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 do think youre onto something with these areas OP - someone else has said Glasgow and Leeds feel similar, I can say that Newcastle and Glasgow feel similar. So I bet any would be ace.

I live in North Leeds - I wouldn't buy in Headingley as its very studenty but just up the road is Far Headingley (still within walking distance to the Headingley shops) which is better for families. In the same area are Weetwood, West Park and Adel. These are all lovely family areas. A bit pricey because they're so desirable but lovely places to raise a family. There are 2 really big parks in these areas and some great schools and lots of nice restaurants and cafes. Very easy to get in to the city centre (buses go every 10 minutes) and a short drive up the Road to the Yorkshire Dales.

Probably not helpful but I like all of those cities. Newcastle is my favourite, I lived there as a student and live about half an hour away now in Durham. NE has been great for bringing up my kids, so many things to do in and around Newcastle, Durham and Northumberland.

[quote banhmi]@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?[/quote]
With your budget, you could get a great place in the west end of the city around the university. fantastic culture, schools, transport, and easy fast access to glories of the coast, islands, lochs, mountains, outdoor sports etc.

Or, you could try East Renfrewshire (easy commute to city).

In Scotland all state primary/2ndary schools are coeducational and all secondary state schools are co-ed and Comprehensive. No selection, and they all follow the same syllabus leading to same exam system.

another + for Glasgow; easy access to its international airport and global plane routes. Faster and cheaper than flights from any of the small-city UK airports

For someone who loves mountains Glasgow is an easy win on relative proximity to the Highlands in general and the Trossachs and Arrochar Alps in particular. Add in access to the Islands like Bute and Arran from the coast just south of Glasgow plus all the cultural benefits of a big city and it is the best part of the UK for me. Even the local hills- around 20 minutes drive- (where we spent a lot of time thanks to lockdown rules) are comparable to or better the hills we used to drive 40 minutes to walk on where we used to live!

Bearsden is generally affluent but I wouldn't say it was properly suburban - it feels like part of the city like say Kensington or Greenwich are in London. The county boundary is only really relevant for school catchments/council things like bin collection and access to the rubbish dump rather than being properly separate. Most parliamentary constituencies do not correspond to county boundaries...

@samsalmon Thank you very much for the detail re Leeds, so helpful!

@banhmi you’re very welcome. Enjoy your visits, I think all of these cities would be a great choice ☺️ Good luck!

@randomsabreuse Gosh you're selling Glasgow to me! We haven't done much 'proper' walking since we had kids, but the eldest can now manage a decent couple of hours (with bribery!) and so we're hopefully not that far off them both being able to manage a bit more. 20 minute drive from where we live and we'd still be in zone 3, stuck in traffic...!

Public transport in Leeds is definitely not as good as Glasgow (don't know Newcastle well enough to comment).

But Leeds is due to get a tram system - it was announced as a sweetener when the govt scaled back HS2 in November.

I grew up in Leeds and it was an absolutely fantastic place to be a teenager - loads going on in the city centre, great music scene (although this was back in the early noughties I'm sure it hasn't changed that much!) and we used to have a fun time getting into clubs pretending to be students (sure that is harder with more stringent ID checks these days!). It's got loads of nice green spaces and state schools are pretty good so there isn't a dominance of private schools. Your budget is huge so you can take your pick of where to live, north Leeds is generally seen as the "nicest" but don't go too far out of the centre (I.e. not miles and miles or to surrounding villages/towns as a PP inexplicably suggested as they are definitely not diverse!) as the public transport isn't amazing - especially coming from London. I used to cycle a bit as a teen and it was quite hairy but hopefully things are better by now! In terms of travel times back to London it is the best of the 3 obviously, the train is very easy and quick in particular. I live in Manchester now which I also love but won't say too much about as don't want to derail!

Newcastle vote here but I am a massive fan of the Northumberland countryside and the beaches local to there. A really cool city and loads going on.

Leeds has been ‘due to get a tram system’ for decades, and never has!

Which city has the most jobs? Assume Leeds.

Glasgow is great (really great) but the weather!

Leeds (work here but don't live here) also crap weather as it's always grey. Leeds has so much going for it, but I just don't love it.

I like Newcastle the best as it's near the coast and I like seaside!

[quote banhmi]@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...[/quote]
Of those I would choose Chapel Allerton

@MarshmallowFondant

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 tend to agree with most of this.

I live in Glasgow and bought my first home last year. Previously I rented in Partick in the West End, but I had to compromise because it was too expensive to buy there. I now live in Scotstoun which is close to Jordan hill and Partick. I'm also close to Victoria Park which I love. There are several schools and a large leisure centre locally.

I agree with PP about Milngavie and Bearsden. I have relatives in both places and they are nice places to raise a family. You have an excellent budget so you will have lots of choices imo.

House prices have rocketed in North Leeds recently so although you have a very healthy budget, it won’t go as far as I expected! Bramhope is a village / suburb that I like

A word of warning though, all the good Leeds primary schools are oversubscribed so it might be difficult to get an in year place

@Lucia23 @MarshmallowFondant in Glasgow, I think of broomhill, scotstoun, jordanhill (all west end) as less studenty and more family oriented than byres road area (the main shopping bit in the west end).

