Manchester - diverse, safe areas

[Peanutbuttermouth]

I know Manchester has been done before on here but I'm looking for a diverse area to bring my kids up in. We live in a very homogeneous town at the moment and will be moving to Manchester in the next year. Can I please have opinions on the nicest, safest, most affordable areas? Need a 3 bed house on budget of 220k max.

Your budget won’t go far in the areas that will get suggested here very shortly, ie Didsbury, Chorlton etc. Manchester is very expensive compared to most of the north. How near town do you need to be? What amenities do you need?

Prestwich is nice and near Heaton Park.
You might find something ex council pop up in Withington.
Monton/South Swinton are nice but some of the transport links are naff.
Denton is alright and you’ll get a bit for your money round there. Everyone I know who lives there LOVES it.

Further out I like the villages round Saddleworth.

I know Manchester like the back of my hand, and the only place i would really really avoid is Moston/Harpurhey.

Also Levenshulme gets a lot of love on here but I don’t really like it... i think transport links are a bit shit... it is very diverse though.

I think Moss aside is actually really on the up... it’s near town really good bus links to there, near Platt Fields park and has Alexandra Park too. Has a bad rep I really don’t think it deserves anymore.

I’d avoid Rusholme and Fallowfield as well just due to the huge student population making them prime targets for breakins

Diversity, safety, friendliness and schools are what I'm looking for. I keep hearing about Moss Side, Hulme and Ardwick but can't seem to find much for sale there. Ideally we'd be as central as possible.

I agree it depends on where you need to be for work etc. I mainly know south Manchester and Swinton/worsley/monton areas.

Chorlton/ east and west didsbury nice but expensive. Some bits of Stretford is quite nice and more affordable.

I think Monton is definitely up and coming, but as said above transport/ driving links not as good as other places.

Of those three areas Moss Side all day.
Hulme is studenty. Ardwick still has a lot of council//HA property so there wine be much for sale.

Got a nice variety of housing in Moss Side too from the new stuff where the old Maine Road ground used to be www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52989249.html
To the old terraces
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-89060240.html

Most people I know with anything negative to say about Moss Side haven’t lived there for 20 years I’ve found... I’ve lived on moss side/whalley range border for 3 years now, never had a moments bother. Could afford chorlton but decided to stay here.

I was going to suggest Hulme, not much on Rightmove at the moment though. Whalley Range, is that in your budget? Both close to town centre and good bus links.

Sale
Urmston
Walkden
Hulme
Prestwich

Didsbury is so expensive!

@lastqueenofscotland good to hear you like it where you are, how diverse is it? I've had enough of being the only non white family in our area! And how safe? Do kids play out?

There is a huge Caribbean/Sudanese/Asian community there.

Kids playing out depends on the street, but Alex Park and moss side community park both have good playgrounds

I live on a small street but to give you some idea my immediate neighbours are from the Middle East, most of the street are Pakistani, and there are also a family from Laos and a black British family. Everyone rubs along lovely and helps everyone out.

I’m shocked at people suggesting moss side and Hulme - those places have a reputation for a reason! If you really want diversity OP then yes maybe you’ll like it but “schools, safety, kids playing out” I’m not so sure!

Whalley range, Chorlton, withington, Stretford, Urmston etc would be better for schools. In chorlton, stretford, urmston (ie Trafford area) you would also be in catchment for grammar schools.

I love that terrace @lastqueenofscotland but is parking an issue?

Parking outside isn’t guaranteed but you should be able to get on the street.

Of the areas the other poster mentioned Whalley Range is lovely but increasingly pricey, chorlton will also be out of budget (and not remotely diverse... young white people with beards), Urmston is rubbish for links to town.
Withington is nice but research the street to the nth degree. It’s so popular with students which = break ins and antisocial behaviour.
Stretford is ok and nearish Sale which is “naice”.

Saddleworth is lovely have you considered Shaw/Crompton too?

Monton / Worsley are not particularly diverse areas - overly middle class suburbs IMO. Same goes for Swinton / Walkden / Boothstown / Astley - very little diversity around these parts.

This might gove you some ideas hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/code/briefings/localdynamicsofdiversity/geographies-of-diversity-in-manchester.pdf

This is all good info, thank you! NB we are not a particularly "naice" family 😂

Saddleworth isn't diverse at all, it's VERY white middle class.

That was really useful @twobluefish, another point scored for Moss Side!

The places Stubble has listed are not all middle class at all - they vary. Salford, which most of them are part of, is something like 97% white though.

I think Didsbury is as close to the centre as I'd go. Anything more central is pretty rough and not somewhere I'd want to raise my children, sorry. I know a GP who works in Longsight and says it's a very community based place. I wouldn't live there or any of the other inner city places but yes, they are diverse if that's what's important to you. I nannied for a family Fallowfield many moons ago and that was quite nice but I can't say there was a community feel at all. Denton is pretty rough but has nicer parts and much cheaper than places further out.
I don't know about the north side of the city so can't say. The south side isn't particularly diverse. Where I live the last census had the non-white British population recorded as something like 0.4% but it has become slightly more diverse since then. It will be interesting to see the results of the next census.
Where are you moving from?

Urmston is rubbish for links to town

Apart from the train station directly into town, several bus links and the tram link due to open shortly. Plus all the roads and motorway that is.

Rough in what sense @bercowsflamingoflownthenest? Be honest because I need to know the reality before making any decisions! I'm looking for a diverse community feel (we are not white british) and somewhere my kids can safely play out and walk to school, which is what we have now, so I'd hate to give that up to then have to keep my kids in.

The suggestion of Shaw or Crompton as diverse made me laugh. They are definitely not.

Rough as in looking scruffy, graffiti, litter, higher crime rates, I think there's a website where you can look up areas in terms of demographics and crime rates etc.