Leicester, Loughborough, or Nottingham?

[nicole728]

Hi- we're moving from the US this summer and I have a lot of questions. I'll have a 2 year old and and 4 year old and we haven't decided between Leicester, Loughborough, and Nottingham. I'm looking for city amenities but also enough opportunities for my children to meet other kids (classes, parks, indoor play areas, etc.). I also won't have a car and I'm accustomed to being able to things with a stroller.

My first question is whether or not I should be looking for schools or daycare for my 4 year old. She's in a Montessori preschool in the US, but its expensive and I was hoping for a free or low cost school option for her, since my 2 year old will likely attend a daycare (I still haven't figured out the average for that yet).

So, do 4 year olds usually attend daycare or school? Are there free school options? Which city is best for city amenities and kid socialization?

I live sort of near all of these, over in the Vale of Belvoir and I can honestly say we've got some of the most beautiful countryside, high performing schools in the UK as well as reasonable ish house prices.

Given your H needs to travel to London, have you considered being on the east side, so he can catch the 1 hour to London train from Newark/Grantham.

Whilst not a city, the neighbouring town of Bingham has superb train links to all the three mentioned and from experience I can vouch for the quality of preschool and oh, yes we have the top three performing primary schools in the county.

But, if you've set on a city centre, suburbs such as Mapperley close to the city centre of Nottingham offer lots of mum and child friendly places, a lovely award winning park and a 10 minute bus to the city centre. Best of luck.

Ah yes. Agree about Ruddington /West Bridgford as previous posted mentions. Lovely area and great amenities. Just very desirable too.

It's held up as being like the only place in the area that's remotely tolerable to bring up a family in constantly and it's not - like the rest of the city drag their knuckles in the dirt and are defeated by door handles or something and it's utterly bloody ridiculous.

No one on here has said that except for you. OP asked for recommendations, two people suggested West Bridgford. How is that ridiculous? I’m so sorry that I enjoyed my time there.

Instead of bitching about other people’s homes, why don’t you recommend your own area to the OP?

Although if the OP has the budget for West Bridgford Id personally suggest looking at The Park...

All 3 are fab places to live. It depends what kind of lifestyle you want really. Countryside between Nottingham and Loughborough/Leicester is lovely for walks. West Bridgford is a fab place to raise primary age children. Tons to do and great schools. However it can get a bit crowded so if it’s space you’re after then somewhere else may suit you more. It really depends what kind of environment you like. There are some major advantages to being nearer Loughborough/Leicester for commuting to London (fast trains more frequent) but you would need to live near the station to reap those benefits. PM me if you have specific questions about areas.

Whats the reason for choosing city living?
-I live in a city now in the US and I like being around other people and being able to walk to restaurants and shops. I'm not opposed to smaller towns though... I really don't know what to expect and I have been happy in a small town, but I found it harder to make friends if the town is very close knit. I also like being around different cultures and diversity

What sort of housing will you be looking for?
-We're hoping to rent a furnished apartment before committing to something larger. So 2-3 bedrooms, a balcony or a small yard would be nice. We can live in any budget area, but I prefer to live around more middle class/ middle income families or mixed income areas-- I'm not sure if that makes sense or not for the areas.

What sort of commute are you looking for?
-short easy commute by public transportation, but we like to travel so it would be nice to be able to take trains to other cities too

Schools get full? So what do children do if the school is full?

Lots of great places to live in south Notts, as Puppymonkey says, West Bridgford has all you need and more. Getting to Loughborough from there is a doddle down the A60 not difficult at all. Easy and quick to get into Nottingham if you want the shopping experience and lots of nice countryside (good pubs and walks) to the east between Nottingham and Grantham.

So what do children do if the school is full? You will be allocated a place at a school with space. That may be miles away from your address so local Independent schools might be worth considering if you can afford the fees.

Nicole it does sound like West Bridgford ticks all of your boxes. It’s very near Nottingham station with very frequent buses. Beeston in Nottingham is also good for transport links as it has trains to London and is also on the tram line, but would be a fair drive from Loughborough (though you can get the train there too).To be honest the nicer parts of Loughborough (Quorn, Rothley etc) are further from the station and have less good bus links than West Bridgford does. In Leicester a lot of the good areas to live in are fairly near the station eg Oadby.

I grew up in West Bridgford and it really is excellent for state schools. Having said that I only went to Sixth Form there and actually did most of my schooling in Loughborough at a private school. There are some lovely areas around Loughborough/Leicester but these may be more rural than you would like - Woodhouse Eaves, Quorn etc. My cousin lives in the Stoneygate area of Leicester which is lovely and close to the University and City centre and good schools.

Another vote here for West Bridgford!

I used to live there (we live in a village in the Vale of Belvoir now) and I teach at a fantastic primary school in West Bridgford.

It is true though that schools quickly fill up - last year we had over 100 applications for 45 F2 places. OP if schools fill up then you will offered a place in another school nearby.

I'm from Nottingham but now live in a Leicestershire village - there are lots of lovely villages near Loughborough - Quorn, barrow, Rothley ,wood house eaves- as they're villages the public transport isn't amazing but you can cope without a car.
Nottinghamwise Beeston is well connected though studenty in parts as is west Bridgford but nice towns and quite 'trendy' for want of a better word
I would avoid both the city centres in Nottingham and Leicester- the schools aren't great (there's a couple of good ones but hard to get into it and the secondary schools are on the whole a bit notorious )
The East Midlands is a great place to live well connected, nice countryside, vibrant city's for shopping, museums etc ...

I grew up in Loughborough, live in Leicester and regularly visit Nottingham. Nottingham and Leicester are both great cities with a lot going for them. I prefer them both to all the northern cities.

Loughborough was a good place to grow up but I wouldn't want to live there now as there isn't enough going on for me.

Leicester has some really good schools, especially on the south side of the city center and not all of them are oversubscribed.