Just added a poll. Would mind awfully voting? Just to make it easier for me.

I also wanna ask a further question. Those of you that have chosen to live either out of town, or just within range, but not in town - do you have families and established routines? Once you have a bf/gf/wife/husband/kids whatever does where you are become less important, or more? Is it as simple as the city makes sense when you're young and single and then you change your mind as your life changes? I'm intrigued....

So far, I can see both sides and perhaps if there was a more interesting crowd down here and more facilities and transport, Cornwall would seem better. I do think it's one of the most beautiful places in the country. I'm just not sure exactly what I'm looking for, but it feels like it's not here.....

I wanted to vote pie, but chose "out of town" to match with my comments earlier.

I voted close to town. I live between Zone 4 and 5 on the Tube.

I'm married with a 14 month old kid.
We chose Kingston as it was close to town (25 mins by train) and had some properties we could afford.
Estate Agents in Ealing also never got back to us in time when we wanted to move.

I'm single, although I have had a girlfriend for the last 20 months...

I've pretty much always lived outside of town, apart from stints where I was living in hotels in the centre of London, Birmingham and Manchester... I prefer country pubs to crowded town bars as well.

My girlfriend is also not much of a city person. We go into Osnabrück when we want a big town, otherwise we stick with our rural or semi-rural locations.

OK, I'm struggling with the definition of 'town' and 'village' so I'll just explain my circumstances

I live in a coastal town of around 8,000 residents. The nearest 'big' town is 5 miles away and it's got 28,000 residents Inverness is the nearest 'city' around 45 minutes drive but in terms of London/Manchester etc, it's probably of 'quaint suburb' size. I'm married with 2 kids and am willing to accept the convenience of a small town but if the wife had her way we would live in a big house in the countryside (any of you associate with that???).

I therefore voted 'out of town'.

Al

30 minutes or so out of town is still zone 1 :p

Shows how often I use the tube

Onemac, your nearest "big" town is the same size is the one I live in. So you make perfect sense, as does your vote. What I'm beginning to wonder is, if it's possible that there's a large correlation between personal circumstances and location preference....

Sas, all the stuff you listed earlier, you couldn't go without that? Alun's point about crime/traffic etc, does that count for all the close to towners?

Nope I've been bought up with it so I do need it. Crime is minimal where I live and I'm used to traffic, stops me speeding. The chances of me driving through central London traffic is pretty rare these days.

I live in a coastal village of about 3,000 residents. The nearest "big" town has some 19,000 residents. The only city in the county has less than 21,000 residents. I therefore voted "out of town".

Barnsley FTW!

Seems fairly obvious to me. If you don't like where you live, you move. I have done twice and I'm now happy where I am.

I was born and bred on the outskirts of London and have lived there all my life. I'm now living in a town about 5 miles from where I was brought up. Central London is only 25 mins away by train and I live right on the green belt so I'm close to the country side. I love the hussle and bussle and the energy of London but it's nice to go home to somewhere quieter.

I am considering moving further away from London at some point. I'm 40 now and have always longed for somewhere where I can keep more animals and maybe even own a horse. However I have done so much work on my house and it's in such a lovely location I'm in no rush. Plus I have to be near London for work.

When I said personal circumstances, I meant more like, do you have bfs/gfs/wives/husbands/families, or are you single. But your approach has a wonderful appeal to it

Caz, you make me wonder whether there's an element of "what you already know" involved in this. Would you consider changing your job to move elsewhere? Presumably in your line of work it would need to be London really?

I would never earn as much as I do anywhere else. I know it's all proportional and the cost of living elsewhere would be less but I genuinely love my job and the people I work with. It took me 3 years to find this permanent job after contracting during that time. Also my Mum lives near me so I don't really want to be too far from her. When I'm older however I'll probably happily jack it all in for a quieter life