Living in Chester

[ThePolkaDotGiraffe]

You were all very helpful on my other thread about which cities to live in, and although I'm considering quite a few including London(very high on the list), Chester is already featuring high on my list.


Chester appeals to me because of its easy access to Manchester, Liverpool and North Wales. I love having easy access to a number of cities. Also it isn't that long a train ride to London. Other appealing factors are the proximity to beautiful countryside , the independent shops, good restaurants, events and the history. I've visited a few times and loved it.


My budget is £680k. Could be stretched a bit for the right place. I've no children, WFH and I'm looking for a 1-2 bedroom flat/house.


I'd appreciate any opinions on living in Chester, the good and the bad, and any suggestions of areas to live in.


TIA





Chester is beautiful. My husband works there are dd studies there. I'd move in a heartbeat if we could afford to but our house budget was half yours!

You lucky thing. I love Chester and that’s a very healthy budget you have available. Good luck.

Apologies for the weird spacing.

Thank you both for sharing your positive comments about the city. That's always reassuring. I can see why so many people love it.

I've been looking at Curzon Park(There are a few within budget) and Handbridge. Are there other areas people would recommend? Or any areas to avoid?

Oh I love Chester, it's so beautiful, I'd love to live there. Good luck OP, hope you find somewhere! not jealous at all

Curzon Park and Queens Park would be ideal for you if you want to walk into town.

Rightmove have a couple of terraced homes in the city centre at £575k.

If you want to live a very little further out, villages like Christleton and Waverton are lovely.

I live in a village outside and it's a great city. Loads of bars, shopping, restaurants and a really great 'vibe'. The new theatre is fab too.
Transport to Manchester, Liverpool, London is great. Access to Snowdonia etc.
Those areas sound good

I find Curzon Park a bit odd somehow. It's beautiful but something about it leaves me cold, just my opinion though. Queens Park would be great although very little available at the moment. I would strongly advise against living in the city centre from personal experience (nothing bad as such but period property in the city is likely to suffer from noise. If you're ok with that go for it and of course it is a generalisation, there are always exceptions). Hoole is very popular. Parts of Boughton are really nice (all of Boughton is fine), Dee Banks type area might suit and is close to the city centre.

The restaurant scene is good and getting even better but independent shops... I don't know, I'm a bit disheartened about retail in Chester at the moment.

It is very well located as you've suggested and I think that is a big part of the appeal.

I’m from Chester and my family still all live there. Curzon Park is definitely lovely. There are two high schools in Handbridge so it can be quite busy at certain times of the day (pupils from rival schools used to have fights when I went but I’m sure they don’t anymore ) I’d avoid going too close to the Lache and Saltney. Hoole is quite bustling too!

There are some lovely villages around as well as smaller towns like Tarporley. Villages towards Wales like Belgrave have some beautiful houses that were previously part of the Grosvenor Estate.

Thank you all for your thoughts/advice . This is very helpful. I'll check out the other areas mentioned.