Advice on Leeds

[LaCerbiatta]

The granddaughter of a friend is about to move from Portugal to Leeds.

She's 19 and was offered a place in the Northern School of Contemporary Dance on Chapel Town Road and has a room on Eford Grove in Harehills.

The grandmother is very worried about safety in that area, friends told her it's very rough and violent.

Can someone please reassure that it's not that bad? I don't know Leeds at all but surely the area around a dance school can't be that bad?....

Thanks so much

Um, I’m guessing Elford Grove.
Pretty awful I’m afraid from my experience and this.
She needs to be more toward chapel allerton, or headingley is where all the students are.

vis.oobrien.com/booth/#

You can also play with the crime map on here

www.police.uk/west-yorkshire/LDT_NE/crime/

Hare hills isn’t great and I wouldn’t want my daughter to live there to be honest

Get a room elsewhere that’s a rough area

It's a very mixed area. Some areas are nice and literally a couple of streets away completely different.

A lot of the time it is a lot more about who you associate with and how you behave. A lot of the violence is gang related, so if you don't get involved with gangs, the risk is much lower.

Similarly, common sense behaviour for lone females in unfamiliar cities. Don't go out alone at night, don't meet people you don't know in lonely areas.

Try to make friends with fellow students and socialise with them rather than the local hoodlums.

Be sensible and chances are she'll be fine.

It’s not the best area in what is a very cool, vibrant city. Headingly is nicer. I’d suggest pay more for a nice area and as she gets to know it she might be able to move to cheaper areas.

It's not that bad. It's not the poshest part of town, true. But there are plenty of families living there and a sense of community. She will be fine.

I spent a lot of time in Harehills growing up, it's not somewhere I'd want my own daughter to live.

Harehills is very multicultural, however as a student id gravitate more towards headingley or Hyde park.
I wouldn’t live in hare hills so wouldn’t want my child living there either.
Is it a house share with other students or randomers? I’d go for a student house share without a doubt. Or even halls for a year

www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-news/man-critical-condition-after-early-16220122

This is jsut a few streets away from where she will be living.

There are quite a few student letting places in Headingly / Hyde Park area, I'd be contacting them to try and organise a student house share

Just about the worst part of Leeds. Drug dealing galore, mugging shootings etc.... only part of Leeds I lock the car as I drive through as they car jack you at the traffic lights.

The advice to head more to Headingley or Chapel Allerton is sound.

Could she look at a house share in Kirkstall? Cheaper than headingley but not a bad area and lots of transport and shops etc. She could probably get a bus or walk to college in chapel town

Kirkstall is miles away! She'll need 2 buses each way to get there or a bike.

It's all very well people suggesting Chapel Allerton or Headingley, but those areas are expensive. Presumably she's looking to be near the dance school because she wants to be close by or has a limited budget.

I live in Leeds and work in that neck of the woods, I would avoid Harehills and Seacroft personally, neither are great areas overall. Headingley or Roundhay would be better if she can manage it with her budget.

Thank you all so much! This is really really helpful and I'll pass the info on to my friend!

@BarbaraofSevillle I wouldn't say it's miles away, its about ten minutes in the car or half an hour on public transport. A friend of mine lives in Kirkstall and works on Chapeltown Road and regularly walks to work in the warmer months, takes her an hour. Or walks to Headingley to catch a bus to chapel town.

And if you have any other suggestions of good locations they're most welcome!

My friend just told me the school recommended this room and she'll be sharing a house with other girls from there.

I lived in Harehills a couple of streets away from Elford Grove a few years ago and didn't find that area especially bad. There's a fairly large percentage of families living in those houses. There are brothels on Spencer Place, so be cautious about walking down that road late at night. I personally think the further you get towards St James' Hospital/Gipton the rougher it gets. Most of the crime I noticed was a result of racial tensions between blacks and asians. As a young white female, you're most likely to be offered drugs or asked if you're looking for business!

To be honest, most studenty areas of Leeds are also pretty shit. There's been a big increase in burglaries and attacks on students in recent years in the Hyde Park/Headingley areas. Often local scumbags will target obvious student areas as it's easy pickings.

That’s close to the dance school but not the best area.

Tbh I would keep the room u too she finds her feet. She can always move somewhere else once she knows what’s what.

It’s more important to be close and to be living with others at the dance school. She’ll be safe, it’s just not that ‘nice’.

Thee is a lot of hysteria about chapel town and hare hills - as a young white female I never had any bother. People used to be astounded I’d walk home through chapel town (on the main road!!!) but I felt safer there as so many people about and lots of places open than I did turning off and walking to my house in chapel a on quiet streets.

Thanks All!