Where to live in Cheltenham if you’re not rich

[NCCheltenham]

We currently live in Churchdown but we’re renting. Looking to buy a place but chelt is pretty pricy and we can’t afford the “better” areas (leckhampton, charlton kings etc).

Churchdown is nice so we might buy here (prices are a little on the high end but there’s a few within budget) but commute would be better on the other side of the golden valley.

The internet is full of scary warnings about how terrible anything near Princess Elizabeth Way or Clyde Crescent is - and prices in those places are cheaper than churchdown. Is it really that bad there? Is it class prejudice or just that they’re genuinely bad places to live?

Do you have children op? We don't yet so I'm not sure about schools. The local primarys are all rated good and rowanfield is currently outstanding.

Yeah I do but they’re still a few years off going to school and I’m not too worried about schools (I think especially at primary age parental input is far more important than the school). Only things I’m worried about really are antisocial behaviour type stuff really. Don’t want to live somewhere that I’ll feel under siege in. Used to live on the high street near Waitrose before we had kids and it was horrible there, junkies congregating in the alley by my house, loud music and immigration raids from nearby houses, incredibly loud road, lorries shaking the house all night, bad air pollution etc. Although I liked the convenience of being so central. Would never live actually on the high street again though.

Hi OP, I have lived in Hesters Way for about 5 years. We used to rent in Churchdown but when we decided to buy a house we could only really afford to buy in Hesters Way (and we thought rough Cheltenham was better than rough Gloucester). I can honestly say we have had no trouble at all. The majority of the people around here are normal people with normal jobs and cars etc. Our neighbours are lovely, and we don't regret the move here at all. Living in hesters way has allowed us to have a descent sized house with a small mortgage (compared to most), leaving us with plenty of disposal income. We might not live here forever and of course no one raves about what a nice area it is, but we aren't in any rush to move on!