Moving From USA to Sheffield England need advice and help?

[merlgirl]

I'm trying to decide if I should stay in the USA or move to Sheffield England.
My daughter is 12 and she ice Skates, so I will need a good coach for her, great school and a place to rent. Any help?? Advice???

Thanks so much

My 94 year old next door neighbour still refers to the Catholic Cathedral in town as her parish church.

Thanks so much for the information on the churches and yes I do want to know so I appreciate you telling me about churches.

I have heard so much good things about Sheffied and my Heart was set on living there until someone said that it's a dump and they would not live there. I don't know how true that is but my heart was broken to hear it just the same.

This is a very big move for us and I'm sure we will just need time to adjust coming from the USA and all.

Whoever told you that Sheffield is a dump is largely wrong!!! Like any city it has nice, leafy more affluent areas, and more run down, grim areas. But you seem to have identified the nice ones - go with them and you will love it. Ranmoor, Crookes, Hunter's Bar, Nether Edge, Nether Green, Banner Cross, Fulwood, Totley, Dore - all good. On the other side of the city, Outibridge, Loxley, Stanningley, Rivelin could work, depending on how rural/urban/suburban you want. The Sheffield of "The Full Monty" is going.... For an idea of what it's like round the nicer SW side of the city watch "The History Boys". The SW side of the city merges seamlessly into The Peak District, which is a National Park. We lived out there for a while - a postman friend told us that our postcode had the greatest concentration of British Medical Journals delivered in the UK - lots of medics commute in to the big Sheffield hospitals!

In an ideal world Sheffield and Leeds would be a bit closer, and I'd move back to Sheffield in a heartbeat. I love, love my job in Leeds though and I commuted for a while, but wasn't prepared for doing it for ever and then our landlord sold our house....

True there are parts of Sheffield which are not as nice to look at - just like pretty much any city in England.
But Sheffield is also one of the most green cities in England with parks and fields abundant.
When I step out of my door, a mere 4 miles from the centre, I am less than two minutes walk away from beautiful countryside to walk and cycle through. 3-4 minutes takes me to a park with sports fields, play parks, open greens and small wooded area for all manner of playtime for children and adults alike.

Honestly - Sheffield is a lovely place to live. I moved here after university, aged 23y - 20 years on I wouldn't move out.

All within a 5 minute walk from my house.
I live in Lodge Moor, S10 - about 4.5-5 miles max from the centre of town (closer if doing as crow flies, that is a driving route)

Pic 1 - Endcliffe Park area, S11 - couple of miles from town
Pic 2 - Bolehills Park, Crookes, S10 - again, couple of miles from town
Pic 3 - Botanical gardens - S11, 1-2 mies from centre of town

This is just a small selection of the greenery in Sheffield.

Sure I can show you less pleasant pictures of more deprived areas, but you haven't looked at those postcodes on here - these are images from the postcodes you have looked at - S10/S11.

Sheffield is home to the English Institute of Sport and 2 Universities which have excellent sports facilities and coaching. Someone has already mentioned Ice Sheffield, which is part of Sheffield International Venues and has strong links to EIS and the Universities.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals are renowned (Northern General, Royal Hallamshire, Weston Park (Cancer), Jessops Women's and the Children's Hospitals) - again, excellent facilities due in part to the masses of research being undertaken by the Universities.

As far as the city itself is concerned, it has loads of history and is the 4th largest city in England. It is the greenest in Europe (having acres of ancient woodland and public parks) and has comparably low crime rates. The theatres regularly feature as being some of the best in the UK (largest theatre complex outside London) and there is a great music scene and plenty of live venues.

Sheffield is on the edge of the Peak District National Park/Derbyshire so within a few minutes you can be out in the open countryside.

