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Original poster

Nice part of a “rough” town or “rough” part of a “nice” town?

38 replies

Elsiebear90 · 30/05/2020 19:53

I know rough and nice are subjective, but if you had a small budget and could either live in a nice part of a town which has a bad reputation overall or in a bad area of a town which has a good reputation which would you choose? We went for the former, as it was more important that we had nice neighbours than being able to say we live in a “good” town, but people I work with have said they would have chose the latter.

When I say a “rough” part, I am talking an area of town with a high crime rate, very deprived, anti social behaviour, poorly maintained flats and houses etc, high unemployment etc, but the town overall has a very good reputation as it is mostly very affluent with nice restaurants, bars, shops etc.

OP posts:
Takingontheworld · 30/05/2020 19:58

We bought in the council estate of a sought after cotswold town..

Definitely the rough bit of a nice town rather than the other way around for me.

imausernamenotanumber · 30/05/2020 20:00

I’d go for the grotty bit of a nice town. Chances are there will be more in the way of facilities/things to/cafes/restaurants - even if they’re not immediately on your door step. Also, if at some point in the future you can afford to trade up, you’re moving in the same town rather than relocating, iyswim?

BlessYourCottonSocks · 30/05/2020 20:00

I'd go for nice part of rough town, personally.

Not bothered about the town, or reputation, provided your bit is nice and so are your neighbours. A bad area of anywhere - nice town or not - is a bad area to be, generally.

Leobynature · 30/05/2020 20:02

Hmm I think it’s the same thing really

ChocoTrio · 30/05/2020 20:06

There is a saying: "buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood."

So may the worst in the best area? Better chance of local investment, amenities, schools etc.

LittleRa · 30/05/2020 20:08

I live in the “rougher” area of a nice town. I own my house but it’s ex-council, it’s a small end-terrace. Because it’s a nice town, there are nice restaurants, cafes, an independent cinema, parks and the beach all within walking distance. My DD goes to a nice school. In a “nice” area of a rough town, I could probably afford a bigger house, such as a new build in one of those new build estates designed to rejuvenate “rougher” towns. But there would be nothing in walking distance, boarded up shops on the high street and my DD would go to a less nice school (not necessarily a worse school, but a different kind of catchment).

ChocoTrio · 30/05/2020 20:12

@Takingontheworld and @LittleRa

Change of topic slightly, but since you mentioned ex-council I'll ask. I have heard (but have no personal experience) that ex-council houses are built to a very high standard. Has that been your experience too?

Lindylooboo · 30/05/2020 20:14

I was always told to have the worst house on the best street as opposed to the best house on the worst street. So for me it would be rough part of nice town for sure. In fact I have that now. And as the property value of the beautiful houses that surround mine go up, so does mine.

Selfsettling3 · 30/05/2020 20:15

Do you need to consider schools?

whiteroseredrose · 30/05/2020 20:22

Nice area first for me. I used to live near London but hardly ever went. All my socialising was local.

LittleRa · 30/05/2020 20:26

@ChocoTrio I’ve only lived here 18 months (I previously lived in nice area of nice town lol but when ex-h and I split and sold marital home I couldn’t afford nice area of nice town by myself), but haven’t had any problems so far. The lady who originally bought it as a right-to-buy sold it and then I bought it 6 months later after those brief owners had totally redone it- new kitchen, new bathroom, new boiler, new windows including new patio doors, new carpets etc. It also has a massive (of rough round the edges) garden.
On the street it’s a mix of owned, private rent and council tenants.

Original poster
Elsiebear90 · 30/05/2020 20:27

@selfsettling3

There are better schools in the nice towns, but they are very oversubscribed (I live in a major densely populated city), and are not close to the areas we could have afforded to buy in. Schools near those areas are not good. In the “rough town” there are many nurseries and primary schools rated good and a few outstanding close by. When I say “rough”, the town we live in has a reputation as being rough, but it’s largely a working class area, with pockets of dodgy estates, the high street isn’t nice and is being “regenerated”, lots of nice new build estates popping up as well, we live near a train station with a cross city train line, so we can get into the city centre in 15 mins on the train or drive 5/10 mins to some very nice nearby towns. The part of town we live in is very suburban and leafy, homes are all owned, people take good care of them, neighbours are lovely, I feel very safe here, it just doesn’t have a nice high street or a good reputation.

OP posts:
Bourbonbiccy · 30/05/2020 20:29

I would choose the nice part of a rough town.

I would not want rough around my home if I could opt not to.

