NullMind

Hello

For the past 6 months I been digging for information on wich town to move to in the Uk that would fit my budget .. I have narrowed it down to two Cities

1 - Cardiff Area (including Newport) Wales
2 - Sheffieeld - Lincoln area

I do my work over the web, so I dont need to be on one place over the other, I am just tryign to avaliate wich one of the two might be a better choice for somebody lookign for a place that is pleasant to the eyes and dynamic, not to mention safe (I know, you never safe .. but safer)

cheers

Null

Ben

When you say Sheffield - Lincoln area it really depends on whether you are talking Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire or Lincolnshire. Villages are the safest bet but you could say that anywhere you go. Do you need schools for children? If so, I would opt for Lincolnshire as they still have the 11+ there so children have more choice for their abilities. But this is just a personal choice. Sheffield has a great shopping mall and city centre. Lincoln is smaller but more beautiful I would say. Sheffield has a lot going for it. It went through a very difficult time during the 80's with high unemployment but that is starting to change and has been improved a lot over the last few years. Chesterfield is lovely, Mansfield isn't! Lincolnshire is flat, except for the one big hill in the centre!

What nationality are you? If you are American you may like the villages in Lincolnshire near the military bases as you get a few Americans posted around there.

I like Lincolnshire because my sister and mum and dad live there. I like South Yorkshire becausae my Grandma lived there and I have fond memories of visiting her. Also my sister lived there before moving to Lincolnshire. And I like Nottinghamshire because that is where we lived before moving to the USA. If you don't have children and work from home, I don't think any of this part of the country is a bad place to live.

Wales is lovely and I have a lot of happy memories of my childhood there visiting relatives. (I was born in South Wales but didn't live there very long). But it is a depressed area with high unemployment north and west of Cardiff. Don't know Newport at all. If you are going for the scenery, Wales beats Sheffield/Lincoln hands down.

For crime stats., your best bet is to look on the web to compare the two.

NullMind

I did meant Lincolnshire area ..

I'm suprise to hear Cariff has uneplyment problems, the city looks liek it had lots goign for it, allot of development

WheelsOfSteel

I think Cardiff has the highest premium for car insurance due to the appetite of the car thieves in the area.

ScousePete

It looks like you speak Welsh already, so I would say Cardiff is your best bet

Ben

I didn't say Cardiff itself, I said North and West of Cardiff. There was a lot of mining round that area and they haven't recovered too well. Just like parts of South Yorkshire but it is nearer to Doncaster than Sheffield, I think . Sheffield was helped with having the Student games there a few years ago. They council have tried very hard to improve Sheffield and from what I understand have done a very good job of it and it has had a knock on effect to the surrounding areas. From what I remember of Cardiff City, it is a great city but I haven't been to the city for a very long time, whereas I have been to some of the villages in the county of Mid Glam. and they haven't changed much in recent years. Quaint but depressing in places.

Do a search for local employment figures and you might get a better picture.

Scout

I can't speak for Sheffield since I don't know that area. My husband is from near Cardiff and we are moving back there next year.

Cardiff is up and coming from what I can see. The City Centre ads a lot. Housing prices have come up considerably in the past several years but when compared to much of the rest of the UK are still reasonable.

I have seen little indication of rampant unemployment either including the nearby valley towns. Work is there if you want it....or it seemed so when we were last there in May. People are commuting into Cardiff and it's business seems to be booming.

My biggest pet peave about Cardiff ifs the airport. It's almost impossible to fly from Cardiff to London and visa versa. When flying in from the US it's not much fun hopping trains to Cardiff and beyond from London after an 8+ hour flight. There's only one bus and hour from the airport into Cardiff and that's a pain too. I have heard rumors of extending the train out to the airport but I am not holding my breath for that to happen any time soon.

Cheers,

Leslie

Bob

Depends on the type of work your looking for, but from what my mate tells me, he studied at Cardiff for a bit, was that it's a good place for small businesses and the like, because was able to get some kind of sponsorship, but that could be education related.

