North Yorkshire forever home location!

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Hi mumsnet, I've posted about moving before and am planning on moving later this year to the North Yorkshire area. Work will be in York (or possibly Leeds). My son has ASD and needs decent public transport options for some independence as he gets older.

Can you recommend me somewhere for us to live?

We like:

Off road walks with a bit of variety from the house (or nearby);

Good bus or train links;

Within 30 mins of decent shops / culture for a mooch and to do and take part in stuff. Son loves having a go at theatre.

Ideally no more than an hour from the coast as currently live 500m from a beach and scared of being landlocked ...

Is there such a unicorn?

Depends on the side, we are train station side. We never really have an issue with traffic unless we need to come from Eaglescliffe to Yarm at busy times

Just wondering - you mention Sutton here. Are you thinking of Sutton on the Forest or Stockton on the Forest - both quiet sleepy villages near York, but not close to each other. The names are very similar and people sometimes confuse them.

Good luck with your search, all the areas you are looking are lovely. It’s a great area of the country.

Spent my teen years bivvy bagging there every weekend in Summer. It is best at 4 am as the sun rises.

I do think if you like York and are likely to be working in York you would be best off living as close as possible. I would stay with 5 miles or so of the city centre. That makes popping in easy and access to the amenities on the edge of the city (Monks Cross, Clifton Moor, Designer Outlet etc easy to get to.)

Strensall is a good call - you can take the back rounds to join the A64 and travel to Filey, Whitby in an hour. Close enough to York (I wouldn't live any further out) to make it easy and quick to access.

I love Haxby - it seems more of a small town to me and has so many shops etc. If I had a young child I think it would be a lovely family orientated place.

Don't like Huntington much - urban sprawl with no real centre or much community feeling.

I think Northallerton or Thirsk would suit you.

Thirsk has lots of lovely walks, only 6 minutes on the train to Northallerton about 17 minutes to York on the train and cheap fares.

Northallerton has more high street shops and a big new Everyman cinema. It also has a great theatre/drama school if that's what your son is interested in.

Thirsk or Ripon. When I lived in Ripon I used to walk to Fountains Abbey (1.5 miles from the centre of the city) quite a lot. Just beautiful. Good bus service to Harrogate and Leeds, no trains. An hour from the coast.

Now live near Thirsk which also has everything you want really.

Lived in York for 24 years

Ripon is another small town with rubbish public transport other than the 36 bus to Leeds/Harrogate which you mention and it is a long journey to Leeds (but a lovely bus with wifi and great seats)

Lack of employment for young people in Ripon itself.

It does have Booths though!

Thanks for your suggestions everyone I have a very decent list to research further

Outside of York
Northallerton
Thirsk
Knaresborough
Pocklington
Selby?
Stockton on the Forest

And LOTS in actual York!

I have driven through it a few times and got the bus there once to look at a car.

Just look at it

Google Maps

I think it has buses to York!

But no train line

It seems quiet when I go - it is nice to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

I think it's what you and your DS want. York is not a big city - it's about 200,000 people. It is fairly easy to get around and all depends what you want out of a place to live.

It has a lot of opportunities for employment and leisure. Good transport links and it's near the major city that is Leeds.

We recently moved to Knaresborough and it would absolutely tick all your boxes.

Disagree with a previous post saying there is not much to do, we can't believe how much there is to do for such a small place: The castle and courthouse, conyham hall, Mother Shipton's, the riverside, caves, nidd gorge and the waterfront. Abbey Road would be great to run down with the dog. There is a small theatre and loads of pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants. Large leisure centre with a great pool.

25 minute bus ride into Harrogate, where there is a really nice theatre, cinema, decent shopping. 30 minutes to York and 45 minutes to Leeds on the train. Really straight forward and easy transport links for your son to use. Road links are fantastic too due to the close proximity to the A1.

Saltburn, which has a beautiful beach and lovely little town is exactly 1 hr by car.

