nervous culture vultures!

[heliotropepyjamas]

Hello there!

We are thinking of moving back to Birmingham, probably Moseley, where I grew up. We are finding it hard to leave the SE, but can't afford the house and garden we'd like for our young children. We'll actually be leaving family here to go back to Brum.

I haven't had any ties to Birmingham for many years, and it's really hard to get an impression of what it's like these days. I know so few people who know anything about it - and the radio noise of London means that I rarely hear anything about it (apart from some negative news reports). Actually, thinking about it, Manchester's day-to-day cultural life is reported on to some extent, but Birmingham's isn't at all! And my impression of it is stuck in the 1990s!

I've looked on blogs and visited a few times, but visits can be misleading.

We have several young children, and want to bring them up in a place that has a lot of cultural opportunities - we love London's theatres and opera and classical concerts, (we lived in central London for quite a few years and had everything on our doorstep). Is it a good place to bring up a family which has those interests, and could we expect to meet like-minded friends?

If we moved to Birmingham and didn't like it, it would be very hard financially to move back again, so we have been deliberating about this for quite some time - but we're running out of space in our current house!

Many thanks!

Well, I think Birmingham is a great place to live.

We have loads of theatres, orchetras, the Ballet, classical and popular concerts, CBSO, CBC, hundreds of other choirs and ensembles of different sizes and styles.
We have a wonderful art gallery in the City Centre, and other smaller galleries such as the Ikon, and the Barber Institute at the University.

We have a wonderful new library and rebuilt 'Rep', the refurbished Town Hall, and the Symphony Hall as well as the ICC all within a few hundred yards of each other.

Loads of the most beautiful parks, plus being surrounded by country parks. Trees everywhere. Plenty of decent sized gardens.

What else do you want to know?

Not sure of what schools there are around Moseley area ? Maybe someone else will be along soon to help with that one.

Birmingham has a fantastic cultural offering! Just check out our listings for information about family shows and museums.

BackforGood has done a great job above detailing Birmingham's considerable assets . I'd add that we have theatre, concerts, ballet and galleries equal to London standards, but within easy, stress-free reach. You can take your kids to run around the 17th Century Aston Hall (civil war, ghosts) in the morning and watch Gangsta Granny in the afternoon, followed by a slap-up meal in China Town. There's loads to discover about our industrial heritage (Jewellery Quarter and thinktank Science Museum; Cadbury's and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery) - never a subject I engaged with at GCSE but now I find it fascinating. The CBSO is world-class. There's the NIA and NEC for big name music concerts. Five Michelin-starred restaurants. The Barber's art collection is of the same quality as the National Gallery, it's free, and they have great family days/workshops/concerts. A National Trust card will give you a reason to explore loads of stately homes and gorgeous countryside across the Midlands. And the huge canal network affords great family bike rides.

I could go on and on, but a little bit of research will show Birmingham definitely punches above its weight. I'm not a Brummie, but now wouldn't live anywhere else. And London is only an hour and a half train trip away if you get the urge to go south....