Moving to Bristol with almost 2 year old - where to live?

[1sttimemumma]

Hi everyone!

I’m moving to Bristol (not from far, just Monmouth) as a single mum with my currently 18 month old, but it won’t be for a couple of months.

Without sounding like a tit, money isn’t a problem - we’ll be looking for a 2 bed flat / house up to about £1,800 per month.

She’ll be in childcare 3 days a week, with my mother the other 2, would like to be able to get to her in Monmouth in around an hour max.

She would be happy at either a childminder or nursery - we want somewhere that has good primary schools too.
It needs to be fairly central (so not a town outside Bristol).

Please help!

[sleepismysuperpower1]

Kingsdown? Its around a 15 minute walk to bristol city centre, and just under an hours drive to Monmouth. mama bear nursery is a 5 minute bike ride/15 minute walk from Kingsdown. your local primary school (cotham gardens primary) is a 5 minute walk away too.

all the best x

[SmellMySmellbow]

Spoilt for choice for good primaries in Bristol and you have a big budget. So, what are your priorities with the house? Eg garden, parking etc. Then, what are your priorities with the area, beyond schooling? What type of people are you/what 'vibe' are you looking for? So many little districts in Bristol that have very very different feels to them. Let me know and I'll give you some ideas with accompanying schools.

[1sttimemumma]

Some kind of outside space would be great, just a little patio area type thing would be enough though. Parking for one car (on road is ok).
I work full time from home as an operations manager for a web developers, so I want to be able to get to a co-working space with young professionals in a reasonable amount of time (not students or tooooo creatives if you see what I mean, I’m an ops manager myself not something UBER cool). But I’m on my 20s and originally a Londoner so a ‘young hip (yuck work) vibe’ haha.
Thank you!!!

[1sttimemumma]

@SmellMySmellbow not sure you were tagged in my reply!

[TalaxuArmiuna]

although there's a good range of decent primary schools in Bristol, there aren't a lot of good senior schools so although that's a good 9 years off I would advise thinking of that for the area you settle in. Redland is a lovely area and has one of the few decent state schools - but the catchment area is an odd shape (which you can check the boundaries of online) - it's not done on radius. i would love to live in Redland if I could afford it. it has plenty of properties meeting your criteria.

[SmellMySmellbow]

Bishopston has the best primary school according to league tables (Bishops Road primary) and should be in the catchment for Redland Green as a secondary (best secondary). Redland off to the West is lovely too. Both good family areas, quite big houses. A tiny bit (5min walk) further south into Cotham and Kingsdown is a bit 'cooler'. All give easy access to Gloucester Road which is great for independent shops pubs and cafes. Can walk into city centre. Bristol is awash with co-working spaces. I'm south of the river (just) in a very young family heavy zone with an excellent primary but the secondary schools are a bit meh. (Though they are building a new one in time for Ds) You'd struggle to spend anywhere near your budget in my area though! I can walk to the harbourside in 20 mins though, which I love, and have a massive gorgeous park on my doorstep.