I need somewhere nice to live

What do you like? 

I moved to Edinburgh for uni but hated it and moved home west when I graduated. Husband is half English but prefers living in Scotland even though the job opportunities are better down south. 

I used to think I'd like to live near the coast but I realised I hate the wind so that's a no go but I do like to holiday by the sea. Urban environments are a bit claustrophobic to me. I don't mind about distance to family but it was important to husband. 

Write down what you really want and what you really don't and then research appropriate areas. 

I want to live somewhere away from rough and loud people. I want to be around creative or educated people. 

I'm not able to cope well with much noise or unexpected things happening. I had neighbours in social housing I couldn't cope with. They slammed doors, had barbecues in the garden shouting to one another, had dogs running around off leads right up to me, fixing their motorbike and swearing right in front of the shared hallway. It was traumatising and horrible.

That was the place I got railroaded into taking by the council after asking for housing help. I was told if I refused it I might not get anything else. 

I'd like to live in a university town or where hippies live. Nice people. Open-minded people. I have few connections, it's challenging. I'm isolated.

I want to live somewhere away from rough and loud people. I want to be around creative or educated people. 

I'm not able to cope well with much noise or unexpected things happening. I had neighbours in social housing I couldn't cope with. They slammed doors, had barbecues in the garden shouting to one another, had dogs running around off leads right up to me, fixing their motorbike and swearing right in front of the shared hallway. It was traumatising and horrible.

That was the place I got railroaded into taking by the council after asking for housing help. I was told if I refused it I might not get anything else. 

I'd like to live in a university town or where hippies live. Nice people. Open-minded people. I have few connections, it's challenging. I'm isolated.

That sounds a nice lifestyle. I'm glad you have it. 

So I'm in Lancaster. It's fairly small, you can walk most places. You can walk out into the countryside in 5 mins from most pkaces, canal, estuary, river, and hills in 10 min in a car.

I can shop in small town centre shops rather than deal with supermarket, but some small supermarkets that are quiet, ef Booths.

There's a strong sense of community. It's poor, so not lots of commercial stuff to do like new resaurants to visit, so you have to sort your own stuff out. So the community centres etc have stuff. Lots of yoga, running, etc things.

The 2 unis mean there's alternative cinema, cinema, etc. But unis out of town so not many students in the town.

The unis dominate, so you get quiet, reflective types, and i think a lot of aspies working and studying there, but also staying on afterwards.

Basically it's quiet, countercultural, and different social classes seem to integrate together more. I love it here!

I wouldn't go for the religious stuff myself probably having never attended church since I was a pre-teen. Some suburbs are very nice. It all comes down to money in the end. I've been too ill to work for a long, long time. I have severe mental health problems on top of the Autism. Most university towns look nice to me.

Really interesting reply. Thank you. I used to visit Aberystwyth every weekend when I lived in Wales and tried to convince my mum to move there when we were moving as a family but she wouldn't because she wanted to be near other family members. 

I've also considered Kendal, it looks really good. Has useful facilities like a hospital and well-connected train station but also lots of charm and character. Though maybe a bit busy with traffic on the roads, I'm not sure.

I suppose it's possible I could get somewhere to live in one of those kind of towns you mention. So can I ask what you feel it's like where you live? How you feel it's better than other places? 

Some of the northern and welsh places i mentioned are relatively cheap compared to southern uni towns

I think university towns are what you're after but the rents are high because the university attracts people for work and for the ambience of being somewhere "nice".

I live in a suburb of a city and quite like it, it has good transport links to the university so this area has lots of open minded people and I don't feel like I stick out quite as much as I did when I lived in a council estate (where both sides of my family were born and raised so not snobbery, I just never fitted in). 

Have you ever tried to get a bit of respite by taking a break in a nice area? I like St Andrew's for a break as it's not too far away and has a good ambience. I also like the borders as I seem to get on with wide open spaces and the proper darkness at night. I get good deals on 5pm which often include meals. 

I know some people do writers or artist retreats in nicer areas but I am not creative so I don't go in for them. I also know that people of faith can go stay in convents for a bit because when I was at school we did a day visit to one and met someone who was staying for a spiritual retreat. 

Sometimes just getting away for a bit can be enough. I had a friend who tried to join what I'd call a commune but they rejected her because they saw her autism as a defect and basically said they didn't want to have to support her in the future if she wasn't useful to their lifestyle but I'm sure other communities might be more welcoming for a break if not to live permanently. 

I live in a town like that and i was talking the other day with an aspie that maybe cos it's quiet and got a uni is why there's so many aspues here.

Places I've spooted that look good inc Totnes, Aberystwyth, Stirling, Exeter, Lancaster, Mcynlleth, Carmarthen, Stroud, Todmorden and Hebden Bridge, Kendal and lots more places