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Which city would you relocate within UK?

60 replies

Kaizen92 · 25/03/2024 10:51

Hello,

It seems that my title is quite vague and unclear.

Let me explain: my husband and I have different areas of expertise career-wise, but our jobs mostly allow us to work from home or visit the office twice a week.
, We have travelled and worked in several different European countries before having a baby.

We are living in Nottingham as husband got a job here also had a baby here. Now, he has a changed his job and now he goes to Manchester and commutes there twice a week. I work from home and occasionally need to commute to Scotland once a month.

We are parents of a nearly 3-year-old child, and it's time for us to settle in an area with good primary schools primarily.

We have contemplated extensively about where we should settle and envision ourselves in the next 4-5 years (we can't plan further ahead than that). We want to live in an area or city where we can easily commute to London (in case of future opportunities) or to the northern part of the UK (as I have connections there).

While we are not particularly attached to Nottingham and don't have a large circle of friends here, we don't mind leaving this city. However, Nottingham's central location is advantageous as it takes only 2 hours to reach London and Manchester.

There are numerous pros and cons to consider when deciding whether to stay here or move to another city (like Manchester). However, our main concern is always about the possibility of great opportunities arising elsewhere in the south. Therefore, choosing the next city should allow for easy commuting and be centrally located to minimize travel time. Nottingham seems to have an edge in that aspect.

Our priority, like every parent, is our child's education and ensuring they have a stable environment to study and make friends.
What are your thoughts on this? For people like us who can work from home and change jobs frequently, which city do you think could be a good fit for a base location?

Or perhaps I'm just overthinking everything?

Given the rising cost of living and soaring property prices, making this decision sooner rather than later has become a topic of discussion in our household. We thought it would be valuable to seek perspectives from others on this matter.

The main question are:

  1. City which gives us god commutable distance and great transport link to commute within UK if we change our jobs in future.
  2. Not crazy big enough like London, have great schools and kid friendly places outdoorsy etc.
OP posts:
AlecTrevelyan006 · 28/03/2024 20:42

The obvious answer is Birmingham.

jocktamsonsbairn · 28/03/2024 20:48

Glasgow? On the doorstep of Loch Lomond and easy to drive to Highlands and Islands for a day out. Not far from beaches and other stunning locations. Great transport links, shops, restaurants, theatres, music, pubs and loads going on for kids. Probably quite a bit cheaper than many places down south.

Mumaway · 28/03/2024 20:50

Trafford borough, near Manchester (tram link to Piccadilly then 2hrs to London). Amazing state grammar schools, especially Altrincham, but very high housing costs. Lovely area though.

TheGreenManalishiWithTheTwoProngedCrown · 28/03/2024 20:52

Which city would you relocate within UK?

I'd move London about 15 miles further north.

LuluBlakey1 · 28/03/2024 20:53

NotFastButFurious · 28/03/2024 09:44

Newcastle - towards the coast e.g. Whitley, Tynemouth area. On the metro into the city centre and trains down the main east coast line to London and Edinburgh. Not too far to an international airport, northumberland just down the road and the beach on your doorstep.

This is exactly where we live and we love it, everything about it- and DH who is a Yorkshireman and of the view that Yorkshire is 'God's Own Country' is as passionate about here as I am.

MuggedByReality · 28/03/2024 21:05

Nottingham is probably the best city in the Midlands. Birmingham is far too big & most of it is pretty grim. Solihull is a nice suburb, though. Derby is more of a large town than a city. The best thing about Stoke is the A50 trunk road which runs through the middle of it & provides a convenient way out. Coventry city centre is awful, and the less said about Leicester the better. ‘Run down’ is probably the politest euphemism I can think of to describe the state of the place.

If the Midlands works best for you geographically, some of the towns are a much better bet. Leamington Spa, Warwick, Stratford, Belper, Newark,Southwell, Market Harborough, Bakewell & Ashbourne are all great places to live. Parts of Chesterfield are nice, & the location the edge of the Peak District is a positive but Mansfield is a real dump.

MauveOrPossiblyTaupe · 29/03/2024 18:31

I live in Cambridge. It's gr8 in many ways and the schools superb. But WOEFULLY expensive.

I would defo consider Leeds or York.

MauveOrPossiblyTaupe · 29/03/2024 18:32

MuggedByReality · 28/03/2024 21:05

Nottingham is probably the best city in the Midlands. Birmingham is far too big & most of it is pretty grim. Solihull is a nice suburb, though. Derby is more of a large town than a city. The best thing about Stoke is the A50 trunk road which runs through the middle of it & provides a convenient way out. Coventry city centre is awful, and the less said about Leicester the better. ‘Run down’ is probably the politest euphemism I can think of to describe the state of the place.

If the Midlands works best for you geographically, some of the towns are a much better bet. Leamington Spa, Warwick, Stratford, Belper, Newark,Southwell, Market Harborough, Bakewell & Ashbourne are all great places to live. Parts of Chesterfield are nice, & the location the edge of the Peak District is a positive but Mansfield is a real dump.

I agree with a lot of that but somewhere like Ashbourne, though lovely, is tiny.

Kaizen92 · 03/04/2024 13:35

MauveOrPossiblyTaupe · 29/03/2024 18:32

I agree with a lot of that but somewhere like Ashbourne, though lovely, is tiny.

I checked this online, WOW so beautiful.

OP posts:
Kaizen92 · 03/04/2024 13:38

LuluBlakey1 · 28/03/2024 20:53

This is exactly where we live and we love it, everything about it- and DH who is a Yorkshireman and of the view that Yorkshire is 'God's Own Country' is as passionate about here as I am.

Edited

Husband needs to go to Manchester twice in a week, it will be tooo far for him.

OP posts:
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