Needed insight from Northerners or ex-Southerners about living in the north

[ReyofLight]

Hello ladies,

Basically, I'm southern, but hate where I live. I have lived east, west and midlands, but not tried the north.

My concerns are crime, rough areas and yobs. I was considering Newcastle, but it is 3rd highest in crime in the country which is pretty off-putting. Do you notice a lot of crime living there? Like random attacks on the public? I was also considering Yorkshire. I would also like to know if northerners dislike southerners for any reason? I have heard some places are friendly, which would be nice, but I have also heard southerners not being treated very nicely because they're southern. I'm currently living in the south west and can't stand how snobby and rude everyone is. There is no such thing as manners, politeness or friendliness anywhere here. Two years I've been here and haven't been able to make any friends.

Every time I step outside my front door I am assaulted by passing yobs.

If I manage to make my way unmolested to the high street, home of charity shops and beggars, and happen to hear a softy Southern accent I point and laugh and generally rip the piss.

Stay were you are chuck. It's grim up ere.

I will say that I honestly think that people in the north are much friendlier. I'm not from Newcastle but am Northern but have always been extremely taken by how friendly people are here.

If you have a southern accent you may be labelled 'posh' (even a midlands accent!) however many areas have many people from other areas as it has a high percentage of students who choose to carry on living here (as it's so great!) Gosforth, Jesmond and tynemouth children generally have a non accent as so many parents are from other areas of the country.

I'd love to see where you got 3rd for Newcastle. This ranking www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/preparing-to-go/staying-safe-at-university/how-safe-is-your-city/ puts it at 22
This has it at 7 www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/news/3850254/uk-most-dangerous-safest-areas-crime-rates-rape-burglary-arson/amp/
This also has it at 22
www.ukcrimestats.com/Neighbourhoods/ and that's only the centre of town

I went to uni there and lived there for 15 years, I still regularly visit and work there but now live on Durham / N.yorks border
Purely anecdotally I found it a very friendly and generally safe city especially when out and about. It had the odd incident but any large concentration of people does. I personally wasn't a victim of crime until I moved to the countryside where we had an attempted burglary by a druggy whilst we were in which was quite scary. It has some proper gorgeous posh bits, some poor bits with issues and lots in between - Iike any city

I came north (NE) from the South (proper SW) and I never regretted it I love it up here.

I'll just leave this here www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/travel/uk-ireland/newcastle-best-place-for-2018-11661485.amp

Get tha sen up ere OP
I'm afat somebody new to mug

There are good and bad areas everywhere. I've lived in both and felt much safer in the north. People are generally more friendly (and perhaps more likely to jump in if someone is attacked). Up north I've had complete strangers offer to hold my umbrella while I put the hood on the baby's buggy, pick me up when I've tripped over, etc. Whereas down south nobody has ever stopped to help me (except one occasion when I was crying and a lady on the bus asked if she could help, and she turned out to be on a holiday from up north).

I'm originally from the South but live in South Yorkshire for 16 years and now moved to Pennine area. I love living here, very friendly people & beautiful countryside. It all depends on where you are.

I'm from the SW and now live in Yorkshire. One thing you need to bear mind is that it really is colder up North!

From Yorkshire:

Harrogate and likely are naice. Very affluent and posh.
York is also lovely - nice mix of interesting history and culture and modern shops and bars.
Leeds and Sheffield areboth lovely
Sheffield’s south west area is vibrant and naice. Particularly around the ecclesall road area. Probably more from than living rurally, but generally the crime seems to be confined to the ‘rough’ areas, rather than spilling into the nice parts. I’ve felt a million times safer in Sheffield than London.
The Peak District has beautiful idyllic villages. Harrogate and baslow come to mind as wonderful places to live.

It’s much cheaper to live up north, so you get a much better quality of life imo. You don’t tend to get people living in (crap) 1 million pound houses who can’t afford to go on holiday or buy new clothes, as housing is much more in line with earnings. And you can still find a nice sourdough loaf or avocado latte!

I'm in Durham, hence my name , I was born here then moved to London, then Herts, then Bucks. Stayed down south for twenty years then we decided to move back to Durham. It's the best thing we ever did, there's definitely no more crime in the north than the south. There's rough places wherever I've lived, there's estates in Aylesbury ever bit as run down and rough as those in Newcastle.
I love the north, I love the countryside, the coast, I love a night out in Durham or Newcastle, I think it's true that people appear to be friendlier. The best thing is that we paid off our mortgage when we moved, despite moving to a bigger house in a lovely area.
Have a drive around the area, you'll soon see places that you like or don't like.
Good luck

Hi,
I’m from Manchester and have lived all over the country, North, South and Midlands.
I don’t think it’s about what part of the country you live in. The difference for me is between urban cities and countryside. I live in rural Staffordshire now and love it. The beauty, country pubs etc. I don’t think there is much difference between large city life whether they are in the North/Midlands/South to be honest.
There’s also the option of living in villages on the outskirts of larger cities, where you can have the best if both worlds.
I don’t like some of the South snobbery towards the North. See the eateries, culture etc in towns like Manchester. You can also afford to buy a house here! I know quite a few people who have moved to the North because of the housing market.