You could definitely buy a 3 bed detached property in your budget.

Oh and did I mention that it's a beautiful - that view from the castle over the viaduct 😍. I'll never get bored of it!

What makes you think there’s a lack of employment for young people in Ripon?

My eldest caught the 36 bus to Harrogate for work for years. 35 mins from Ripon to Harrogate. Much cheaper than running a car.

I’d revisit Malton as it is one of the nicer towns. You are 30 mins from the coast and close to york.
Haxby is a nice area of york. I like Acomb area of york and I’ve friends who love the bishop gate area but they’re possibly too urban. There’s Stamford bridge as well
Personally I’m not keen on Northallerton as it just seems a long way from anywhere. Thirsk is a nice town, difficult to park but a good range of shops. Loads of stunning walks round Sutton bank area
Boroughbridge is a smaller town but worth a visit
Scarborough has lots going on. High street is not what it was but there is a regeneration plan for a cinema and leisure complex in the shopping centre. I really like Scarborough as it’s got just about everything you need but many on mn say it’s too small. It’s on the transpennine railway and it’s got good bits and bad bits. It does have the Stephen Joseph theatre (plus two others) and the open air concert venue.
Huge amounts of money have gone into flood defences in the area so roads and fields have flooded, major bridges have been closed but very few houses have flooded.

Northallerton would work well for you. Lots going on, good high street, good rail connections.

Stamford Bridge?

If you're keen to be on the outskirts of York or close by, how about:
Osbaldwick (where we live: easy to get into town via bus or bike, reasonable running and walking with the dog around the village and Uni campus, easy to get to the ring road)
Dunnington: a bit further out but on a reasonable bus route (~20 mins to city centre)
Stamford Bridge: same bus route as Dunnington but a bit further out (~35 mins to city centre).

You should be able to get something within budget for your money.

I would look at Pocklington. Definitely avoid Malton - transport links are increasingly unreliable and slow.

I don't think I'd move to York itself in your budget. Possibly you might get something down the (nice) Bishothorpe Rd end if willing to do work.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144575204#/?channel=RES_BUY

Parents are in Pickering. It's absolutely fab.

I live in york. I think it's small enough that pretty much anywhere is convenient. Admittedly I moved from London, but I once cycled around the whole city dropping things off and didn't struggle to find routes that felt easy and safe. Someone above said dringhouses feels a bit far out — it's literally a ten minute bike ride to the city centre 😅 I think it's a great place to raise children and teens (and dogs!). I believe the Haxby train station is being re-opened.

It is a bit over an hour to the coast though. I so wish it was a bit closer. Longer on the bus. And it's flat and a bit dull in the immediate countryside. If I didn't have children I'd prefer to live somewhere a bit wilder, probably around the moors. But there is amazing countryside in what feels like every direction.

I do like Knaresborough, though longer to the coast I'd have thought.

I live in Pocklington and love it, but my son doesn’t drive and recently moved to York city centre because the transport links are pretty rubbish.

It’s great if you’re a middle aged non-drinker, but your 17 year old would be bored silly.

Have a look at Northallerton. Super market town with independent shops. Good schools. 40 mins from the coast, plenty of walks in the area. Commutable to York & Leeds and on the East Coast main line.
That budget will buy you a nice detached property.

We looked at Pocklington when we moved to East Riding and we’re not far away from there now.
It’s a market town with independent shops plus a Sainsbury’s and Aldi, several decent restaurants and pubs with nice walks around it as it’s just in The Yorkshire Wolds.
There isn’t a rail link to York but there’s a regular bus route, every half an hour and takes around 40/45 minutes into York, the bus route also takes you to Beverley in the opposite direction in about 30/35 minutes, Beverley is lovely but possibly a bit further out than you’d like to be.
Pocklington has (like a lot of towns now) a lot of new builds going up, which might or might not be something you don’t mind.
I don’t know what there might be for a 17 year old as I don’t have dc that age so that would need to be looked into.