noise and antisocial people in big concentration. Moved to a town, loving the greenery, nature, but not liking that amenities are further away.

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truckosaurus_UK@reddit

I lived for a few years in rural Cambridgeshire. It was surprisingly noisy. It was a NSL road past the house with a corner nearby so you got cars accelerating loudly (I currently live on a fairly busy 30mph urban street and you don't hear any traffic noise other than the odd boy racer with a daft exhaust). Then were were grain drying silos humming away at harvest time and those bird scarer explosive devices going off the rest of the year.

The other peculiarity was that although you were surrounded by fields none of it was particularly accessible, no footpaths or anything like that. Plus the flat landscape meant you didn't really interact with the 'countryside', just looked at it out of the car window as you drove to the nearest supermarket.

(I grew up in suburban Dorset where you are surrounded by coastal walks, woods and networks of footpaths on the edge of town, so the 'outdoors' was much easier to spend time in than when you actually lived in a rural area).

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cheandbis@reddit

I live in a large village so it's a nice balance between urban and rural. I'm from East London originally so it's very much different to my childhood surroundings.

I wouldn't change back now, I love it here.

The main downsides, however, are:

Being far away from shops. I used to be able to drive for 10 mins and be at a retail park somewhere but now it's more like 20-30 mins. Not a huge problem normally but there are times when I need something urgently and it feels like a trek. Shops are also a bit more spread out here meaning that if I need clothes, I go one way, if I need B&Q, it's in the opposite direction. Obviously it's location dependent but it's a bit of a culture shock for me to not have it on my doorstep.
Public transport is terrible. I'm lucky in that I drive. If I didn't, I'd be very isolated.
The people/community is a double-edged sword. It's great to know my neighbours and community but it does sometimes feel like everyone knows everyone and there is a lot more local politics that happens.

Saying all that, I have lovely countryside on my doorstep, I can be in a couple of cities within 45 minutes and it's so much more relaxing and pleasurable than living in a built-up urban area.

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Gisschace@reddit

No regrets, lived in London for 15 years. I actually moved near a train station because I thought I’d be heading into London regularly, now I avoid it as much as possible and looking to move further out altogether.

You can easily pop in for a day and back out again. But I also get countryside, less light pollution, sound pollution (not been shook awake by the buses at 5 am is wonderful) and better aid.

Plus far more for my money.

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LittleMissAbigail@reddit

I moved from a city to a rural area, but I grew up in quite a rural area also, so I'm used to the environment. I visit cities regularly (a few times a week for work) and the balance I have now is perfect. I can easily access cities when I need them. I have a couple of lovely towns in easy reach of where I live with great communities. It's important to me to have cinemas and theatres accessible, and I do. At the end of the day, I can then come home to the peace and calm of where I live. The only issue I have is lack of public transport here, as I don't drive - it's manageable where I live, but does make life more difficult (I am learning, but it's not a skill that comes naturally to me).

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StillMissBlockbuster@reddit

I didn't want to leave the city but had to for work. I would never go back now. I can visit sometimes, but it loses it's appeal every time to be honest. There are just too many people, it ruins it. My quality of life is a million times better, I can afford a nice home, I can drive somewhere and it doesn't take all day, I can park. Simple things like these make a huge difference to baseline stress. There's nothing I can't access. I'm not super rural though so that might be key.

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thecornflake21@reddit

Moved from a city to a small market town in August and probably the best move I've done. For context our kids are pretty much grown up so there's not a need to find things for them to do or worry about good schools. It also meant we could move from a 3 bed semi to a large 4 bed detached house and for less rent.

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Johnny-Alucard@reddit

Absolutely no regrets.

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