Jay-Producer

Hi,

Not sure where to have put this, because it didn't really fit into the other forum and it doesn't necessarily fit in here because its not off-topic but I returned to the UK over 1 year ago so give or take. Hmmm..

Me and my partner returned from New Zeland after spending 6-months there and 6-months in Australia to see if either country was worth living in for us. Unfortunately it wasn't as great as all the hype led us to be. When someone paints a lovely picture in your head its hard to think otherwise.

Anyhows, over 1-year on and living in Wales (first time ever) we do not want to stay in Cardiff and, although the people are friendly here and its a decent country to live in (Cardiff is quite nice but not great enough), there are no other decent sized cities or towns big enough for us wanting to live their (excluding Swansea because neither of us like it).


Has anyone lived in any of those places mentioned in the title that could give an insight as to what they are like to live in?

We have visited Cheltenham before so got a rough idea what its like (we were only there for 1hr) but have not to live there.

Me and my partner are planning on visiting these places to check them out so we will get a feel for them then. Just trying to get some feedback from those that could give an insight as to what its like to live? It is always different visiting somewhere than it is living there - this is one big lesson we have learned, along with not believing all the hype and look at things from the outside

We have lived in so many countries and different cities over the past 10 years we are trying to find somewhere to settle down. It's funny when you travel around, you have so much more of a different perspective on places than you would when your younger and only lived in one or two places all of your life. Of course our interests change as we get older so clubbing is no longer for us for example.

I'm from a gorgeous city called Edinburgh, we both love it but we are curious to see what else is out there and, being rather optimistic here, seeing if there is anywhere better than Edinburgh in the UK. We will be visiting Canada at some point and will make a decision then where we will be living.

Any heads up?

I know one thing will come up and that's 'well it depends on your interests and what you like'

So here it is....


What we do NOT like / not interested in:

- Clubs (don't mind them we just wont be visiting them)
- Anti-social behavior / yobs - especially after a night out.
- Busy crowded cities / towns (but do like vibrant places - its getting that balance)
- Smog / dirty air
- Littered dirty cities / towns
- Grey boring dull buildings.
- Rude people / communities


What we do like:

- Vibrant cities / towns what we are living in but not too busy or crowded (Cheltenham was vibrant for example but perhaps a tad too buss and crowded - according to stats it has a high density)
- Clean fresh air.
- Good Architecture (Georgian and Roman buildings)
- Plenty of green areas / parks / lakes
- Rivers (preferably one running through the city / town)
- Scenic Drives - there has to be plenty of opportunities to go on scenic drives. The country side needs to be gorgeous and scenic.
- Close to a major / large city if we want a change of scenery.
- Comfy laid back, chilled pubs (lots of) and funky ones. I heard York has lots of good pubs.
- Friendly people.
- There has to be other things to do like bowling and cinema.
- Shopping (more for my partner), there has to be quite a lot of shops to keep her happy.

quoll

Dont know that I would put Chelmsford on the list but it is close to London.

York is lovely, Cheltenham always strikes me as a bit up itself (my personal impression only, it is probably super).

You could try Bath (close to Bristol for shopping), Oxford or Cambridge (I'm a Cambridge girl but it is flat, I know that), Durham (but that might be getting a tad close to Scotland for you), Norwich is nice but again quite flat - the broads are close by though.

I always fancied Ludlow, dont know why and it isnt a big town but is reasonably close to the big midland cities.

Jay-Producer

Hi, Thank you for the comments. Bath is too expensive for properties as is Cambridge, and Oxford has problems with yobs and anti-social behavior at night time - watched a documentary a little year ago on it. We do not like Bristol (in our opinion it is horrible, bleak and grey - no doubt better for shopping than Bath).

York is meant to be flat also isn't it? York is my number one choice, not too small but not big either. I feel the likes of Chelmsford, Bath and Cheltenham will be too small but Cheltenham had a feel of a much bigger place with its great shopping and the Cotswolds is gorgeous.

Have you ever been to Chelmsford before? according to Channel 4 its the 8th best place to live.

Ludlow is far too small for us
Durham - far too small for us.
Norwich - is this going to have beautiful architecture? I doubt it.

