Thanks for all your advice on the best place to live for someone:

1) that wants to be around other 30'ish singles
2) loves the outdoors (climbing, kayaking etc)
3) wants low crime
4) and wants lots of admin job opportunites

Well.....I have narrowed it down to the Lake District!

Please could you recommend one of the following places based on the above criteria?

1) Kendal
2) Carlisle
3) Penrith
Okay 4) Keswick

The only thing that I really, really dont want is to be in a quiet town where I wont meet anyone.

THANK YOU!!!!!

Time to visit, methinks, and suss out your proposed options...

Sellafield is a big employer in that area and has a fair number of younger employees in all sorts of fields, engineering, business, etc so there is quite a community of "young uns" around there. I was in the industry and had many colleagues in the area who were into ourdoors type stuff up there & always found it quite surprising on my visits that the place wasn't just full of old-timers and eccentric rambler-types! Their money seemed to go further up there too. You should be fine. There may even be job opportunities related to Sellafield if you are ok with their line of business. There is also the University of Lancaster, another good employer & source of potential social life.

Kendal is nice but it is a small market town. Carlisle is bigger and grittier. Keswick really is a tourist place with a large itinerant population. I like Penrith best but it is still a farming/market town with some locals who like to cruise their cars at night as the main form of entertainment.

Have you looked at the house prices?

www.rightmove.co.uk

I would also think carefully about jobs as a lot of the jobs in this area are hotel/care working. Sellafield is a trek from Keswick and I think too far to commute from the other places.

Ambleside is also nice but expensive - anywhere in the National Park is prime 2nd home territory.

What about the Peak District then you can work in the city?

When you say you love the outdoors, do you love the outdoors when it's cold, wet, cloudy? Because it will be for a lot of the year!
Have you considered further south, there are lots of cities on the south coast with plenty of young people and admin jobs, access to lots of 'outdoors' and are a degree or two warmer.

Why not have a look at Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire - I believe people manage to communte to Manchester from there to work - though I would imagine it takes about hour and half on the train. It is a very cool town though, lots of the outdoorsy healthy crap you mentioned, some gorgeous countryside nearby (Hardcaslte Crags is a fave) and it's pretty bohemian.

I was at a party up there one night and some hippy bird offered me a glass of magic mushroom wine - I said - fair go love! Only to find a punch bowl full of cheap wine with a load of unwashed mushies floating about in it. i politely declined. Non the less I like it and it may be closer to other larger conurbations for work. Others will know more about the place I am sure.

West Yorkshire and bohemian in the same sentence, never thought I'd see that.

Oh yes, i agree with that. I lived not far from Hebden Bridge, it's great,

Hebden Bridge is a lovely place, definitely plenty of nice walks around the area. It is cold in winter and gets lots of snow but beautiful in the summer. We used to visit a lot when we lived in the north of England. A lot of hippies settled there thus the cross section of types Hardcastle Craggs is a great place to walk We lived in Rossendale so not far away - have you looked around the Rossendale area?

Just Because - Thanks for your reply - glad to see that there are other like minded people in the area. Didnt know about Sellafield though, so thats a surprise. Do people have an issue about Sellafield and the environment?

Yes & no.....depends on if you need a job or are against nuclear waste.

It's the biggest employer in West Cumbria - but as I said it is a trek from the towns you have listed.....Cockermouth is nearer and people live there and work in the plant.

Have you ever been over to the Lakes coast? As you would see why others are suggesting places like Hebden Bridge. I would live in West Cumbria as I like the area because it is rural & quiet. However, I personally don't want to live near a nuclear plant.

Anyway, my last answer on this as you have only thanked the one poster and all the other posts are equally valid.

Thanks all...

Great info - I was leaning more towards living In Keswick and maybe working in penrith? Keswick just seems so beautiful and would be a dream living there. Although I would be renting a flat or a room, and am not sure if either would be in Keswick.
Second was Kendal as it is bigger, I was imagining more jobs to be there.

Carlisle, is not as picturesque....am I right?

Cumbria just seems ideal to me - i love the landscape of the peaks there. The weather doesnt bother me one bit. I would have to just dress for it.

I will be heading up there soon, so I will be able to see if my expetations are correct!

Bee pop - I was just in the process of thanking the other posters as you were righting yours. Phew!....trying to thank people as quickly as I can!

Are you KIDDING me... Seascale ( where sellafield is based ) is a hole amongst holes....yes, there is a young community... of drug addicts ! I would not in a month of sundays recommend ever living there.. not even to my worst enemy...

Well it obviously depends on the circles you move in! On my visits I always thought it was "quaint":fish & chips then cosy pubs just right for after a day hill-walking or the like. I may be thinking of Whitehaven. That has a little music venue that you can see decent bands at - top names like Morrissey but at a really small venue.

Btw, Sellafield is no longer a nuclear plant in terms of being a power plant as it has closed down power generation, in case that makes any difference to anyone.