NullMind

That was my big thing about it, the hosing price .. very inexpensive when compared to the rest of the UK .. the only place I foudn prices to match was actually on Doncaster ..


That's good to hear, altrought I will be workign off the web (so basically can work anywhere), my wife will still be int he job market .. but I guess it's the same everywhere, if you look hard enought, you will find it

Higuest premious for car insurance hum :P .. I did notice on upmystree website a large number of stolen car reports for the area ..

Null

Ceri

A few links for you regarding businesses, funding and grants etc in Wales.


http://www.businessonline.wales.gov....ipts/links.asp
http://www.wda.co.uk/index.cfm/wda_home/index/en2
http://www.financewales.co.uk/eng/
.................................................. .......................
P.s can I suggest the swansea region to you if you're looking at South Wales (wales's second capital city) . You've not only got the city of Swansea, but some of the best beaches/coastline in the region , Gower, very pleasant to the eye.

NullMind

Thanks for the Links

And yes, I was struck by Mumbles .. what a beuty it looks to be .. it is defenately on my list (Swansea)

Ceri

I'm not personally over fond of The mumbles.. When I say Gower I don't tend to bring Mumbles into this equation ( it's just the gateway to Gower to me ).

Lots of people do love it there, but to me it has some of the worst beaches around Gower , too small, too packed, and some residents too hoity toity ( some!) .. When I say worst, I don't mean it is terrible, it's just we are a bit spoilt for choice with our beautiful coastline , and there are far more beautiful beaches and coastline around Gower than in the Mumbles.
The area also gets packed right out during the summer months. It's good for a pub run though!! ( My mum-in-law actually lives in The mumbles, she goes back generations in the area - she loves it there.. me no. It is a bit too touristy, pokey streets.. hard to park a car in some of them (They were originally designed for horses not cars - it's an old area , originally it was full of Oysterdredgers and such - the town was once famous during the 1800's to early 1900's for the oyster market - that's when most people moved into the area in those days . Before that it was a bit of a dock coming across from illfacombe , plus all the mariners/fishermen etc - bit of history for you -lol Apparently they are are trying to bring back the oysters today as the water quaility has now cleaned up - the trade originally died out through diseases, and over dredging of the area in the early 1900's)

Now I'm sure to have upset someone in Mumbles now lol - look it's beautiful to all those mumbles residents and thousands of tourists alike who travel there to see it . It's just not my cup of tea though.

It's not the real Gower to me - just a gate . But lots and lots of other people do love it and do find it beautiful - my mum-in-law included!. I'll have the Mumbles residents telling me to shut my face about The Mumbles and it is the most beautiul place in the world next lol . I'm serious, you ought to hear some of these old timers there.. very protective over their Mumbles they are.

Seriously though you could very well like it there, and may find it very nice plenty of other people do.

Cheers

love_it_here

I went to Cardiff University for four years (graduate and post-grad) and I have very fond memories of the place. I would defintely rate it as one of my most favourite cities in the UK. The city centre is compact, the shops are great, there is lots going on, really nice parks, some pretty houses/architecture and not far to the Gower. The only reason I left was because I work in public relations and most of the jobs in my field required welsh speakers. Other than that I probably would have stayed.

It's funny as I was working for a PR firm in Vancouver and one of my colleagues left (a Canadian) to emigrate to Cardiff (to mary a Welshman). A tiny bit of me was jealous.

Haven't been to Sheffield so can't comment.

Hope that is helpful.

NullMind

That reminds me of my homeland .. I was born in the Azores Islands (where I am stayng right now with my folks)

We got narrow streets, where traffic can only be in one direction, and try to get a parkign space is a real adventure .. but it can also be part of the charm

Now you got me real excited with the Gower .. cant wait to see it

NullMind

Thanks for the comment .. now, the Welsh speaking thing, was this mostly on your professional area, or most jobs require you to know both languages ?