Advice needed...planning to move to Manchester

[Scotslasslivinginfrance]

We are starting to plan our return to the UK following a 3 year stint in France. We would like to move to Manchester but neither my husband or I have much knowledge about the city and need as much help and information as you good mumsnetter's can offer.

The reasons we are thinking Manchester are: I am a social worker and I presume will have good employment opportunities here? There is a large airport and as my husband works abroad this is important. It is a city and I miss city life!

What we would ideally be looking for is to rent at least 3 bedrooms with garden and preferably garage for our vast amounts of outdoor sports equipment. Sense of community with services, shops, schools, parks etc all within walking distance, good transport links into city. Our daughter is 6 and is bilingual so we would be keen to hear about your thoughts on primary schools and if there is a French speaking Community within any areas of Manchester.

We are an active family, my husband is a keen cyclist, we do a lot of walking, I enjoy yoga. We love food and eating out both as a family and a couple...

I'll leave it there for the time being but if anyone has any recommendations or words of wisdom on moving to Manchester please get in touch...

Depends on your budget. I sometimes hear parents talking in French at school in didsbury so there must be French people there. I think you would probably find bilingual people within easy travelling distance of the universities. Maybe look at Chorlton, withington and Levenshulme too.

Thanks Binlorry, I will start to look into these areas. Not sure about our budget as not sure about areas and what it would cost to get what we would like! But I imagine we would be looking to spend around £1000 a month on rent, more depending on location and if we weren't relying on cars all the time... This would be my ideal scenario as we are currently quite rural, with no direct neighbours and we have to jump in the car to go and do anything. I love our little mountain chalet but ready for a change! To your knowledge would our budget rule out any of the areas you mentioned? I'm aware that there are some very expensive areas of Manchester... Good to know that there are some French people in Manchester!

You should find something in any of those areas within your budget. Didsbury is the most expensive and Levenshulme the cheapest. Also, have a look at Whalley Range. Good luck.

Thanks for you help :-)

Fab choice of city, Manchester does have loads going on and great communities. I agree with Binlorry, I've also heard alot of French being spoken in Didsbury. Depending on your budget Didsbury is expensive but east didsbury, burnage lane, Heatons are less so and still close by. I would also look in Chorlton as has it all, bars for the parents and local markets, good schools, loads going on for the kids and great places to eat....what an advert :-)) All the above areas are on the new Metro link which makes getting around alot easier, particularly into the city centre. Good luck.

Whalley range is great for houses, old and big and affordable and if you are on the right side you can still walk into Chorlton, but otherwise it can still be a bit dodgy at times. If you stay in South Manchester side you will always be near the airport. Also if you look into the areas that itsfabupnorth suggested, Didsbury Rd, Heatons then you are a short drive from stockport and M60 taking you to snakes pass and all round there for the country bit that you are looking for.
Hope it all goes well for you

Thanks everyone, this has all been really helpful to give us a heads up on places to consider. We are planning to move for the start of the next academic year. Hopefully this gives us plenty time to research areas, schools and work for me. We will also visit Manchester during this time to see for ourselves but I think it would definitely be beneficial to go with an itinerary of places to visit that we have already researched! In saying that when we moved to France, we did so essentially on a whim and just packed up our van threw in our daughter and the dog and luckily for us everything just fell into place...

Lots of food for thought, thanks folks, best J x

I would just suggest that you look at schools before "deciding" on an area. Many of the schools are over-subscribed (I don't know whether you're considering private schooling) but if you plan to move before the start of the next academic year, you need to get in touch with the various admissions officers to determine which schools have places for your daughter. I imagine this will impact on which areas you have to consider.