[paula1]

I'm currently researching areas to buy a place.

I'll have to move a couple of suburbs out of where I live now and where my kids go to school.
I'll probably end up with a 20 minute drive from the school.

If you drive your kids to school, how long is the drive?
Would you consider 20 mins too long? I don't want to move them out of the school they're in.

Any thoughts?

[SeaPrincess]

For me the issue wouldn't be the drive but the parking. Being able to walk to school has changed my life!

[SugarMumma]

We walk It's about a 5- 10 min walk away depending on how they were dragging their feet.

We will be moving to another area at the end of next year so I can still walk DSD2 to high school (the high school near here is too far away to walk) and the little ones to primary even though that means changing my sons school going into year 1. Just one of those things sometimes.

[Wiggle-fan's_Mum]

We live a couple of suburbs away but it's only about a 10 min drive, max 13, sometimes 8 I wouldn't consider 20 min too long at all. Friends have just moved and are 20 min from school, a shop and 35 min from her work and 50 min from his work - they chose that and so far (6 weeks in) are loving it and don't mind the commute. By the same token there was a girl in my DD's Kindy class who moved out to the same area as these friends and she couldn't cope with the 20 min commute (and a 3 year old) and at the end of that year took teh kids out of school and is now in her second year of homeschooling (currently Year 2, Year 6 and Year 8 and the youngest Kindy)

[kay11]

One thing I hated about living far from school (one and a half hours by public transport - tiring and it sucked..) was that it was hard to participate in anything after school and also all my friends lived an hour and a half away from me - which made my teenage years lonely and boring.

20 minutes doesn't sound too bad though..

[emnut]

we are 25 mins from DS's school & nearly 3 years in & I hate it - I have far better things to do with close to 2 hours every day by the time the school drop offs & pick ups are done.

[fancie]

DD's primary school was a couple of hundred metres from home.

Her high school is a couple of kms as the crow flies, but a dedicated school bus picks her up very near to home and drops her at the school gate 10 minutes later.

[yabbadabbadoo]

500 metres, but I would be ok with 20 minutes drive.

[belinda1976]

I personally wouldn't drive the 20 mins to school unless I really really REALLY!!! wanted my DD's going there.

My DD1 goes to school literally around the corner from us about a 200m walk which is fabulous as I hear so many of the other mothers complaining about parking.

[sarah_jane]

<500m. It's literally on the next block. Along with the junior campus of the state high school (most likely option if we stay here!)

Works great for us, but I grew up about 20 mins from school (on the bus) and that was fine as well.