Anthea Turner How I See It...

Hello,

Do you ever ask yourself, am I living in the right place? I ask myself constantly so there must be uncertainty in my mind. Where we live is either to do with where we are born, a job or a relationship. Outside of that, do I live in a city/town, countryside, or coastal area? What life stage am I in, and what are my needs?

I live in London and apart from a 13-year sojourn to the Surrey countryside, which I loved, I’ve been a city girl since 1983. This week three things happened that helped ease the whirring in my head.

SECOND THOUGHTS

One was lunch with a friend who came out with a statement I never thought I’d hear from her lips. Then there was an article in a broadsheet, about people who left cities during the pandemic now having second thoughts. The final one was the needs of my parents, who are 89 and 91.

Juliet runs a very successful recruitment company, lives in the country and commutes into town most days. She announces, with children all gone, she’s carving her path out for a less stressful life with her husband: instead of downsizing to an even more rural idyll, she’s going to buy an apartment in West London! Why? Because the joy for her is amenities and to be able to walk to all of them, even the dentist!

COMMUNITY IS EVERYTHING

The article consisted of interviews with people who had left a city but were not cocooned by a family, so were uncertain if being miles from anywhere as they aged was the best move. A car was vital, gardens and older houses don’t look after themselves, and security was a worry. My mum and dad live in a bungalow surrounded by buses, the GP practice is across the road as is the Co-op and a chemist – but best of all, as they were both born in this village there are people they’ve known forever and I refer to collectively as the “Fourth Emergency Service”. Community is the golden chalice. My great sadness is seeing amenities closing around the country due to centralisation and high rent. What I see now and value as I get older are city amenities from the practical to the frivolous. Estate agent Knight Frank says the most content older people are those who can walk out of their front door to everything they need. I’m seeing the city in a whole new light – thanks to Juliet, who I can’t wait to walk over to see.

Love, Anthea x