Swedes moving to York

[Ncapmum]

Hi all mums! Me, my husband, a 3 year old and our two cats are moving to York! Would really love any information, great neighborhood with excellent school? Toddler group? Any others parents living there who'd like to meet when we get there? :) Thanks in advance!

York's a great place to bring up children. The schools are generally very good, and there's a lot of child-friendly stuff to do.

What sorry of things are you looking for? I live in the Fishergate/Fulford Road area. It's close to the university, which means that there are quite a few international families in the area, and it's an easy walk to the city centre, and the schools are excellent. The downside is that the houses are quite small - I found that a lot of people left the area once they had a second child and moved to one of the villages on the outskirts of the city in order to get a bit more space, which is the York equivalent of suburbs. The people who stayed tended to have a high proportion of eco-friendly, hippy types who like to avoid car use.

We used to live there, it is great. It is very family friendly. Fulford area has the best schools. Knavesmire is a bit of a traffic nightmare but a nice area. Like pp said we actually moved to a village very close to York so we had more space, they also have good schools and community life.
Honestly I would avoid acomb and tang hall and badger hill is very studenty.

Thank you so much for your replies! We have no idea what we're looking for really, we have never been to York but fulford sounds like a good fit :) Are there any free activities for children? We have found some fun stuff we'd like to do but would be nice with some free activities too :)

Activities are going to depend on the age of your DC and the weather at the time of visiting. York isn't like London, only the railway muesum is free. (It is a good muesum) There are lots of other activities that will give you a years pass for the same price or little more than one set of admission fees.
Don't forget that Leeds and Hull for exampLe also have a lot of good activities and are good day trips.

Gotcha! :) True you have a lot more places close by to visit too :) (in sweden the cities are usually pretty far apart, specially in the north.)

For öppna förskola equivalents look out for playgroups - not exactly the same thing but similar, often run in church halls! The UK tends to have a lot more organised / paid classes for very young children than Sweden - the benefit being that there's more variety, the downside being the cost as you say! But playgroups tend to generally be very good value, and also probably a good place to advise you on other local groups you could join. Libraries often have Rhyme Time etc for free...

Thank you, it was something like öppna förskolan I meant :)

Lucky you. I have been living in Sweden for 4 years and would love to move back to England or France.
Im curious to know how do envisage brex*t?

Moumoute, ow come you don't like it in sweden, if I May ask, and you don't you move back?

We're Hilding our breath and hoping the will extend to end of june, then maybe we'll have time to get there and be seen as citizens of some sort so we can stay. We hope to stay at least.

@ncapmum I'm not fond of Sweden for these reasons:
-long, dark and extra cold winter, literally wearing beanies from September til end of April
-conformist people, like to do, dress, think the same
-no small chats, nothing more than Hey.
-limited culture: I'm probably jaded after living in London and Paris. Missing good museums and bookshops
-outstanding nature? So far not impressed, but again after England and France it's hard to get impressed
-lack of variety: same food, same same same
-hard to make friends. Swedes stick to their old friends, they are just not interested in new people
-expensive: hairdresser outrageously expensive, leisure activities, everything
-far. Having to fly to get everywhere apart from cities in Sweden and Copenhagen (5h). But then everywhere looks the same in Sweden so it's no point going anywhere
-no fun vibes in bars, it's all posh and uptight

That's it for now.
Pros: clean air and water, safe, warm flats.

Why don't I move back? I did try to move back two years ago and it failed because of poor flat organisation. Now I have a kid here and my husband isn't keen on moving.

All in all boring and expensive and cold

I hope it's not offensive! Just being honest sharing my point of view

Did you get jobs in York?
Not being scared of brex*t is the way to go!

Ncapmum if you are on Facebook there's a group called York mumbler that has loads of information on activities for children!

Acomb, tanghall and Foxwood are generally considered the less attractive parts of York but I've lived in them and they are not really that bad compared to other major cities! Rightmove website is good to browse and see how prices compare across the area.

Generally York is gorgeous and I can't imagine living anywhere else!

Moumoute, not offended at all, despite beeing a swede 😂 You are actually listning pretty much the exact reason we're moving! And safe beeing a pro I guess depends on where you live 🤷‍♀️ Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you and that you can't move now if that's what you want. But ofc there's other to consider to. We have our own company so the only thing we need when we get there is a place to live :)

Squeakyheart: Thank you so much! Will check out the page :)

Haxby might fit your requirements :) but Fulford is also worth a look definitely. You will love York :)

I have actually looked a bit at Haxby, seems nice :) Thanks!

Dunnington is nice, good bus service to York, Pocklington again a lovely market town but might be a bit far out for what you want, it's towards the Wolds where there are some lovely villages and plenty of places to go walking.
Osbaldwick and Murton are both nice, not sure how well served by public transport if needed though

As above, york is lovely and if you are on facebook york mumbler would be a good place to ask

@Ncapmum oh yes I forgot the high taxes! If you move your own business it sounds like a good plan to go to England.
Why did you pick York?
I had my own small business in London but didn't not survived the taxes in Sweden.
Will your kid go to an English preschool? Omg I'm actually excited for you and your move!

Are you both Swedish? Did you live in a big city in Sweden? Many questions I'm curious! I told my husband your move story to show him that not everyone thinks Sweden is the ultimate place!

Osbaldwick has a decent bus service.

Depends what you want from the city. I am very central near the famous Bishy Road which has a very strong community, good local shops, Rowntree Park and the River. Most houses are terraces with back yards rather than gardens. Fine with me as prefer city to suburbs but that is the trade off.

Thank you for your replies and for pointing me towards good neighborhoods :) I don't have a driver licens so some sort of transportation is needed, so not too far away :)

Moumoute, oh yes, the taxes... Especially when your trying to run your own company 🤦‍♀️ Too bad about your buisness! I don't think she'll go to preschool but she would start primary school August next year, so only down side atm is that she'll start school a year earlier than in sweden. But hopefully she'll attend a better school so it's worth it. I'm actually considering home schooling the first year but dunno how it all works or what would be best. Dependes a bit on how far along she is with the language too. Haha we're excited too, just worried abit about brexit and atm we're trying to sell our house here in sweden but it's difficult. I hope you will be able to move too if that's what you want or that you hopefully will finns some nice people and feel better about sweden soon. How old is you child?

Moumoute we're both born and raised in sweden :) we have lived in both bigger and smaller cities, also in both north and South of sweden. It just doesen't get better... We lived about two years ago in newcastle but our stay got cut short, we've missed uk sin e, all the lovely People, all the things to see and do.

Thank you all for your advices! We'd like to live pretty close to the city but taking a bus for about 10min is ok, Esecially if it means great school :) close to a park/playground and others families would be great. Beeing some what close to a grocerie store and activities :)