Good affordable areas in Bristol commutable to Brislington and centre

[EmpressMatilda]

Dh and I and our baby son are looking to move to Bristol or somewhere near it. We're looking for somewhere that above all has good state schools and is a safe and green neighbourhood to bring up children in. A bit of culture and good facilities would be great too. We are looking at 3 bedroom houses and have found some good ones on rightmove but need to get the inside info on the areas. DH works in Brislington and would be driving there. I work in central Bristol and would be going on public transport.

The most we can afford is £180, 000 and ideally we would buy a 3 bed for less than that so we had money left to renovate and extend it.

So far we have considered Withywood, West Ashton, Bishopston, Temple cloud, Keynsham, Bitton. What can people advise about these area?Other suggestions welcome too.

We currently live in rural Wiltshire so the move to the city is a bit 'yikes'!!!

Of the areas you has suggested I would recommend looking at Keynsham more closely. This would be good for commuting to Brislington and the city centre and you may be able to share a car, and you could use the Park and Ride bus into the city centre. Keynsham has both good primary and secondary schools and green spaces such a parks. The traffic on the A4 can be quite bad at ruch hour though!
Bishopston is on the opposite side of the City to Brislington and is quite an expensive area property-wise so a house in your price bracket may need a lot of work doing on it. This is an area of Bristol where there is a lot of pressure on school places!
Am not sure whether I would recommend Withywood as a "safe" area. The local schools are improving and their are some excellent ones such as Fairfurlong but I think your would find this area a bit run down and some of the housing is tower blocks so doubt if this is what you are looking for.
Am unsure about what area you mean by "West" Ashton - Ashton Gate and Ashton Vale have the BS3 postcode and good primary schools. The secondary school Ashton Park has been rebuilt and is becoming more popular with parents. You are also close to green spaces such as the Ashton court estate and several local parks.

Other areas you may consider are Brislington and its surrounding areas Broomhill, St Annes, Stockwood, Hengrove and Whitchurch. These all have houses in your price bracket and good primary schools. Other estate agents to try are: Greenwoods (Brislington branch), Smartmove and Stephen Maggs.

Have a look at Whitchurch, it's leafy and quiet. I ended up moving North of the city (actually, I'm in the first road in S.Glouc - apparently the schools are better on this side of the street!) but Whitchurch was definitely in the running.

EmpressMatilda I used to work in Bristol Centre and commute from Paulton which is near Temple Cloud. Both are more rural and have smaller village schools. The bus into the centre runs hourly and is about 50 minutes in traffic. Alternatively if your DP works in Brislington you may catch a ride in with him and get p&ride or local buses into town. To get into Brislington is anywhere between 25 minutes if you are outside peak traffic, to 45 minutes in traffic.

It's about the same getting into Bath.

Thanks everyone and so sorry I haven't checked into this thread. My little boy was poorly and in hospital so that took over really. But he's ok now.

What a great house, 34DD, and the nearby primary school looks good too.

I am now going to look at rightmove and ofsted to suss out some of your other suggestions. I'll let you know what we eventually decide to do!