@banhmi these areas are essentially between bearsden and byres road area.

That said, I agree bearsden is really nice. Westerton also nice. You'll get a great house either of these places for the money you have.

Also someone in east Dunbartonshire! It’s a lovely- look into the offers over system for buying in Scotland too, and the stamp duty is considerably higher than down south once you go over 300k. Houses are going for quite a lot more than what the price is on rightmove. The one in Bearsden a pp linked will probably end up more towards 800k. But you do have the budget. All schools are good, Bearsden academy usually in top 10.
Jordan hill in the west end is good but v v oversubscribed and you can’t currently get in even within catchment.
I love living here though- 15mins to west end and half an hour to Loch Lomond.
Weather is terrible though

I live in Newcastle and am from Glasgow. Both cities tick your boxes, my only comment is that I don’t consider Newcastle particularly multi-cultural, especially compared with Glasgow (or Leeds I imagine).

Where you live in Glasgow depends on whether you want to privately educate your kids or not. If you’re looking at state schools, as others have said look at East Renfrewshire, or East Dumbartonshire. If you’re planning private schools with a budget of £950K I’d also consider the West End of the city.

In Newcastle, look at Gosforth, Jesmond, Tynemouth, Whitley Bay or consider more rural living in either Morpeth or Hexham. All have decent schools. I love it in Newcastle - it’s a great city but with such easy access to the beach and the countryside.

Just a comment - Scottish house market are a bit bonkers at the minute. Houses are going for 20% over asking price regularly and stamp duty is significantly more than in England. Your budget is still very healthy especially compared with the south east but need to consider when looking!

Hey OP,

Glasgow born and bred and I love my city. PP have raised excellent points - scenery/ walking/mountains/ lochs/ culture/ vibe/ diverse/ multi-cultural/ friendly/ community feel/ smaller than London but so much to do/ great public transport/ parks/ teen activities and independence.

I'm South Side (still v much the city, though) and teens catch a bus 2 mins from house or train 5 mins and are in town within 15/20 mins. DS1 17 goes to as many gigs as humanly possible! They can easily cycle too. They cycle to rugby club/ mountain bike in local park.

Posters suggesting East Dumbartonshire/ East Renfrewshire are not listening to you wanting some 'grit'. As nice as these areas are it wouldn't be me living in Bearsden/Milngavie/ Newton Mearns/ Whitecraigs etc they're too suburban and very, very middle class for my taste: I'd suffocate. It's very much keeping up with the Joneses. You'll get that type everywhere, I suppose, but there's definitely greater numbers in those areas.

If I had your budget I'd buy a bloody lovely house in the West End- Dowanhill/Kelvinside/ Kelvinbridge Partick/ Thornwood/ Broomhill/ Jordanhill. Nothing beats it for me. My sister lives there, and although I love my area, if I had the funds I'd move in a minute. Yes, we call some of them the West End Wankers, but there's mostly normal folk.

Schools are plentiful. I'm not a subscriber to this 'You must go to Jordanhill/ St Ninian's' etc, it's nonsense. Good schools are not the exclusivity of the upper middle classes. My DC1 got 5X A band 1s at Higher, the school dux and due to get the same results at Advanced Higher in an ordinary, local, very mixed comprehensive. Scotland's comprehensive system works. You have dedicated staff in every school.

West End Secondaries include Hillhead/ Hyndland/ Notredame as well as the aspirational Jordanhill.

I adore Northumberland - Tynemouth/ Cullercoats/ Bamburgh particularly, stunning and super friendly - but don't know Newcastle.

Don't know Leeds well. It does seem near lots of things, but a good colleague ran a mile from it. She's from Yorkshire but trained in Glasgow. After 8 years here she got a job in Leeds. She lasted a year and 'Ran as fast as I could back to Glasgow'. She said it just didn't compare: was too small and has no culture to speak of! Only her view, she does love theatre and art, but worth considering.

PM anytime if you need advice about areas.

See this ' Such and such school is top 10' based on results only. Obviously this is a seif-fulfilling prophecy as thr pupils are middle class with professional parents and private tutors coming out of their ears. I'm not getting into a huge debate here, but a school is SO much more than a set of results. My DNephew attended Bearsden Academy and had a pretty crappy education to be honest. DNiece attended Jordanhill and if you're not academic they're not particularly interested. I work in a school in the East End- one of the most socially deprived in the city- and it's absolutely wonderful. You can't tell!

I’ve live in Leeds and I’ve lived in Newcastle, would go back to Newcastle like a shot, for the proximity to the sea.

House prices in the nicer parts of Leeds may surprise you.

When I mentioned top 10 schools, it’s for a reason- people usually want kids to perform well academically and it is far more likely in one fo those schools because of the culture. I’ve worked in different areas and there are some good aspects to other schools, but academic achievement is something most parents hope for. I’ve actually worked in one in west end someone listed, and it definitely had some issues!
Sorry to derail! All schools have brilliant aspects, but when looking for an areas with good schools with teens, it’s usually driven towards results