Where would you go in the UK?

[BrightonEarly1]

Next year I plan on moving back to the UK and fancy a fresh start!

If you were 36, childfree, working in a creative field (freelance) where would you go?

On my radar:

• Edinburgh (but will it be too posh?)
• Bristol (I liked Brighton but found it a bit middle class bubbley, someone suggested Bristol)
• London (lived here before, great, but massively expensive - any easy access towns that are actually energetic in their own right and not zombie commuter towns?)
• Lancaster (im very close to my aunt who lives there but I'm worried it could feel boring?)
• Sheffield (dont know why, just speaks to me)

I'm originally from the north and have family around Lancaster as I say, but also manchester and leeds

Places that I have (unfair?) preconceived ideas about:

• Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds: faintly depress me for some reason (?)

But if you can share your experiences of living there I'm all ears

Also, what about southern coastal towns that are maybe on there way up? What about places like Margate, Hastings, etc. Places that dont feel too grim but also not too sterile.

Basically im at that fun stage of just daydreaming and considering options, and would love to hear your odes to places, or places you hated, and why.

Considering my profile i really dont care about things like schools, fresh air and open spaces 😂 My priorities are a welcoming community, fairly well connected, lots of groups to get involved with

I don’t think it’s about the city as much as the part of the city. I imagine that all of them would have their arty/creative regions as well as their “middle-class bubbley” regions.

So if you’re drawn to Lancaster because of your aunt, find out which particular area of it might suit (or which area in a nearby city of nothing fits the bill there). I think that being geographically close to someone you know well will have many advantages. On that note, what about old school/uni friends?

Sheffield without a doubt from that list

Bristol 😍😍

@BrightonEarly1 you should look on Rightmove and Zoopla etc. to compare property prices. I think the twat ratio per 1,000 is pretty low in Liverpool! Don't let one person represent a city (including me, of course!) but it's a lovely place with great transport links to London, Manchester and direct flights to lots of places.

Go to Liverpool. I’m biased as grew up near there but moved away in early teens then went back for Uni. I very occasionally have to go for work related reasons and every time (a) notice that it’s even more vibrant than it was - lots going on, great mix of people / shops / industries / leisure, and (b) get sad that as can’t live there again as our lives are too tied with where we are now and anyway DH doesn’t want to.

Obviously there’s loads of different areas so you can choose based on whether you want to be closer to the centre or more sedate area - though there’s good public transport into and around the area.

And it’s near enough to Lancaster to visit regularly - though not several times a week!

Nottingham is great! Great theatres, fantastic restaurants & shopping - not far from anywhere really, 1.5 ish hours to London, relatively cheap place to live. The cultural scene has exploded in the city and it's changed so much in the last 20 years.

Has a diverse population but the large student population keeps it buzzing.

Really, Sheffileld and Nottingham are quite similar in many respects - Sheffield is a bit closer to the Peaks if walking is your thing.

I'm also considering moving back to UK next year, so I've been thinking about this a lot.

Manchester and Liverpool would be my top choices. Absolutely loads to do, countryside all around you, affordable housing, colourful and exciting cities to be a part of.

I lived in the centre of Manchester for a few years and had so much fun (late 20s/early 30s at the time).

@ZanyPam
Interesting! Where are you considering? Nottingham I guess? 😁 Will go and do some reading about that now, I didnt realise it was that quick to london.

From Newark station it's 1hr 15 min to Kings Cross. One and a half ish from Nottingham City.
It's junction 25 or 26 of M1.
Yes, v close to Sheffield too.
What creative field is it?
Nottm has the Nottm Contemporary Gallery, Broadway Cinema and two or three theatres. The area of Hockley is creative too. The second link I posted shows it off well.

www.ntu.ac.uk/study-and-courses/courses/find-your-course/arts-humanities/pg/2020-21/creative-writing?wvideo=bfk5d0goyf

Glasgow or Liverpool

[quote BrightonEarly1]@ZanyPam
Interesting! Where are you considering? Nottingham I guess? 😁 Will go and do some reading about that now, I didnt realise it was that quick to london.[/quote]
I'm open minded (just trying to make my peace with Brexit before I make the move back.... so watch this space!)

Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds are on my radar.

Bristol is a great city, but it's just too far for me for personal reasons (family).

'Shame someone says definitely not Lancaster because I really am so close to my aunt, if I lived there I'd be popping in three or four times a week. And I find it beautiful. But maybe too isolated and quiet in the long term'.

I don't know Lancaster at all but it seems a shame to write it off when you obviously have such a lovely relationship with your Aunt. Wouldn't it be worth seeing what's going on there and you might find it's not so quiet afterall - I'm sure you and your Aunt would get so much from being so near to each other.

Bristol without a doubt.

From your list, I'd go Edinburgh, however if I had absolute free choice, Norwich is beautiful, full of culture and friendly, but fairly expensive. Or Bury-St-Edmunds is absolutely gorgeous if you can afford it. Both are well connected with public transport, as far as I can remember.

Beware of the 'friendly' Glaswegian...

Bristol is nice, so is cardiff and a bit cheaper.

Margate is brilliant and you can still get really good value property. Fast trains to London, great creative community, amazing places to eat and drink, loads of affordable studios for freelancers.

I grew up in Lancaster and think it's a pretty good place to live. A smaller city than others on your list but still with a decent amount going on, culture, restaurants, a couple of theatres etc. Quite a few independent shops and restaurants nowadays. For its size I think it's pretty good, and the advantages of a smaller city is that it's very walkable. House prices are fairly reasonable. You are easily at the coast, in the lakes or train to Manchester is an hourish if you want a bigger city. It depends what you want really but it sounds like you would like to be close to your aunt so I wouldn't rule it out.

We have gone through a similar dilemma recently (though different priorities as we have kids so need to consider schools etc) and have decided on the Liverpool area (actually the Wirral but it's a short drive or train journey to the city centre). Great city with lots going on, more job opportunities in our fields but not too far away from Lancaster to visit family who are still there. Depending where you live you can be in easy reach of the city but also coast and countryside. It has a really nice vibe, the people are friendly, house prices are ok. We spent a long time weighing up different options and felt it had the best balance of everything we were looking for.