kiwichild

Okay we have had the 50 crap towns (supposedly) in UK thread. How about the best places you have lived in in the UK? I'm think quality of life, work opportunites, cost of living, friendliness of locals, things to see and do etc. Share some of your experiences and thoughts about what made/makes these palces great to live in.

turkeytickler

Norwich - for me but no one else takes it seriously!
- NR2 is one of the UK's top 10 most desirable postal districts with lovely old victorian terraces within 10 mins walk from the city centre, with loads of pubs and a vibrant student scene
- Cathedral City
- Great shopping
- < 2 hours by train to London
- 35 mins from Amsterdam by plane
- Excellent Schools
- Low Crime
- Good employment prospects
- 15 mins from the Broads
- has the Sainsbury Centre for the visual arts in the university grounds
- has VC Norwich - my cycling club
- loads and loads of uncontrolled airspace if you enjoy general aviation

on the flip side
- its only 30 mins from Gt Yarmouth
- the accent has to be heard to be believed and the locals can be a bit odd
- Alan Partidge came from there
- the A11
- houses are pretty expensive in the nicer parts

turkeytickler

Other UK places I really like but have not lived in are;
- Bath
- Cambridge
- Bristol
- Edinburgh
- Sheffield

joh117

My best place is - York

Jo

See this article for evidence

http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/york/new...WS_LOCAL6.html

turkeytickler

yep - york gets a vote from me too

Betty Boot

I love york - could never afford to live there tho

joh117

We probably can't but thats where I am from and its where we are in the process of heading back to. Amazing how things change once babies are on the scene. We love Oz but the pull to be near family is far greater. I guess we are lucky to be heading back to such a great city.

Jo

Bob

There was a pretty good thread on this a couple months back I think...anyway, it all depends on what kind of work your looking for don't it....

Betty Boot

Thats exactly our dilemma, two littlies here now so we want to head back (well i do, still working on my husband!)

lostpom

Brighton Brighton Brighton

Actually this place is one of the main reasons I'm seriously thinking about going back to the UK.

+ Fantastic architecture and period buildings
+ More pubs than you can shake a stick at (actually I think its more pubs than days in the year)
+ Great nightlife
+ Great people
+ Always - absolutely always something going on - vintage car rally/bikers seafront meet/ABBA festival (ABBA won the EuroV in 19xx with Waterloo so they decided to have a festival in their honour)/London to Brighton Mini parade (or London to Brighton just about anything). You don't actually have to do anything to be entertained in Brighton - just go out.
+ Great range of restaurants of all price ranges
+ Lots of interesting/odd/eccentric/gay/drunk/ people on the streets

- Bloody expensive property
- Lack of professional jobs to buy the above
- Lots of odd/drunk people on the streets (two edged sword!)

I only lived there for 2 years, but for me, it totally felt like home the first day I arrived. Its not everyones cup of tea though - a bit pricey and some say a bit rough. Maybe thats why I feel at home !

hawk2005

Back home in Hulme Manchester, that gem of a suburb yet only a stones throw from the city centre

thebears

Yes thumbs up for Brighton - and the place next to it called "Hove Actually".
The old hostel (FG Middle Street) I lived in for 3 months when I first arrived in the UK has finally been redeveloped into flats.

Will miss Horsham, West Sussex but it has changed even in the past 5 years. Still has great pubs on the outskirts but even these are changing as London landlords take over - put the prices up and drop the standard of food.

neill

Brighton, Hulme.... hmmmm i remember doing a geography study at school on hulme. I think it was about urban deprivation... i am about to be shot, aren't i? i guess the area has changed a lot. I reckon Brighton's overrated.. but i haven't been there in years.

Norwich is a great city, i'm with you on that, now with the 2nd shopping mall, new library, etc.. it's got facilities coming out of it's a**, but that damn A11 single carriageway is retarded.

ladylisa

I used to live in Southampton and I really liked it there, it has its own airport and is very commutable to London. Southampton has more parks apparently than any other city in England (not sure UK) and has the new forest on its door step. I would love to live in either Winchester or Salisbury or a little village around Southampton. Ah makes me miss home...more than I do already!

wonderwoman

Things might have changed alittle since you last lived in Southampton, todays Daily Echo (remember that !) is busy slating Southampton as one of the goverments so called hotspots for anti socail behavior / having 'youth' problems, and a couple of the citys park have become 'No Go' areas after dark, i kid you not again front page news as this was police advice ( i personally don't think its any worse than any other city i've lived in !)

i myself live in one of those little places outside Southampton,( Totton ), i'm about 15 mins from the city centre and 10 mins away from the New Forest, Tottons still nice but rapidly becoming overcrowded, so Canada here i come (hopefully)