Aibu to not want to move up north

[time2changeCharlieBrown]

My dh has been offered a great job opportunity a high payrise
the catch is we have to relocate up north near Leeds
so my main concerns is the weather
I hate winter, rain and snow and up there seems to get more?
also I joined a few online community groups recently to get a feel for it and learn about the areas and what’s around
all I have mainly seen is awful things about robbery’s and car theft and violent crimes! It’s really putting me off!
we have a son who is not too far off an age to go clubbing and for nights out and even though he is 6 foot 5 he’s very striking looking mixed race (Greek) and I worry about him being a target and our eldest daughter too also very striking ,but both quite naive as we currently live in a small village and don’t often go into big cities and they are at small schools.
my dh is from a different town up north not too far from Leeds still has friends there and says it’s fine and all city’s are the same and the kids will be fine as not in any gangs and unlikely to be. I am a worrier so Aibu to not want to move?

Yawn. Can we just stop the jokes about whippets and flat caps. I know they’re supposed to be tongue in cheek but bloody tedious.
Always makes me laugh how the ex-southerners are always the most vocal about how great it is up here 😂

I genuinely think you need to get out more! Yorkshire on the whole is a beautiful county, and there’s no reason you have to live in Leeds itself, there’s good transport links

And they completely overlook the increasing popularity of whippets, which (entirely understandably) seem to make up at least a third of the dog population here, a few miles from the south coast.

You're talking like it's Lebanon not Leeds 😂 careful though, up North we have webbed feet (perfect for swimming through all that extra rain) no electricity and have to collect water from the local wells.

Fair enough. But since posters, inc. me, are poking fun at someone who seems to get her information from Crimewatch and Nextdoor, I’m sure you can cut us some slack.

(I don’t come from the north or live in the north.)

All community Facebook pages make the town sound like it is a cesspit of deprivation, feral youths and violent crime. They are not a reliable barometer of actual conditions.

And where do you live then that has a utopian life style with no crime and glorious weather?

I am a northerner and yes it's colder up here compared to say Devon or Cornwall as you mentioned south West. There are plenty of villages up here I have a great view if hills and I can see as far as leeds from my flat on a hill. Harrogate is posh you will love that. I get annoyed how people perceive up north sometimes. Leeds actually is being quite gentrified in certain areas in many bars it's not cheap and more with folks saying about London prices . I donr live in a city would hate that but you can see some lovely countryside up here cheaper to so there is thatb

I lived in Manchester for some years and it is wetter than most of the rest of England (Scotland is different). I've lived on the Yorkshire coast for 7 years and it's MUCH drier - and we hardly ever have snow at all.

I'm originally from Sheffield (which tends to suffer snow more than Leeds because of the hills!) and have friends in Leeds. Leeds is very multicultural so I see no reason to think your son will suffer racism there. But as others have said, there are very lovely places to live that are easily commutable for your husband's work.

Chester is the nicest city I've ever visited.
I'm sure there are other lovely places nearer to your new work opportunity maybe near The Peak District or near other parks and beautiful places in North Yorkshire.
Buy a house with great heating.

😂 Made me chuckle

You need to get out more, wfh is not doing you any favours.

For not being Northern or living here, your information is scarily accurate. Have you spent time here?

Take note @time2changeCharlieBrown

The city is geared for young students with two universities. There is a Harvey Nichols, a big shopping centre, restaurants, cafes galore. I enjoyed visiting now and again for it's vibrancy. But being a country mouse myself I'd opt for one of the villages.

@time2changeCharlieBrown if you gave us an idea of budget house wise we could be more helpful.

My son went to uni up north and every time we visited it was hot! Admittedly one day it was raining hard, but that was the case all over the country on that particular day. I thought the countryside was beautiful. My son wasn't in Leeds but he mentioned going there and liked it.

@justasking111 Oh it will be £900k. Deffo. Always is. 😂

Make sure you move to the east of me and you'll be fine. I'm as far east in Lancashire as you can get before hitting Yorkshire, trust me we get all the rain instead of Yorkshire. We can be snowed up and next town has nothing. Leeds has really good transport connections if your dh can go into the office by train if not the road network is good but gets busy. Its easy to work in Leeds and live way outside. Try to avoid needing the m62 to the west of Leeds, any issues in that direction and the A roads can be a nightmare.

@time2changeCharlieBrown can you live nearer York? Not too far to commute. Good for trains etc. And there are villages around York. I personally love Huby.

This is so true my Grandparents lived in Bacup they were regularly snowed in ,in the winter ,whereas we lived just a few miles away near Bury and has just a sprinkling of snow.

That made me laugh. It seems an OK place, nice shops I recall.

I'd move to Leeds in a heartbeat if I could. I also have mixed race children and we are there often as have friends and family there. My kids are a little younger than yours but I have only ever had good experiences.

Buy a street maybe?

Leeds is generally considered in the north of England yes, no matter where you live.

Good grief talk about the southern bubble!
Have your heard about the canabalism as well? Dam natives can't stop themselves. Specially a nice tender southerner.

I can't believe I'm actually posting to defend Leeds, but I have to be fair and honest so here we go...

I'm "brown" and grew up in much sunnier, hotter climes. We lived in London for a long time, but about a decade ago moved to Leeds (DH hometown) because his parents were getting older and we wanted DC to spend as much time with them as possible.

In my opinion, it is colder and wetter in Yorkshire than it is in London. Furthermore, it does get darker for longer during the winter months, due to Science. I do not like these things, because I prefer heat and sun. I have not got used to this despite living here for so many years, I spend 2/3 of the year swathed in fleeces, thermals and blankets.

However. Leeds is generally a very liveable city, the dire lack of mass transit notwithstanding. It is very diverse and nobody will give a mixed-race family a second glance. There is a thriving cultural scene with museums, theatre, concerts, music festivals, opera, etc etc. There are all kinds of cuisines, independent cafes, restaurants, delicatessens, bakeries, organic grocers and butchers, you name it we have it here. There are canal walks, beautiful parks of different sorts, stunning countryside on the doorstep. There is absolutely TONS of stuff for young people to do. There is absolutely TONS of stuff for older people and middle aged people and children. In fact, all the Naice stuff we used to do in London, we have been able to do in Leeds and often it is easier and quicker to get to, because it is a smaller city.

Having said that, we are very much city people and deliberately chose to live quite centrally in one of the "studenty" areas.