Horsforth (and maybe surround areas?) anywhere to avoid?

[KTD27]

Hi all
Life has turned upside down a bit for us and we are looking at doing a VERY quick relocation to the north from London. Closer to my family and hopefully some job prospects for me and DH. Horsforth is coming up over and over as a nice place for us to move to - we have two D.C. one will be starting school in September and one is 2 in summer.
Is there anywhere in particular to avoid in Horsforth or the surrounding areas? Any black spots in terms of school catchment areas? We will probably need to rent first but ideally would like DS to start very close to the beginning of his reception year if there are any spaces at all once we have an address. Sigh. Don’t suppose you know if all schools are oversubscribed?
Stressing much?!!
Any help or advice would be appreciated!

I wouldn't move to Horsforth. It is impossible to separate the identify from the wider urban sprawl of Leeds and expensive for what it is.

North leeds is better, adel has been suggested but you still have the problem of getting through Leeds to the motorways.

Thank you @MarieG10. Definitely going to look at meanwood and weetwood

Hi OP, I work in Horsforth and live nearby in a cheap place

Few things I'd say are that 1) commuting to Leeds is rough. Trains are very unreliable/overloaded by the time they get to Horsforth. Buses are unreliable and can take anything from 20 mins (at night) to over an hour (mornings/early evenings). There is bugger all parking at Kirkstall Forge station so unless you can walk there I wouldnt use it. Driving and parking us a pain, but that's what I'd do and have done before.
2) Horsforth High only accepts pupils from LS18 now, so if you do go for Horsforth, check you are actually in Horsforth, and not Cookridge etc.
3) I think all the primary and infant schools in Horsforth are good or excellent. Never hear anyone say otherwise
4) Outside of bust times Leeds City Centre feels very close, so theatres and gigs etc are all within easy reach!
Getting to other parts of Leeds such as Roundhay, Chapel allerton etc can be difficult on buses too, so I use taxis and drive places mostly.

All that said, I do love it and Horsforth is very much a community minded place imho. People are generally friendly and it is not a bad place for a Southerner up north 😉

Hahah well dh will be fine then. I’m northern born and bred so I’m alright with any of it. Can’t believe my children will have the accent!

Headingley is a lovely area, great links to the city centre and it has a good high street. Meanwood has been up and coming for about 10 years now (since Waitrose!), it is nicer than it was but the traffic has got worse and there are still some really dodgy bits. Never had a problem with crime in Headingley, Meanwood had a lot of car crime and antisocial behaviour when we were there.

Weetwood and West Park are lovely, some really beautiful houses and not far from shops/the city centre.

@bestegg yes west Park has got the thumbs up from my Uber trendy brother who is still up north. I’ll defo go there and mooch around when we go up next week

Someone said Chapel A won't give you access to good schools. We live Chapel A and both our daughters have gone to Roundhay. Many of DDs friends in her classes live in CA. It depends where in Chapel A. The 6 th form at Roundhay also very popular.

That’s good news @minesagin37 I’m defo familiar with CA and know I like it.
I think the best and most useful thing out of this thread for me is that actually there are some really lovely areas of Leeds I hadn’t known about so I’m so so thankful to everyone thats helped! Just the small matter of actually selling our house (fingers crossed) and getting into a school
It will all be fine I am sure

You may know this but Headingley, Meanwood, Weetwood and West Park are all the same area. They all run on from each other. You can't go wrong with that area in my opinion. It has so much going for it. Meanwood is a little more run down than the other neighbourhoods but this would mean cheaper houses. It's still a nice area.

Good luck with the move. I'm sure you will settle in in no time as will your children.

Thank you everyone. Might see you out and about in the future months

Please update us when you've decided!

Yes do! We can all meet for coffee! Good luck!

Our house has sold! Looks like we will be up north in a matter of weeks eeek!! We will travel up again next week to find a rental property and crossing our fingers it all goes through ok and we can sort out schools for the D.C.

Fantastic news! Thrilled for you!