Englishmum

Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick or Leamington Spa (Warwickshire)?

Leamington does have a scruffier part of town though, although all of these towns are solidly middle-class....the Warwickshire countryside is lovely and there are loads of National Trust houses and gardens in the county and nearby Gloucestershire too. There are good connections from these towns to Coventry, Birmingham and London by car/bus or train (the M40 motorway is nearby which connects to London and other parts of the Midlands/North via the M42 and M6). I do however love driving along the scenic Roman Road (the Fosse Way) from the outskirts of Warwick and Stratford to the Cotswolds and on to Bath.

Stratford-upon-Avon is one of my favourite places (yes, the river runs right through it!) although of course there are many tourists due to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and his birthplace etc. and it's a vibrant place year-round. The shopping is excellent. At this time of year many of the hotels and B&B's offer good value weekend breaks, it might be worth staying there and exploring the local area.

Shrewsbury, Shropshire? (although perhaps too small for you?).

Colchester, Essex (the original capital city for Roman Britain).

Jay-Producer

Hiya,

Thanks for those suggestions. All those places are too small for us. We want somewhere 100k+ (but not over 500k). I already did my research so I'm sticking to those I picked . York seems to be my top choice so can't wait to see it.

Binks

Have you visited Chester? It was where I came from originally. It has beautiful architecture including city walls and beautiful countryside on the outskirts. The River Dee runs right through it and it is close to North Wales for the mountains and coast. I'm beginning to wonder why I ever left!!!

Victor Meldrew

Ditto Chester. In addition:
Close to some great shopping - Cheshire Oaks outlet village
Close to motorway network
Has some great restaurants and shops
Has urban, semi-rural and rural areas very closeby
Has a variety of housing ranging from apartments, to modern housing to older style housing including farm style housiing and cottages

Eastbound

What we do like:

- Vibrant cities / towns what we are living in but not too busy or crowded (Cheltenham was vibrant for example but perhaps a tad too buss and crowded - according to stats it has a high density
- Good Architecture (Georgian and Roman buildings)
- Scenic Drives - there has to be plenty of opportunities to go on scenic drives. The country side needs to be gorgeous and scenic.
- Close to a major / large city if we want a change of scenery.
- Comfy laid back, chilled pubs (lots of) and funky ones. I heard York has lots of good pubs.
- Friendly people.
- There has to be other things to do like bowling and cinema.
- Shopping (more for my partner), there has to be quite a lot of shops to keep her happy

Just my ten penneths worth ~ Cheltenham yep high density of population to be sure but great regency architecture ,good mix of shopping and entertainment centres eg Beechwood regency arcade and the prom .
Great cinema complex opened up a few years back in the old brewery building so you can watch a film , shop and eat at the resturants all in the same complex offering many differant culinery options .
Also a short car ride puts you out in some great walking country eg the Cotswolds , cleeve hill etc ~ hope this helps

sallysimmons

I used to live near York. It's a beautiful city with a fantastic arts scene and lots of interesting pubs. Beautiful architecture. Quite well off, so lots of shops.

The only downsides I can see based on your list are:

a) Scenery: It's easy to travel from York to nice places, but the area around the city is flat and a bit dull.

b) Not wanting a city that's too crowded: York is a tourist hot spot so it's always packed except in the depths of winter.

We have a list a lot like yours and we loved Kendal in Cumbria. It's a good-sized market town with lots of pubs and shops and a good arts scene (theater, cinemas etc), rive running through it, and it's only 90 minutes to Manchester by train or car if you need a bigger city from time to time.

Another alternative in that area, and bigger, is Lancaster but I haven't checked that out. The scenery around those two towns cannot be beaten!

Good luck with your choice. I envy you as I am still trying to make my way back to the country, let alone deciding where to live.

northernbird

If I had a choice between Lancaster and Kendal I would pick Kendal for sure. I was brought up about half way between the 2 places and Kendal is a far nicer town with less social issues to contend with.

sallysimmons

Good to know.

We fell in love with Kendal but didn't want to rule out Lancaster until we had seen it. I don't know if there's another place more suited to me than Kendal in the UK, but if there is, I haven't found it yet. I like York but ruled it out for the reasons I mentioned above. I want hills around me and I don't want to be in a tourist center.

