What is it like where you live?

[nuthinbutpink]

A past conversation while chatting on here got me thinking- what is your home like? What about your yard(if you have one)? I have this picture in my head of everyone living in London- city livivng- that is on here from the UK(LOL) and I know that is not true but that is what I "see" when I chat with you!

I wonder what some of you "see" when you chat with some of us from the States? How about the Aussies?

I wonder how what we see in our minds varies from reality.

For me, we live in a neighborhood of around 100 homes. Our lots are around 1 acre in size(some are larger) and homes range from 30 years old and need some work to brand new homes that people built after knocking down the old one!

We have lots of oak trees, pine trees, many flowering shrubs and sodded yards...our subdivision is shaded and very pleasant to walk through. We bought our home for the large level backyard and it happened to have a swimming pool as a bonus!

What is it like where you live?

[rainbowflower]

I live in a really quiet town, most of the houses around me are semi-detached 3-beds, and there's quite a few avenues of trees too. Most of the residents nearby are retired, so they have impeccable gardens and ours is still a bit of a mess as neither of us know what we're doing in a garden! Our garden is quite a lot smaller than yours by the sound of it.. it did have lots of overgrown bushes when we moved in, so we've levelled it and put down a lawn.

There are a handful of shops about 15min walk away, and my walk to the shops takes me through a playing field with play park in it. If we want to go to a bigger town with lots of shops we have a few choices all less than 20mins drive away.

It's quite quiet here, really, other than the out-of-control-teen who lives down the street who throws loud parties and has been given an ASBO order to have no more parties lol.

[nuthinbutpink]

I live in a really quiet town, most of the houses around me are semi-detached 3-beds, and there's quite a few avenues of trees too. Most of the residents nearby are retired, so they have impeccable gardens and ours is still a bit of a mess as neither of us know what we're doing in a garden! Our garden is quite a lot smaller than yours by the sound of it.. it did have lots of overgrown bushes when we moved in, so we've levelled it and put down a lawn.

There are a handful of shops about 15min walk away, and my walk to the shops takes me through a playing field with play park in it. If we want to go to a bigger town with lots of shops we have a few choices all less than 20mins drive away.

It's quite quiet here, really, other than the out-of-control-teen who lives down the street who throws loud parties and has been given an ASBO order to have no more parties lol.

Sounds lovely to me! You guys refer to your yard as a garden, correct? Here, garden would be limited to mostly where I choose to plant flowers or fruits/veggies.

I LOVE the idea of being able to walk to shops. We just took a vacation where we could do just that and we rented bikes and I had a blast with the kids walking or riding bikes to town! So fun.

[nuthinbutpink]

Another thing that people outside the States would find crazy or ridiculous is the size of our vehicles. I have traveled a little bit to other countries and the cars do not compare in size to what we are now used to. They are very large- even our "compact" cars are much bigger than what I was in while in Europe.

[rainbowflower]

Sounds lovely to me! You guys refer to your yard as a garden, correct? Here, garden would be limited to mostly where I choose to plant flowers or fruits/veggies.

I LOVE the idea of being able to walk to shops. We just took a vacation where we could do just that and we rented bikes and I had a blast with the kids walking or riding bikes to town! So fun.
yeah that's correct! a yard would be an area that is paved :)
how far from the shops are you?

where have you been in Europe? I've never actually left Europe, but I hear that houses are massive over there (or at least they all look it on Supernanny USA)

[zanacal]

We live in a village on the edge of a very old hilltop town and we love it :D There are both old and new houses in the town but we especially love the old ones. Ours is a detached 3 bed Victorian cottage (built in 1859) with a lovely well established garden (yard!). It's nowhere near an acre but you'd have to be rich to own that here! We moved in 2 years ago when it was only a 2 bed cottage and we built a 2 storey extension. Our town has a really lovely feel, lots of individual little shops and many great coffee shops :D It couldn't be further removed from London - I really don't enjoy big cities (or towns even!).

