Scouting mission: deciding where to move to in the UK
How to pick a place to live (aka decision paralysis)
If you can live basically anywhere, how do you begin to make the right choice? Does a right choice even exist?
After nearly a decade living in a city we’re only mildly fond of, we really want to get it right this next time. Wherever we move now is where we want to stay until our girls are grown up, which means if we get it wrong, we’re staring down the barrel of 15+ years living in another mediocre place. The pressure!
Add to that the fact that we haven’t lived in the UK since 2015, and we really only knew London in the first place, we might as well just throw a dart at a map.
Instead, like any normal couple, we’re doing lots of scientific research, mostly in the form of house-hunting TV shows. Oh, look, these people are buying in Sutton Coldfield. Let’s move there!
Maybe we need some actual guidelines
I read a book recently called This Is Where You Belong that cited a study about place attachment. It says there are four main characteristics that make people like where they live:
Social offerings - Are there things to do and ways to meet people?
Openness - Do I feel welcome here and do other people feel welcome too?
Aesthetics - Is it a nice-looking community with access to nature?
Education - Are there quality K-12 schools and universities available?
I agree with all these things, and it’s helpful for some scientists to articulate it, otherwise I’d just be making vague, not-helpful comments, like “Meh, I don’t like the vibe.”
What else do we need (want) as a family?
Of course, we have a few more necessities and nice-to-haves on our list. Here are the main headlines, which are basically what every other family wants too:
Affordable neighborhood - We eventually want to buy a house, so we want to settle somewhere in our price range. I don’t know what our budget is yet, but I think we can safely stay away from anything called “millionaires’ row.”
Good connections - We don’t know what our jobs will be or where they’ll be based or if we’ll have to commute to offices (bleh, so 2019), so it would be helpful to be on train routes into the nearest cities. Plus, Sam’s family are scattered all over the country, so it’d also be great to have easy access to highways for weekend trips.
Walkability - It’s something we miss right now living in the suburbs. Having a nice high street that we can walk to would make a big difference in our quality of life.
So which places made our short list?
We’ve narrowed it down to three regions that we want to explore further, and Sam has a scouting trip to England booked soon. He’s going to drive around, stay in a few places and get a feel for the areas. Here’s where he’s going:
Leamington Spa/Warwick/Stratford-upon-Avon/Kenilworth - A lot of Warwickshire seems to have great charm and history, it’s more affordable than farther south, and there are trains and commuting options to Birmingham and London. Leamington Spa is probably top of the list, and I’m wary of Stratford since it seems like it might get too touristy.
Bristol - It’s by the water and has bigger city amenities, plus trips south to Devon and north to Birmingham for family visits would be easier. I’ve never really spent time in Bristol so I’m excited to learn more.
Reading - This would be our close-to-London option. I don’t think either of us are excited about Reading itself, but there are a few smaller nearby towns that might work. Properties might be too pricy and competitive since Reading is now part of the Underground. Can’t blame people, it’s part of the reason we’re interested.
If none of these places hit the spot, I guess we’ll be back to square one: more house-hunting shows.