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

I'm from Berkshire and DP is from Newcastle. I love NCL but by god winter is cold there. Factor in the wind that seems to come off the Tyne and you feel it with an extra chill.

We moved from SE to near Sheffield a year ago, so I'd probably vote Leeds for the weather.

Glasgow, a million times Glasgow.

I like Leeds but I get to the end of it fairly fast. And I've always found Newcastle friendly and fun but somewhat monocultural. It also feels a long way from anywhere else.

If you are hoping for easy access to nature - I live in Glasgow city and its sincerely a 45 minute drive to the trossach mountains and hills. 20 minutes to a large country park.

@banhmi I was going to echo what a pp said, about half an hour and you can be at Loch Lomond and beyond which you would never tire of exploring! Glasgow does have decent transport links to Edinburgh so would be easy to visit there. Many people here say Edinburgh isn't "proper Scotland" as it is very touristy, although I personally love visiting as there's so many brilliant (free) museums, shops and restaurants too and it's only half an hour on the train from where I live so most convenient.

I do also love the Northumberland area, having been on a few holidays there and have friends who live in various different areas of it, I would definitely place that second choice due to access to outdoor space/beaches.

I have no experience of Glasgow but having lived in Newcastle and familiar with Leeds I'd be confident both would suit your needs. I moved further out in a durham county town, still close to the cities (Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Leeds are close enough to get to) and within 10-30 minutes of countryside and coast too.

Newcastle is close to Northumberland, gorgeous countryside and coasts and not too far from Durham too. At your budget you could get a lovely house in a nice area too (ponteland/darras hall are lovely and the local school is good too), you've also got the villages and smaller local areas with good links to the city and good schools as well as close communities, Ovingham and Wylam for example. But there are lots more places you could look, gosforth is popular.

Leeds again has some gorgeous areas surrounding it, the villages have trains that go to the city centre if you want to be a bit further out- and I find the community feel is better than in the city without loosing transport links for the teens getting about on their own.

I know both Glasgow and Newcastle well, and either would easily fulfil your criteria.

That said, re. those suggesting East Dunbartonshire (and possibly East Ren too) to someone not looking for somewhere flashy or status driven…… OP don’t do it to yourselves, we moved out of the area in part because it the most pretentious, wealth and status-oriented places I have ever lived - and that includes several affluent parts of both central Edinburgh and Glasgow. I’ve never known anything like it. Utterly bizarre.

OP, I would look at Glasgow Southside, in particular around Queens Park (‘The Avenues’ and surrounds) and bits of Pollokshields and Newlands. I would also look around the West End - Dowanhill, Hyndland and surrounds, though budget may not stretch as far as you would like. Don’t bother with Jordanhill for the schools aspect, as you will most likely not get a place for older children, but there is lots of nice property and it’s not far from the West End.

Be aware when looking at house prices around Glasgow - the ‘offers over’ and home report values will in most cases be well below what you need to pay. It’s been a few years since we’ve looked now but it was fairly normal to expect to pay 10% over HR or even more in the popular areas. I assume it’s still the same now.

Thanks so so much for all the input - so much to consider - but great that people broadly agree these cities would all fit the bill!

I know Glasgow the best out of the three cities and have really fallen for it, but it is the furthest from friends and family in London and PPs are right in that we really haven't any idea what the impact of independence would be. I agree with the PP who said it sounds like the Southside and West End would suit us better than the suburbs. Are there any particularly good schools (especially secondary) we should know about?

I know the Northumberland coast very well and agree it's absolutely gorgeous but haven't spent that much time in Newcastle. Will definitely check out Whitley Bay and Tynemouth. I've heard that Jesmond is very studenty with lots of HMOs? Nothing against the odd student house as part of a mixed area but wouldn't want to live somewhere dominated by them.

Know Leeds the least well but have heard good things about it and love the countryside around it, so going to visit soon. Slightly put off by it not having a metro/subway compared to Glasgow and Newcastle - do buses make up for this? Any stand-out schools?

The particularly good schools in Glasgow are in the suburbs though.

Bearsden/Milngavie - Douglas Academy, Bearsden Academy, Boclair Academy. (and all associated primary schools)

East Ren - St Ninian's, Mearns Castle, Williamwood.

