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.

innit!, dunnit! There's lack of 't' s too!!
Excellent summary dadslib!

Interesting Luchar as Longsight is where we may start out temporarily (dh's Uncle has houses there).
Must admit Trifle's comments did give dh and myself a bit of the "wobblies" (excuse the pun ) but the overall mood on this thread is one of a positive nature.
Must say though the point on how she found it easier to become "accepted" into mother toddler groups etc here as opposed to Manchester I find baffling.
I would have assumed Northeners to be more friendly....I have lived in South London for nigh on 4 yrs now and all friends were hard to make and really only aquaintances at that, somehow I always felt like an outsider.
Then again maybe that's just me, which is why knowing we'd have family in Manchester would definitely help.

As far as house prices are concerned, we don't have a large budget but as opposed to what we could buy here with the same... ie nothing !!! I'm prepared for no palace.
I believe the knowledge that the houses in better areas are an attainable price must be good for the soul.
A house at the back of us here sold last week for 245k and believe me it ain't nothing special, nor are we close to a whole lot either except for good rail links 50 mins to London, somehow I still don't think it justifiable.

We are apprehensive about this move also I let slip to dd that we might be moving to a new house and her reaction wasn't inspiring.

I will now stop rambling and ask another question.....

Gov funded pre-school places: I had just sorted out dd's place starting September, if indeed Longsight is where we start off, does anyone have any advice on that ?

Ps again many many thanks for aaaalllll this info

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Dibbles, dadslib????

Ohhh - was it Officer Dibble in Top Cat or something?

We have mither too, it's a wonderful word, perfect for when kids go on and on at you without actually whingeing - "will you stop mithering and go away!"

And is that really where manky comes from? Shall stop using it instantly if it is. Not sure a tyke should be posting on this thread though?

PS DH is a Rovers fan (NOT BURNLEY! NEVER BURNLEY!) and the DDs were too when they were younger (luckily this coincided with that Premiership title) but the DSs (15 and 10) are the Man U fans and there are a lot more round here. I agree about supporting local teams, there are lots of Rovers and Burnley shirts around and I know one family who follow PNE passionately.

angelmother, I am a suvner by origin and I certainly find people much friendlier up here - where I am isn't Manchester, but people walk around with their heads up and smile and say hello whether you know them or not - it's much more welcoming.

Of course the weather is crap but you do get used to it.

(Funny how most of the Manc words just make me think of Kevin & Perry...)

Defo! You should still get your childcare help. The majoirty of areas now give assitance from age 3. Call the EYDCP (Early Years and Childcare Development Partnership), it's within the local council, for the area you fancy and they will tell you exactly what and how much you'll get. This tends to be higher in areas that are up and coming or even outskirts of more deprived areas. Its surprising, how many areas are in these classes, just by postcode!! Good luckxx ( as you can tell - former childcare advisor - geek, hey that's anther one Dadslib!!!)manky - love that word.

Angelmother we moved from down south to up north 6/half years ago now and we love it and would never move back down south. The standard of living is so much better we find and people are generally very friendly. I live near Haydock Race Course which is probably in the middle of manchester/liverpool and house prices here are pretty reasonable. Schools are great with a lot of Beacon ones around but I presume this is too far from the City Centre for you??

Dadslib, you forgot "brew" (cup of tea to them down there).
I am a Knutsford lass and would thoroughly recommend it if you are minted - I live in Sale now (Ashton on Mersey) and love it - there are a lot of very good primary schools, ours is excellent, Sale Grammar and Altrincham Grammar which isn't far, you are 10 minutes from the Trafford Centre which is a fantastic shopping centre, you have the motorway network, airport, peak district etc all within easy reach - house prices are not too bad, I would say £140k upwards for a reasonable 3 bed semi. Where we live is very rural and has very good facilities in general.
Trifle, no offence but alot of what you said is a pile of pap in my opinion. I lived in London for 12 months - couldn't stick it any longer than that, I didn't get to know anyone, found everyone extremely unfriendly, everything was expensive, and I hated it. Alot of my family live in the south and they all say without exception that northerners are more friendly.
And I resent your comment about people up here not having lived - what a bizarre thing to say and certainly untrue of myself and many other people I know.

angelmother - don't know the full deal but I know that in Trafford borough they get a free preschool place 3 hours a day from 3 years old. I'm in Stockport and it's from 4 years old here

Dahila > can't believe you're originally from Knutsford - so I am - which school did you go to?

From what Trifle posted on the "would you have had kids if you knew how tough it is" thread I think she is not at all happy with the world in general and when you feel like that nothing is right. Hope life gets easier as your kids get older, Trifle.

