London or Leeds. WWYD?

[endoftether82]

To live, with 2 young kids. Crouch end in London, roundhay in Leeds. Which one would you do? And why preferably!

Hello! Thank you all for these replies! I haven't been deliberately absent, we're actually on holiday. A holiday during which we're trying to decide what location to choose.

I've posted about this before (although not so specific about the locations). This decision has been rumbling on for 6 months now, and we're no closer. Despite having to register our youngest for primary in January.

The situation is this. I grew up in crouch end. If we move there, my aging parents will be up the road, plus brother and his child will be round the corner. We can just about afford a house, but it will be a stretch for a while. In some ways moving to crouch end might feel a bit claustrophobic. And I also appreciate what pp said about secondary schools.

We are both freelance so can work anywhere. DH grew up in roundhay, and his mum and dad still live in Leeds.

Our Dc are 2 & 3. Logically I think we should move to leeds. However, my concerns are

1. Leaving my family
2. I might end up finding leeds too small
3. The weather!

It's getting to crunch time to make a decision, but they all seem so stiffiling. I just want what's best for the kids whilst also feeling settled myself.

Leeds is good and Roundhay is lovely but commuting to Leeds can be quite busy in rush hour. I'm have family there and have considered it but my job is in London and I don't want to live in Leeds but spend 2-3 days travelling back to London.

Your London option is good and a nice family area which makes it more of a tricky choice. Guess you need to weigh up career options as well as where you get the best house.

I'm fortunate that I have a nice house in London but obviously could buy something amazing I'm roundhay / Harrogate etc. So for now we are sticking in London. Though I'd add some balance !

My other reason for not going up north is that all my friends are here. I don't actually just want to hang out with my parents / in laws

If you are still considering Leeds you could look at Horsforth, Guiseley or Menston. All within easy driving to Roundhay, but all have stations so commuting would be much easier.

I get you about Leeds possibly feeling a bit small. My experience (lived there for 10 years) was that it "punches above its weight": it feels like a bigger city than it actually is.

Pluses: culturally - has an opera house, a good concert season (regular visits by the Halle and BBC Phil, among others), Leeds piano competition, (as you can tell I'm a classical music buff - but certainly when I lived there friends told me the club scene was very vibrant and cutting edge too), West Yorkshire Playhouse (does some really exciting and innovative stuff). It's just under an hour on the train to Manchester, which is a fabulous place, hour and a half to Liverpool (Tate Modern among other things) and half an hour in the other direction to York.

Stuff for children - well, I lived there pre-DC but going back to visit family, there's really good museums like the Royal Armouries.

And the countryside has got to be the one thing you just can't replicate in London. Wharfdale is within cycling distance of north Leeds (as in, cycle out there for an evening after work distance, not major expedition distance). The Dales are beautiful, you have the North York Moors just a bit further away, the Penines to your west, and the Lake District is only an hour and half away. There is nothing even vaguely comparable close to London.

(Having said that, if someone gave me the wherewithall to live in a nice bit of London, well, the cultural life is incomparable, and the amount of stuff to do with children is simply amazing - DC and I try to go there for a long weekend every so often just to do stuff like the science museum, HMS Belfast, the Tower, etc. etc.)

crouch end without a doubt, great facilities and great schools
www.hws.haringey.sch.uk/documents/examresults.htm

You don't need to live in the exact location they your parents/in laws currently live. There are a lot of areas not that far from Crouch End which will be less of a stretch financially. A few zones further out will be cheaper and less claustrophobic but still have the advantages of being in London and near your parents.

I found Leeds too small and I moved there from a city that is nowhere near as big as London. But then again it is a very nice city.

Being freelance would you be working from home? This obviously removes the issue of commuting from Roundhay being a PITA.

Regarding weather - it's not THAT different really.

in north london you have ally pally. highgate wood and hampstead heath for a bit of fesh air.

