Bramley as a mixed race couple

[Shazzab86]

Hi all.

Wondering if you can help. Me, MY DH and DS are looking to buy our first house, moving from Wakefield and are looking to move to Leeds near where DH has his job and buy our first home.

Due to our budget, we are looking at Bramley. Weve found a property that we are going to view on Aston Terrace, and we have a query in regards to whether it would be a safe home for us for a couple of years before moving on. DH and DS have experienced racism in the past, and he's very scared that he'll experience something like that again, especially after some of the horror stories he has been told!

Any sort of advice and info would be much appreciated.

Gentle bump:)

This isn’t actually a question about property, though …

You haven’t said which races are contained within your household - so I can’t say which section of MN would be a better place for your query. If one or more of you is black then www.mumsnet.com/talk/black_mumsnetters would be the most helpful place. (Lots of similar threads to yours.) I’m not sure what other potentially relevant topics there are - you could take a look through the list.

I'm not sure why the previous poster is so keen to pigeon hole you into another very specific board without knowing your ethnicity or that of your family's, this seems like it is a relevant enough board to me! I'd recommend you look at Street check.co.uk.

Check the crime (by type), ethnicity, employment rates, etc. and compare them with the average or where you are now (if you're happy there, that is).

We had some beautiful places within our price range but our whole family being happy and comfortable to visit us was important.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions. I don't know anything about Bramley or Leeds but could probably answer what to look out for and how to scope out the area(s) you're looking at.

My relatively limited knowledge says Brantley is mostly white working class.

I work in the area. It is traditionally very white, working class -parts of it are better than others, avoid the several council estates. The Astons has a lot of rental property I think. Some streets have quite a lot of terrace stock in a poor state due to being rented out for years by rubbish landlords.

The best parts of Bramley are towards the 'top end'- so the 1930s semis etc on other side Broad Lane near Bramley Baths (a total gem). Bramley does have a reputation but I am sure many people live very happily both inside/ outside the pockets of significant deprivation. Usually the people who comment negatively have never lived in the area and there are lots of community projects etc. I would be wary if concerned about racism. Although the majority people would be fine, there are some well known teenage gangs (low level ASB) who can make life unpleasant if they feel like it. Also due to the it having some of the larger council houses in the city, there are some big families who have lived in the area for generations and can 'take over'certain streets. Most likely you will never come across them as your paths will not cross, however there is always a small chance you could find they are a neighbour or next door is a rental and so they soon will be.

West Leeds is never seen as a fashionable area of Leeds, although people increasingly are priced out of Horsforth etc and prices have risen significantly. Pudsey is seen a more desirable for families, as is Farsely- so accordingly they are more expensive. Armley is far more multi-cultural but also far more transient. I did live there when younger (in an amazing old terrace) but would not live in the area now. It continues to have lots of problems with ASB.

I'm not sure why the previous poster is so keen to pigeon hole you into another very specific board without knowing your ethnicity or that of your family's,

Good grief. I specifically said I couldn’t say which would be the best topic without knowing more - but I do know that the information the OP wants will be most reliable if it comes from actual lived experience. And that other boards on MN have very similar threads to this - responded to by people who have the same concerns.

It’s not pigeonholing to try to direct someone to the best advice.

There are often threads like this on Property, so makes sense to post it here. This board has all sorts of broader questions about living in new places beyond house prices and leaky taps. Anyhow, there's been some useful replies so all good.

Right. You need to withdraw the comment that I was ‘forcing’ the OP to use some other board. FFS.

I do not know what race the OP or any member of her family might be. I used BMN as an example of an alternative board where there might be more people gathered together who may be able to offer lived experience of having the same racial mix as the OP’s household and living in a particular area. I’m sorry this is so hard for you to understand.

It may be that a different board dedicated to a different racial background might be of more use to her. I don’t know. BMN is the one that I am familiar with. And I know full well that if someone asks there about schools (for instance) there will be a vast difference in usefulness between responses from other black parents and responses from people who are not black but feel entitled to offer their tuppenceworth, regardless.

