Ah! You've hit the nail on the head Cai! Because i don't drive I walk almost everywhere. Whereas most people could drive around a dodgy suburb safely cocooned in their car I cannot. I need to know that the actual footpaths on which i walk are going to be safe.

My DD can also safely walk to her independant girls' school. Oh and yes, 1 girl went skiing on the Swiss Alps for her holidays last year but she isn't popular :P hehe. About half the girls at my DD's school are not doing things we can't afford to do... we live a similar lifestyle... so that's not an incentive to live in a worse suburb thankfully. Funny, before I sent my DD to a private school I thought they were full of rich kids.... hasn't been our experience My DD, even though we can't afford to indulge her, isn't suffering from a popularity problem. Anyhow, OT. But thanks for your responses everyone. Yep, if I was a driver and not exposing myself as much to the dodginess i guess i might consider the nice house.