Leeds. I am from Leeds and currently live here, Roundhay is a lovely area. My DF has lived in London most of my life so I’ve spent a lot of time down there over the years, I would never choose to live there. You get far more for your money in Leeds.

Free travel for London children that's not available elsewhere in the country sounds incredibly unfair - how is this justified

it's funded by Transport for London, supported by the Mayor and the assembly, there is no central government support for TfL's operational costs, bar a small contribution to London Overground that is being withdrawn. I can't see why this can't happen elsewhere?

London but that's because where my life is and MIL is in Leeds

I live in leeds but I'm from London... I think it depends on all the other variables, eg can you afford the type of house you want in London, commute time, , children, hobbies.

Leeds is obviously cheaper and the access to surrounding countryside is fabulous, dales in an hour, peaks in 1.5, lakes in 2, north wales in 2.5. But London is just so varied and interesting. The options for the kids are infinite and constantly changing (and lots of stuff is free). The music and arts/culture scene is so interesting.

Leeds does suffer slightly from the Manchester effect, Manchester is bigger and has more going on but it is getting better.

Traffic driving from one side of leeds to the other in rush hour can be dreadful so take into account where you'll be working.

So totally on the fence!

Roundhay.

I’ve lived in Leeds and Crouch End, both have plenty to recommend them. However, I’m still in London so I suppose that gives my opinion.

I wouldn't feel safe in London with all the stabbings and other crimes going on! It depends if your a city family or countryside family really. I like the city but London is to fast paced for me. Leeds all the way but I would locate somewhere near a train station even though Roundhay is lovely to close to Oakwood for me.

Oh and there doesn't seem to be enough primary school in Roundhay either!

Leeds is hardly free from stabbings.

Leeds from me too. I left London and never looked back.

There are lots of facilities and cultural things to do in London but I found I rarely actually used them. Most of my social life happened in the little pocket where I lived. Cinema, restaurants and local theatre etc. That could have happened just as easily in Manchester, Bristol or Leeds. But I was paying a huge premium for having access to London.

Also London is huge and can take a long time to cross to get to these amazing attractions. In South Manchester I'm an hour from Leeds/Liverpool/Chester etc. and all of their attractions. About the same travel time.

So instead of my 2 bed flat I have a 4 bed house!

So am in London. Probably cheaper place than Crouch End.

I have horses and oxen pass my front garden and feel perfectly safe walking down the road in the dead of night

The weather is an odd one, and depends what data you look at. The Met Office don't have a station in Leeds itself so use either Bingley, or Church Fenton. Bingley is higher up and closer to the pennines whereas Church Fenton is in the vale of York, and the difference is massive: average rainfall 1024mm/yr in Bingley but only 600mm/yr in Church Fenton. (For comparison, London gets about 560mm/yr. Sunshine hours in Church Fenton is 1573hrs/yr compared with 1410hrs/yr in London.) I wouldn't let the weather put you off basically!

@whatsthecomingoverthehill

Great point. Not to mention the fact that the weather station in Bingley is so high up, it can be raining there and dry half a mile down the hill

London if you can afford it, Leeds if you can’t. Leeds will never compare to London but doesn’t mean it’s a bad place to live obviously.

London will never compare to Leeds but doesn't mean it's a bad place to live.

London will never compare to Leeds but doesn't mean it's a bad place to live

Ha ha, yes. I'm sure Ally Pally, Highgate Wood and Hampstead Heath are lovely in their own little way for a bit of fresh air, but they're just not a patch on the real wilderness and world class hills accessible from Leeds.

And I don't see London getting an annual 4 day professional cycling stage race any time soon.

However, having read the OPs update, she does look like one of the few where London might be the preferable option, or at least a genuine contender. it would be interesting to hear her DHs take on the matter, given his roots are in Leeds. I suppose it depends how long he's been in London and how easily he can visit his parents.

Re primary school places....avoid the Street Lane end of Roundhay and you should be fine (check for where your secondary school is though!)