Moving to Birmingham with young kids, advice needed

[NewToBirmingham]

Hi Everyone,
I need some advice please! :) Relocating to Birmingham with 4 year old and a baby. We are moving from London suburbs so are looking somewhere not too quiet; with few shops and facilities, train station etc not necessary but good transport links to city centre would be a bonus.
We are looking to buy a 3 bed (4 would be a treat ;) house with reasonable outside space for kids. I am after a quiet area, prefferably not on a council estate ( bad experience from before!) Our max budget is £170,000
Hubby will be working in south Birmingham, exact location not specified yet but we were told to look for places in south part of the city...He will drive so we don't mind to be even more out if properties are cheaper and areas safer further away from centre...
So far I had a look at King's Heath and surrounding areas but there are really cheap properties and then very expensive ones as well so not sure if I am looking in dodgy parts of good areas at times.
We are a mixed-race couple so I would like to know if people are generally tolerant and friendly down that end too :)

Your help would be really appreciated as we know nothing about Birmingham and it is a big step for us to move there with young kids...
Please take a moment if you have any useful tips

Thank you :)

It's nice to see so many responses :)

NewToBirmingham, you asked about how you can find out about schools. You could try our school section in the directory above for information about individual school - every listing links to the Ofsted report:

local.mumsnet.com/birmingham-sutton-coldfield/primary-schools

Hope that helps. Have some virtual to help with the house-search.

Hi sbrum, thank you so much for your post :) It is reassuring to know that most areas are ok in your opinion.. It is very confusing to decide where to view, never mind when it actually comes to buying ;)
Atm we are looking in quinton and Northfields, someone suggested these earlier on... The most popular areas are really too expensive but I will keep checking. We are going to view a few on tuesday so will hopefully have a better idea :)
Thank you to all for your time :)
I may well be back, we shall see :)

What about Ley Hill Farm Road, Northfield?
It is a good street/area?

Hi all, thanks for your messages :) bia7 we did look at northfield but not where you mentioned... I will have to check it again. One house we did look at in Northfield was too close to a dual carriageway and too noisy..
Have a lovely Christmas everyone and thank you again for all your help :)
A friend of mine who grew up in Birmingham did say that people over there are very friendly and helpful and she was absolutely spot on! :D

Glad you've had such a helpful response, NewToBirmingham! Let us know how your house-search goes, and have a very merry Christmas

Hi NewtoBirmingham! Just wondered how you were getting on?! Also wondered what kind of property you are looking for - would you be looking to do work & if so to what extent? Cosmetic only?
I only ask as i live in Bournville & local property is practically my hobby!! I look on right move every day! If I know what you are after, I can bear you in mind! Hope all is going well for you all! X

We rented in Kings Heath for 3 years but couldn't afford to live there unfortunately. Our top budget was £170,000 and we wanted a fairly modern 3-bed house so we looked further south and now live in Yardley Wood close to the Solihull border. You get more for your money but there's not much going on - great transport links though as we have loads of bus options and also a train station. For local shopping we still use Kings Heath - I miss it! Stirchley and Cotteridge are definitely worth considering in my opinion - we have friends over there and they seem to have more of a community feel about them. Good luck with your search!

Where did you pick OP?