To ask you about Bristol

[HungrySleepyGrumpy]

Sorry for posting here for traffic but I'm struggling to find answers through my own research.

My DH has a new job and we're looking to move to Bristol area as a result of this. Any advice on best areas to aim for or areas to avoid? Any primary schools to avoid??

Doesn't necessarily have to be in Bristol city itself, surrounding areas would be okay too. I'm just finding it so hard to figure it all out. House move with so many unknowns plus school move for multiple kids is making my brain explode!

Please help 🙏🙏🙏

Bristol resident here, for 10years but hard to answer your question as there are lots of good and bad bits so need more details! It's good bad traffic so being near the work rather than the other side of the city is a good idea. The "centre" is really spread out and it's more about the culture of the regions - that's what people discuss. Eg Clifton vs Redland, Stokes Croft, St Paul's etc - all very very different vibe

Bishopston / Horfield have some lovely primary schools.
Bishop Road, Ashley Down, Brunel Field and Sefton Park are all fantastic schools.

What area of Bristol will he be working in and will he be driving in or getting the train? The centre is now a clean air zone

Have quite a few friends who live there. House prices are going up a lot, it’s certainly not cheap to live there anymore

Knowle West used to have a really bad reputation but not sure what it’s like now. There’s a lot of local towns/villages on the outskirts that are easily commutable by train as most of them have their own station

Depends on where he’ll be working (traffic can be terrible), budget, and city or countryside?

Agree with this. Bristol really is a city made up of multiple very distinct areas.
What sort of vibe are you looking for, OP?
I live in South Bristol. Very family-oriented. Buzzing high street with local, independent shops. City centre is an easy (and flat) 25 minute walk. Excellent primary schools but secondary schools are a bit more hit and miss.

Housing (buying or renting) is massively expensive in Bristol these days so where you live is probably going to depend on your budget. Agree that the traffic can be pretty bad. Public transport is not great either so definitely think about somewhere that is easy to get to work

I also live in Bristol and it really depends on what you are looking for.

Clifton and Redland are the posh and super expensive areas. Nice but you won’t ever find parking.

Bedminster and St George are kind of vibey and trendy and close to the center.

The outskirts are lovely especially in the north. Henbury, Patchway, winterbourne are all very nice and you get more space.

But it depends on where you work as traffic can be very heavy!

A lot is going to depend on your budget. Are you buying or renting? Its a very expensive city housing wise. Traffic is an absolute nightmare, lots of roadworks in conjunction with lots of house building going on. But there are also lots of positives. As with every city or town there is good and bad areas. What area would he be working in?

What's your budget? If you're loaded then an expensive area will have naice schools etc.
Where is your DPs job? If it's AbbeyWood then there's no point suggesting certain naice areas as he'll be in the car all the time.

There are about a zillion primary schools so can't really recommend anything. That being said, some areas are more disadvantaged than others so a lot of things fall out of that.

@Turboislander cracking username

It totally depends what you want but I agree Bishopston is a good place to start. Only problem is secondary schools...
if you can afford to live in the catchment of Redland Green you're fine. Otherwise it's quite tricky. Although I've heard Cotham is ok.
Places around/ near Bristol are really hit and miss and again, it depends what you want and commuting. Traffic can be awful.
Thornbury and Winterbourne have good secondaries but a little soulless.
Portishead has a bit more going on but awful traffic to and from Bristol.

Avoid Hartcliffe, Lawrence Weston, Knowle/Knowle West, Lawrence Hill.

Other areas, it depends what's important to you re price, vibe, types of houses, easy accessibility to motorway etc.

Clifton/Redland/Cotham are the "nice" areas but expensive for the city. Good restaurants and cafes but vibe is a bit soulless and dull. Bristol uni students are mostly in Clifton. UWE students live more up by Filton, but socialise in town.

Sneyd Park and Stoke Bishop in parts have nice houses but much quieter and more village vibe.

Westbury on Trym has quite a nice village vibe.
Montpelier/St Werburghs/ Stokes Croft are more vibrant and alternative, but houses are mostly smaller.

Really depends what you're looking for.

I was born in Bristol. Best areas for families now I would say are St George, Southville/Bedminster, St Andrews/Bishopston/Horfield - and all have fairly good transport/access to shops and restaurants. North/East of the City also nice places to live and close to family activities. Have lots of friends in Hartcliffe but the issue with furthest South Bristol is transport I would say and not much now other than the leisure centre.

Clifton/Redland are super studenty - also same with Filton/Frenchay for UWE

(Someone has mentioned Patchway above. I'm sorry but it absolutely wouldn't describe it as lovely)

I used to live very close by! 😁

It was me and yes- lovely probably doesn’t quite fit! The surrounding areas can be though, westbury and henbury etc.

I would avoid Eastville and Whitchurch.

Live in Wales, people are nicer. I find Bristol so snobby. Worse than London.

I used to live there. The nice bits are very expensive. There are bad areas. Traffic can be really bad, or it was when I lived there.

We live in Downend near Oldbury court. Lovely round here, lots of families and much more for your money than you get in posher parts of Bristol. Used to live in Southville and then Bishopston and both felt very squashed in comparison.

Hate Bristol. I would live in Wales.

This is probably the vibe we're looking for as we have a young family but still want to feel like there's something going on in the area.

Loads of great suggestions from everyone though so will try and dig into these areas a bit more and work out commute times etc. DH will be working pretty central 1-2 days a week so appreciate there'll be traffic/transport issues like any other town/city really!

Budget is around £600-650k

It’s going to come down to budget and where your dh needs to get to for work.

Secondaries are a bit tricky. Plenty of good primaries and lots of great family areas where you’ll find it easy to meet new people. Lots of people move to Bristol from elsewhere.

Bristol has some very lovely areas. I’d recommend Westbury on Trym, Stoke Bishop, Bishopston, Southville. Pricey though.

Lol at those recommending Wales instead. Don’t do that!!

I work in Clifton but lives out in Backwell. Schools wise you have plenty of choice - Backwell is one of the best schools in the Sith west region of Bristol but it is incredible hard to get in. Likewise Backwell junior school is outstanding and full!

if you are private you have lots of choice - depending on what you want - BGS is my old school and a basic hot factory for gcse and a level results, despite wanting mine to go as it was my old school - after open day they didn’t want to go.

Likewise they didn’t like Clifton college that much either. Clifton High School (private) was however awesome and mine thrive there - it had an inspection in the summer and was ranked outstanding in every area. Such pastoral care and lovely staff - very much a community. My eldest is in year 12 and on track to get 4 A at A level. However it is not about A to them it is about ensure they feel truly loved and it is magical.

We live outside Bristol but it takes 15 minutes to drive into Clifton and buses go every 15 minutes

Lots of incredibly expensive parts mentioned. You can live in East Bristol and not die. We live on edge of Fishponds, schools are good, lots of families, people are really friendly and Normal, have the Bristol- Bath railway path on the doorstep and loads of green space.

I've lived all over the city, this is the first time I've felt part of the community.