Moving to Manchester

I never even finished my message

**has better transport links in my opinion and also more green spaces

And easily in your budget for a nice 4 bed detached.

Round Northwich is nice, it is on the m6, 30 mins by train to Liverpool, 40 mins by train to Manchester and 40 mins drive to Manchester, 1.hour by train or car to Birmingham and easy to get to Crewe for trains to London (1.5 hours). 40 mins to Chester,
It is in cheshire coutryside but for other areas it is 1.5 hours by car to north Wales, 40 mins to the Peak District and 1.5 hours to Lake District.

Denton has had lots of new bars and resturants but (my) problem with denton is no train station! Need to get a bus for 40mins which puts me off whereas a couple miles down the road more towards Hyde (which isn't a great town centre but has a lovely park and beautiful walks close to werneth low and peak district

You could easily get a really nice 3 or 4 bed family home in Prestwich, which is a very popular area at the moment with a nice centre, a vast park, and excellent transport links into the city centre - takes 20 minutes by tram every 6-12 minutes - and is regularly named in 'best places to live in Greater Manchester' and 'best places to buy a home' lists, for £350K.

Didsbury and Heaton Mersey have a good tram system too and a thriving bar/restaurant scene as well as plenty of running socialising groups. Depends what type of lifestyle you live. Macc has some restaurants and bars and is lovely and rural but also the last train is around 11.30 and if for any reason it's not running the taxi fare can be around £40-£50. If you like the city to be reachable at all times I'd stick to the outskirts like H Mersey, near the river, Cheadle, Didsbury, all are accessible for trips to theatres/galleries with transport running until late at night (which also might be useful if daughter wants to stay last minute for any reason) You won't get much for your money looking at Altrincham or Wilmslow areas as they are well connected and on the edge of vast swathes of green belt.

I've lived in Manchester all my life, I wouldn't like to move to areas like Longsight, Gorton, Whalley Range, Cheetham Hill, Rusholme, Openshaw even though I'm sure there are some lovely properties. Levenshulme is next to Longsight and has some 'cool' bars and restaurants house prices are rising rapidly as a result, young adults with parents who live in Didsbury and Heatons are making Levenshulme and Denton areas the places they move to as they can't afford to buy where they were.

Where in Manchester is your potential job? I live on the manchester to glossop train line and getting into Central Manchester is great- 20 minutes but when I worked at Salford quays absolutely hated that commute!!

Hi op maybe look at Mossley as well, it's a short train journey from Mossley to Manchester but it's not on the tramline though, you need to go to Ashton to catch the tram.

What’s the name of this place?

Consider Holmfirth and surrounding areas, stunning views and lovely houses. Bus into Huddersfield, train 20mins to Manchester. Has its own little lively town centre and surrounded by lovely villages, it's so easy to get to other main places like Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield, Barnsley, glossop, oldham, Manchester through a choice of roads. You would get something decent for your budget, further down the road is Honley and your money would go further also has a nice town street and nice stone houses.

That is beautiful! Funnily enough when I was younger I always thought (based on pretty much nothing) that I'd like to live in Macclesfield one day... Who knows.

Ooh! It was meant to be!

Stockport has some lovely areas and some not-so-lovely areas.

You may get a small semi or a terraced for £350,000 in places like Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme and Poynton (all lovely). Trains take about 15 mins from Bramhall / Cheadle Hulme to Manchester Piccadilly and about 30 mins from Poynton.

Or anywhere along the Met line - Bury, Whitefield, Oldham etc!

You may be limited on some of the leafy Cheshire/south Manchester type places with £350k although things may come down in price.

If you're looking for more rural but close to a decent town and good links to Manchester you may get something in Macclesfield or Bollington within budget. This one for example https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128371664

I think you'll struggle in Sale, Altrincham, Bramhall, Poynton etc as they're quite expensive still. Maybe better in the High Peak area. I agree with the suggestion of trying saddleworth/uppermill but again I think they've become very popular. Monton gets a mention here and there as well.

I used to live in Whalley Range and loved it. Good running areas, very leafy, lovely bars. Ditto Altrincham, around Dunham Massey and an area called Oldfield Brow are gorgeous. Although they in themselves very pricey, on the borders of them they get cheaper and the area is still nice. Alexandra Park area for Whalley Range and Sale/Wythenshawe border for Altrincham.

Rawtenstall

I have experience of the North of Manchester, on the edge of the west pennine moors. direct train to Manchester (25 minutes… ish), and you can be on the Motorway in 5 or 10 minutes, and then it’s 20 minutes into the city. Lots of nice long country walks, micro-breweries .. and restaurants

Some parts of Salford are lovely - Monton, Worsley. Definitely not rural though. Also some lovely parts of Stockport like the Heatons. Also not rural.

Salford and Stockport aren’t great. Disley is nice though- on the train line and very pretty. If you want more trendy inner city you would struggle to buy in the nicer areas on that budget. We lived in Manchester for 13 years before moving to Sheffield- partly due to the housing costs.

Greenfield is nice - saddleworth area and villagey but on the train. Just about in budget. Uppermill very nice but not on train as is Delph

A lot of places are not that rural that are convenient for tram/train- so there might be some compromise- it isn't as cheap as you might think in areas I think are quite nice too.

Some bits around Rochdale aren't too bad and surrounded by nice

Salford is huge an a separate city in its own right.
There are some lovely bits around Monton/South Swinton/Worsley, it’s also home to several of the most deprived parts of the country. Whereabouts had you been looking.
Stockport, again, variable, traffic in Stockport is horrendous

Stockport has some nice suburbs if you head east towards. you might find something in Marple which has two train lines into Manchester and easy access to the Peak District

I would be on the metro line as any other public transport is very sporadic and unreliable. Have a look at Sale, Timperley and Altrincham. I think Altrincham is the nicest and there are a few terraced houses within your budget there, Timperley is very small but is well connected, Sale is a bit bigger and have some very nice areas and some not so nice. I think Sale is improving though year by year in terms of new restaurants and shops.