Hi Kittenheels, welcome to the area, it's a good place to live but lets face it, looking at the high street it's got a long way to go before it becomes a great place to live.

You may be wondering why you've not had much response to your post. It's not that people are ignoring you (well, it is actually) but if you look back at past posts it's probably because we've had this question crop up before and it's also been a topic of conversation on a number of other posts. I think maybe people are thinking 'been there done that' as it's been hotly debated on a number of occassions, not least on the below threads which you may be interested in:

http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5739

http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=4925

There are many things which would be lovely on the parade, not least a pharmacy, greengrocers, butchers, gastro pub etc etc we all agree (on the specific traders however, we often don't) but for the time being (and for the past couple of years i'm afraid) it's a case of watch this space.