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Is there anywhere left in the UK that's nice and safe to live?

99 replies

christmasandcounting · 14/12/2019 12:40

Thinking of moving back. Any recommendations?

OP posts:
LASH38 · 14/12/2019 12:52

What’s your definition of nice and safe? What sort of community/amenities are you looking for?
Urban or rural?

Mabbers · 14/12/2019 12:53

Nope, everywhere is like the badlands.

MmeBufo · 14/12/2019 12:56

Moving back? Where from? TBH it’d probably be best to avoid it if you can at all. I don’t know how long you’ve been away but things have really, really changed in the last 10-15 years

flickeringcandle45 · 14/12/2019 13:00

Pretty much everywhere....

taybert · 14/12/2019 13:08

Of course, there are lots of places. I live in North Yorkshire. It’s beautiful and has low crime. The people are friendly and welcoming, I work in Lancashire and Cumbria and my experience in those places is the same.

RuggyPeg · 14/12/2019 13:10

Yes but I'm not saying where cos then it'll be swamped!

clareykb · 14/12/2019 13:10

We live on the outskirts of Newcastle in one of the still labour parts of the North East . I feel pretty safe, low cost of living, low house prices, lots to do with DC.

SpiderCharlotte · 14/12/2019 13:13

Rural Bedfordshire here. Lovely.

taybert · 14/12/2019 13:14

Are there people honestly of the opinion that’s most places in the UK are neither nice nor safe?

burntpinky · 14/12/2019 13:15

Channel Islands?

taybert · 14/12/2019 13:15

I don’t know where the extra ‘s came from!

viques · 14/12/2019 13:15

I hear the Isle of Man is safe. You can leave your door open and your bicycle unlocked, shopping trollies , little dogs and babies in coach built pranks can safely be left outside the shop, and gentlemen always doff their hats to ladies. Make sure you always wear a hat and gloves when you go walking, and for goodness sake never go out with bare legs, you don't want them to think you have picked up dirty Johnny Foreigner ways while you were abroad.

I would advise you however that the BBC is not what it was, the Home Service on the radio is not something I would want my grandmother to listen to, and even Women's Hour has succumbed to the general decline in politeness, and hosts discussions on unnecessary topics such as menstruation , domestic violence and cancer.

AuntSpiker · 14/12/2019 13:17

You can find information on deprivation, including crime levels and how things have changed in the last few years here:

dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/iod_index.html

JeezyPeeps · 14/12/2019 13:17

OK, here's a comprehensive list for you :

Most places in Scotland (avoid poorer inner city areas)
Most places in England (avoid poorer inner city areas)
Most places in Wales (avoid poorer inner city areas)
Most places in Northern Ireland (avoid poorer inner city areas)

Spudlet · 14/12/2019 13:17

Absolutely not. I regularly carry a small axe to fend off werewolves, zombie hordes and electoral canvassers on my way to the shop for a pint of milk. It’s the last ones that are the worst, to be honest.

museumum · 14/12/2019 13:18

My bit of Scotland is nice. And safe.
To be honest most laces are unless you are vulnerable and poor, with no means of your own, in which case you may find yourself housed in an unsafe area, but not always.

BigSandyBalls2015 · 14/12/2019 13:20

How weird most of the UK is safe

SpiderCharlotte · 14/12/2019 13:22

Where did you live in the UK before OP? Would you return there?

viques · 14/12/2019 13:22

Prams not pranks!

Seriously OP, I live in East London, where according to the popular press every person under 25 is armed to the teeth and high on drugs and the rest of us are cowering behind our fortress doors like extras in the Purge.They aren't, we'' re not.And while there are places I probably wouldn't want to walk through at night that is just as true for little rural villages with bad street lighting and drunk drivers. I am happy to use public transport, smile at my neighbours and answer my door after 7.00 pm.

BoogleMcGroogle · 14/12/2019 13:22

Have you seen Blade Runner? It's very like that here in North Essex. The queue at the weekly cheese stall can get positively menacing when the cave-aged Roquefort is running low, the annual bell ringing festival is like living in a migraine and last night the donkeys escaped from near the allotments and walked riot up by the cricket ground.

Seriously, I've lived all over the UK, in Europe and in two other continents and I'd say it's nicer and safer than average. Despite the various political goings-on I still think that most people here are tolerant and kind.

milliefiori · 14/12/2019 13:22

Of course! There are loads of places. Depends on what you are after. The commuter towns and villages of the home counties are pretty with low crime, good schools and fresh air. Look around Sevenoaks in Kent, Harpenden in Herts or Cobham in Surrey.

If you don't need to be near London for work, most of Yorkshire and Lancashire are drop-dead gorgeous. Look at York, Harrogate, Ripon for lively towns with handsome houses, thriving communities and beautiful landscape on the doorstep. Same could be said of the peak and lake districts, northumberland (look at Alnwick or Hexham) .

There are beautiful stretches of the South West and the East too, with pretty cathedral towns, lovely beaches, good schools. Way too many to list.

What sort of bad news are you being peddled about living in UK? The only thing people usually moan about with reason is that our houses are tiny and have no land in comparison with places in USA, Oz etc, because we're a small, densely populated island.

Soffy · 14/12/2019 13:23

No, we all have to barricade ourselves in our homes and fear for our lives every time we leave. Hmm

Chemenger · 14/12/2019 13:26

My bit of Scotland is fine. We were burgled, but they were the chuckle brothers of crime; they looked straight into our cctv camera and took about £10 worth of Indonesian currency and a pound shop bracelet. They’re spending Christmas in prison, having been caught as soon as the police tracked down where they were living.

wellthatwasthat · 14/12/2019 13:28

Rural Bedfordshire here too - waves to @SpiderCharlotte

Almost everywhere is nice and safe to live. It is rather cold and wet though...

Chipsahoy · 14/12/2019 13:28

Everywhere and anywhere is safe and unsafe. Depends on your circumstances.
My family feel and seem safe in my home town, for me, I wasn't safe at all, it ruined my life.
Where I am now, I feel safe, but I know of people here who don't, because of their circumstances.

If you are talking low crime, you probably need more rural areas.
I'd like more of a rural area long term.

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