Living in Chester vs living in Durham

[RaspberryRippledOut]

Which city would you prefer to live in? Budget is up to 700k. Though ideally I'd keep to around the 650k mark. No kids to consider. I'd like a two bedroom house or flat. Preferably with decent public transport and a relatively safe neighbourhood.

I'm swayed towards Chester because of the proximity to major U.K cities but Durham looks very appealing too. And the North East coast is gorgeous.

I'm also considering a few other places but I'm gradually narrowing down my options and wanted to compare these two.

Any thoughts would be very helpful.

I’ve lived in one for 30 years and my sister lived in the other for 20. They’re very different areas but I’d choose Durham every time. East coast mainline means you can be in London in less than three hours. Newcastle is very close, coast is also very close. There are lots of pockets of deprivation in the mining villages but there’s lots of very lovely places too. You’d get a lovely city property for your budget. Chester is bigger though, and more affluent in general, it depends what you’re looking for.

I don’t know Chester but echo what others have said about Durham - there is about a square mile (if that) of the centre that is beautiful and the rest is pretty depressing. I wouldn’t ever choose to live there, sorry.

Chester is a lovely place to live - big enough to have lots going on - theatre, cinema, restaurants, music, art etc but small enough to be walkable and manageable.

One of the things I love about Chester is that there's so much to do and see within a short distance- cities like Liverpool and Manchester, beaches in Wirral and n Wales, beautiful countryside within minutes... you don't have to go far to find places and things to do.

Public transport is fine by train to other towns and cities and there are buses within chester- it's not London standard but certainly no worse than many other small cities and towns. Tbh you can walk and cycle most places - there's a fab (traffic free) greenway that goes for miles around all the way out to Wirral and Wales.

You will not need to spend anywhere near your budget to get a nice home either!

You know you can pay someone to choose the paint colours and furniture ? Just a thought.

I do but I've never really considered it. Also I was worried that I might find myself with decor that was completely the opposite of my tastes but if budget allows, I think that I'd seriously consider it this time.

Chester - more to do there, although I like Durham and love Newcastle.

How about Newcastle

Newcastle is a possibility. Again I'm not that familiar with it but I might need to start a Newcastle thread. I had a short weekend break planned there a few weeks ago, so I could look around and see if it's somewhere I wanted to live but I had to cancel it due to a family emergency. I'll have to reschedule it soon.

@RaspberryRippledOut

I definitely don't want a mansion. I want a fairly roomy house/flat but nothing huge as it'll just be me and the two dogs. Also I really hate decorating. Not the actual painting and putting wallpaper up, I always pay someone to do it, but the actual choosing the paint and furniture. I'm useless at that. So the less I have to do of that, the better. So if I can save money I'll be delighted.

I looked on right move and there are some actual gorgeous mansions around Durham but they're way over my budget.

It's disappointing to hear how bad the transport is in Chester, as I prefer to use it, but I'd still consider Chester and I WFH.

Does anyone know how transport in Durham is?

Public transport in Durham depends where you are. It's mostly pretty decent but the more affluent areas like whitesmocks are less well served. Where I live I can walk out of my door and catch buses straight across the city or out to Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and various towns in the county. The main operators are Arriva and Go North East but the park and ride and some of the council supported services are run by small independents.

I can also walk into the city centre or out to the Arnison centre in under half an hour. Pp is right about it being hilly, though!

I haven't been into Chester for a while - I worked there for years - and managed to go into town the other Saturday when there was a race meeting. A huge mistake. So, I went home and went in again last Thursday. DH is a Cestrian, and we were horrified by the way the town has gone down. The Grosvenor precinct is half empty, the building of the Northgate development is forging ahead, and I honestly can't see any benefit, and there are hundreds of anti terrorist bollards on most roads in the centre. DH said he wanted to cry, as he remembered what a lovely place it was once.

This is in a great location. Short walk to the major bus routes. 10 minutes walk into town and the railway station. Some brilliant dog walking nearby (Flass Vale and Aykley Woods)

Oops "3 bedroom detached house for sale in Springwell Avenue, Durham, DH1" www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109312199#/?channel=RES_BUY

DD is a student in Newcastle, and loves the city. It is compact, has good transport - the metro goes out to the airport, fast trains to London and Scotland, it's near Tynemouth, Jesmond Dene is a really pretty walk, loads of fine old buildings. It's worth considering.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86037010#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/102690767#/?channel=RES_BUY

@Greydog

I haven't been into Chester for a while - I worked there for years - and managed to go into town the other Saturday when there was a race meeting. A huge mistake. So, I went home and went in again last Thursday. DH is a Cestrian, and we were horrified by the way the town has gone down. The Grosvenor precinct is half empty, the building of the Northgate development is forging ahead, and I honestly can't see any benefit, and there are hundreds of anti terrorist bollards on most roads in the centre. DH said he wanted to cry, as he remembered what a lovely place it was once.