I'm in Bramhall - moved here 2 years ago and love it! Had no problems with unfriendliness at Toddler Groups - people only seemed to shy away when, due to PND, their kindness would make me sob uncontrollably !!!
I'm originally from Blackpool so had no language problems, the only phrase that I didn't know of was "to let onto someone" - ie. "I walked into the pub and he didn't let onto me". Handy little phrase which seems to mean "acknowledge the presence of"!

janh, completely wrong on your assumption, I am in fact quite happy to the point of being delirious that I now live in a delightful place that supplies me with no end of friends and fantastic opportunities to actually enjoy life as opposed to killing time which is what I did in Manchester. It is northerners who tend to bang on about how great Manchester is because they are all born with huge chips on their shoulders and have never experienced life beyond their pitiful little world. I worked and lived for 3 years just 8 miles out of Manchester and worked with a huge team who never ever went into the centre of Manchester because it intimiated them. They would much rather swan round the 2 local tacky pubs and follow it up with a kebab from the local salmonella shop. So frustrating to live and work with people who, ten years on are still doing the same job they profess to have hated years ago and always saying they wished they could change but in reality of change. I may not always have been happy with where I lived or with the choices I made but at least I can talk from experience having lived in 11 different countries and seen a fraction of the world and know what and where my preferences lie as opposed to being totally blinkered. I lived and worked in the centre of Manchester for 5 years, the first 3 being without children and I have to say it was bloody marvellous. Having children opened my eyes to the huge lack of toddler goups, nurseries, parks, soft play areas, swings etc of which there are absolutely none led for an extremely lonely and depressing existence and one which I went everywhere and did everthing to try and change it. It was only when I moved to my current location in the South did I realise the huge void that had been present in my life and which is currently being repaired by the vast support group I have around me thanks to the fabulous facilities available locally. I am not, contrary to what you might perceive janh, a sad depressed wino but someone who has transformed themselves (albeit it sometimes superficially) into a bubbly confident life and soul of the party type person which was never and would never have been evident had I stayed in the suffocating atmosphere that was Manchester.

Katierocket - I went to Knutsford High - I was there from 1977-1982. How about you?

Um - think you might have taken me the wrong way there, Trifle.

Only you did say this a few days ago:

Trifle!! I feel I need to leap to the defense of poor old Manchester! I'm a Mancunian born and bred, as is dp and we've been in London for the past 15 years. We're now looking to move back 'home' and that's really how Manchester still feels to me. People are so much friendlier there than down here. I still get edgy when someone starts talking to me at a bus stop or in a shop in Manchester, until I realise that they're just being friendly and not a nutter...!

I must admit I lived there before having ds, and so haven't experienced life there as a mother, but I can't believe that such a vibrant metropolitan place doesn't have groups/facilities for children - in fact I know it does as we've still got friends with kids up there. I didn't catch when you were actually living in Manchester, but there have been amazing developments/improvements since the Commonwealth Games were held there - I sometimes feel like a tourist when I go to the middle of the City!

Anyhow, each to our own! The only thing I'd say about Stockport in particular, which is possibly where we'd relocate to, is that it's very white, and at the moment we're in quite a mixed part of NW London which I like. It does seem weird whenever I go back to Stockport that more or less everyone is white... But there are other bits of Manchester that are more mixed, so we'll be thinking about that when we eventually move (which is dependent on me getting a job..!).

Trifle - you sound like you have a potato farm on your shoulder, get a grip girl.

And use paragraphs.

Dahlia - I went to Knutsford High too! 82-89 so I guess we missed each other!

Trifle - can't believe how bitter you are about Manchester. And also, I think Janh was trying to be thoughtful - seems like you can't see someone trying to be nice for the anger you have - maybe that was the problem in Manchester??

I do still regret having children and find it dreary. The point I am trying to make is that your surroundings play a huge part in your ability to cope. I'm spoilt for choice with things I can do down here and am presently expecting about 10 mums and children for coffee, an experience impossible in Manchester as there was no network set up to meet anyone.

Hi again ANGELMOTHER! I am actually quite close to Longsight (about 2 miles away). Here's the article on Longsight (had to cut and paste it but it came from manchesteronline.co.uk). I quite like the area - loads to do and lots of young families. Check out the local primary schools re nursery places as some have full time free nursery places for three year olds (my local one does and my DS1 started in the September after his third birthday in the May). My area is also a SureStart area (not sure about Longsight but try their website) so lots going on for pre-schoolers. Childminders are also good - £2 per hour for my DS2. Get my email from tech if there is anything else I can do - being around the corner from Longsight I might be able to help??