There’s a reason those boards exist. If they’re irrelevant to you, you won’t understand why.

Goodness. Mixed race can mean many different things! Didn’t you know that? In this instance the OP indicated that there are different races within her family.

And I’m perfectly entitled to express my opinion that the OP might find more help elsewhere on MN. I am not in any way preventing her from continuing to post here.

But I don’t honestly know why I’m bothering to respond. Have a pleasant day.

OP I live in West Leeds and what the previous post said about the various neighbourhoods is fairly accurate. Farsley is a really nice place in terms of liveliness, housing and schools. It is very white middle class. Bramley has less going on and is very white working class. Armley is more diverse, also more deprivation. I lived there for a few months and found it felt unsafe. Pudsey is more mixed. Have you looked at Morley? A mixed race couple who I'm friends with live in Morley and they love it.

This challenge is, anywhere could have a twats who say and do twaty things. Sorry you're partner has experienced this.

The Astons are near Raynville- I would say that is one of the worst areas in the estates for drug dealing (it is open and on the streets)
Down near Stanningley or out towards Valley View are better areas for families.

I disagree that it is is very white - it is about national average for ethnicity for the school aged population. Less Pakistani heritage families than Leeds overall.
But it is a socially deprived area- Hollybush has 49.4% eligible for free school meals, Raynville 35.8%, Whitecote 42%, Stanningley 28.2%, Summerfield 37.7%, Valley View 17.9%, Bramley St Peters 32.6% and Christ the King, Bramley Park 56.4% and Christ the King 33.5%

Im sure muddlerinlaw is the type of non-black poster who rushes to BMN to respond to posts she/he actually cannot answer.

I'm mixed raced (black/white) and lived in Armley for a while about ten years ago with DH who is white and my mixed DD. Didn't come across any racism whatsoever, locals were polite and used to hold the door open on way into shops. I have a London accent and that was the only thing people I met commented on.

I'm black and have family all over Leeds. Personally, I'd go for Pudsey, Farsley or Morley. I used to visit Bramley regularly and never had any trouble.

Do you have a rough budget OP? Bramley is an extreme area its very rough and has run down houses and then other nicer bought houses you can see.

Bramley is a predominantly white area too. Consider the schools I can't advise on them.

Wakefield looks nice and unless you live in a bad part already I would not swop it for Bramley in Leeds.

@hannahcolobus let's not derail the thread. Just so you know though black and mixed race people often face the same rude slurs because sometimes skin tone and features are similar. We are not here for any of this though. Whatever mix is in question it obviously must be an ethnic minority hence asking about Bramley in the first place.

Agree with PP that Stanningley, Pudsey, farsley would all be better.

Gosh, are you?

In that case, you’d feel a bit embarrassed if you met me …

I can't comment from a mixed race aspect but second/third the recommendation for Morley if you want to live a more affordable but still nice/safe area of Leeds.

Also good for access to the motorways if you travel for work or the park and ride if you need to get into the city centre regularly.

Which part of Leeds will DH be working in, how does he plan to get there and will he be working 'office hours' or shifts? Rush hour traffic isn't great in Leeds, probably because we're the largest city in western Europe without a mass transit system, so you want to avoid peak travel times and directions if at all possible, which ironically excludes the usual MN preferences of Chapel Allerton and Horsforth etc.

I work in Armley - it's quite rough and run down. It's diverse but I would say the population is overwhelmingly Polish. I have a full time translator at work so that I can talk to the staff.

Bramley is possibly slightly nicer but it wouldn't be my first choice.

What about Woodhouse? I grew up there. It's a mix of families and students and very diverse. I like it.

I’m mixed race black/white and was told not to post on black Mumsnetters so that’s not necessarily the right place to suggest without knowing what ethnicity the op is