Moving to NI for work - where to live?

[Norrisville]

Hello all - not exactly overseas although it is for me 😊 We've been offered an opportunity to move to NI for work for a couple of years, near Belfast, and I'm planning a trip to check out where might be good to live. We'd be renting as it's LT temporary, we have a teenager and a pre teen, dogs, looking for somewhere nice for families, not too urban but close enough to be able to pop in for essentials. We currently live in a fairly large town in walking distance of the centre but also near to countryside, so best of both worlds really! Any advice would be very much appreciated 😊 If it helps, I work in the cultural sector so would love opportunities to get involved in the local cultural scene, nothing fancy necessarily, just able to be involved in something creative 😊 Thanks in advance!

(Also please signpost me if this is the wrong place to post!)

Holywood sounds perfect for what you want. It’s about 15 mins from Belfast city centre on the train line and it’s a lovely town with a nice high street, a beach path that runs to Bangor and good schools.
Slightly further out you could look at Crawfordsburn because you’ve got the forest park on your doorstep as well as a beach but Hollywood’s high street is better.

You might be better getting it moved to Craicnet perhaps, there’s been a few of these threads you could check out for other suggestions

I would move to Bangor. It's on the coast, is a quick commute by car or train into Belfast, has nice houses, and a nice outdoors, community feel to it. The high street is looking very neglected, but there are some nice shops and cafes.

Ah this is fab, I was looking at Bangor and Holywood so it's good to know it's on the right track. Hadn't heard of Craicsnet, thanks!