City, Country or Suburbs?

In reality there are compromises to whatever choice.
I live on the edge of Clonakilty so I can walk into a town that has plenty of good pubs, restaurants, giggs, cafes etc. Grew up in a suburb of Cork and loved it however its easier to visit to library shops etc then it was in a city as traffic, parking etc are never a problem. Im also a short drive to lots of beeches with great places for jogs or walks on my doorstep. In the city I could walk 5 to ten minutes in 3 directions for a pub now its a ten minute walk and I have a choice of more then a dozen pubs. I like being 10 minutes walking distance as it feels more rural though I still have piped sewage , fibre broadband etc. Once your used to the peace at night, never having people walking past your window, views of sea or countryside etc a suburban home just is never the same again.

The one thing I miss (though I used never use) is a shopping centre on my doorstep for a rainy day when trying to keep a toddler distracted. I also have a commute now though either my wife or I were always going to.
I also have a regret of never having lived right in a city centre, would have liked to try it/

La.de.da wrote: »

Suburbs of a large-ish town. Just right for me. Ten minute walk to shops.

Couldn't live in the country. I like noise.

If I had money though, I'd love to live somewhere with a sea view.

Same for me, on all counts. (Are you my next-door neighbour or summat?) :pac:

Live in the country. Used to live in Dublin. I'm getting to the age were I'm almost half a culchie and no longer a blow in.
I really missed the city buzz for the first year I lived here but the country sneaks up on you and after a period of time the quietness and rolling scenery envelops you.

I love where I live - I appreciate the changing seasons more, enjoy nature and the laidback pace of living. Cities scare me a bit now.

I grew up in nice middle-class suburbs of Dublin and Galway and have been renting in, for my money, the nicest suburb of Dublin for the past 6 years. Prior to that we rented a beach house in rural Wicklow which was amazing but just a little too isolated for Mrs Sleepy as she doesn't drive.

We're currently sale agreed on what should be our "forever home" in a small seaside village in North County Dublin and due to get the keys this summer. It should be the best of both worlds: rural enough to see the stars at night, have fields behind the house for the kids to play in and a gorgeous beach for long walks. It's just big enough to have a convenience store, a pub and a take-away within a walk of the front door and for anything else, there's neighbouring towns with supermarkets etc. Google maps tells me it'll be a 35 minute commute to work for me but, as long as it's under an hour, I'll be happy enough

Definitely suburbs.

I understand the appeal of the countryside, the space and the peace. But having to drive to get anywhere, or having to walk along narrow roads all the time would grate on me. And in most cases having to drive 20km just to reach a supermarket seems like madness.

I also understand the appeal of the city - everything on your doorstep in walking distance, quite literally being able to pop in next door for some grocery or meet your mates for a drink. But the noise. And the traffic, oh god the traffic.

Suburbs give the best of both worlds. Most things within a walkable distance, public transport otherwise available into urban areas. And large wide open green spaces only a short hop away.

Born and raised in the inner suburbs of Dublin's Northside and was there until age 23. Have to say, I love it. Always a bit of a buzz around the place, nothing is too far away and it's a 15 minute bus journey to the city centre. There are some large parks for the greenery and the coast isn't far either. Sure Dollymount strand doesn't have the same beauty as other beaches around the country but to me the familiarity is nice. The view of the city at night is nice from Howth Head too.

I moved to the midlands for a year with my girlfiend and while the summer was lovely, traffic always light, I found the winters to be soul destroying. The constant feeling of despair and dullness made it very depressing.

Since then I've lived in the south inner city which has been convenient but I still long for the northside where I grew up.

We're moving back there in a couple of weeks and to be honest I'm looking forward to it. The familiarity, knowing the local people, knowing the roads like the back of my hand and being back on my own turf will be great.

Santiago Slimy Fruit wrote: »

Having lived 24 years in the country and a few years in the city there is nothing I do nothing now than I didn't do before. 20 mins drive to the nearest city if I wanted to do any city things, was in the city for work and college anyway so could do things before heading home plus local town nearby also.

There is also all the things to do in the evenings like farm work etc that I only get to do at weekends now when I'm up home, I actually do much less really weekends I spend in the city as I watch sport all weekend rather than go outside and work etc.

For me the country is the best of both and its the only place I'd settle long term.

Fair enough that suits you and your current lifestyle but there are marked differences between what you can avail of in the city and what you can do in the countryside. The options available to you in the city in terms of leisure and work are far more varied and easily accessed; if you live in the countryside miles from a city you're hindered by the necessity of commuting and driving everywhere for the smallest thing.

For instance the other weekend myself and the missus got a 25 minute tube into the natural history museum (one of the best in the world), strolled down the road to another museum, went to a nice coffeeshop, browsed in a bookshop jumped on the Tube and then went for a feed in a Turkish restaurant before walking home via the pub to meet friends. The next day I got up and took a short bus ride to my boxing club. I'm competing at the moment and have my pick of around six clubs I can visit close by for sparring etc.

If I lived outside of London or a city in general all of the above would be an absolute mission and I wouldn't get the half of it done; it's the stuff of "a big day out" as opposed to the stuff I can do any day of the week with the minimum of hassle.

Likewise with the socialising, if you want to go for a drink in the countryside you have the hassle of sorting lifts, transport to and from a pub etc and even then you've f*ck all variety in what to choose from. In the city you can have your choice of pubs and venues to crawl around and can get back home with no hassle.

I live a about a five minute drive outside an average enough sized town. We've a Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Supervalu, all type of shops and restaurants and sport faculties (swimming pool is about ten minutes away) can be in Cork city in about thirty-five minutes and Limerick in about fifty five minutes.
We've plenty of room outside and can grow as much vegetables as we want and have hens for eggs. I also love the fact that we're not living on top of anybody. We wouldn't be noisy but we sometimes do D.I.Y projects late at night and we don't have to worry about the neighbours.
I lived in a city when I was in college at at first I loved it but then the novelty of having a shopping centre/cinema within walking distance and lots of pubs/clubs the novelty started wearing off basically because of the lack of open space and living on top of people. My brother lives in the suburbs and it's a nice house and it's convenient for work for him and the city but I hate the traffic. I can leave my house and be at a supermarket in less than five minutes for him it takes a good twenty minutes between parking and traffic.

I've been a city dweller all my life and have now moved to a satellite town of Dublin which is essentially in the country. I have discovered that I far prefer the country.