City or countryside, new construction or renovation – the agony of choice!?

Is it maybe possible to split and develop the large plot outside?

We wouldn’t want that, because then a big advantage of the countryside property would be lost.

How big is the city and how big is the town outside? The city can have 10,000 inhabitants or 1 million. That’s quite a difference.

Regards
Sabine

About 130,000 inhabitants (student city with an above-average cultural offer) in the city and 1,300 inhabitants in the village. There are 2 bakeries and a commercial area with a regional supermarket in the village, but the sports club has no youth sports. By car, however, you can reach a large sports center within 10-15 minutes, which has almost everything: athletics, soccer, cycling, water sports, ...

It really depends on how you want to spend your free time.

Cycling, jogging, walking, searching for mushrooms/wild plants, gardening, enjoying peace in the forest, tinkering, etc.: COUNTRYSIDE

Eating out, bar, cinema, theater, opera, museums, overall a bigger consumer orientation vs. smaller activity orientation: CITY

If you are more type 1, city is hugely annoying. Type 2 will eventually go crazy about every commute if they live in the countryside

We are type 1.5 – a bit of both. But regular eating and drinking out is off the table for now. Child 1 is just 1 year old and child 2 is planned for 2022. That means it will be quite a while before we can really make use of that again.

Realistically, looking back (before the child arrived), we maybe went out to eat once a month and went to a bar. Cinema maybe once a year and theater 1-2 times per year. Sports events 2-3 times a year. Museums almost never. Meaning: you could easily do all of that from the village – the only question is whether you actually do it.

On weekends we mostly visit friends or get visited. No idea if that changes when everyone has several, also older, children involved in sports clubs and weekends can no longer be planned so freely.

Definitely the city.

But I would always make it dependent on the commute and the specific house, plot, and other factors. Better to move to the countryside than buy a house like this:

The small terraced house would also not be an option for us; we would want to buy something new.

For those who are in favor of option A here and have children: how much do your kids do? I think I would expect 2-3 sports/music/whatever appointments per week per child.

Nobody for option C?

Yes, you just didn't want Option C

We wouldn’t want that, because then a major advantage of the rural property would be lost.

About 130,000 inhabitants (student city with an above-average cultural offering) in the city and 1,300 inhabitants in the village. In the village, there are 2 bakers and a commercial area with a regional supermarket, but the sports club has no youth sports. However, you can reach a large sports center by car within 10-15 minutes, which offers pretty much everything: athletics, soccer, cycling, water sports, ...

We are type 1.5 – a bit of everything. But regular eating out and drinking is off the table for now. Child 1 just turned 1 year old and Child 2 is planned for 2022. That means it will take quite a while before we can really take advantage of it again.

Realistically, though, before the child arrived, we probably went out to eat maybe once a month and spent time in a bar. Cinema maybe once a year and theater 1-2 times a year. Sports events 2-3 times a year. Museums and such almost never. Meaning: you could easily do all of that from the village – it’s just a question of whether you actually do it then.

On weekends, we mostly visit friends or have them visit us. No idea if that will change once everyone has more and older children involved in sports clubs and weekends are no longer so freely planned.

The small townhouse wouldn’t be an option for us either; we would want to buy something new.

For those here who are for option A and have children: how active are your kids? I guess I would expect 2-3 sports/music/whatever appointments per week per child.

No one for option C?

For our 8-year-old daughter, it is:
1-2 times a week horseback riding (in the countryside)
1 time a week music lessons (in the countryside)

We don’t miss anything from the city at all. If we want to go to Berlin, we just go there on the weekend.

In the end always subjective.

I would decide for the countryside in the described situation, especially because of the family.

Although countryside is not equal to countryside. 8km to a city with 130,000 inhabitants is nothing. You have to be careful that with city growth in the next few years it doesn’t get "incorporated" into the metropolitan area.

And regarding the car. I think if you’re honest, all those who don’t live exactly in a proper big city center (where there might be more public transport) will quite often have to use the car to drive the children somewhere.

Whether I’m on the road for 5 or 10 minutes doesn’t make much difference.

It would be different if countryside meant living 50 or 100km away.

In this constellation my decision would always be in favor of the "countryside". The reasons have already been mentioned several times by others.

1 course. Music lessons once a week. Walking alone
As desired
Once a month a reading and crafting afternoon in the winter half-year. Walking alone
Every 6-8 weeks children's church with singing, reading, crafting, playing (surprisingly little to do with church) Walking mom has to come
Riding now and then at a friend’s or my cousin’s

Then in spring comes the Seepferdchen swim test - By car
Maybe music will be swapped for ballet next year (By car).

Offers from Pekip to English to Karate, all within a 20 km radius. Plus holiday programs, tent theater, games week and the opportunities that free play in the countryside simply offers. Climbing trees, feeding cows, falling into the creek, quarterpipe with the balance bike, etc.

You always have to see what type of person you are here!?! Both have their pros and cons.

It also depends on how old the children are. If they are at disco age, the city has many advantages. You don’t have to find a driver so that the rest of the group can drink. But we have many shooting festivals, club celebrations, etc. Life in the village is just different..... But you don’t miss anything!

Those who live in the village don’t go shopping every other day. You have a pantry and it is usually well stocked. We do have an EDEKA here in the village, but the selection is very limited and that’s why I regularly drive to Marktkauf (2-3 times a month).

But there are also advantages like “fresh products directly from the producer.” We buy our meat directly from the small farmer around the corner, raw milk directly from the dairy farmer, etc. ...... you can even find that in OWL (North NRW).

About 1 1/2 years ago we bought a building plot (over 1000 sqm), where it is even more rural (but only 8 km to the next larger county town). We will have FTTH connection there. The previous disadvantage of the plot was that there was no natural gas supply. Today it doesn’t interest us because in 3 1/2 years in the new building we will use geothermal energy (which is allowed according to the authorities).

Currently we live in a 15-year-old new development on about 400 sqm. Today I wouldn’t take such a small plot anymore. You don’t have much less work than with about 1000 sqm (experience from my parents’ house).
But with >1000 sqm you have the advantage that you have a few meters distance to the neighbor. You can grill without the neighbor complaining that the smoke blows into his house.
I can talk with guests without the neighbor hearing everything, as if he were sitting at the table with us....... etc.

Whether you should take a new building or an older property........ we decided right away on a new building.
If you are handy and can do everything yourself, then an old building is worthwhile. If I have to hire craftsmen for 90% of it, then a new building can cost as much as an existing property.
Above all, nobody knows what has been done to the property in the last 50 years. There are many “hobby craftsmen” who remove a wall even though it is load-bearing, etc...... snip electrical cables and leave the cable in the wall, etc.
Moreover, you will never get the room layout the way you want it. But the luxury is higher in a new building (underfloor heating, ventilation system......).

The biggest disadvantage of country life is that you are bound to a car....... public transport in the countryside is a joke.