Milton Keynes
 

Howdy, I am planning a return to the UK (again) and was thinking of going to Milton Keynes as it seems to have a lot of jobs close by that would be good for me.
It looks like it would give me access to the south, Hemel Hempstead, Luton and also to northampton and bedford where there seems to be a lot of work.



Can anyone give me some opinions or info about MK, its hard to build up an impression of a place you have never been from wikipedia and other entries

Thanks

Re: Milton Keynes
 

Hmm, MK doesnt usually get good press and people wanting to be disparaging of Canberra liken it to MK. However, as you say, quite convenient. You could try somewhere with a tad more soul - like St Albans but it all depends on what you would be looking to find there.

Re: Milton Keynes
 

MK as a town is large with plenty to do and good for work. But as said, it has not good a good reputation. We briefly looked to live in MK a few years ago but it was suggested to live in the small surrounding villages instead.

Re: Milton Keynes
 

I have only briefly stopped in St Albans but I do have a very good friend who moved back north to be with family. She had lived several years in St Albans and liked it very much, she says she still misses St Albans.

Of course that doesn't mean the OP would like it, but she did! :lol:

Re: Milton Keynes
 

Hi Dave
I live in Milton Keynes has got 3-4 bad areas as it is all divided up into like small villages with 3-4 shops to each estate /village

I personally dont think it has a great deal of work unless you are a penpusher or want to work in a warehouse .It is very financial saying that as you do have all the big banks with offices and solicitors.

If you are into sport it has everything,music 2 open air venues or if you are into walking the dog you have plenty lakes and canals

Food and bars evry culture you want

One think about mk everybody keeps themself to themself .

Ps Any more info just ask dave

Regards
Bryan

Re: Milton Keynes
 

If you have a passion for roundabouts then Milton Keynes is the place for you. The city's road network has been built on some kind of symmetrical horizontal and vertical system, and they have unique numbers such as H8 and V8. Massive indoor shopping centres containing all of the UK's chain stores among many others, loads of eating and drinking places - and hugs come for free in Milton Keynes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdRW-RdY0YE

Re: Milton Keynes
 

Thanks for the great feedback everyone!

Its very had trying to choose somewhere to return to and MK does seem to have the highest number of jobs around it for me but I am indeed seeing a lot of mixed feelings about the place.

Does anyone know the names of the bad areas to avoid so I can make sure I stay clear.



oh and that free hugs video was very funny, I carnt beleive they got thrown out for it, what a bunch of miserable buggers the company that runs the place must be :rofl:

Re: Milton Keynes
 

we actually lived in a lovely village just off the A5 near Northampton and commuted to the towns you mentioned (I was a public sector Auditor at hte time and had to visit councils and NHS etc) my OH worked in MK and loved the working environment and the commute up the A5 places to suggest worth looking at are Towcester or Aspley Guise/Woburn in the south. OH was an estate agent for a while and was told to proceed with caution in fishermead but other than that you need to look for yoursel, affordability and lifestyle. Anotther plus point for us was the fast access by train to London we went to see several London shows while living in the area and there were several trains which first stop was MK which was brilliant.

Re: Milton Keynes
 

Dave,

I lived in Milton Keynes for all my life until moving to Nova Scotia, like anywhere in the UK there are good & bad parts for the majority being a new city MK isnt too bad & I never had any issues until the last couple of years but that was due to the Muslim issues !

Bad areas to avoid, Lakes Estate, Netherfield, Beanhill, Springfield, Conniburrow - I actually think if you looked at the local MK Citizen News archives or something it may give you a list of worst areas !

I would agree with the previous poster, the villages around MK are alot nicer & cheaper although i wonder what they will be like in a few years as well alot of new development near Rushden etc... lovely new places etc.. but Rushden/Wellingborough .... its more a problem with the UK that just seems to be slowly seeping into everywhere isnt it, I guess the more rural you are, the more you avoid the problems

I was back there in June, stayed with friends in Thrapston - gorgeous little village about an hours commute to MK

PM me if you want more info, i am going back in Sept for a few days..... but like all the UK would i want to live there after this....no thanks

Re: Milton Keynes
 

You could try Banbury or Bicester just to the west of Milton Keynes. They seem decent enough towns with plenty of shops and facilities.

Re: Milton Keynes
 

I used this site to check on areas for crime when I was looking for a house to rent. It shows numbers and types of crimes in the area, even down to individual streets, for each month

http://www.police.uk/

Good luck!

Re: Milton Keynes
 

Hi there. I lived in the Milton Keynes area from a teenager till moving to Australia. Planning on going back again too.
Stony Stratford, Newport Pagnell, Woburn Sands, Olney are all nice historical towns with character on the outskirts of MK... Avoid the estates near the city, especially Fishermead, Oldbrook, Netherfield. Stantonbury is not great. There are some very nice estates - Willen has nice bits, Caldecotte, some of the Shenleys, Monkston is okay, Middleton... there is a lot to do there, it has really developed in the last few years.:)

Re: Milton Keynes
 

MK, like all the other "new towns" such as Telford, Letchworth, Welwyn Garden City, gets a bad rap mostly because of the fact that they were designed and built in the 50s and 60s, with little regard for fitting in with the surrounding areas and many people found them rather "antiseptic" with their grid layouts and identikit housing. Also, the architecture of the era has mostly not aged well.

If you can disregard those factors and the "concrete cow" stigma, MK is rather a good place. It's very well connected, right next to the M1, less than an hour by train to London, it's grown a lot culturally in the last 10 years, there's plenty to do, lots of good shopping, and it's easy to get around. It's certainly worth checking out.

Re: Milton Keynes
 

Bicester is a nice market town we lived there but the facilities can not cope with the extensive housing that has been built on the edge of town when we lived there you need to queue for 2 hours to try and book a set of swimming lessons for your kids, we loved MK and surrounding villages but sadly thought Oxford was a waste of time!
While living in Bicester my husband commuted to his job in Northampton, Banbury was also a good commute while I travelled to High Wycombe and Aylesbury

Re: Milton Keynes
 

Dave
I've lived in MK and surrounding areas up until age 24 and then moved to the US for 20 years. I've been back in MK now for 2 years, and everything is great here.... There is trouble in every place you live really, I think it's not as bad as some areas in LA and NYC etc...., but it's not as bad as some people say it is. There are some lovely village areas, some of the old villages before the city was built, and of course it gets cheaper as you move a little further away from MK, such as Northampton etc..., but the good thing is that it's only a 50 minute fast train to London, if you can't find work in MK.

There was a bit of trouble recently in Fishermead (which is probably one of the not so good areas), it's 5 mins from town, but you wouldn't know anything wrong in visiting the town. Lots of shops, eateries....and beautiful countryside that you wouldn't knew existed if you just drove through.

Give it a try! Good luck!