Best places to live, 2017

[whole diary]

[grahame]

2017, Britain's best rural places to live in 2017 have been revealed in the latest annual quality of life survey.

http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/community/revealed-best-rural-places-to-live-in-2017

Top four:

1   Orkney Islands   Scotland
2   Wychavon   West Midlands
3   Derbyshire Dales   East Midlands
4   Hambleton   Yorkshire & the Humber

And those in or near our "patch"

5   Purbeck   South West
7   Chiltern   South East
8   West Oxfordshire   South East
9   South Hams   South West
12   West Dorset   South West
18   Mid Devon   South West
26   Vale of White Horse   South West
29   Wiltshire   South West
37   East Devon   South West
42   New Forest   South East
43   Cotswold   South West
47   Isles of Scilly   South West
48   Sedgemoor   South West

[stuving]

Is there a "best 'best place to live survey' survey"? Because there are just loads of the things out there.

You can pick one according to whether its result suit you - like this one by Rightmove last year:

Isle of Skye named the nation’s most desired place to live
...Six of the top ten places are in Devon and Cornwall, with all ten in the North West, South West, Wales and Scotland

Full list:

Place	Region	Average asking price
Isle of Skye	Scotland	£230952
Woolacombe	South West	£346396
Callington	South West	£235860
St Ives	South West	£366628
Keswick	North West	£319628
Pembroke	Wales	£169969
Padstow	South West	£421290
Salcombe	South West	£635083
Ambleside	North West	£431669
Newquay	South West	£246976

.. which does at least have local relevance.

[TaplowGreen]

I get the others but Callington? Seriously?

[JayMac]

I'm a little surprised that the only area of Somerset that features in the top 50 is Sedgemoor. That contains Bridgwater (aka Bilgewater, aka Somerset's Beirut) for heaven's sake. And Burnham-on-Sea, a 'seaside' town where Bridgwater rejects end up. After they've been rejected by Highbridge. The best things to come out of Sedgemoor? The M5 and the A38.

Yes, there are some nice villages in Sedgemoor, but the other districts of Somerset are far more agreeable. If I was to rank the five districts; Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, West Somerset, then Sedgemoor would be resolutely last.

[TaplowGreen]

I'm a little surprised that the only area of Somerset that features in the top 50 is Sedgemoor. That contains Bridgwater (aka Bilgewater, aka Somerset's Beirut) for heaven's sake. And Burnham-on-Sea, a 'seaside' town where Bridgwater rejects end up. After they've been rejected by Highbridge. The best things to come out of Sedgemoor? The M5 and the A38.

Yes, there are some nice villages in Sedgemoor, but the other districts of Somerset are far more agreeable. If I was to rank the five districts; Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, West Somerset, then Sedgemoor would be resolutely last.

Sedgemoor Motorway services are pretty good to be fair, maybe that swung it? 

[grahame]

Sedgemoor Motorway services are pretty good to be fair, maybe that swung it? 

May be so - drink and food is important. According to http://www.whatmortgage.co.uk/news/best-rural-areas-live-uk/

Last year’s winner, South Oxfordshire, has dropped to 10th in the 2017 survey, but still scores strongly on earnings, employment rate and a low crime rate.

This is mainly due to the inclusion of the two new categories – number of pubs and the availability of health clubs and leisure centres.

[didcotdean]

The set of criteria and their weighting is so subjective that this exercise is pretty meaningless.

Some might consider fewer pubs for example as an asset rather than a fault. Also in many rural areas pubs have drifted more towards being restaurants, and even then they can struggle to be viable against being sold off as housing in more affluent areas.

[Bmblbzzz]

Is this the list where estate agents bid to make their patch top? 

[LiskeardRich]

I'm a little surprised that the only area of Somerset that features in the top 50 is Sedgemoor. That contains Bridgwater (aka Bilgewater, aka Somerset's Beirut) for heaven's sake. And Burnham-on-Sea, a 'seaside' town where Bridgwater rejects end up. After they've been rejected by Highbridge. The best things to come out of Sedgemoor? The M5 and the A38.

Yes, there are some nice villages in Sedgemoor, but the other districts of Somerset are far more agreeable. If I was to rank the five districts; Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, West Somerset, then Sedgemoor would be resolutely last.

Sedgemoor Motorway services are pretty good to be fair, maybe that swung it? 

Have they improved in recent years? They were absolutely disgusting when I was commuting up and down the M5, so now I avoid!

To the original post, there seems to be multiple surveys. Falmouth and Bristol have both come top of best place to live surveys in the last month. It all comes down to what you want.
If you want to be robbed and your car nicked, Bridgwater would be a good choice.

[trainer]

Sedgemoor Motorway services are pretty good to be fair, maybe that swung it? 

For months now there has been a sign on the M5 between Jncs 21 and 20 warning of no fuel at Sedgemoor Services.  As I passed it yesterday I did wonder if the sign had been forgotten or that in fact there had been no fuel deliveries since before Christmas. Since I have paid off my mortgage, I have no intention of taking out another one to buy fuel at motorway service station prices.  To allude to another thread about expensive fares:  Who buys fuel on the motorway? (Whoops! - could cause massive deviation from thread title so apologies).

Brent Knoll looks lovely in the sun - that's one asset for Sedgemoor.

[JayMac]

Brent Knoll looks lovely in the sun - that's one asset for Sedgemoor.

It does look nice in the sun. Not sure how much of an asset for Sedgemoor it is though. Because if you go to the top,  your view is of Bridgwater, Burnham and Highbridge.

[LiskeardRich]

Sedgemoor Motorway services are pretty good to be fair, maybe that swung it? 

.  To allude to another thread about expensive fares:  Who buys fuel on the motorway? (Whoops! - could cause massive deviation from thread title so apologies).

Brent Knoll looks lovely in the sun - that's one asset for Sedgemoor.

There is a Saisnburys immediately off the roundabout at J25, typically 15p a litre cheaper than Taunton Deane services!

[Bmblbzzz]

The same goes for J12 Theale/Reading of the M4.