Moving to Manchester

[ANGELMOTHER]

I know there are some Mumsnetters up in Manchester, so just a little advice please.
Living in the South East for some time now and finding it impossibly expensive and next to impossible buying a home of our own.

We know our financial situation here is unsustainable...renting and barely making ends meet most days.
Dh and I have been doing some serious brainstorming and as we have a little family there and we believe a less expensive existence are now considering moving to Manchester.

Anyway what I need to ask for really aside from any general advice anyone can offer is pointers on areas and kiddie friendly spots in Manchester...
I know this is vague but our plans are still very hazy.
Thanks in advance.

sigh being a mancky lass at heart - born and bred - i sort of miss it and this thread makes me a little homesick... in brum now (which is just as lovely!)... i think all cities etc have good and bad points and you can make what you want of it!... does that make sense...?

good luck!

Bea, I am also a Mancunian living in the Midlands (worcester for me though) !

When we make this move, we'll be 2 adults a 4yr dd and newborn dd. We will probably head up this weekend for a look as my dh has some family there, not sure exactly where they are yet but dh's Uncle has a few houses which he rents out and we hope to get one of these to start with...again not sure of their location.

After about three months prob Feb/Mar we would hope to buy a house of our own, this would be our first home buy (at last!!!!) so, much as Didsbury sounds lovely it will prob be something we will aspire to rather than go straight for.
We will most likely set a ceiling of 70-90k for this first house and family friendly is going to be the biggest guide on where we settle (schools for dd1 etc).
Both myself and dh have lived in urban and rural but would prefer somewhere closer to the "action" but I will be a Mum of two so we'll see........
Dh is very much looking forward to supporting Man Utd from closer rather than afar, but I WILL NOT let this sway our choice of home
We are both Irish and aware there is a large Irish community in Manchester but that doesn't mean we want to move to the Manchester version of Kilburn...(no offence to anyone in Kilburn pleeeasee)
Over the last five years as a family we have moved 6 times from Ireland to Holland and various places in London to Surrey......this will be the last "big" move for some time hopefully although not the last home IYKWIM.
Dh is in construction as I said and we're of the belief that work won't be a big problem for him. I for the next 2yrs approx will be sahm (with poss childminding in time) but will hopefully return to work then.

This is the "Plan" so far. Thanks for all advice and any more to come.

Just checked out www.fish4homes.co.uk and ran a search on houses between £70 & £90k in Didsbury. There is one 3 bed semi at £90k, perhaps not the most beautiful but in an excellent location. There's another 3 bed semi on at £87k in Chorlton, looks like one of the ex-council ones which could be a goof thing if surrounding homes are now private too. The old council houses have got good, generous room sizes and were fairly solidly built too.

GOOD thing not goof ! DOH

£87k in Chorlton? Where? ME ME ME

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United fans in Lancs here, dadslib. Is that OK?

DONT DONT DONT move to Manchester if you can avoid it. I lived in the Manchester area for 8 years and recently moved to the south. What a breath of fresh air it is down here, people actually talk to you, it doesnt take a year to get accepted by the mother and toddler groups, you can mix with people who have actually lived a little and who dont begrudge anyone who has slightly more than them. If you have a southern accent you will be ostracised immediately. I lived in Rochdale, Lancashire for 3 years then moved slap bang into the city centre where I remained with 2 boys until they were 1 and 2.5. We finally moved south due to a career change and for the first time I have come off the anti depressants. Yeah, fair enough the centre of Manchester has got some good bars, restaurants etc but not much good if you dont have a decent babysitter. Live in the centre and your children will go to schools where there is no uniform as they cant possible cope with the huge variety of religions they would have to take into consideration and providing you dont mind your children learning Hindu instead of French then go ahead. Personally I think Didsbury is a dump, full of students and pretty much on the edge of some very undesirable places. To be honest 70-90k wont get you too much either in a good location so you would have to look further afield like Warrington etc. You'd get a better quality of life and more for your money if you moved to Wales. I hated living in Manchester, for a family it has absolutely nothing going for it. South Manchester (Cheshire) is nice but you need to have a budget of 200k + otherwise you'll be swopping a nice but expensive area for a cheap and grotty area. The only thing the Oasis brothers have said that made any sense was when they were asked why they dont live in Manchester any more they replied 'because it is a s..thole'. Never a more true word spoken.

More United fans in Lancs, how dare you dadslib??

We are interested in all opinions so thanks Trifle for that too.
Frankness also appreciated Dadslib, aware that 60-90k isn't a lot to bargain with but we'd get a hell of a lot more there than here for that, and that is one of the main reasons we need to do this also...
Still listening to all opinions coming in

Now that we're heading up this Weekend and have discovered that the "Family" are located both Norrth and South we reckon a central hotel to be best...................so again to pick your brains, any recommendations for a family room in the city !!!

