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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate living in Manchester (and North in general)

928 replies

ILikeMilk · 11/01/2011 13:16

Moved here four years ago to be with DH, and I still cannot get used to it. We are in a nicest area of Manchester, and it is still feels very provincial and boring. I dream about living in London, but DH does not want to look for a new job. I feel like there is no point and don?t want to decorate the house, make friends, etc, I just fantasise about being in London every single day. There is not much to do here, no nice streets or galleries, not much to do on the weekends as a family. I went to London this weekend, it was so painful to come back. Does anybody else feel this way?

OP posts:
VeryBitchyRestingFace · 08/02/2017 19:30

Am googling 'Hale' on rightmove.

Looks like a total fucking warzone, OP.

Thank God you made it out alive, and with your sense of perspective intact.

😬

Original poster
ILikeMilk · 08/02/2017 19:31

ScootinFun, I had visited Buxton and Bakewell. Cute little towns but very cold and very very small.

OP posts:
Essexgirlupnorth · 08/02/2017 19:33

Have lived in both much prefer Manchester would not want to live in London now.
Loads going on easy reach of some of the most beautiful countryside in the country.
House aren't ridiculously priced either.

ThymeLord · 08/02/2017 19:35

I'm in awe of how forthright we all were in 2011, and nobody popped up to call us all big meanies.

SheDoneAlreadyDoneHadHerses · 08/02/2017 19:38

Must just say though, I get this in small doses from DP. He lives central town, I obviously don't, and he was in shock about the fact I had to drive 10mins for a cash machine when the one over the road was broken. Apparently that makes my town "rural"

Oooooooh how we laughed....through gritted teeth and disproving looks.

Original poster
ILikeMilk · 08/02/2017 19:38

VeryBitchy, the properties are ok, it's the surrounding areas and the lack of stimulation that bothered me when I used to live there.

OP posts:
OneOrgasmicBirthPlease · 08/02/2017 19:38

Did you finish the PhD?

Original poster
ILikeMilk · 08/02/2017 19:41

No, I got so depressed I could not get out of bed, never mind finish my PHD. I used to drive DC to school and just sit and cry in my car.

OP posts:
EurusHolmesViolin · 08/02/2017 19:43

Sorry though not surprised to hear it. You sounded depressed then.

OneOrgasmicBirthPlease · 08/02/2017 19:44

Sorry to hear that, depression is hard. I read your thread and felt desperately sorry for you as a fellow EU expat with two kids and ambition because you were so disconnected from all the good fortune and potential happiness that was yours for the taking.

Delighted that you're happier, even if I think your hatred of the North was misplaced and clearly a projection of a different issue altogether.

Original poster
ILikeMilk · 08/02/2017 19:46

I think when I started turning up at DC prep school in my pjamas at a pick up time DH had realised that it was indeed the right time to move back South.

OP posts:
Original poster
ILikeMilk · 08/02/2017 19:47

Thank you Oneorgasmic!Flowers

OP posts:
Sociallyawkwardd · 08/02/2017 19:48

The north is an absolutely shit tip. I cannot wait to leave and move back to London. I've never ever settled here and cry when I think of how many days I've wasted in this hell hole.

Madeyemoodysmum · 08/02/2017 19:49

I'm a southerner. Lived here forever but I loved liverpool and love York too. Can't comment on Manchester but I'd imagine a city of that size must have stuff happening. Maybe your just lonely. If you have friends to do stuff with it's much more fun.

Madeyemoodysmum · 08/02/2017 19:50

I'd rather live in York or Liverpool than London anyday. Ok city/west end is nice but the rest is awful Either a dump or hideously over priced.

MsJudgemental · 08/02/2017 19:51

NRTWT but get over yourself. Hale is upmarket, there's so much to do in Manchester itself and it's surrounded by beautiful countryside. Move further into South Manchester if you want more facilities and to be closer to things- try Didsbury. Or you could just go back to The Smoke.

flyingwithwings · 08/02/2017 20:06

You read 'shit' like this thread and wonder why some posters are so shocked that 'Brexit' happened.

A total lack of awareness for anything outside London as well as ignorance that the E.U has done nothing for anybody living outside the South East.

For the record Manchester is as good as it gets outside London . If that's no good , that is due to generations of Governments lack of interest in or investment developing structure or employment opportunities outside the capital.

The United Kingdom is unlike any other European country where everything is situated in London and not shared out equally. It is therefore hardly surprising that nowhere outside London has much to offer a 'liberal minded metro centric person.

For the record my sister lives and works in Stoke , which is perceived to be the 'pits' of the world , however she has a great life away from her teaching job and would never move back to Dartford !.

honeyroar · 08/02/2017 20:11

You've just got to find where you feel right,and that's obviously London for you.

I moved to my ex's town and hated it. I was lonely, and with hindsight the relationship was wrong. I stayed far too long. I moved back to the countryside and the hills of North Manchester and married someone on the same page as me regarding where we wanted to live.

I don't judge you for hating it up here, even though I love it (I commute 200+ miles to London for work!). It makes you grumpy and horrible when your life and where it takes place doesn't make you happy.

Original poster
ILikeMilk · 08/02/2017 20:12

You are right about the investment. My kids used to go to Altrincham sports center for their swimming lessons. After moving to London I decided to sign them up with the local swimming pool. I could not believe the difference! Our new local swimming pool is like a 5* hotel compared to the swimming pool in Manchester. And it costs the same to attend. It's such a wast difference in what is accessible here in terms of activities, culture, music, theatre even on a low budget.

OP posts:
NavyandWhite · 08/02/2017 20:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

scootinFun · 08/02/2017 20:14

Bother, zombie thread :( Enjoy London OP. I enjoy visiting it but would never live there - and I have lived in several capital cities around the world.

Cosmicglitterpug · 08/02/2017 20:14

Welcome back.
Where have you settled in London?

Cosmicglitterpug · 08/02/2017 20:16

Those Hale houses are epic.

Original poster
ILikeMilk · 08/02/2017 20:16

Somewhere central but overlooking a lovely green space. It is surprisingly quiet here for such a central location. I love it! Though we had to downsize due to hikes in property prices :(

OP posts:
stopfuckingshoutingatme · 08/02/2017 20:17

I live in London

I work full time and travel to work in the dark and back in the dark
I avoid going out in central London these days as it's too expensive and the travel back to the burbs annoys me
Very so often I do take the kids into central London - and agreed there is a lot but I do need to steel myself
All I can afford is a (small) ex local aubrority house
I rarely see my old friends as we are just all too far away - and no one wants to spend 2 hours in the car

Don't get me wrong I LOVE ❤️ London it's my home

But exactly what will change when you are here OP ?????