In reply to kevin stephens:
Having moved to Kendal just over 3 years ago, it's definitely grown on me as a town. I work from home (internet is pretty good fibre), but am about 10 minutes walk from the town center. There's a bit of green space in the town by the river, or you can be on Scout Scar for an evening walk in minutes.
I can be in Langdale in 30-40 minutes (traffic dependent), or on the M6 in 10 to get South. Scotland's accessible for a weekend, taking around 4-5 hours to somewhere like Pitlochry or Glen Coe. Manchester's easy enough to get to on the train, though don't expect to get back late of an evening. London Euston is a surprisingly quick journey too if you get the right train. Yorkshire and the Peak are pretty accessible too (2 hours to Hathersage).
As mentioned elsewhere, Kendal's fine for shopping - Booths, Morrisons, Asda and supposedly a Sainsburys on the way - although a little less "cosmopoliton" in its stock variety sometimes compared to other places I've lived (i.e. the South). The outdoor shop option is basically Nevisport, with an increasingly poorly-stocked field and trek and a couple of other minor places.
The brewery was a major selling point for me, with cinema/mountain fest/comedy/music/theatre as well as the bar and restaurant. Kendal's not blessed with lots of good restaurants, but there's enough. The pubs are quite varied, and rarely do any food worth speaking of, but there're some good ones like the Riflemans.
For me personally, the property prices were good (compared to Winchester), but obviously that depends where you're comparing it to.
The traffic in town at rush hour is moderately bad, but I don't personally notice much inconvenience from tourists; certainly not as much as say in Ambleside or Keswick.
Post edited at 10:59