The housing and secondary schools (Tapton, Silverdale, High Storrs, King Ecgberts, King Edward VII, Notre Dame (Catholic) and Meadowhead) in the south west of the city are generally deemed to be the best. Look at the Ofsted website for detailed reports and the school websites for more general information as they each have 'specialisms' and that may be relevant in due course when your child is ready to look at A levels. Once you've settled on a school, you can then look at houses in the catchment area of that school. Just to make it complicated, some housing areas are split between school catchments but you can find out which postcode area matches each school by looking at the Sheffield Council website.

The best place to look for houses is rightmove.co.uk. Dore, Bradway, Totley (S17), Beauchief, (S8) Millhouses (S7), Whirlow, Parkhead, Ringinglow, Ecclesall (S11), Crosspool/Sandygate, Fulwood, Ranmoor (S10) are broadly relevant to the schools mentioned above. Be aware though that parts of Ecclesall have a high proportion of student accommodation.

I love, love, love Sheffield and I'm not alone. The retention and return of University students is enormous (I think I'm right in saying that it's one of the highest, if not the highest in the country) because it's such a great place to live - it was voted the happiest place to live in the UK in 2013 and not much has changed!

Good luck!

Has anyone mentioned the ice hockey? Something else on skates your DD might like, to watch or play.

And there Forge Dam which is lovely. It starts at Endcliffe Park and trails right out onto the country through the Mayfield Valley which is gorgeous.

First 2 of Forge Dam, 3rd painting of small town of Bakewell, about 25 mins away by a local artist

More pictures! 5 minutes drive from Crosspool where l live. You can see the views from the houses.

1st picture is Mayfield Valley.
2nd two of local country side about 10 minutes. Again by a local artist. These crags and rocks are very popular with climbers and walkers

My wedding pics were taken by that Bakewell Bridge Emoji

Did we mention the woods? We have lots of very lovely woodland.

Wow breath taking! I'm really overwhelm with all your support and kindness towards me and my family to the point of tears.

You all feel like family and I don't know any of you. Truly a blessing to read all you have written. I feel very encouraged and blessed!

Thanks a million my friends!!! God bless each of you for all the kindness you have shown me. What a great community of people you all are!!!

Are those Eccelsall Woods?

It is Ecclesall Woods, in full bloom a couple of weeks ago. Love it there.

Hope you find somewhere that suits all of you merlgirl, I've heard good things about Nottingham too. The castle there is on my list of places to take our boys (and their toy swords).

Thanks SouthernBird, me too.

Does anyone know of a bed and breakfast place or a hotel I can stay at until I find somewhere to rent? Trying not to use up my funds on hotels and car rental.

Thanks.

Some of the city apartments will do hsort and longer term lets, which may work out better than a hotel or B&B.

City apartment? Do I just look up city apartment in Sheffield?

The problems I'm having is that I can not rent a place until I reach there is what I'm told, so where do I stay in the mean time is the problem I have to deal with. :(((!

Ah I see - didn't know that would be an issue.
There are a few hotels, budget and upwards to consider.
There will be B&Bs but not sure where two look. Maybe try AirB&B?

Have you or your husband secured a job?
I imagine you must have some family in the UK if you have dual citizenship? What do they think about Sheffield?
If your daughter reaches a big level in her skating, would she want to compete for the UK or the US?
Are you selling a home to come to the UK? If so, can you use that equity to purchase a place in Sheffield?

i've not had problems arranging serviced apartments for visiting researchers to the university. I think we've used velocity,

There are also premier inns whic regularly have deals for £35/night if booked well in advance. It might be worth looking on AirBnB depending on when your planning on coming there a few student flats for rent over the summer months at £50/night.

You might also want to make contact with some of the local churches - they might be able to help you out - i know quiet a few of my friends who go to St Toms or Philadelphi rent out rooms occasionally.

Thanks Katz and Hulababy, I will look into the options you have advised me of.

With much appreciation.

I recommend you have a good look at the weather - if you are used to Florida and you're the kind of person who is sensitive to weather, then Sheffield may come as a bit of a shock. It rains. A lot. It's also cold for a lot of the year.

On the upside, it's incredibly cheap to live in!