Stockport

[wetcrow]

Hello ladies,

Hoping you can give me some advice. I'm just selling up in the Peak District, due to exchange next week and was due to move to Cheshire. Sadly my husband wants to separate and so trying to work out what to do. Don't think I want to move to Cheshire on my own. Need to be close to Manchester so that I can get into town for work easily and at weekends but also want some green space for my toddler who is almost 2. Have been looking at Stockport/Heaton Chapel area which would be easy with trains etc but does anyone know what it would be like in terms of safety, decent nurseries, etc?

I also wondered whether, as I'll be on my own, whether it's best to look for a flat in a block where there are more people around, or a house.

I think my budget would
be about 800 a month. Any suggestions gratefully received!

Thank you,
Wetcrow

Don't move to Stockport, it's depressing!

Look at South Manchester - Didsbury, Chorlton, Altrincham, Sale, Withington etc etc all close to parks and greenery.

And that is what pisses me off about MN - the same few places are suggested time and again and if anyone mentions a different area they get brusquely told it's shit.

I live in Stockport and it isn't depressing. The town centre is not great, granted, but it has a lot to offer.

If you look in Didsbury, etc your budget will get you a flat. If there are students and young professionals in the block or conversion it may not be ideal with a small child. Heaton Chapel much the same. Plus no proper garden.

You can rent a house with a garden for that in other parts of Stockport such as Cheadle or Bramhall for example and Manchester is easy to get to. There's plenty of green space and trees around. I like it - it is so convenient for transport links and the motorway network.

Is it really that bad? Admit some of it looks grim! Was thinking more for convenience really.

I've seen some nice flats in Altrincham. I don't want to go somewhere too "smug family" if that makes any sense :)

Thanks wowfudge that sounds promising. I don't know what it would be like living in a flat with a 2 year old, guess I wanted somewhere green I can quickly take her if we are cooped up and getting on each other's nerves!

I know Stockport very well, no its not bad at all. Great area in terms of location, m60, Manchester, good choice of shops, supermarkets, schools, colleges, parks, close to peak district etc.

The town centre isn't great but lots of work planned to improve it. There are some bad parts, but lots of good parts too. £800 will get you a nice house with a garden and near a good school.

I would look at Heaton moor, great moor, woods moor, Cheadle, hazel grove, romily and bramhall. All good locations, good transport links, plenty of amenities, green space.

Feel free to pm me any roads you're looking at houses on and I will see if I can tell you more about the area.

Thanks Dansak that's reassuring to know. I am hoping to start looking in about a week or so once we exchange contracts. A garden would be nice, or nearby green space. I will definitely PM you!

Jean - not sure you can slag off Stockport and then suggest Withington?!!

I like Withington...

The heatons are lovely!

stockport is lovely

lots of lovely places

and didsbury is literally five minutes up the road from cheadle. Literally. So is there a magic line and on one side it's depressing and on the side it's magical? bollocks

We live inbetween Stockport and Macclesfield. Some of Stockport town centre is a bit grim but the 'old' part is better. I noticed the other week they'd done a bit of work in the precinct to expose the river underneath! I have friends all over Stockport - Great Moor, the Heatons, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme - all those areas seem OK.

We're near Hazel grove which is fine. Woodsmoor OK too.

I used to go out with someone who lived in Romily. Lovely, lovely countryside, canal walks etc. and good public transport.

I really like cheadle village, close to didsbury and there are some really nice little shops there. There's also a huge park with a big lake (me and my dsis used to go when we were visiting my nana as kids so some lovely memories of cheadle) which is nice to take the lo on walks through.

Bramhall is also quite nice if I remember right - it's been a good 10 years since I've been though so not sure if it's changed.

bramhall is lovely-very chi chi and expensive
cheadle lovely
lots of really nice places

Heaton Moor is lovely and you could still get a lovely 2 bed place for £800 pcm.

If you want nice but a bit cheaper then Davenport is worth a look.

No need to dismiss Stockport for some of the overpriced and over-popular areas of South Manchester just because of the town centre. The outskirts are lovely.

Hello ladies,

Thanks for all your helpful replies. Sorry for the late response. I'm back now - been schlepping around central London. I forgot how minging Oxford Street is in this rain!

Ok so it sounds like there are some nice bits that I can afford, which is reassuring. The town centre is a bit depressing but on the other hand there is a lot there and the trains into town are so quick. I'll have to look into these outskirts.

What about crime? Coming from an area where selling illegal fireworks got you on the front page of the local paper :)

Wetcrow

Sorry, I shouldn't have said "ladies." Ignore!

Heatons are lovely :)

Good community feel and a local cinema reopening soon! Nice shops and lots of green spaces, excellent public transport to Manchester and the Peak District, loads of good nurseries.

I used to live in Heaton Mersey - I really miss it! I paid 600 per for a 2 bed flat about 4 yrs ago so hopefully it's still affordable. Lovely feel, nice pub/shops and only 10 mins walk from East Didsbury so it's practically S.manchester. Great buses, you can walk to e.didsbury train station and now the tram is close. My best friend lives in Heaton Moor now, a bit more lively but still nice and the train links are good. Stockport town centre is 15 mins on the bus, it isn't the nicest but it's handy if you only need to go to certain shops and the train station is really handy. Good links to M60 as well.

there is crime-it is after all basically a big suburb of manchester but i can't judge properly because i have only ever lived in big cities except for a brief foray into country living where i wanted to die from boredom.

Stockport town centre is a bit rubbish, but then so are a lot of small town centres. Altrincham has its fair share of empty shops too. Both are having a huge amount of money spent on them.

Cheadle Hulme and bramhall are both lovely in most parts. With cheadle Hulme you want to avoid the bit near adswood, so around where birdgall lane joins councillor lane ,(larkhill road, Dorset avenue etc)

With bramhall you'd be best avoiding the north park road area around !island road, and rushton drive as its rough compared to surrounding parts.

I'm with you on the country living gymboy! I feel like I need to be somewhere with constant activity of some sort as I won't know anyone there and need to keep us busy. Part of me thinks I should stay in Buxton for a while if the house sale falls through (looks if it could do
) but then it's so far away from Manchester I can't do enough hours to make it work financially. I had got fed up of the 'country living' as well and the small town-ness of it all, although it was lovely to begin with.

Lots of Stockport is nice! Including Heatons, Cheadle, Bramhall and Marple (a bit further out). I wouldn't worry about crime in the nicer areas.
We considered Heatons but not many affordable houses with gardens. Many more possibilities in the other areas I mentioned.
Town centre not great but doesn't really matter, proper shops are in city centre or Trafford Centre and the nicer areas have lots of cafes and restaurants.