Leeds, Newcastle or Glasgow?

[banhmi]

I’m planning on moving north from London within the next 12-18 months, with DH and two kids (6 and 4). We’ve narrowed it down to Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow based on the following wish-list:

• Lots going on, lots of buzz, culture, foodie scene, children’s activities etc but easy access to beautiful countryside.
• Lovely parks and other green spaces within the city itself.
• Good public transport, as well as easy/pleasant to walk and cycle. Wouldn’t want to use the car regularly unless it was for getting out of the city, ideally. I love my e-bike which gets me around my area of London much quicker than the car.
• Multi-cultural, diverse – I know definitions of these are subjective but basically somewhere that’s not tooo much of a shock to the system compared to London.
• Good primary and secondary schools (state), not a grammar/selective area or one where a high proportion go private. Not too results-obsessed if possible, with a broad curriculum and lots of opportunities for sport, drama, art etc. Know we’d have to figure out a different school system if we moved to Glasgow (whole other thread no doubt).
• Friendly, somewhere we could put down roots and get involved in the community through the school, volunteering etc.
• Somewhere with enough going on for teens, where they can get around by themselves safely and be as independent as possible.

Would love to know if people that live in these cities think that rings true and if so, which specific areas/neighbourhoods you’d recommend?

We’re fortunate with crazy London prices to have a very good budget for a house, up to £950k although we’d happily spend less. But we’d be looking for 4 bedrooms and separate office space as we both work from home and would want space for family & friends to visit. Would love a nice garden (but doesn’t have to be massive) and storage space for the bikes and other outdoor gear we’d inevitably accumulate. I imagine our budget could get us a house in some reasonably expensive areas but we wouldn’t suit anywhere flashy or too status-driven as we’re very non-flashy, boring people

One city has the edge over the others work-wise, but luckily that doesn’t have to be the deciding factor so I’m going to ignore it for the sake of this question!

Thanks so much for any insights that will help us decide where to focus, and hope my wish-list doesn’t sound too ridiculous

Commenting on Glasgow
Ticks all the boxes and then some. Have you factored in the atrocious weather and length of days in winter?
Scotland is different to England. I am from the North of England and have lived here for 40 years.

Of those three Leeds has the warmest weather!

Imagine all would be good places to live for teens

I don’t know Glasgow but I used to live near Newcastle and absolutely loved it and I now live near Leeds, which I also like - although we tend to spend more leisure time in Manchester.
I think both Leeds and Newcastle have areas that would fit your criteria and your budget will get you a lot (not so much in parts of North Leeds). I would recommend you look at Ilkley and Harrogate too. They might not be as multicultural as the other places but despite what some Londoners think we no longer point and stare at BAME people up here.

City in preference Glasgow Newcastle, Leeds...
However if you'll have to go to/from London or have lots of guests from there then probably reverse... train times and prices being the main driver as faster/cheaper to Leeds...if its only likely to be annual then not so much of a concern..

East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire would tick your school boxes. With your budget you should be fine with the house prices in the best catchments.

Very easy access to countryside - Campsie Fells are within 8 miles, under 2 hours to the Scottish ski resorts...

Train links into Glasgow and north to the Highlands - good for linear walks if that's your kind of thing..

You are talking long-term: putting down roots, teenage years, etc. Have you considered the implications of what would happen if the SNP eventually get their way?

I moved up to Scotland from England 11 years ago for university and have stayed here as I loved it. I live about half an hour outside of Edinburgh but travel to Glasgow often for the culture, restaurants and links to the stunning west coast. I lived in a big city in England and I feel like Scotland is the perfect mix of city/culture/buzz and opportunities to explore scenery and feel like you can escape this and travel out into the middle of nowhere! There are good travel links between Glasgow and surrounding areas.
Glasgow/west coast is more rainy than the east coast but Scotland really isn't the stereotype that everyone thinks it is in that it rains all the time!

We moved from Shropshire to Glasgow. The weather certainly has its moments but would echo the day length thing. You get fantastic light evenings in summer (to the point it's a pain getting the kids to bed and blackout blinds are essential) but in December it's dark by 4. I haven't found the weather much worse than it was in Shropshire, but East Coast (Newcastle/Leeds) would definitely be less wet!

I live in Newcastle and it definitely ticks all the boxes.
You have a great budget for this city. I'd suggest Gosforth or Jesmond if you want to be in the city. Or the coast is great, has a great community feel and again you have a healthy budget for Tynemouth or Whitley Bay. 20 minute to half an hour metro ride to city centre.

@17to35 Thanks - yes, we've definitely thought about the short winter days and the weather, and that Glasgow would be likely to be considerably rainier than Newcastle too. Neither of us are big fans of the heat so we are actually looking forward to cooler summers compared to London! But suspect that the dark, cold wet winters would still take some getting used to

Would you recommend any particular areas of Glasgow?

Newcastle.

