So if i'm made redundant and move out of London - where should we go?

[bluepapermonkey]

The B3BC is threatening redundancy. I'm not from London but DH is. neither of us want to move but needs must. if it came to it, where should we go?

we'd want somewhere a bit lively - university town/city? - with stuff to do and decent restaurants and, naturally, good schools.

oh and somewhere nice to walk to dog (parks) and might be nice to have easy access to either countryside or seaside walks for weekends...

Bristol? I quite fancy moving there.

Yes, i did wonder about Bristol. Which are the nice but not insanely pricey bits? obs if we move we need tiny or no mortgage or no point!

i only know bristol a bit - clifton v posh, st pauls rough - or is that a sweeping inaccuracy?

I moved to Bristol from London. I do not love it nearly as much as I had hoped, I'm afraid. Very cliquey, nightmare school admissions, very demarcated rich areas and poor areas.

There are good things - loads of things to do for kids, many accessible green spaces and interesting things going on culturally. Not sure it's going to be enough to keep us here.

There's a lot more to Bristol than St Pauls and Clifton. The nicest/poshest bits (Clifton, Redland, Sneyd Park, Stoke Bishop) tend to have house prices not that much lower than London (eg I'm in Redland and victorian semis on my road go for £600k plus), but if you are looking for lively with decent restaurants, areas either side of Gloucester Road are a good bet. Or for somewhere a little more suburban but still with good shops and transport links, Westbury and Henleaze. South and east Bristol also have some nice, lively areas like Southville.

Schools are a mixed bag - primary schools in the most popular family areas are currently stuffed to bursting point in the lower years (baby boom), and the few secondary schools seen as good have pretty small catchment areas. If you're in the right bit near the Gloucester Road you might get Cotham or Redland (both very good), but on the wrong side you'd get Fairfield, which is generally less popular.

There are lots of threads about all this on the local Bristol board if you sign up.

And I like Lincoln quite a lot, but it's very inland!

don't mind inland! genuinely asking for ideas - never thought of lincon! will now!

Go to Brighton. It has everything you're after. It ain't cheap, but nowhere is perfect.

How about Bath?

brighton freaks me out and seems a long way from everywhere. don't understand pebbly beaches (i'm from the north. sand dunes.). Bath. is it lively? got a good craft shop i think? is that right.

what about leeds? or brum? is birmingham nice? worcester?

ooh yes, lincon. i could live in jerusalem! and i do like a catherdral!

Canterbury is nice :}

Bournemouth.

Sheffield baby, Peak District on your door, loads of theatre and sports, two universities, M1 for easy access to the smoke, and it's cheap as chips. (You'll have to imagine the seaside)

look at the garden we could have!

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/15571366?search_identifier=444c2b2a71cd4299895f3f8cb2e273fd

but i'm guessing i'd lose ability to walk to Korean restaurant... can't have everything as speedyg says.

Phil and Kirstie showed lots of good things about Nottingham last night

done canterbury (student) i'm the only mum in the playground with a horror of whitstable (i remember it before it was chi chi!). bournemouth i like - is that seaford?

Sheffield - yes! they've done those brutalist flats up haven't they? ooooh... i like a bit of urban architecture.

also. i was born in yorkshire. i'm off to zoopla!

oxford
sheffield
Bath
Manchester
York
Harrogate

hmm. nottingham. lotta lotta gun crime and the goose fair. that's my perception. or has the crime improved?

Cambridge is lovely, if a long way from the sea. Norwich is good too.

I fancy moving to Suffolk. As it's outside commuter zone you get much more for your money. And it's beautiful. And not too far from London if you want to come down and visit friends.

Oxford
Cambridge
Cheltenham
Harrowgate

oops forgot to put my spending limit on sheffield search. still, quite fancy

this if anyone could lend me c couple of million

We moved from London to Bristol and have Never regretted it!
Perfect place .. loads going on .. music, theatre, arthouse cinema, family friendly restaurants, huge green spaces in the middle (the Downs) plus Loads of family houses.
Totally agree with previous poster.. Gloucester Road area is good for affordable houses, has lovely parks and the road itself is packed full of independent shops and cafes.
Also has more mixed population. (Clifton is Very white and middle class).
If you're close enough to a school you'll get a place.
The main thing I love though is how easy it is to get into the countryside.. Cotswolds in one direction, Somerset, Devon, Dorset in another and then Wales to your left. So much variety and beauty.
Don't know much about Leeds etc, but can say that Bath seems rather fusty and proper.. but I may be totally wrong!
Also what about Cardiff?
Good luck with your choice!

Aw Jix, you really make me want to move there.

Be careful with Cardiff. It's not as bad as North Wales with the language, but will get that way so you can't work if you don't speak Welsh.

Leed is great. Close to the Yorks Dales and North York Moors. Better than the Peak District which gets much busier.

Great university city. Also compact city so you can live right near the edge, and get into the city. I live pretty close to moors and great countryside, and am just over 10 mins on the train into Leeds.

I love where I live.

Seaside not the nearest, but you get the lovely Yorkshire coast.

Lincoln is a very very different place. Middle on nowhere, tiny with not much going on IME.