Completely out of my depth in Birmingham

[Runningbutnotscared]

So we are moving to Birmingham soon and need to buy a house.
We are coming from rural Scotland, a village of 500 people, lots of sheep, lochs, hills, trees and rain. We have neighbours on one side, they are lovely and don't mind our dog barking. Once a week the local bag pipers get together in the square and play tunes.

I am very excited to be moving back to a big city again, but have never lived in one the size of Birmingham before and it's all a bit intimidating.

We have narrowed our search down to mosely, Kings Heath and I've found a house that needs a lot of work in bournville!

Would you say that these areas are OK for two small children, noisy active dog and county loving mum?

Hmm, theyre great areas with lots going on, but for a noisy dog and country loving mum i would say no. Unless your budget is huge you will have neighbours all around you and the parks are very much city parks. If you need fresh air and space to feel happy i would suggest moving further out and commuting in.

Thanks for your reply Tinkley,

It's gonna take some getting used to! Our budget will only extend to a semi or terraced house in these areas.
We have looked at a detached in wholey wood, which my Dh likes, but I'm not convinced the primary schools are the best there?

Well KH and Bournville are well served by parks, so your dog will get plenty of exercise (as long as you have the time). Warley woods is nice, particularly with the dog. Agree, schools seem less good than Bournville/KH. Depends what you want though. For some people it's all about schools,others it's more about lifestyle.

Would renting not be better until you know what you like best? Though, I appreciate pets are not often allowed.

Schools not as good in Warley - I think it's Sandwell and not Birmingham?

Bournville might be alright with a dog. Depends whereabouts. Noisy dogs tend not to be as tolerated in cities. Still, all the areas you mention have lots of parks.

Are your children school age? That might be a consideration as many South Birmingham schools are full.

Just wrote a long reply and phone froze and lost it!

Re idea of commuting - there's a train line from Lichfield in the north to Redditch in the south. On the southern end you have Barnt Green and Alvechurch, approx 30 minutes to Birmingham. Both large villages, good first and middle schools and surrounded by countryside. Might be a good compromise? May be similar places at the northern end but I'm not sure.

Bournville is nice as is Harborne (though princey). Mosley up and coming...quite trendy now. Kings Heath and Warley Wood...no.

If you can commute you could come out of town towards Hagley/Clent areas which are countryside/great schools, only 20-30 mins into Birmingham

Pricey not princey!

The schools near Warley Woods are pretty good, IME. Sandwell seems to have more money to throw at them. There's a nice library nearby too.

Birmingham commuting can be a pain, so I would take that into consideration when deciding on an area.

Harborne is very, very overpriced for what it is.

Warley Woods is a nice area with some fantastic schools. Lightwoods had a fantastic reputation and the others in the area such as St Gregory's and Abbey are by no means bad schools. I'd happily send my kids there!

I'm not convinced by Kings Heath and Moseley, not bad areas but not my first choice of places to live. Bournville is very nice. None of the areas you mention though will fit your country lifestyle. Warley Woods is probably the best purely for the woods itself, but it's by no means countryside!