Bristol - where to live?

[EmeraldAquaWildlings]

Husband and I are looking to move to Bristol with our young family (1 and 3) after having lived abroad for the last decade. Reasons for Bristol are: friends, proximity to nature while still being in a city. We have a decent budget, but can’t quite decide on where to narrow our search. We want someone “nice”, but concerned that the likes of Clifton, Westbury on Trym, Redlands etc may be a bit of a bubble. We want to be able to access all the entertainment (music, restaurants etc) that Bristol has to offer reasonably easily. Is there somewhere close to the centre that is nicely gentrified but hasn’t yet moved into the bracket of being a bit snooty? Or am I being unfair on those areas I previously listed?

we moved here 6 years ago (and love it). As a retired couple, our needs are different from yours, but these thoughts come to mind
-perhaps you would be better-off deciding which schools you want to be in the catchment area of first?

• the property market is crazy in Bristol, so you might want to approach it the other way round i.e. find a house that you like then see if you like the area? Clifton - I don't like it, too many yummy mummies and trustafarians. Redland - too many student HMO's - lots of problems with this. You might be lucky, you might not Cliftonwood - perfect, but the housing stock is generally tiny. Knowle (NOT Knowle West). I really like Knowle West Southville/Windmill Hill - nice but ridiculously overpriced Cotham - great Henleaze - very nice - near the Downs, cinema, shops . Good family homes - with off street parking Totterdown - very fashionable. Tiny houses. Parking impossible. Fishponds - up and coming so relatively reasonably priced. Not a 'sexy' area St Georges/Redfield - a real mixed bag. Nice mixed with not-so-nice. Could go up, but could equally stay a bit edgy. Depends if you want edgy. Obviously others might well come on with different opinions. Personally, if I had small children, I'd go for Keynsham. Easy access to Bristol and Bath, nice countryside, good housing stock, train station, reasonable town centre. Not as groovy as Bristol, but you get a lot more for your money.

I’d look at bishopston

about Knowle - I meant I really like Knowle

I was going to suggest Keynsham too (moved here 20 years ago from north Bristol).
A lot depends on your budget and what you want that budget to buy. What will buy you a 4 bedroom house in one part of Bristol may only buy you a studio flat in Clifton.

Bedminster?

I lived in Clifton whilst single then moved to Westbury Park when I had DS. Primary age I moved just outside to Almondsbury as easy access to everything and at that time the(primary) schools were good.
Stayed there until the kids could drive and now live across the bridge in the sticks.
I loved Westbury Park, if I went back I'd live in (some parts) of Westbury, Westbury park, Henleaze, Clifton, Clifton Wood or just across the suspension bridge Leigh Woods way.

@EmeraldAquaWildlings

Husband and I are looking to move to Bristol with our young family (1 and 3) after having lived abroad for the last decade. Reasons for Bristol are: friends, proximity to nature while still being in a city. We have a decent budget, but can’t quite decide on where to narrow our search. We want someone “nice”, but concerned that the likes of Clifton, Westbury on Trym, Redlands etc may be a bit of a bubble. We want to be able to access all the entertainment (music, restaurants etc) that Bristol has to offer reasonably easily. Is there somewhere close to the centre that is nicely gentrified but hasn’t yet moved into the bracket of being a bit snooty? Or am I being unfair on those areas I previously listed?

If you want to be close to the centre in a nice area then you are going be in a middle class bubble. Bristol is an expensive city and the house prices in these areas are prohibitive. You can’t really escape that!

If you want somewhere kind of in the middle- then St George/Redfield as a pp. There are some nice delis and cafes, a nice park and close to the centre- but also a lot of betting shops and pissed people hanging around outside the local spoons. You can walk into town from there in about 25-30 but it’s not a particularly safe walk that I’d be happy doing alone.

I can think of Bristol suburbs which are safe, pleasant, mainly working class, diverse areas with hardly any yummy mummy types - but these aren’t close to the centre and won’t have a great range of shops and bars.

Thanks for all the input so far - lots of insight already! Just to add - since we are moving from abroad the requirement to be close to a bit of “hustle and bustle” is greater than the requirement for a big house with a garden. Without wanting to sound like “THAT person”, if there’s an area that ticks all our boxes then we will be able to afford something. Location is key in this instance!

Definitely hadn’t considered school catchment areas nearly as much as I should have done ;)

Probably Southville would suit you. Near town & lots of independent shops. Good for young people. St George is up and coming.
Henleaze & Redland are both nice.
Cotham & Bishopston & St Andrews are popular. They do back onto more edgy areas.
Further out you have places like Long Ashton, Thornbury, Portishead, Keynsham. Less happening but good schools.
It's probably a good idea to visit.

I would suggest southville too. Great high street including cafe/bars. Short walk to town centre. Nice architecture with victorian terraces. More down to earth field than the cliftons etc. Walkable to the lovely outdoor space of Ashton Court. Lots of pre school activities. Not sure on schooling though

Feel not field!

Not sure on schooling though

There's Ashton Park and possibly St Katherine's in Pill or Backwell School? Pretty sure all three are ok.

What's your budget.