They're not anti-terrorist bollards. There's a year long project to put in a new sewer and they've made a temporary one-way system to allow them to dig up half of St Martin's Way - Nicholas Street. The bollards are for carving up the roads.

It's supposed to be over in November . . .

But the City Centre is suffering from the competition from Broughton Retail Park and Cheshire Oaks, and the council is shooting itself in the foot (as many do) by trying to replace the cuts in Government funding with car parking charges.

I do love the way some people on here think it is OK to talk about others. "Scabby people" delightful.

Yes there are areas of deprivation and a lot of them. The North East has been pretty shafted in the economic stakes. But that doesn't make it right to label all those places depressing and scabby. Some of them are pretty bloody wonderful even if they don't look like a chocolate box idealised village.

@Monoxide you're talking out of your arse. Plenty of the North East coastline is beautiful and not full of "scabby people" as you charmingly describe. Both Chester and Durham have places that are more rundown. Everywhere does.

OP I grew up near Durham, my DM lives on the coast near Sunderland and I now live 20 minutes from Chester.

It depends what you want most. If it's nice cities with lots to offer, I'd say North West every time. You'll have Liverpool and Manchester a stone's throw away. If it's mostly dog walks on a lovely beach, I'd say head for the North East Coast. The coastline around here is not as good IMO. You need to go into Wales for decent beaches and getting there via public transport is not easy.

If you're leaning towards the North East. I'd actually suggest Tynemouth as well. You'll be able to get somewhere lovely for your budget, and Newcastle is easily accessible on the Metro.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110729387

perfect position

I’d also say tynemouth too. Accessible to Newcastle and east coast main line. Durham is just too small I find.

I've lived in both and neither really sounds like what you're after.

Durham feels more like a big town. Public transport is ok if you want to go to Newcastle or York and plenty of nice countryside. Not much about in the way of nicer flats and the centre (which is going downhill slowly) is student city in term.

Chester more like a small city, sadly a bit run down atm too. More swanky flats about. Easy to get out to North Wales etc. Lots of fancy wine bars and restaurants that come and go.

@Monoxide

And the North East coast is gorgeous Durham city centre is nice and so is the countryside. But other towns in the county are not so nice, including the seaside towns, which are ex mining towns full of scabby people. Chester is much nicer and more central, more jobs, more activities and places for days out.

Scabby people?!

Not the kindest comment...

I lived in one of those former pit villages. People were kind and welcoming. Neighbours helped each other. Most people had low paying jobs, but they worked hard and took pride in their work.

I come from a very different background, and they never ignorantly judged me for it, in the way that you're judging them.

I would suggest Newcastle (particularly Gosforth) or Tynemouth.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109308467#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/56728693/?search_identifier=d5b7fd078ea1c21b8b7456e69ecc04bf

I'd love to give an opinion however I might be too scabby...

@Monoxide Just seen the 'scabby' comment. How rude and what a sweeping statement. As another poster said, people in the former pit villages are some of the kindest, friendliest people I've ever met. Also, I'm sure even by your exacting standards you would find Alnmouth and Bamburgh 'nice'.

[quote tealappeal]@Monoxide Just seen the 'scabby' comment. How rude and what a sweeping statement. As another poster said, people in the former pit villages are some of the kindest, friendliest people I've ever met. Also, I'm sure even by your exacting standards you would find Alnmouth and Bamburgh 'nice'.[/quote]
I see you were referring to Durham, not Northumberland - the first part of my message still stands, though.

Chester isn’t “run down” at all . Shops come and go, the council is doing the best they can on limited funds but it is still a great place to live. Rail connections are good, buses are as mediocre as everywhere else and fairly awful if you go for one of the villages, but the city suburbs around Chester are really nice so you don’t have to do that. Easy access to North Wales and the Wirral for beaches and green space, Liverpool and Manchester for city life. Locals don’t mind tourists at all, but we do loathe race goers.

I'm from a suburb just outside of Durham City, so probably too scabby to comment