Stop thinking about "suburbs" from a London perspective too. From where I am, firmly in suburb-land, it's 10-15 minutes in the car into to the West End and Byres Road. I could walk it in an hour, train to Partick takes less than 10 minutes. It's not like London with huge distances, complex journeys changing tube lines.

I also don't recognise anything the previous poster said about East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire being "flashy and status driven". Yes you get the odd footballer with their Ferrari, and the odd mum at school with the botox, fillers, designer handbag, designer clothing, wee dog in a handbag look. But most people aren't like that at all.

West End is nice too but I think it's an age thing. When I was in my 20s I could not have thought of anything worse than living in boring, suburban Bearsden with boring, suburban people. But when you have kids things change, you get fed up with the students in the next flat having parties, fed up with the struggle to find a parking space, and start looking at schools and realise that actually, suburbia has its benefits.

I've heard that Jesmond is very studenty with lots of HMOs? Nothing against the odd student house as part of a mixed area but wouldn't want to live somewhere dominated by them.
I would avoid for that reason! I have friends who live in a beautiful house in Jesmond but they have no end of issues with the students (so bad they've had to get the uni involved).

I've heard that Jesmond is very studenty with lots of HMOs? Nothing against the odd student house as part of a mixed area but wouldn't want to live somewhere dominated by them.

Yes it's very studenty. Nice to visit for a meal or drinks. There are other places near by that would suit a family better.
If you can I'd recommend visiting Newcastle as you're not as familiar with it (or any of the other places) and looking at some of the areas you'd consider. You'd likely see them differently when looking at somewhere you'd be moving than when you were there for a holiday and it might help you decide.

Glasgow for the chance of free university if your children might want to go that route.

@MarshmallowFondant Hmmm, fair enough, great to get a different perspective - thank you. Good point about what as a Londoner I consider a suburb. Being able to get both into the centre and out to countryside so easily is what makes a move to any of these cities so appealing compared to London. I think you're right that as I age I can definitely see the benefits of the suburbs, particularly when we're bursting at the seams where we are. But my DH was brought up in a affluent suburban part of the Midlands and has quite a visceral negative reaction to anything that feels similar that doesn't seem to be changing as he ages!

I would also advise anyone thinking about making a big move like this to visit the city and "live like a local". Not doing the touristy stuff in the centre, but going to the areas where you're thinking of buying property, walking the streets, wandering past the local schools, the park, the leisure centre... On a normal weekday afternoon. Will give you a much better feel for the place.

And think about renting for 3-6 months rather than jumping straight to a purchase.

@MarshmallowFondant Absolutely - we've been doing a bit of this in various cities to narrow down to these three, and need to do more to narrow down again further. Hard with kids, jobs and being so far south though!

And yes we'd almost certainly rent for a period first - keen to get the area right first time if possible though so we're not uprooting the kids from school more times than completely necessary.

@banhmi I moved to Glasgow about 10 years ago, live in a suburb just outside it now and we are very happy. I'd say it ticks the boxes.

For your budget you'd get a house in the catchment of an excellent state school. For context 2 years ago we bought a 4 bed plus study plus enormous garden, parking, garage, about 20 min walk from a train line (20min to city centre) for just over half your budget. We are also near countryside and spend a lot of time in local country parks and hillwalking. I visit Edinburgh a lot and it's only just over an hour away.

We are not from here but like it here and I am glad to be bringing up family here. We used to do a day or two a week working in London, it was very easy- I'd usually fly down to LCY and I managed to get it 3hrs door to door (using priority access and parking at the GLA end!)

I know Leeds a bit and like it but not enough to comment.

I think for any of these cities you need to come and visit, stay a while and explore the "non visitor" stuff

I grew up in Glasgow then moved to Leeds when I was 20. Although I still have family in Glasgow (and the west coast) I wouldn't move back there now.

Leeds is great from a location perspective and has great transport links. I used to commute to London and Edinburgh occasionally in my job and it was so easy by train.

The weather in Leeds is much better than in either Glasgow or Newcastle. Definitely a LOT drier than Glasgow, and warmer than both.

My teens are very independent in Leeds - they catch trains or buses into the city regularly for the usual shopping, eating, going to gigs etc. With all the universities in Leeds there's always loads on. They also travel independently to Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester regularly (again, easy train links).