HOUSE prices are soaring in a Manchester suburb that gained a reputation as a gun crime hotspot.

Longsight is now being viewed as a trendy area to live for young professionals and families.

House prices in the area have risen 200 per cent in two years.

In 2001 two-up two-downs could easily be bought for £15,000. Now the same homes can fetch anywhere between £45,000 and £50,000.

A successful initiative to the North Moor district of Longsight is believed to be largely responsible for the house price boom, but reduced crime rates is also a contributing factor.

The country's first "home zone" - designed and built by Manchester Methodist Housing Association - has seen the graffiti-ridden Stainer Street transformed into a tree-lined avenue.

Brickwork on the houses has been cleaned up and attractive zigzags built into the road as a traffic-calming measure.

Trees have been planted and the street has become the cutting edge of urban style.

Effect
The knock-on effect has been astounding, with houses right across Longsight benefiting from the work carried out in North Moor.

Jim McMillan, of the Methodist Housing Association, said: "Just two years ago people were trying to get out of this area and now they are clamouring to move in."

Longsight police officer Angus Styth said: "The crime levels have definitely dropped and the area looks generally nicer.

"The environmental improvements have done so much for the area. There is a real sense of community pride.

"The area was so run down in the late 1990s that things spiralled out of control. Now we are seeing an upward spiral of people wanting to move into Longsight."

Estate agents are astounded at the rise in prices.

Neil Fletcher, from Kay McKenzie, said: "Longsight is at an advantage because it's within striking distance of the city centre.

"There were many empty houses here two years ago, but now there's a huge demand."

Dot1 - I also work in the NHS so might be able to help access vacancies lists for you for the South Manchester area (I am in Withington). They are on our intranet but not sure what you do or when you would move?? Hope you are still OK anyway.

I just love Manchester!! People are generally nice wherever you are though I think - we're all trying to get on the best we can aren't we?

If what trifle says is true, I'm off up to Manchester to start me a lucrative chain of soft play centres - anybody want to go into partnership.

I don't actually think it is true as when we go up to stay with my in-laws there are always plenty of activities and places to entertain ds and yes, Trifle, that happens to be in grotty old Rochdale. Manchester has even more choice.

Live and let live Trifle. You've already attacked ethnic communities on this thread, now you're attacking people for sticking with what they know and feel comfortable with. There's no rule that says everybody has to have a great bloody vision for their life and if there was I doubt that rule would be "Thou shalt only be happy in trendy, city centre restaurants and not the local Working Men's club" Nor would it say "Fulfillment can only be found in the South-East, move to London or forever be miserable".

Some of us can find happiness in the simplest places without the need to go trotting round the globe in search of it only to realise that after all the effort we still haven't found it.

Oh my word Trifle you do sound rather bitter I must say. I have no experience of Manchester as I've never been, however I was born and bred in Middlesbrough which sometimes comes under attack from people so I can understand why people are being defensive. In my opinion there are nice people and not so nice people where ever you go. It's up to us as individuals to make our own enjoyment. You ovbiously had a bad experience in Manchester but don't allow this to colour your judgement against the whole of Manchester and all of it's residents. This is just stereotyping and niave.

I also feel that if you find being a parent dreary than you are bound to find Manchester (and anywhere else for that matter) dreary as IMO being a parent is the most wonderful thing ever.

Some people are just very hard to please.

I would suggest its Trifles attitude rather than the area that was the problem. I have lived down south most my life, moved up here 6/half years ago and wouldnt change it for anything. I have never had any problems intergrating within the community, there are plenty of good schools, playgroups etc etc. I have a southern accent have never been ridiculed for it and always been accepted...I have to agree with what someone else said...Trifle is talking a load of pap!

Angelmother please dont base any of your opinions on what she has told you, I think that you can see enough posts to show you that it is a great place to live and its like anywhere, its what you make of it. My sister, also a southerner, has decided to move up here...again because she loves it and all that it has to offer.

Hope that your family will be very happy here and thankfully with lots of us up here you will never be short of people to meet.

Take Care. xxxx

trifle - your comment "...there was no network set up to meet anyone" is just nonsense. You may as well say black is white. Whether or not you liked it/got on with anyone is a completely different matter.

Hi Luchar - thanks, that's a really kind offer. I'm an NHS manager (boo hiss!) - service manager at the moment, but I'm already looking on most Manchester/Stockport Trusts' websites for vacancies, and of course the HSJ. I may have an interview coming up soon - so keep fingers crossed - would love to be 'up North' before Christmas!!