[nuthinbutpink]

We are close enough to bike(1-2 miles) but it is not set up to be able to do that with kids- much too much traffic at high speeds- not safe. We drive to do all shopping.

There are many large homes. Lots of bedrooms and finished basements too- just like the main living floors.

I have been to Germany and Austria. That's it in Europe. I didn't see anything that looked like it is where I live- lots of country side(drove from Frankfurt to Munich and back) which is a similar landscape but the towns are nothing like what they are here. Our buildings are much too new compared to what I saw there. Much more character in the buildings in Europe IMO.

[nuthinbutpink]

We live in a village on the edge of a very old hilltop town and we love it :D There are both old and new houses in the town but we especially love the old ones. Ours is a detached 3 bed Victorian cottage (built in 1859) with a lovely well established garden (yard!). It's nowhere near an acre but you'd have to be rich to own that here! We moved in 2 years ago when it was only a 2 bed cottage and we built a 2 storey extension. Our town has a really lovely feel, lots of individual little shops and many great coffee shops :D It couldn't be further removed from London - I really don't enjoy big cities (or towns even!).

Sounds like the story books we read here! I picture a little cottage with smoke billowing out of the chimney and a picket fence! LOL.

Really, sounds lovely. We did live in a 1930's home in the city once. We love the character of the older homes too. Some of my favorites are early 1900 homes here in Atlanta.

What are the class sizes in your kids' school? How many kids in a class?

[rainbowflower]

zanacal that sounds beautiful! we're also country-lovers and not city lovers, although with the house prices here I doubt we'll ever be able to afford somewhere more rural

NBP Germany is lovely isn't it? I lived there for over a year during uni. in the UK school class sizes are usually around 30-31 up to the age of 16, or less if you go private

[nuthinbutpink]

zanacal that sounds beautiful! we're also country-lovers and not city lovers, although with the house prices here I doubt we'll ever be able to afford somewhere more rural

NBP Germany is lovely isn't it? I lived there for over a year during uni. in the UK school class sizes are usually around 30-31 up to the age of 16, or less if you go private

Wow...30-31 is huge for where we live. Most are 20 kids per class- public or private. Do most kids go on to Univeristy(College)?

[zanacal]

Yep, 30 in my boys' classes too. That's the maximum allowed class size for primary school and it seems that any half decent school is over subscribed now. I was worried about it when DS1 started school but it hasn't affected him at all and the school still manages to keep a small/village feel about it. I find that many of the schools with lower numbers in a year group merge year groups so there ends up being as many children to a class anyway.

rainbowflower - just noticed we're in neighbouring counties :D

nbp - there are many houses like the one you describe here! We have a chimney (but we haven't used it yet!) but no picket fence, just hedgerow. Lots of the houses are much, much older than ours and many are thatched - again, not ours!

[TTC5]

We live in a new home that we built in 2009, it is not big, but we fit in ok.
4 bedrooms (not large) and we have a small ensuite. We have a decent back yard but for now it is mostly just grass lol, we still don't even have a proper drive way yet.. need the $$ lol.

We live in a suburb that is only 15-20 minutes max away from the city and only 10 minutes away from the counrty one way and the other way we have two beaches and in another direction 5 mins another little beach. We have a big mountain 10 minutes away that gets snow in the winter too.

[Hobbermittens]

We live in a newer subdivision with very few houses, that was originally a ranch, so basically we are in a big field surrounded by mountains. No trees, but a great view! And hardly any neighbors. We live about 5 minutes from town, but where we are feels like we are out in the country. (Our town is really rural too--only about 2,500 people, one grocery store, no stop lights).