Jon77

Hello

I am a Yorkie and apart from the period living in Australia from 2002 - 2005 I have been around York most of my life. One of the reasons for coming back was because I wanted my son to be born in York. Although we are leaving again shortly.

I will give a balanced a view as possible of the city I am currently living and working in, every city has it's positives and negatives so I will try and give a good overview.

I totally diagree with those who say the York area is rather flat and uninteresting. Just outside York to the North the Howardian Hills start to rise up, this is where the famous Castle Howard is located and many people commute to York from this area. It is a bit of a forgotten about area these hills. Just 30 min's to the East the Yorkshire Wolds start to rise up. Lots of interesting villages in the Vale of York with a fantastic assortment of pubs and restaurants.

The River Ouse is a beautiful river and makes York a great setting for riverside walks.

York is not far from Leeds by road or rail so you have a big city not far away that offers just about everything.

Bike riding is very popular in York and is a great way to get around the city. I use my bike all the time and the fact that the area around the city is flat makes is very easy.

There are some draw back to York though.

The cost of homes and rent is very high compared to the rest of the North of England. Much better value can be found in the surrounding towns / villages. But then you would have to commute in to York and part of it's charm is the fact that you can walk / ride a bike quickly to anywhere.

Unemployment is high as much of the old industry has now gone. The train building and chocolate factories have now mainly gone or the ones that do remain are very small. There is no real industry here any longer and many big companies have pulled out in the last few years. Aviva and English Heritage still have offices here I believe. The tourism industry offers the most jobs now, but many of those are part time / seasonal. There is too much part time / seasonal work in York these days and not enough good quality full time work. Many people commute to Leeds for work from York which is a shame.

York also does have it's social problems. There is a higher percentage of homless people in York compared to other plaes in England. You will see a good number of beggars on the streets. I think that fact that it is a tourist city draws them in.

The traffic can be a nightmare, but can't most UK cities. York seems to suffer though because of the limited river crossing points and the medieval walled city layout. The inner ring road and the A64 which is like York's M25 can be gridlocked at rush hour.

I hate July and August in York because the place is packed with tourists, it gets a bit much!

Flooding used to be more of an issue when I was young. Millions have been spent on flood defenses and so far they seem to work fine. But some houses in prone areas outside of the main city defense area can still flood.

There are a few places that I would deffinately keep away from when house buying - Acomb, Clifton and Tang Hall. These places should be avoided at all costs! But they are where the most affordable housing will be located. Yes, even York has it's estates with social problems.

And yes York does have cracking pubs.

sallysimmons

I agree these places are lovely. I just thought the OP wanted scenery closer than 30 minutes out. But if not, then like I said, York has access to some lovely places and is also well-placed for the coast.

Exile

Tough choice between those two places. I always had relatives in York and loved visiting the place. Such an interesting place, packed with history and atmosphere. Friendly people, in my experience.

I now live in Cheltenham, which is also nice. Doesn't feel as friendly as York, and seems quite polarized, with sink estates in some parts of town and extreme affluence on display in other parts (probably true of most UK towns, but seems quite extreme here).

Lots going on, with the literature, science, music, jazz festivals, etc. Right on the edge of the Cotswolds, so close to some of the most beautiful countryside you'll ever find.

Loads of trendy shops and cafes in the "nice" areas, lots of parks and gardens and leafy streets, beautiful regency architecture. No river to speak of.

Property prices are very high if you want to live in the nice bits.

brits1

York is lovely...a few expats have settled there...not too far from Leeds but far enough if you want a City shop etc....Chester is lovely as well and not so far from Liverpool if once again you need a City Shop.....I like Norfolk and Lincoln towns as well.....what we did was look at the High Street...a good area nearly always has a good high street with decent shops and hardly any closed you could even look at towns in Derbyshire...a lovely County and sometimes fly's low on the radar...take your time if you can and have a good luck around...try staying over for a couple of nights and I asked in the local shops what they thought of their area etc....good luck....ps narrow it down as well by doing things also like...Countryside v Coastline, North v South, West v East, work opportunities if required. Historic over new etc....