Bristol as a city is full of working class people pretending to be middle class (fair enough - aspirational!) and middle class people often with lots of family money pretending to be working class (if working class can be an accurate description for an architect, solicitor, doctor). I'm guessing from your earlier post that you have at least £800k in budget (if you have already been looking at houses in Clifton). All around Gloucester Road (so at andrews and bishopston) is pretty much Guardian reader central. It's lively as lots of students / young p's live there. You probably have the right budget for that and it is more "edgy" than Westbury for example just because there are more HMO's.

I'm slightly adverse as a concept to gentrification (which has happened already to St George, st werburghs, parts of St. Paul's and is happening in places like fishponds now and the actual city is loads of pricey flats now) I think it leaves the actual working class people with nowhere to live. Personally I think southville is a shithole which is outrageously expensive (but it's middle class pretending not to be).

I like Stoke bishop and Henleaze, but I think you will probably hate it as it's bubble central, but at least it's not pretending to be something it isn't. Westbury you are more likely to be living next door to a builder who has done well for themselves.

Biggest advice unless you are going to privately educate (in which case you are already in the bubble) is choose the area based on secondary schools. Some are shocking and catchments for the better ones are very tight.

Have lived in multiple areas (Redland - flats and student central - loved it in my 20s), Cotham much the same, Ashley Down (great for young families), now in Westbury Park. Love it - perfect for secondary school catchment. A huge number of decent primaries in Bristol but secondaries can be more tricky. Have a think about that unless you have the money to go private for secondary. Bishopston a good shout too, bit more young the WP but personally I love having Waitrose nearby and the parking is slightly better. Not that we can really afford to shop in Waitrose anyway! My children are the same age as yours op, if that helps.

@EmeraldAquaWildlings

Thanks for all the input so far - lots of insight already! Just to add - since we are moving from abroad the requirement to be close to a bit of “hustle and bustle” is greater than the requirement for a big house with a garden. Without wanting to sound like “THAT person”, if there’s an area that ticks all our boxes then we will be able to afford something. Location is key in this instance!

Definitely hadn’t considered school catchment areas nearly as much as I should have done ;)

I can’t help you with Bristol as I live in the Midlands, but catchment areas will be really key for you.

We made the mistake of moving house for better schools, but I only looked at first schools, unfortunately the middle / senior school where we live now really aren’t great and if I’d investigated more thoroughly, I would’ve realised that and not bought where we have. I love our current house, but the middle / senior school is really quite poor so we are now having to move again.

Admittedly, our current house has made a decent profit and given us more equity to buy something else, but moving is just so bloody stressful

So, investigate schools first and then go from there… otherwise you might kick yourself if good schools are important to you

One thing to consider about schools is that Bristol is a county with its own council departments, including education. Geographically its quite a small authority.

Some places, like Kingswood which is in South Gloucestershire, have the county boundaries running down the middle of the road.

@Passanotherjaffacake interesting what you say about WP, thanks for that. How close are you to “life”? Walkable if you manage to find childcare of an evening? I’m conscious of the fact that although this is a super high priority for now, the novelty might wear off reasonably fast and I don’t want to have to move again. WP could be a good middle ground!

Really close by there are some lovely pubs dotted around and plenty of small independent high streets and shops. Like walk 2 mins each way and you are on a little high street, 5 mins walk is another one (Henleaze).

Gloucester Road, Whiteladies, Chandos Road and Cotham Hill are all walkable and offer any number of bars, restaurants and cafes.

Personally I would say the centre and the museums/theatres are a bit too far to walk but they are like a ten min taxi. Clifton is a 25 min walk or 5 min taxi.

Also a good bus service to the centre for when your children are older and you don’t want to drive them everywhere!

To be honest, most of the RGS catchment is very nice so maybe have that as a guide?

I would definitely look on Bristol City Council website and South Gloucestershire website at the school admissions pages to check admission distances/catchment areas. Primary schools in Bristol are good overall but secondary schools do vary so need to take this into consideration.

What's your budget OP? I previously lived in North Bristol (Bishopston/St Andrews), which we loved but moved to South Bristol as we got more for our budget. We've lived in the Knowle/Brislington area and really like being here. Totterdown is also nice but parking can be an issue.

Another vote for Keynsham. We moved from SE for DH’s job with DC aged 7, 11, 14 and 16 and chose Keynsham for affordability. Love it here. There are good schools- secondary as well as primary. Easy to get to both Bath and Bristol. Local restaurants and pubs. Definitely not a bubble.

Westbury Park also has a nice library and a great cinema, above Waitrose

Gloucester Road is SO MUCH more buzzy/ diverse than westbury park. I might retire to WP but no way choose it for a young family.

Primaries: Ashley downs, Brunel field, bishop road. Secondaries: Fairfield, trinity, rgs (but only go for the latter if you don’t mind raging drug problem/ anxiety disorders).

If I were in your position I would be buying in tge southwestern corner of the catchment area for Redland Green senior school - which of course may not be your first choice when the time comes a long time in the future but will mean that that's an option and you'll also be within an easy journey of several other good state and private options, within easy reach of The Downs and all the shops bars and restaurants of whiteladies road

Montpelier could be another option. It's about ten minutes walk to Gloucester road and a bit closer to the city centre (10-15 walk). Has quite a bohemian vibe but property prices have got rather silly (still cheaper than either Clifton or Bishopston though). Montpelier voted hippest place in UK