Where is the sensible place to live in Bristol if commuting to Filton

[BambinoBoo]

Hi. We are looking to relocate to Bristol over the next few months. I am really liking the look of Long Ashton, but friends tell me to stay on the "right" side of Filton (where my work would be), and have said that the roads in Long Ashton are a nightmare.

After a bit of research, I have seen that if I get to Parson Street station, the train journey is fairly straight forward. Should I make life easier and look on the right side (by the way, is Henleaze/ Westbury-on-Trym nice), or is Long Ashton to Filton do-able (with a toddler in tow)without having a mental breakdown twice per day?

Thanks in advance.

depends on your Budget really. We moved to Bristol from Hamburg in 2008. Dh works for Airbus so also in Filton. We live in Westbury on Trym and commute is 15 minutes max. It is lovely to have him around longer in the mornings and home earlier in the evenings. In Hamburg I had a 45 minute commute and my husband 1 hour even though we worked in the city. It really gets old quite quickly especially when there are children involved. Once I had DS, I was fed up of him hardly seeing his daddy in the week due to him leaving before 7 and arriving home after 7. Are you going to be using public transport or car? I would definitely say stick to a reasonable commuting distance! Westbury on Trym/Stoke Bishop/Henleaze or you could look the other side eg Horfield/Stoke Gifford/Bradley Stoke. What sort of area are you looking to live in? New Build? Character Properties? Urban/Suburban/Village?

Henleaze/Westbury/Stoke Bishop are all very family friendly with good but over-subscribed schools. Traffic in Bristol can be a nightmare. I would minimise the commute if possible. A child in dd's class has just moved to Long Ashton. The mum says she allows half an hour to get him to school in Westbury - sometimes she's early, sometimes she's late!
Also look at going the other way if you like villagey - Almondsbury/Over etc by can be nice.

Almondsbury area is a great place to live and Schools at secondary level in South Gloucestershire (rather than North Bristol) are very good. Travel into Bristol is also relatively easy and you are handy for the Motorway network and Parkway station to escape when you want to.....

If state schools are important then you need to be careful how close you live to the over-subscribed ones if you want a chance of a place. The council recently released it's reception class allocations for this year, and lots of the over-subscribed schools didn't offer places to children living more than 500m away (some were only 300m)

Thank you all for your replies. CHST I know how you felt, my current commute is 3 hours per day - one of the reasons why we want to relocate.

DS is just 18 months so schools not on the immediate radar, but I have been looking at various Ofsteds which will probably change drastically by time he's 4. His nursery will be at my workplace so no worries there. We plan to rent for a year or so until settled and will have a budget of around £850 pcm for a 3 bed house - something with character, not new-build - but they seem to appear on Rightmove already snapped up.

Another area which seems to have plenty of houses for rent is Southville/Bedminister/Windmill hill but don't know anyone from there and it would take me back to a longer commute -albeit much shorter than my current one.

Decisions.......

Bradley Stoke is commutersville! It has lots of playgroups and is toddler friendly also the schools are good. But it is not especially pretty although there are plenty of open spaces nearby for walking.

Villages of Frenchay, Winterbourne Down, Frampton Cotterell are lovely if you prefer a more rural area and there are lots of good primary schools in that area.

Secondary schools are much better in South Glos than in Bristol. However, the two secondary schools nearest to Filton are not desirable at all. There are some great private schools if that is of interest.

There's one on rightmove in Hallen for £900 if you can stretch to that? Doesn't say if it has a garden though. It would be worth getting the agents to ring you as new ones come available though, rather than waiting to see them on rightmove.
Southville/Bedminster wouldn't be an easy commute for you as you'd go right through the centre so could take ages. LOts of victorian terraces, which are nice, but parking is sometimes tricky.
BTW Any of the ones that say Southmead Rd Westbury on Trym, are not really Westbury, they are Southmead, which is not such a nice area. Some of the little roads at the top end of Southmead Rd near the roundabout with Wellington Hill West are fine though, you just need to be a bit careful...

Runoutofideas thanks for the tip. I checked out Hallen but seems a bit far out. I have seen a few houses in Kelston road off Wellington Walk but a bit close to Southmead so second guessing that now. I will need to be clear with the Agent and make sure he knows that when we say one area, we mean that area, not the dodgy one next door.

I've been told to avoid Bradley Stoke as a bit too new build which I'm not a fan of.

I did mean to mention that I don't drive so any commute from the South would be by Train or bus. We were originally looking at Bishopston/Horfield as - being a Londoner - I like the city vibe and I feel myself being drawn back to my original choice. Ashley Down seems a great primary too if we were to settle there.

We are going to Bristol this weekend for a lookaround and have plenty of roads to check out. Your tips here have been so helpful. Thank you.

Me again. What are your thoughts on Totterdown or Brislington?

I would say Kelston Rd is probably OK. A friend of mine lives in one of the new flats on that rd and doesn't have any problems. You are near enough to walk in to Westbury Village or Henleaze Rd rather than use Southmead rd if you don't want to. Historically those roads have been a bit avoided by families as you are generally unable to get into the better schools (Henleaze/Westbury on Trym) from there, although Horfield school's reputation has hugely improved recently. If you are not planning on being there until having to apply for your ds then it won't matter to you.
Don't really know much about Totterdown or Brislington I'm afraid although think the commute with no car would be tricky....