Flatfoot81

It is what it is: a great, quiet little town, which is close enough to everything but far enough away.
We built and moved here 3 or so years ago, which means we are the "new trouble" with the big house on the medium size block that changed everything.
Having said that I've never had anything but fantastic interactions with the people here, old and new residents alike we have been made to feel welcome.
We're not one for really socialising with our neighbours but they are all friendly and approachable, people notify us when they are having parties and we mostly keep quiet.
There is zero background noise, which means you can hear a dog bark from a block away, sometimes that's actually a bit annoying believe it or not because you don’t realise how much background noise you become accustomed to until it’s gone. It’s also great to see a sky full of stars at night!
When considering criticism of the suburb you need to consider the context of the area.
Shopping and nightlife? No, it's all at least 10 minutes away and major shopping complexes are around 15-20mins but in exchange you don't have large crime attracting car parks and loitering destinations near your house. In the context of what people typically look for in a small town this is actually an advantage.
Medical facilities and child care are 10minutes away in Mclaren Vale but both services still have open spots which is rare in other areas.
There are 2 main reasons we came here and 2 reasons why we still love it.
1) We were looking to build and could secure land at a good price. That meant building a house with everything we wanted and we’re able to afford to actually pay it off.
2) My wife grew up in interstate in the country and I grew up in Happy Valley when it was being converted from Vines to housing. We wanted the same type of lifestyle for our children (safe streets etc).
2 reasons why we still love it:
1) It's a quiet and easy-going area with beautiful views all around and a lifestyle I could never replicate interstate and would struggle to have anywhere else in the state outside of surrounding suburbs (1-hour commute to the city and a genuine country feel)
2) Every weekend is a holiday. The vineyards around the area are just fantastic! I travel a lot for work and dine in some nice places. Not many come close to some of the fantastic places just minutes away from the town. Interstate family come and stay with us rather than in a hotel because the house is big enough and we spend the weekends enjoying the fruits of this beautiful area.
Where else can you be 1 hour from the city, 30mins from Hahndorf, and 40mins from Victor Harbour, live in a tourist zone yourself but still get ADSL2, excellent phone reception (with Telstra at least) and point out the pony’s, horses, cows to the kids every drive or even walk down the street to feed a donkey and still have a nice, modern home to sleep in?