The 20 happiest places to live in Great Britain

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Here are the 20 happiest places to live in Great Britain according to Which? - my bolding of those in or close to our area

1 - St Ives, South West
2 - Skipton, Yorkshire & The Humber
3 - Leamington Spa, West Midlands
4 - Llandrindod Wells, Wales
5 - Perth, Scotland
6 - Kendal, North West
7 - Stratford-upon-Avon, West Midlands
8 - Dorchester, South West
9 - Harrogate, Yorkshire & The Humber
10 - Richmond upon Thames, London
11 - Falmouth, South West
12 - Hexham, North East
13 - Weymouth, South West
14 - Shrewsbury, West Midlands
15 - Tonbridge, South East
16 - Plymouth, South West
17 - Poole, South West
18 - Northwich, North West
19 - Barnstaple, South West
20 - Guildford, South East

Key factors for making a place happy ... from later in that article, suggested by Right Move

1. Shops and facilities
2. Transport connections and traffic
3. Schools and catchment areas
4. Neighbours and community
5. Environment and air quality

Includes under item 2:

If you don’t drive, research how frequent (and crowded) buses or trains are, and how much fares cost. If you’ll be commuting in to a city, fares tend to be more expensive the further away you live, but property prices are generally cheaper.

Living somewhere with great schools, bustling town centres or popular venues can be a big bonus, but it’s worth visiting the area at peak times to check what the traffic is like.

[PhilWakely]

Being an Exonian, I would strongly debate #16 

[stuving]

The local paper (and others) has reported this week that Wokingham is now the healthiest place in England. This is in the 2018 ONS^» (Office for National Statistics - website) health index for England, actually released in December but now accessible via a pretty map. Actually, Wokingham has always been top for all four years it's been produced. And Blackpool has always been bottom. And the gap has been widening, with the tops scores going up and the bottom ones down. Depressing, isn't it?

[REVUpminster]

I would say if your moving to an area, go at 8.30am and look at the primary schools. It will tell you what the area will be like in 20 years time.

You might get arrested. " 'onest m'lord I was looking to buy a property"