We certainly travel around a lot enjoying Yorkshire - weekends in the North Yorkshire moors and coast nowadays, but pre-covid we'd get cheap flights from Leeds Bradford airport (10 mins from our house) to Amsterdam or Germany.

When I first moved to Leeds I couldn't even point to it on a map. Now I've been here for 23 years and can't imagine living anywhere else!

I'm a southerner who moved to Leeds 10 years ago. I absolutely love it. It's a great place to live for so many reasons:

1. it's a warm, friendly vibrant city. There's loads going on all the time. People chat to you in the street. It just has a really good vibe to it. A buzz.
2. it's the second most diverse city in the UK after London.
3. it's close to the most beautiful countryside - the Yorkshire Dales and Moors are on your doorstep. It's quick and easy to get to the Peak District, the Lake District, the Pennines.
4. it's close to so many lovely towns and cities - York, Harrogate, Ilkley are all 35 mins from my house. Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield are just over an hour away. You never run out of places to go.
5. it's not that cold! All my southerner friends assume it's like the Arctic up here but whenever I compare the temperatures of Leeds and down south, they're pretty similar!! We do tend to have a few more snowy days in the winter (which is nice) but generally because it's inland and really not that far north (look on a map) the temperatures don't differ greatly. I think you'd notice more of a difference if you went to Newcastle or Scotland.

The ONLY bad thing is the distance from the sea. Its about 1 hour 30 minutes whether you go to the east coast or the west. We do still have plenty of day trips to the coast when the weather's good and all our holidays are by the sea so we get our fix.

I'd happily live here for the rest of my life.

@SingingSands Thank you, great to hear more about Leeds! Can I ask which areas you'd recommend we look at? On my list to explore are Roundhay, Chapel Allerton and Headingley...

Hi OP I'm born and raised in Glasgow and live in East Renfrewshire which has some of the best state secondary schools in the country. We're planning to move house this year so keeping a close eye on house prices, you can get an amazing amount for your budget for sure, considering our budget is just over 300k and for that we can get a 3 beds semi detached. Good transport links in many parts of this area

I grew up in Leeds and now live in Glasgow. I don't think the weather is any worse in Glasgow and there's not much difference in daylight. Leeds has quite poor public transport (just buses) but good rail links.

The scenery around Leeds and Glasgow is better than Newcastle, imho. Unless you like beaches.

The public transport in Leeds is a bit pants OP, I’m not going to lie, the council have never got their act together and it is a source of frustration here.

Also agree that the distance to the coast is a shame, although you can get to the North Yorks coast up the A1 in 1hr20 on a good day. Beautiful countryside in virtually all directions.

Culturally not great for museums or galleries but otherwise great, as I mentioned earlier. The uni populations add to the vibrancy, as someone said.

Schools: the best ranked schools (for results that is, I can’t comment on how ‘rounded’ they are) are Abbey Grange (C of E), Roundhay, Horsforth, Allerton High (all in N Leeds), Garforth Academy (E. Leeds), Morley High (S Leeds). There might be more others can add. In general, the most ‘genteel’ places in Leeds are in the north and house prices reflect that but there are great places to live all over. There are a couple of outlying villages (eg Scarcroft) which will feel very status driven etc but most places within Leeds city are mixed in terms of housing and demographics. An exception to this would be Alwoodley which is all quite well-to-do from what I know of it. There are areas which are quite run down but with the kind of property you’re looking to buy, they won’t even come up in your searches.

Agree with PPs that Leeds is an excellent place to have teens, it’s all here for them.

Also to say, I bloody love Leeds. I’ve been here 20 years too and would never live anywhere else ☺️

Chapel A is lovely, like all of Leeds it has posher and less posh bits, it edges onto Harehills which is much less affluent. South Headingley is very studenty, North Headingley/Weetwood are lovely areas with fab communities. The local high schools there divide opinion so it depends what you’re looking for.

My DD went to uni in Glasgow and loved it. She then moved to London to work. She and her DP have just moved to Leeds (where he comes from) and she loves it. She says it has the same vibe as Glasgow. I think either of these places would fit your brief. I can't comment on Newcastle though as I know nothing about it. .

Also as first time buyers DD and her DP managed to buy a 4 storey, 4 bedroom Victorian townhouse in Harehills. I know this area sometimes gets bad press but they have parks close-by and it is a short walk up to Roundhay and Chapel Allerton. I really like where they are.