Would you move to a rubbish town to be closer to work?
Im currently contemplating moving closer to my job.

Where I live now, is an hour away. But its a gorgeous place and it boasts much better weather as its more sheltered. It has clear blue skies and a calm breeze, rather than cloud and wind where I work. Its got less of a crime rate, and a beautiful Marina with loasd of nice bars and restaurants and boats to look at. The town centre of where I live now is superb. Loads of nice shops and bars. Its only a 10 minute drive into the countryside.

Where I am thinking of moving to, is right next to work, and I could get to work and back in like 10 minutes! Also, more people that I know live here. And going for a beer after work wont pose a problem as I wont have to drive. I dont actually know anyone where I'm living now. So when I go to see friends, I generally travel to them anyway. When my family and friends from further away come to stay with me, they really enjoy spending time in my home town. Whereas I know they wouldnt enjoy it so much where I'm thinking of moving to.

I do over £100 in fuel every month commuting to work, and mileage is piling up on the car and wear and tear running up and down all the time. I would save so much money in moving.

The problem is, this town near work is an old shanty town. In the last 10 years there has been a lot of improvement. But still, its roads have been in a state of disrepair for years. Its full of really old knackered buildings. Big apartment blocks with, dirtyer streets and It has the highest crime rate on the coast. The weather is colder, cloudier and windy'er. Basically this town is generally a bit of a shit hole. Apartments here are older, and therefore dont come with luxuruies like Air Con, Sky TV, sunny terraces with nice views, garage parking and communal swimming pools.

Conundrums.. conundrums! To move or not to move...

Would you move to a rubbish town to be closer to work and to have a better social life? Or would you prefer the status of living somewhere lush?
(Miggyman, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 15:24, 12 replies)

I'd get a job near the nice place I lived in

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 15:26, closed)

Yes I should have mentioned.
Where I currently live, there is no decent work. Its more of a holiday area. Certinately no work for Skilled IT Techies like myself. What little work there is, tends to be sparodic rather than permanent. My job is actually going really well and Im not looking at changing my job at all. I'd be daft to do that in this climate.
(Miggyman, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 15:33, closed)

a difficult decision then
and one I can't help with.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 15:35, closed)

I'd stick in the nice place
And invite your friends down to yours, and secure crash space when on nights out.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Mon 2 Nov 2009, 15:48, closed)

No way, stay where you are
hang on, let me think about this...

If you own your current house then stay, because jobs come and go and wotnot. If you are only renting then perhaps moving closer to work & friends is a good idea.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 15:56, closed)

Yeah im just renting so moving isnt a problem :)
.
(Miggyman, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 16:14, closed)

Ah well fuck it then.
orf you go young man to the bright lights and where the streets are paved with gold.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 16:21, closed)

Due to residents/setting
surely house prices are rather lower near your place of work? So you could afford to upgrade suitably to offset the now horrible neighbours?
( Rookie You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 16:49, closed)

Actually theyre not :(
Strangely you get more for your money in the nicer place. Its because the next place on. Where all the employment is and where I work is actually really really expensive, so the town Im looking at moving to is where everyone lives.. so it drives the prices up a bit.

With the holiday market and property market taking a nose dive further down the coast. Landlords are just wanting to rent their properties for whatever they can get to try and offset against their heavy mortgages.. so for us tenants, you can get some great deals :)

I'm in Spain by the way :)
(Miggyman, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 16:52, closed)

I'd stick
with the nice place. Only got one life, and there is nothing more depressing than living in a shit hole
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 17:27, closed)

I think it's a personal thing.
It depends on your views on "live to work vs. work to live", how much you like to get out and about and enjoy the scenery etc.

Personally I enjoy my quiet little town in the lake district, and did eventually land an IT job just down the road (after working in another town for a while, but in this case it was only a 30 minute drive). Even though everyone says I could move to one of the cities and earn twice as much, I choose not to - I don't like crowds, yobs, noisy pubs, and I enjoy being able to drive as little as 10 minutes (ok, or up to 2 hours further afield) and stroll up a mountain or sit by a lake, and yes I actually do these things quite regularly.

To me it's near priceless, and although the night life is not to everyone's taste there is still an abundance of pubs in the town with good ale, and plenty of people to be friends with. (Though why people only believe a night has "life" if it's full of shouting, fighting, and music that you can't hold a conversation over is beyond me, but to each his own)

Do you actually like the place, or just acknowledge that it's 'nice' and might be somewhere you want to retire one day? (I think I'm old before my time really, I love quiet and scenic places and have already mentioned my view of what most people consider 'night life'). Do you actually get to see it, or is it a rare sight in between working, sleeping and being in the other town with your friends? If it's just basically a place to go to bed at night... well, once you're asleep a bed is a bed. Doesn't much matter what it looks like around it.

If it was utterly devoid of any decent community or pubs, yeah I'd consider moving. But I certainly wouldn't move from a place that I love just to be closer to the place where I earn a living - how depressing. I'm fortunate enough to have a job that I enjoy, to be fair, but that said I don't think I'd give up the area for it (just like I wouldn't give it up for an employer that pays better :P). Life beats Work, unless you're one of the fortunate few who really *loves* their job, and sees it as the great thing they enjoy in life.

If you have kids to support, of course, it's a whole different ball game involving making as much money as possible. Another reason not to contribute to the overcrowding of the planet :P
(Cloudane, Mon 2 Nov 2009, 20:24, closed)

thanks
For your long reply.
I dont have any kids or a g/f. Im single.

I think its a case of "Nice place - poor community" vs "Crap place - good community" The place I live now has plenty of decent pubs and restaurants. Its realyl nice. But its more of a holiday area. There are locals, but I've never managed to mix with them. Simply because my friends and work collegues are down the coast nearer or in the rubbish town.

It is true that the nice place is just somewhere to go to bed. Sometimes I go for a nice walk round it and think "woah this place is lovely!" But its not very often, as im either at work or sat in my apartment chilling, or out with friends elsewhere.

I might give the rubbish town a go. I could always move back if I dont like it. :)
(Miggyman, Tue 3 Nov 2009, 14:59, closed)