[Flava]

i want to live where NBP and /or zanacal live sound so nice!
Anyway Im in Fl and a small town and I don't like it here. Waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy to hot and humid and we have a small house with a small backyard. And right behind us (way to close)is a bigger house with a pool so we can watch the new ppl swimming . They just moved here...oh and no1 talks with no1 around here , so lovely...Can't walk here you must have a car to go just really anywhere. Park, store , gas station , you name it.Ppl from Europe can't really get it we told this to FIL and when he visited he said wow we really can't go anywhere with no car here!he just could not imagine how is it for real. We don't even have sidewalks and public transport is super limited.
I wish I can move... Im not saying it's not nice here our street is quiet and we have lots of trees and bushes around us it's just I wish we can walk to places and so on...and the damn heat...ehhh Oh and it's a new 1 story house.
But I love the big cars . When I fist saw this smart car or what I thought it's a toy car for kids you know not real? When they said it's a real car to sit in and go I was like is this a joke? Looks so funny and unsafe to me.

[swish]

Lol, I would love a smart car! You can fit in any space, you can just forward into it and still not stick out!!! No good for children though!!!

[nicnee1976]

I live in a suburb of a medium sized town. We live in a large 4 bed detached house in the midlands of the UK. We have a smallish garden for the size of the house because we have a large extension on the back.
It is a nice quiet suburb, made up of mainly professionals and families. We have small shops, post office, chemist etc 5 mins walk away, town centre is 10 minute drive, but does not have a good variety of shops. Nearest city is 12 miles away that is good for shopping.
We drive a MPV, 7 seater car, that eats petrol!!! My boys go to one of 2 local schools that has a good reputation and always has more applications than there are places. Class size is 30. They wear uniform from age 3 when they start nursery class, and it is a primary school, so they stay until age 11, then move to senior school next to the primary.
The things I love about living here is our big house, quiet area and good school. I hate the fact we are not anywhere near a beach (nearest 2 hour drive), and that the town has bad areas. I prefer it here than the suburb of town we lived in previously (moved earlier this year).
I work in the local hospital and DH travels to the nearest city to work.

[ThinkPink]

I live in a suburb of a medium sized town. We live in a large 4 bed detached house in the midlands of the UK. .

I live in the midlands too! Im originally from a big metropolitan city but I live in a very small one now where I can walk five minutes and be in the countryside!!Lovely!

[DoulaMama]

Live in a small town(15,000) 20 mins outside of a bigger city(1 million). We live in an older subdivision so our lot has a very large backyard:) We have a 3 bedroom house( a bit small for us but I don't mind). We know all of our neighbors very well and our kids all play together in the cul-de-sac. Most are grandkids of our neighbors but some(my neighbor to my right) are younger families(she's one of my closest friends:)) We live about a 30 second drive to town...or a 7 min walk. We have the mountains about 30 mins away with big ski hills as well as hiking, camping and fishing about a 10 min walk away. It's cold here though...about -22F on bad days in the winter...and only up to about 80F in the summer. I'm hoping to move to Vancouver Island(Victoria) in the near future when I become a midwife:) I'd like more land, more temperate climate and no SNOW! LOL

[nuthinbutpink]

-22 is cold!

[DoulaMama]

-22 is cold!

YES!!! It's frickin freezing!! I come from a warmer climate originally so the past 7 years has been a major adjustment for me. I don't think I'll ever get used to it....

[nuthinbutpink]

YES!!! It's frickin freezing!! I come from a warmer climate originally so the past 7 years has been a major adjustment for me. I don't think I'll ever get used to it....

I would just hate all the mess that comes with it- I cannot imagine the boots, coats, gloves, etc that you have to pick up after!

[Liv]

I live right outside a very large city. Our home was built in the 1950's. Originally it was small but we renovated and added on about 1500 sq. ft . We bought because we loved the community. We have a large yard. I love that we have a mall, target, boutique stores, restaurants, etc. within minutes from our home. The public school system here is not the greatest so our boys go to a private school about 15 minutes away.

[Hobbermittens]

I would just hate all the mess that comes with it- I cannot imagine the boots, coats, gloves, etc that you have to pick up after!

We have snow and freezing temps from Oct-May. We had 6 inches of snow 2 weeks ago! I guess I am used to it. I prefer snow to rain!!

[ELP]

I love this kind of chat:bigsmile:!! Other countries fascinates me! Especially the US. Can I quickly ask a few US questions:bigsmile:

Do you have round-abouts/ traffic circles on your roads??