Newcastle is pretty safe - lots of suburbs that feel like small communities. I've lived here for 19years and I can count on one hand any recollection I have of random muggings within 2 miles of where I live. There are rough areas in the city, like any city. House prices reflect that! The schools are decent and the city is well connected by rail and air. Glorious beaches right on your doorstep as well as amazing countryside.

Do you notice a lot of crime living there? Like random attacks on the public?

Oh I know, it's terrible. DH and I tend to go for a full set of chain mail should the need arise to leave our fortress.

Joking and your daft generalisations apart, this is where you need to look for crime and other deprivation stats:

dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/idmap.html

West Yorkshire for me. Very rural. Hills. The Pennines. Wouldn't live anywhere else. I was born here too.

The North is huge though. You need to probably be more specific. Just not Newcastle it's full of fighty boys

Hopefully that last sentence comes across and the joke it was intended to be....

..as the joke...

You get rough areas in any city. The main difference is really only if you are used to London, and not having ready access to the same level and number of cultural events, even in the major cities. (Which do have a lot going on, but if this stuff is important to you, you will keep noticing that there is interesting stuff on in London that's not happening where you are.)

I think if you have a noticeable southern or RP accent it's a good idea to always be aware of what you are saying so as not to seem snobbish, and to never have a chip on your shoulder about the idea that some people may have preconceptions. People will be fine if you are nice and on a level with them.

Not sure where in the south west you are but the bits I've visited for holidays had the friendliest people I've met anywhere, who were actively kind and accommodating to people they don't know, in a way I've never seen anything like so often anywhere else.

I think taking penny's post in to account there is a big difference between Northern cities and rural. We live in Newcastle, loads of cultural stuff on, lots of our friends and my OH sound very southern and have no issues and there is a pretty big cultural mix at the school where I work. However I did lots of my training in small town/ rural Durham and that was very different in that respect ..not worse but different in the sense of culture and ethnic mix!

@katycb yes I agree. I'm a southerner now living in Tynemouth which is very cosmopolitan and there are people from all over the country living here. My kids have a bit of an accent but it's not very strong.
However we lived in rural North Yorkshire for 4 years and that was totally different. I always felt like an outsider even though everyone was friendly. Everyone else had lived there for generations.

Born and bred in a ne coastal town where my main home is. Spring, summer and autumn you’ll find us the majority of the week in N Yorks.
We’ve had a 5 night break this week.
Tuesday was Northallerton...on the way down
Wednesday, went to visit friends in Middlesbrough...Stewart’s Park ...looked lovely as we drove past
Thursday was York.....retail parks and cinema
Friday, into easingwold, lovely little Georgian town , got some plants from the market there then carried onto york , lovely day out in the city centre, became members of the picturehouse cinema seeing as we are there so often
Saturday was Harrogate..took advantage of the England v Sweden match to enjoy a quiet city centre
Sunday...just chilled at the caravan before getting ready for the trek home

Love it down here. So much to see and do. Haven’t even wobbled over to Scarborough or Whitby yet or down to wetherby or was it Beverley.
Most places are 45 minutes tops.

Anyway what I’m trying to say is, there’s a good quality of life up here. Lots going on, beautiful scenery, nice friendly people. There’s a music festival in sleepy little Easingwold this coming weekend.
Last years was excellent

My home town is actually not too bad..it has its black spots like everywhere else , but it’s home. Houses are cheap. If you can find a job, you can have a good lifestyle.

I bet I know at least one of you irl!

We live in Sussex and one of our young ones has gone to study in Newcastle. He loves it and does not want to come back. People in Newcastle are just so much more friendly and helpful than in the South. Down here no one ever offers to do anything for you unless there is something in it for them whereas up North they often go out of their way. Crime? You will find it anywhere if you go to the less desirable parts

I’m in West Yorkshire and while there is crime like anywhere else I’ve never heard of a random attack on a stranger round here.cheap houses, great schools, nice villages, vibrant cities and lovely countryside close by - what’s not to like?
As for being friendlier up North I’m sure there must be friendly people down south ( although loudly announcing Good Morning when you get in the tube gets you odd looks) but round here if you find yourself in the proximity of another human for longer than about 30 seconds then you usually end up in a conversation

From West/North Yorkshire and now live in London.
The crime is much much much worse down here in my opinion. Never really saw a proper crime myself up north but in a year I've seen two assaults on my road alone.