I don't understand why you would choose to have high crime rate, very deprived, anti social behaviour, poorly maintained flats and houses etc, high unemployment surroundings where you actually live just for a postcode.

FloreanFortescue · 30/05/2020 20:35

Ooh tough one! I think I'd like to live in a nice part of a place... I'd hate to think of what the rough part of somewhere could mean Confused

Original poster
Elsiebear90 · 30/05/2020 20:40

@Bourbonbiccy this was my thinking, but my colleagues think I’m mad for choosing to live in (insert “rough town”) when I could live in (insert “nice town”) even if it’s a bad part. I feel like this is mostly about postcode bragging rights though tbh and wondering if others felt the same or if I made the “wrong” choice.

OP posts:
skankingpiglet · 30/05/2020 20:54

It depends on exactly where you are talking about.
We live in a rough-ish street (although love our house and it's very solidly built) in an ok village on the edge of a rough town which itself neighbours an even rougher town. However, it's in the next band outside London from some nicer towns, and every year more and more people get priced out of that closer band and move here. They spend a lot doing up their houses and the area improves. It is on the up and we made the right decision. We could never have afforded the space and views where we lived before (we rented in the closer to London towns before). We've been lucky as we made the move out before a lot of others 10yrs ago, but we've seen a fair increase in the house value in that time: bought for £220k, spent £60k extending, currently worth £400-440k. The primary schools here are good, and I'm hopeful the secondaries will catch up in the coming few years or we will be moving to a shoebox back where we came from! Other infrastructure seems to be receiving a lot more investment too in recent years.

notheragain4 · 30/05/2020 21:25

We are moving to a nice part of an unpopular town that gets a bashing on mumsnet, although largely historical ignorance. We very nearly bought a house half the size in a very much loved town on mumsnet (not because of mumsnet I hasten to add!) but I quickly realised it was ridiculous. The schools were actually better in the former (as the wealthy send theirs to the private schools in the nice town), we went from a 3 bed, 1 bath, street parking house to a 4 bed, 2 reception, double garage on a beautiful estate. Both an hour from London. Granted it would be a sounder investment in the popular town, we won't be moving for years, decades hopefully, so I'm not thinking about investment.

It's easy to get caught up with hysterical snobbery around locations, but so long as it feels safe, schools are good and there are good amenities I would be practical about it. We have lived all over the country from rural to London, less desirable to naice, we have made every location work for us because that's what you do, and after 8 weeks in lockdown, house beats postcode for me.

Rollercoaster1920 · 30/05/2020 22:09

After lockdown I'm regretting a rough area of a good town. Anti-social behaviour is so annoying and stressful. The sound of scooters (little motorbikes), teenagers shouting, swearing, loud music, litter. The trouble is that it only takes a couple of arseholes to ruin an area.

Talia99 · 30/05/2020 22:20

My last house was nice area of a rough town and it took 18 months and multiple price drops to sell - no one who could afford the house wanted to live there.

I now live in a small flat in a nice area of a nice town. I’m currently considering moving to somewhere not so nice in order to afford a house with more space and a garden. I will never go quite so notoriously rough as the first house again (think TV documentaries about drug addiction and deprivation) but not quite as nice as where I am is fine in exchange for space.

SailingAwayIntoSunrise · 31/05/2020 04:07

We bought in the nice part of a rough area of London.

There were lots of families like us that started to move in about 4 years later.

When we sold 7.5 years later, the area had changed massively and we sold for 70% more than we paid.

Almost everyone we told where we were buying told us not to 🤷

leckford · 31/05/2020 06:59

Probably to go with the nicest place you can find in the nicest town. The coming recession will make all the problems in the rough areas worse, especially burglary, car theft etc

SnuggyBuggy · 31/05/2020 07:13

Ultimately I'd base it on what schools you are likely to get. I do agree that you need to feel safe where you live. There was a whole area we discounted because it only had 2 poor choices of secondary school.

Anecdotally some of the worst places I've lived near were rough parts of naice areas. If the overall area is run down then maybe the differences seem less stark?

KellyHall · 31/05/2020 07:18

The town I live in is a patchwork of nice and rough areas. We bought in a nice-ish area that's surrounded by a mixture of some very nice and some pretty deprived areas. We've got it all, it's a very interesting place!

Dinosauraddict · 31/05/2020 07:25

General property advice - worst house in the best area is preferable, unless it's your forever home, then it's wherever you would be happiest!

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 31/05/2020 07:27

I'm in a town which crops up on here as being a dive.

But I'm in a nice area and really happy.

Used to live in a nice city. I certainly wouldn't live in a rough part of that city over where I live now.