Does anyone know about living in Westhoughton, Bolton?

[Ifonlyiweretaller]

My son's looking to move out of his flat in Manchester and wants somewhere with more of a community feel. He's looked in a few areas but feels that Westhoughton offers quite good value for money, and is not a difficult commute to get to his work in Manchester.
Anyone any knowledge of the area please?

@GothicMansionOnARainyNight what's wrong with the Horwich secondary out of interest? Is that the school towards Rivington?

I wouldn't. I agree bury is a better option

I lived in Westhoughton from 1999 to 2004.
I moved to a new housing estate which was off of Metal Box Way and the A6. There was still a Metal Box Factory there with a chimney.
At that time, the town was quiet and sleepy and I have extremely fond memories of being there. I had wonderful neighbors and friends, my children thrived in their schools in the town. It was difficult to return to the United States after having such a positive experience there.
In fact, I have a photograph in my living room right now, in my house in the US, of the view of Winter Hill from my back garden.

Fast forward to 2015:

We visited Westhoughton excitedly but were taken aback at how completely different it was by then.
It was no longer a sparsely populated town but so many houses being built up and loads of traffic.
I was saddened to see that so much of the High Street no longer had the small independent shops but more than enough charity shops and take-aways and seemed a bit run-down. So many of our neighbors and friends have moved away.

I took my daughter to visit Bolton, where she was born, and I was severely disappointed. I used to love shopping in Bolton and enjoying my time at the markets but it now seemed so run-down as well.
I felt as though I should have never visited and left Bolton and Westhoughton back in my memory.

If I were your son, OP, I would look at places like Bury or Heaton. It's definitely much more happening there.