Hi all. We are considering a move to York, and I'm hoping some current or former residents can answer a few questions and help us to get a balanced view on the city/area, including schools.
From what I've read online so far, the consensus seems to be that it's a very likeable, friendly, compact city, plenty going on, good schools and some really nice areas to live, but that means expensive property and being besieged with tourists, students and nightmare traffic.
So my first question is... just how bad is that traffic, and is there anything that makes it especially worse than your average city traffic elsewhere? Are there any notorious traffic blackspots to be aware of? Is the tourism really a nightmare, and what about race days?
As regards property, it definitely looks a good bit dearer in general than where we are currently in the Midlands, but then when I factor in the school catchment premium for both areas, the differential actually shrinks quite a bit. Then there's the issue that the housing market has gone a bit crazy recently, so we'll see if or how much that calms down.
So getting a bit more specific, we have been looking at Archbishop Holgate's School as a strong possibility and would therefore want to live within reasonably easy reach of that area (Badger Hill / Hull Rd). Catchment may not be a big issue as I'm assured we should qualify for a foundation place, so in that case it would be more a factor of what's available and affordable.
I know the inevitable question is what our budget and requirements will be, and I can't answer that yet as we've got more work to do on the figures (mortgage affordability, valuation on current house etc). But ideally, we would prefer somewhere not too urban (or flood-prone!), with easy access to countryside walks, as long as it's not a major trek to get to school or into town. Dunnington looks like one place that might suit us nicely and Heworth also looks a good (if pricey) option, but I'd be interested to hear any other suggestions, and whether there are any particular up-and-coming (or down-and-going!) areas to watch out for. I wouldn't rule out other villages if the commute is bearable.
Speaking of commuting, the work situation is still a bit up in the air just now and whilst we're hoping to continue working from home most of the time, there's still the possibility of needing to travel into town and can't rule out a commute into Leeds for one of us, so I'd be interested to hear people's experience on that front (and obviously this could influence our choice of area, once we have a clearer idea on the work front).
Just going back to schools, we're still keeping an open mind so would be interested to hear any feedback on AHS or the other secondaries, but also on primary schools as we would expect to be moving in time for DD to start Y6 in our new location. I've had a good look at the school performance data already, so now I'm really interested in building up a more rounded picture of the schools (hoping to visit some in Sep/Oct) and what the parents and children think of them. The Ofsted Parent View surveys are a good resource in principle, but the availability (and age) of results is actually quite patchy, so the more feedback we can get here, the better.
Last point is just to say that if any other specific pros and cons spring to mind about living in (or near) York then we'd love to hear them, warts and all!
Thank you in advance.