To ask where you’d move?

[LusaBatoosa]

Young family, Black, infant DC, looking to leave London. Where would you go?

Following criteria:

• In England.
• Budget of circa £1.1m gets you something nice.
• Culturally and ethnically diverse.
• We want all the usual - green spaces, good schools, decent transport links.
• We like nice stuff. Farmers markets, museums, nice shops and cafes.

Does this magical place exist?! I’d love to hear your recommendations! If you could be as specific as possible, that would be lovely - so, as opposed to ‘Brighton’ (for example), I’m hoping for areas in places.

Especially interested in responses from Black or mixed race mums with lived experiences of the areas recommended. How have your DC found it growing up there?

South West Sheffield's the place to live. Lovely people, wonderful countryside, lots of community feel. Loads of activities, clubs etc for adults and children. Big culture scene - 2 unis, 2 major hospitals, Crucible etc. My neighbours moved up from London ( work forced it and they were upset until they'd been here about a week then they were thrilled! )

Liverpool fits the bill for diversity and culture. You could get a really nice house in a town on the outskirts, which would also fit the greener/farmer market vibe. I'd look at places in Sefton/Merseyside.

I’ve lived in St Albans and liked it but I don’t think it is at all diverse - and I’m not sure it fits some of your other criteria either.

I would look at some of the areas around Manchester - Sale, for example. Close to Manchester for more interesting things to do, nice area itself with a nice centre, good schools. Couldn’t comment much on diversity though sorry.

Come out to Surrey / sound london border - CR3. I’m in Whytelafe, excellent schools, very green and very multi cultural (my own children - white Asian). I’m from the north but chose to stay here when I split with their dad as it’s not very multi cultured where I grew up in the north. Not saying everywhere is like that, but it certainly is all white people still in the town I grew up in, and I didn’t want my children standing out as different.

In CR3 / Surrey you’re still only 30 mins away from london and still multi cultural but it’s very green and different from the inner city. Best of both worlds and for 1 million you’ll get something decent. Of course if you go much further out of London you would get a lot more for your money, but if you’re looking for multi cultural too then be careful where you choose. I’d stay close to London if I was in your shoes

Have you considered the North West? Home to major cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Preston etc but with beautiful towns and villiage’s a stones throw away.

Lancashire is a great place to live, only a short drive to beaches, wide open green spaces or vibrant cities with museums/cafes/shop. Opportunity to live in quaint villages with farmers markets etc but never far from the bustling cities.

For beaches and a bustling town, Lytham is a lovely place to live especially if you like the beach. Chorley is another town worth a look. Villiage’s such as Croston, Much Hoole, walmer bridge and Catforth offer wide open green spaces, countryside like feel with farmers shops etc. Close to the city of Preston. All these beautiful places a short drive (1-2 hours) from beautiful cities like York, Chester, Manchester and Liverpool.

Your budget will go so far in the North west. You’ll have your pick of some very beautiful homes in prime locations.

It has a diverse multicultural society. I have good friends who have settled around these areas listed from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Nepal and South Africa.

Jobs opportunities are great due to the access to the cities.

Despite the previous poster’s assumptions we are well educated in the North. Excellent schools/universities. Ample museums, cafes and restaurants. The cost of living far less than London.

Good luck with your move!

I’ve lived all over the UK and as per pp, in your situation I would go for the big university towns. Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Manchester maybe. I would also look at the ‘village’ type areas of London - you have a healthy budget.

as per pp, the UK is different outside London - not better or worse, just different. From your post it seems like the things you’d value would be present in those types of places.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/29/leicester-birmingham-first-super-diverse-uk-cities-census

Leicester?

😂 you don’t leave London much do you?

“So you aren't going to get all the good stuff about London (great museums, great restaurants, cafes, culture, shops) easily outside London.”

Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff are all devoid of museums and shops and culture are they?

I think you need to get out a bit more!

Bristol
Bath
Exeter

I'm white but live in Nottingham. The city is very diverse. It's a great compact city that punches above its weight culturally, has excellent public transport and it on the doorstep of the Peak District. I live about a mile from the city centre and in a 20 min drive, I'm in the countryside. It's easy to get to other cities, and it's very affordable.

I think a lot of the Bristol / Birmingham / Leicester suggestions really just mean you still live in a London environment to be honest. I’d look at some of the villages around Ware ( Hertfordshire) Bishop Stortford, Epping and Upminster ( Essex) you could get a nice house in all those places and most have good schools and great transport links too.

Leicester is a great city. Very multicultural. Lots happening in the centre, decent housing in the near suburbs and an hour on the train to London.

I'm whitey mcwhiteface, a fan of farmers markets and museums and always live rurally, like to go to rural lovely places in britain for holidays. To be brutally honest, i dont see any ethnically diverse places in that. Yes, the odd black or asian person/family visiting but not really living there. I tend to think the only way to change that though is to bite the bullet and do it.