Leeds ticks many of your boxes, but I'd say Newcastle has a better public transport system, with the metro covering much of the built up area.

Both have access to lovely countryside, but also the city buzz that you're looking for.
I've never been to Glasgow so cannot comment on there.

Good luck OP!

Look at Bearsden and Milgnavie (said "Mulguy") in East Dunbartonshire. Possibly Jordanhill (think it's in Glasgow itself) but check the school admission rules - it's a state school but odd admissions.

I don't know East Renfrewshire enough to suggest areas - we were tied to north of the river by DH's work

@senua Yes - we're definitely thinking long-term. We've considered the question of independence, but because we really don't know what the implications would be for us, I haven't let it rule out Glasgow at this stage. Particularly because when we've visited it we've LOVED it, and we've got family links to the West Coast (although not close ones). What do you think the implications would be??

The Scottish extra 1p income tax depends on where you live and not where the job is located, so Glasgow will probably cost you more tax.

Northumberland: every. single. time.

Any reason you've eliminated Edinburgh? Housing is expensive but with your budget you'd get a nice house in a good area.
Of the 3 I would vote for Newcastle purely because of ease of access to the coast. Maybe Whitley Bay / Cullercoats / Tynemouth area. Half an hour up the road to Northumberland, Metro into Newcastle city centre, good cycle paths along the coast, on the main east coast train line.....
Glasgow is a bit more "gritty urban" IMO, nice areas and not so nice areas merge into each other far more than any other city i've been to.

@SomeEnchantedEvening18 Ahh, this is music to my ears, sounds amazing and exactly what we're looking for That ability to escape the city easily for stunning scenery and nature is what we really miss in London. We're zone 2-3 which is brilliant for all London has to offer but it takes so long to get out.

@senua

The Scottish extra 1p income tax depends on where you live and not where the job is located, so Glasgow will probably cost you more tax.

This is a good point, it costs me a grand a year more to live in Scotland and no amount of free prescriptions and eye tests is making up for that! Although it could save you money on uni fees in the long run. I'd also consider what might happen if Scotland eventually get independence.

Well obviously biased but come to Glasgow!

We moved up from southern England almost 15 years ago. DH is English, I'm Scottish. Our suburb has excellent state schools, the local secondary has been voted Scottish state school of the year twice recently. The other local secondary is great too. Increasing diversity as people who work in the hospitals/universities move here. 20 minutes into the city centre on the train. 25 minutes in opposite direction and you're at Loch Lomond.

Your budget is going to get you a lovely house along the lines of

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/118745114#/?channel=RES_BUY

or www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113409182#/?channel=RES_BUY

We are very happy here and definitely made the right location choice for us when we moved. I would have as my second choice somewhere north of Newcastle, the Northumberland coast is beautiful, somewhere around Alnwick where you have good links into the city would be a great choice too.

Glasgow is awesome (biased, I live here) and ticks all the boxes except the good for cycling within the city. It has limited cycleways and lots of the big roads are a bit scary to cycle on. But lots of green space as you said and plenty canals, river paths etc.

Within the city the west end and southside are both great areas, southside is more diverse. Stepping one step out is east dun and east Renfrewshire. Both a bit swanky and less diverse but nice with great transport into the city.

glasgow, the west end

@emmathedilemma We haven't actually eliminated Edinburgh, it's definitely on the list but not in the top three - probably a combination of the cost of housing (I read that houses are going for 20-40% over their listed price?) and the fact that when we've visited it's almost felt too nice - a bit too stately and serene?! I think we're used to some urban grit But I loved Portobello!

Oh missed your point about teens... I have three of those.

Both the good state schools in this area have LOADS going on. Duke of Edinburgh, sports etc. My 13 year old yesterday stayed after school as he's in the schools' Industrial Cadets team and they are working on some sort of engineering project. My daughter who is 16 volunteers at Rainbows, goes to a drama class in town and has singing lessons locally. The direct train into town means that groups of teens often head into the city at weekends and it's safe enough, as with any larger city.

For younger children there is everything you could imagine in terms of clubs and societies and after-school stuff too, in normal, non-covid times.

Yes there are differences between the Scottish and English systems but schools are used to children arriving from all over the world and accommodating them. DD's best friend moved up from England in the summer between primary and secondary and adjusted just fine.

Look at Bearsden and Milngavie.

Leeds has everything you would be looking for as mentioned except it’s a little hilly in some places and therefore harder to cycle than for example York but lots of cycle lanes exist or are being added. Decent weather, not too wet like further west. You’d get a lovely property for that kind of money. No grammar school system and there are private schools but not heaps and not an over-reliance on them. There’s a great and developing cultural scene, music, theatre, opera, dance, loads of sports to watch and do.

I must disagree with a PP, if you’re looking for multicultural, I would avoid Ilkley and Harrogate, both lovely places which I love to visit but not multicultural at all.