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Oh Trifle, I agree totally that Warrington would buy them a very good house for their money but you must have been very unlucky with your area! I moved down south for 9 years and found it VERY difficult to get new friends - and good ones and get accepted at toddler groups etcc.. Neighbours never spoke and it was actually a quite nice area too with lots of young families.
As dadslib says Man is a VERY big place with lots of places consistuting Manc! Do have a look at Warrington, but be aselective a little. The People are wonderful and talk to you!! Great IKEA etc... Schools are fab too. Good luck chuck!!! Tons of advice here!!
Chatee - wow, what a coincidence - see on due in march thread!!

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Oh Trifle, I agree totally that Warrington would buy them a very good house for their money but you must have been very unlucky with your area! I moved down south for 9 years and found it VERY difficult to get new friends - and good ones and get accepted at toddler groups etcc.. Neighbours never spoke and it was actually a quite nice area too with lots of young families.
As dadslib says Man is a VERY big place with lots of places consistuting Manc! Do have a look at Warrington, but be aselective a little. The People are wonderful and talk to you!! Great IKEA etc... Schools are fab too. Good luck chuck!!! Tons of advice here!!
Chatee - wow, what a coincidence - see on due in march thread!!

Oh Trifle, I agree totally that Warrington would buy them a very good house for their money but you must have been very unlucky with your area! I moved down south for 9 years and found it VERY difficult to get new friends - and good ones and get accepted at toddler groups etcc.. Neighbours never spoke and it was actually a quite nice area too with lots of young families.
As dadslib says Man is a VERY big place with lots of places consistuting Manc! Do have a look at Warrington, but be aselective a little. The People are wonderful and talk to you!! Great IKEA etc... Schools are fab too. Good luck chuck!!! Tons of advice here!!
Chatee - wow, what a coincidence - see on due in march thread!!

Trifle - there are more southern accents in Chorlton than manc ones, so don't know what you are on about there.

Also, I lived in the city centre for 7 years, admittedly without children but it was fantastic, in my block of flats there were families with kids as well.

Most good areas border on dodgy areas in most cities so nothing new there either and Didsbury a dump? Ha, do me a favour.

I wouldn't class Rochdale as Manchester either, totally different area.

(rolls up sleeves ready for a scrap)

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oy! i grew up in burnage... mum and dad still do! so watch your mouths!!! ....

Dh is Manchester born and bred, Chorlton to be precise, although he went to school in Didsbury, so this thread is making him homesick! He says that Manchester has changed a lot since he last lived there (11 years ago), generally for the better. He loved the Chorlton/Didsbury area, but as has been mentioned, it is getting more and more pricey. And Dadslib, dh is a City fan through and through, mourning the loss of Maine Road, but still has a season ticket, even though we live nearly 200 miles away!!

sorry trifle, that may be your experience but personally I think its complete rubbish.
I've got lots of friends who moved up to manchester from down south and they ALL say how much better it is/how much more friendly everyone is etc.
Sounds like it was a long time since you were in Didsbury area too - its certainly not "full of students and on the edge of some desirable areas".

I've never heard anyone I know from the manchester area have a similar experience to yours so you must be the exception rather than the rule.

I love Manchester too - live in the East and work in Withington. I agree that you won't get much for £80k in the 'nicer' areas but there is a lot of renewal going on in Manchester and there are some great areas that are up and coming. For example, houses in Longsight (multi-cultural, near the city) have gone up by 200% on last year. Est Manchester is a cheaper area to live but still within reach of everywhere you might want to go. Try Reddish (4 miles from Stockport, 4 miles from Manchester). My SIL lives there (and we are not far away) and there are some good primary schools and a good mix of houses. Stockport Grammer is a good school and so is Wright Robinson I've heard. Let me know if you need any more help - I am a good researcher! It really is a great place and you will be able to come to the Manchester meet-ups!

Trifle - my DH is from Rochdale and would never class it as being in Manchester (although it is classed as Greater Manchester). Neither would he ever, ever want to live in Rochdale again (no offence Rochdale residents)even though his parents still live there. Aspedestra's and Gracie aside it aint all that.

We have both lived in London for about 12 years but at the end of this month are moving to West Yorkshire. Neither of us can wait to get back up north (I'm from Nottingham which I class as North - big shout to the Meadow Lane massive) and compared to London it's got to be an improvement. Having said that, the part of London we live in, although the poorest, has a real sense of community. I found the monied areas to be the most unfriendly.

I have to say Trifle that your comments about not wanting your children to learn "Hindu" were naieve. Again the area we live in at the moment has a large Bangladeshi community and whilst that informs what the kids learn in school it doesn't dominate it and anyway why shouldn't they learn about other cultures?

Getting back to the point of the thread, Manchester is a good place to be. It has everything you could possibly want from a city in close proximity to some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK.

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