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!

I'm not from the North West, but have lived in Manchester, Wilmslow, Liverpool and Southport.

You should visit and make up your own mind of course but I found Manchester to be soulless with nothing going on. Wilmslow and Southport were both a bit small for my taste. I definitely prefer the latter of those two.

Liverpool I loved. There's some dicey suburbs, but the city centre is v nice and there's always loads of art and cultural events on, many of which are free to attend. It also seems to have more boutique stores than Manchester, and better bars.

Hi iklboodolph are you a fellow urmstonian then?

I really like Liverpool too, and that's as a Manc. Not because of the boutiques either. It's just the economy isn't as good and it's further away from everything, but that may not matter for OP.

The wirral. So close to everything mountains (wales) beaches (east coast of wirral) forrests (delamere-lots woods on the wirral though) city centres (liverpool or chester) and countryside (cheshire) literally short drives away and right on your door step.

Yeah FrozeninSummer it can be very pricey - which is why we shop in neighbouring areas that are much cheaper! Live in Woolton, shop in Wavertree - that's our motto!

Certainly am
Kinky - moved here three years ago & love it here after where we used to live.

North Liverpool - Crosby for example - is brilliant. Property around £200,000 for a decent 3 bed 1930s semi (£185 for same but a do-er-upper).

Crosby beach has Anthony Gormley's Aanother Place, great parks nearby, goood schools, 18 min train to city centre, great motorway links.

Lytham st annes
We have 2 Booths

Harrow on the Hill is really nice.

Lancaster definitely. Or any of the small towns between Lancaster and Kendal. The Lakes are wonderful but expensive and full of day trippers. Lancaster is good if you're a townie - fantastic schools and easy access to the countryside and housing to suit all budgets

I'm from the Wirral (don't live there any more) and can only echo what other posters have said re: beauty and convenience. There are some great schools too.

Lol insancerre!!

Blackpool is....nice.

Kidding,
Lakes are gorgeous, Lancaster fabulous but there are loads of rural villages in between, lots of choice in the NW

yes to the ribble valley i grew up in Greenmount nr Ramsbottom both lovely place

YY to this, I am in Tottington Village right next to Greenmount/Ramsbottom

I live near Chester and have lived in and around for the last 15 years. I love it as somewhere to live but I'm a contractor and have commuted to both Liverpool and Manchester from Chester and it is a nightmare. If you know which city you're likely to get with in - more opportunities seem to be in Manchester- then I'd consider one of the suburbs of that city.

Jimjack
Lytham at annes is not blackpool!

How rude

DH and I used to live in Didsbury in Manchester. It was lovely but v. pricey. Lots of our friends live Sale/Altrincham way and love it.

We now live in the Lakes and it's the best decision we ever made. DS really happy and it's such an easy way of life. We are less than 2 hours from Manchester yet have the fells, beaches and lakes within 20 minutes of our house. PP said it's expensive - only if you choose touristy hotspots. We got a 4 bed detached for the same price as our 2 bed flat in Manchester...

The NW is bloody brilliant so I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine whereever you choose.

Commuting anywhere round the north west is quite frankly shite - the M6 and M62 are both particularly bad. My recommendation would be to live and work the same city - my preference is Liverpool because the nice bits to live in (Woolton, Formby) are relatively quick for the centre. Aughton/Ormskirk area also has some lovely villlages round about, but quite a trek into Liverpool or Manchester if you work in the centre (40 mins minimum).

To be fair SovietKitsch the train from Ormskirk only takes about 20 minutes into Moorfields or Central. Not bad really considering how far out it is.

Mumsnetters, you never fail me! Thank you so much for all these suggestions. I've just spent a happy half hour looking up some of the places I'd not heard of and trying to get a bit more familiar with the geography of the region. That was quickly followed by a bit of Rightmove window shopping. (Where I was overjoyed to discover we could get a four bed detached house in lots of these areas for the price of a poky flat that we couldn't even afford in London!)

And thanks also for making me think a bit more about what we'd want from a move. SilentBatperson (love your name btw), I'm not certain about budget as would be as would depend on salaries after moving so I'd need to do a bit more research on that. We both have quite London-centric jobs so we'd be unlikely to work in exactly the same type of roles as we do at the moment. For location, I'd love to be by the sea as I spent most of my childhood on the coast and I really miss it. I think we'd ideally be on the outskirts of a city rather than city centre, but a nice area within reasonable commuting distance would be good too.

I've spent a bit of time in Liverpool visiting people and with work and I did really like the city from the little I saw of it. Depending on jobs there I think Liverpool, or somewhere just outside the city, would be high up on my list now. I do like Chester too but not sure about the job market and it looked like we might struggle to afford a house there. I haven't spent much time in Manchester so might try to have a weekend away there soon and get a feel for whether we like the city. It's good to hear lots of places around Manchester have good transport links too as we'd most likely both have to travel into a city for work.

Thanks again everyone, you've filled me with enthusiasm for escaping London at last!

Glad you found it all useful.

From what you've said I suspect somewhere Wirral-ish would suit you, the only thing is that the job market's not as good that side. If you're going to be looking for more 'generalised' jobs because your sector doesn't exist here, if that makes sense, there will be more available in Manchester. And that will not be a fun commute.

But that's not to say there's nothing in Liverpool at all. If you post the sort of thing you might be thinking about, people could give you an idea of availability and salary.

Come on, who's trying to claim that Lytham and St Annes is one place? The people retired in living in St Annes would have something to say about that!

Hello to the rest of the Ribble Valley massive!

In that case I think the following places would be suitable for you

Crosby
Formby (does get pricey)
Southport

Heswall (again pricey)
Bebbington
Meols/Moreton/Leasowe
Hoylake
West Kirby

They are all a decent commute into Liverpool and right next to beaches/rivers and have lovely communities and are generally very nice places to live.

In Liverpool itself you're looking at
Aigburth
Mossley Hill
Allerton
Woolton
Calderstones
Cressington
Grassendale
Otterspool

All very accessible by public transport.

I used to be an estate agent in Liverpool
. 😉

Manchester is just as depressing as London especially greater Manchester. I'd stick down south.

ubercon nobody from lytham would ever say they were from 'lytham st annes'. We leave that for the poor souls in ansdell and beyond