To ask where in the North West England is the best place to live

[KnitsBakesAndReads]

Just that really. I'm so so fed up of London for a variety of reasons and am daydreaming about upping sticks. For family reasons, somewhere in the North West (Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, etc) would probably be top of the list.

So, tell me what part of the region should be on my family's shortlist if we do move. Only limitation is that it would need to be in, or within commuting distance of, a reasonable size city for work reasons. Part of the reason for wanting to leave London is not being able to afford a house so we also couldn't afford other very expensive areas.

I haven't lived in many places so looking forward to getting some ideas. Thanks mumsnet!

Depends what you want. We're in Woolton which is very close to Liverpool on the train but has a village feel that we really like.

Other than that The Wirral is lovely as is most of Cheshire.

I grew in lytham and couldn't imagine a better place though it has got a bit yuppie now.

Err Woolton is Liverpool and is only a 15 minute drive away from the city centre if you go through Wavertree

Liverpool is lovely in a lot of places but to be honest (and I've lived in L'pool my entire life) you would get a lot more for your money and closer to other cities too if you chose nearer Warrington.

Liverpool is too expensive right now and yet the council are, once again, running the budgets in to the ground.

I never said Woolton wasn't in Liverpool. I just meant it's not in the actual city centre and is quite suburb-y.

Warrington is nice I agree although only if you're driving I think. So much of it is spread out that it really does require a car and it's murder to walk around a lot of it.

Altrincham and Timperley win hands down for me. I agree it has a Richmond feel to it, I used to live in Wimbledon an it has a similar atmosphere at a fraction of the price.

Excellent schools, good family community, and Alti town centre is fantastic now with a sudden burst of restaurants and bars, the refurbished marketplace is amazing.

I have lived I the North East and London and have really settled here.

Oh and Altrincham and Timperley have the tram link into Manchester city centre, as well as a train line to Chester

Panda are you serious? Liverpool's not expensive!

I live in Manchester, in an area that has been roundly sneered at on here a few times so much as I love it I won't recommend it again! Lately I've been thinking that when the dc are grown I would quite fancy Cheadle but that can be a bit pricey (well pricey to me, in London terms it's not).

I second Aughton/Ormskirk and also add Formby as it has a beach and is still quiet near to Liverpool.

Some good suggestions here.

Clitheroe /Ribble Valley obviously lovely, RV very expensive though but stunning.

Liverpool is a great city, I'm guessing there are still some affordable houses? When I was a student people were snapping up those huge Georgian houses and doing them up.

Manchester obviously is the greatest city in the North

Depending on your budget you could get a great house on a train line into Manchester /Liverpool /Chester, if you want cheap think Burnley /Accrington, more expensive think Whalley.

Liverpool

*quite

Borders and Martha - I also used to live in Richmond and now live in Bowdon - it is an excellent area for schools and commuting, and great place to live, but some of the houses are on a par with London prices (usually much bigger though)

Yes Ormskirk is lovely but a bit mental in that they are arseholes who made it difficult for anyone attending Edge Hill because they campaigned to be in Lancashire even though everything around them is Merseyside. That means you can't use the Merseyrail day passes and have to pay bus fare twice.

But I'd stay away from Formby unless you want to live near footballers.

We live in Cumbria near the Lancs border. Moved here 2 years ago from down south. It is wonderful. I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I look at the views out of my window. The weather is... ummm.... a bit damp at times though .

Some parts of the Wirral are lovely. I also like Formby but it's pretty expensive.

Awww I grew up near Ormskirk - great place for bringing up kids, loved having a town centre to go to but also the ability to get to a number of bigger places easily - Liverpool, Preston, Southport all easily accessible (although trains to Preston less frequent) and Manchester do able also, although not as easy as Liverpool. I agree it completely depends on what you are looking for OP, both Liverpool and Manchester are great and have desirable suburbs. I love Chester too.
For something quieter, there's lots of nice villages/smaller places through the NW, whether that be on the Wirral, in Cheshire, Lancashire near Ormskirk or whatever - I think NW is a great region to live in.

I've lived in both Altrincham and (currently) Sale in south Manchester. Altrincham is nice, you can get some spectacular properties (for a price!) and they've just renovated the market area into a hipstery foodie mecca. The high street is OK but nowt special.

I love where we live in Sale, we got a 4 bed for the price of an Alty 2 bed, still on the tram line, still got a decent high street and Trafford's excellent schools on the doorstep.

You won't go far wrong anywhere in south Manchester, tbf. It's all trammed up, there's bags of countryside a few minutes' drive away, not to mention glorious Cheshire. Manchester itself is a great city, very manageable and full of all sorts of people, places and events.

I also love Leeds but have never lived there, only visited. For our next move, we're eyeing up Wilmslow but it's a bit out of budget for now!

And yes, Woolton is very nice too - was there recently. Agree it has a villagey feel but can be quite pricey (by NW standards).

We love living here (about 15 minutes into centre of Manchester, Worsley). Traffic is getting worse though, schools are over subscribed sometimes by huge numbers, and I am craving more space and country side now. If we decide to stay in the UK longer we will be moving to outer Bolton (Rivington, Horwich area). It's just too busy around here (Worsley roundabout in the morning is no-go).

Cumbria/The Lake District.

We live in Sale. Excellent schools (both primary and secondary) within walking distance. In fact there are 5 outstanding primaries within a mile radius. However unless you live within 500 metres of one you don't stand a chance of getting in as they are so over subscribed that some people who have a child already in the school but moved out of catchment didn't get their second child in.

I like the community feel though and we have a lovely little village a few mins walk away with post office, butchers, greengrocers, deli and a few cafes and pubs etc.

We also live near the recently opened tram line so links into the city are excellent (takes 20 mins max) but also run to manchester airport, media city and chorlton etc.

Our house has gone up in value by 50k in less than 5 years largely due to the improved transport links and schools i think. We have a lovely 3 bed mid terraced house (row of 5 houses) with a nice sized garden. However we would probably look to move to a bigger house once the DTs are old enough to need their own room (or convert the attic).

We're in east Cheshire, nr Nantwich.

I really like it, close to the M6 and lots of schools/residential areas.