Your budget would buy me my dream home i spotted on rightmove in the countryside around leeds - gorgeous period house with massive garden and mature trees; i highly doubt you would face significant racism in York, and you'd have a shit tonne of stuff to see and do in yorkshire - museums, foodie, national parks, coast. And not far from london in one hop on the train.

Hi OP,
You will get some very strong opinions on this thread, and I am envious of your budget especially for outside London.
Some years ago we had a referendum, no not that one, it was a predecessor referendum and was a clear indicator of the way the EU vote would go. It was about alternative voting systems. I was very disappointed in the result as my side, the side in favour of reforming our 1st past the post system lost heavily.
However there was some excellent research done into what the vote showed , which was that some parts of the UK had radically different ,more Liberal or socialist views than the rest. I believe the research was by Tony Travers at LSE.
These areas included London, Brighton, Bristol, Oxbridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh and parts of other cities like Manchester.
The point, and I do have one, is that it might be worth your while checking this research or similar studies about political opinions.
I am white but moved to London from East Anglia to escape the right wing attitudes and total lack of diversity. Having said that Cambridge itself fits your criteria but I'm not sure about the ethnic diversity in the cities schools. By the way the post 16 state sixth forms in Cambridge are fantastic.
Good luck with your exciting move!

I think your list is confusing - museums are definatly more city than country
farmers markets - more rural

You need to prioritize what you want

Example - village location with train access to …
or motorway access too

You can’t have both so I think you need to reconsider your options slightly

NOT Clifton in Bristol. You'll end up next to a student house.
Better places in Bristol for you are Redland (so you're in the catchment to a brilliant secondary) or Bishopston, specifically St Andrews.

@LusaBatoosa If you are going to go for a Home Counties area with not a huge non-white community, then (in my experience) the best way to get a more diverse school is to pick a faith school (you don’t necessarily need to be of that faith or any to get a place). When my Dd was looking at 6th forms in one of the towns already mentioned, we really noticed how white, middle class the non-faith schools were versus the faith schools.

But the truth is: if you want countryside, small market town and farmers markets there won't be much ethnic diversity unless you're striking distance from London.
If you want museums, ethnic diversity you will need to live in a city but you wont have green or farmers markets on your doorstep.

Cambridge (though diversity is probably lacking in the villages), Leigh on Sea, Brentwood, Hitchin.

Another vote for Sheffield, my friend who is black and her white husband moved to Lodge Moor. Lived and thrived there for many years, my friend always felt 'at home' there and only moved to downsize.
They moved to Dore and love it, that side of Sheffield is fab!

Full disclaimer, I am white, I grew up in an extremely multicultural part of east London as a minority (I'm not suggesting that gives me an understanding of being not white just as context of growing up in a very diverse area, and more experience of that than most) Iived out in a few home counties for uni and just in life, I now live in the north east. I moved away from a small village in Essex after the leave vote was something like 70%. I find people here to be more culturally diverse, where there isn't a huge experience of diversity, than that small village where people were just outright bigoted.

But honestly with your wish list and budget I would stay in London and find somewhere that has a small villagey feel but still good access to the city (my suggestion would be to look east to Wanstead or Woodford). If you move somewhere like st Alban's you'll just wish you stayed.

I am very familiar with two of those cities and have been to them all but

1. The OP says they aren't a "big city" person so what is the point of suggesting other large cities?
2. Yes, all those places have museums but no, they don't compare in terms of cultural offerings and the sheer breadth and diversity of food/shops/museums/cultural events as London. The OP has only ever lived in central London and is not familiar with the rest of England- the baseline for which they are comparing areas against is a complete outlier.

If the OP is interested in suburbs of Birmingham like Moseley or Sale in Manchester, then I'd also suggest they explore the suburbs of London too - the poster suggesting the Surrey borders is sensible. You keep all the access and get a bigger house. Yes, you get an even bigger house if you move to Sale but how important is that that? You need to work out what your priorities are - if you browse Rightmove across the whole UK, you'll see amazing looking homes but in completely wrong locations for you. Is the size/scope of the house more important or the location. you can improve the house but not the location.

Hove/Brighton - and some surrounding villages, the denes. Some absolutely outstanding schools and also super diverse, everyone is so so friendly.

Another vote for Sheffield. It has museums, food, theatre etc. lots of diverse places. And you're minutes from the Peak District for beautiful countryside. It also has lots of cute villages with farmers markets less than 30mins away and has great links to other large cities such as Manchester and Leeds.

St Albans. It’s 20 min to St Pan and 15 to W Hampstead and Kentish Town so you can be in London all the time as quickly as some tube journeys

great for kids, lots to do for families. More international than many think - due to all the London commuters. It is £££ now and 1.1 will get you a 3-4 bed semi.