Are the four lane roads through the towns common?

In the UK I think we only have 1 four lane road, I think its the M25, and thats our motorway. Would our motorway be your highway?

p.s Just had to add, thanks for Stevan Segall:agree:

[nuthinbutpink]

LOL at your Segall shows! We have chatted before that those are not a good representation of the US!

We do not have round-abouts where I live and I have rarely come across them- I think they are so much easier to keep traffic moving. We have traffic lights that we must sit at for ages waiting for them to turn green.

I live in one of the worst traffic cities in the country. We have tons of 4 lane roads. They are not all highways though, just 2 lanes each way with a grass median in the middle. We call the roads you can drive fastest on Highways or Freeways or the Interstate.

We have public transportation but it is really terrible and dangerous.

[ELP]

:rofl:I just had to mention him though NBP:bigsmile:I'm loving 'The Walking Dead' atm!!

We have the 2 lane roads, plenty of them:agree:It's the BIG roads, eek!! We visited Florida when I was a kid and one of the things that stuck with me the most was the big junction! I had to remind my dad not to turn into the traffic! We actually saw other must be Brits doing it! Bloody tourists:rofl:

I would loveto rent one of those big motorhomes that you have over there and travel around, every place seems so different. I'd want to see all the flat places, Nebraska? where Twister was filmed, I wouldn't want to see a tornedo but just the massive open space! Then New Orleans, colonnial america? with the big white houses. I'd get lost lol, I have NO sense of direction at all.

Why is public transport dangerous?? Ours is just??boring?

[Liv]

Most of the roads in my area are 3 lane. Tons of flippin traffic! The freeways here are the worst.

[skrimpy]

I live in a small town and it is beautiful. Our house is old and small, but we hope to move out of town a little ways in the next two years or so. Right now we can walk to the grocer, the library, and DH walks to work. We have more shopping about a 10 min drive.

I love our area because the local food scene is very big. Lots of small farms and bakeries and restaurants that use local ingredients. We're also on the bay so in the summer swimming is minutes away. Lots of summer festivals, too.

We have snowy winters and the boots and coats are a bother but part of life :)

There is lots of fun to be had in the snow, then summer and fall are just glorious seasons with lots of garden and harvest fun!

We do want more room in house and yard which is why we want to move to the country, but still stay close to our current town :)

As far as vehicles we drive a 7 passenger minivan now. We will need a passenger van if we have anymore babies!

[skrimpy]

We also have good schools with small classes but our kids are homeschooled! We have a big homeschool association here for support which is nice :D

[Sedona]

hmmm, we live in a huge neighborhood. mostly rocks for front yard landscaping LOL. our back yard is less than a 1/4 of an acre and a 6' block fence (everyone has them). we have a swimming pool and a 2 parks within walking distance. I love our neighborhood, it's pretty quiet even with a HS across the street
our city has a population somewhere over 300,000

[Zivic-Bubac]

I live in a small town and it is beautiful. Our house is old and small, but we hope to move out of town a little ways in the next two years or so. Right now we can walk to the grocer, the library, and DH walks to work. We have more shopping about a 10 min drive.

I love our area because the local food scene is very big. Lots of small farms and bakeries and restaurants that use local ingredients. We're also on the bay so in the summer swimming is minutes away. Lots of summer festivals, too.

We have snowy winters and the boots and coats are a bother but part of life :)

There is lots of fun to be had in the snow, then summer and fall are just glorious seasons with lots of garden and harvest fun!
We do want more room in house and yard which is why we want to move to the country, but still stay close to our current town :)

Skrimpy, your town sounds just beautiful and very pleasant place to live.

Concerning the space in the house - I live in a very small appartement where the 4 of us can hardly fit, but I like this part of town and everything about my appartement :) It's near kids school, full of light, and well, it's home.
But if we have 1 more baby, we will have to move in like 3 years or so, and my consolation is - home is where my DH and kids are :heart: As long as the 4 (or 5 lol!) of us are together I'm fine :)