Downsizing to Clarendon Park, Leics. Anybody downsized or know this area?

[Mombie]

We have finally decided to downsize and move to another area in Leics. We are currently in a large semi in another more suburban part of Leicester.

Even though we have a lovely house and a huge garden, I hate my house because DH and I work all hours to pay the mortgage and because I find my area a bit boring really. I used to live in a busier area when I was younger and I miss the vibe ( not the crime and drugs though).

I like the look of Clarendon Park and Stoneygate. It just always seems to have a nice buzz. I take walks around there on the weekend and it just seems a happy, lively place to be. Lots of different people, cafes etc. I can imagine myself hanging around Queens Rd, people watching and browsing all the little shops.

Does anybody live in these areas? What is it really like? Has anybody downsized earlier on for a better quality of life? DH and I are exhausted every week from work and even though it will be a squeeze with the chn, we feel like we will be a happier family unit if we downsize and free up our time so that we can be more mentally present.

Any thoughts appreciated 😊

Sorry OP, can’t give any practical advice but DH and I are relocating from London to Leicester in the next couple of years and that’s exactly where I would choose to live too! Good luck and hope find somewhere you love.

Thanks, there isn’t much on the market at the moment but we are going to see a few properties next week. Good luck with your future move!

Prices are high in Clarendon Park for Victorian terraces that open straight onto the street. I agree that the area has a nice atmosphere and is fashionable, plus quick to get into the city centre. Then Victoria Park is right there.

But I do sometimes wonder if it might be a noisy place to live as there is so much student accommodation? Parties etc. Plus lack of parking is a concern.

This is why I've stuck to the suburbs of Leicester!

It's been over 6 years since we moved away from Leicester so we are possibly very out of date - please take with a pinch of salt!

But we used to live very nearby in South Knighton (just on the other side of Knighton Road) and spent a lot of our time in Clarendon Park - as you say, hanging around Queens Road, browsing the shops and enjoying the many cafes and restaurants. In some ways we still miss the lovely vibe around there!

Both S Knighton and CP have loads of characterful Victorian properties. S Knighton houses tend to have bigger gardens and that area is generally more suburban and leafy. Having said that we would have been happy to live in CP; we didn't find the area too noisy, the main downside IMO was the lack of parking because that's what streets of Victorian terraces are like 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Stoneygate was a bit weird, the "naice" bits were absolutely lovely but interspersed with run-down bits cheek-by-jowl. The shopping street was less vibrant than Queens Road, some lovely shops but also quite a few vacant shops and it often felt a bit quiet.

Of course, all these areas are actually really close to each other so you could live in any of them and it's just a short walk between them!

An ex used to live in Clarendon Park and it's so gorgeous. You've got the Queens Road which is very upmarket - Bar Dos Hermanos was a favourite. You've also got Victoria Park. The victorian houses are extra large there too - very spacious with big gardens.

Wow this has bought back memories. I used to work on Welford Road and walk down CP Road to London Road to get the bus home. Lovely houses on CP road from what I remember

Sorry no use to you at all OP!

I lived in Clarendon Park, in gorgeous Victorian houses with huge gardens as a student. Usually 6 or 7 of us, with 4 or 5 bedrooms upstairs and using 2 of the reception rooms downstairs too....I'd go round once October rolls around about 9pm on a Friday night to check you're happy....lovely but very house/street dependent probably. Parking was a nightmare 8-6 due to city centre commuters, uni, college etc. Had a bedroom facing a road nearer Victoria Park and even college kids to school were quite noisy.
Stoneygate/far, far away from Queen's Road I'd you want a more suburban home as it felt busier then when I've lived in city centres

Clarendon Park is lovely but quite densely populated, lots of posh Victorian terraces, Stoneygate is more leafy but equally nice, both are expensive! I moved out of Leicester to Loughborough as I couldn't afford to buy in Leicester any more but if I could choose a place to live in Leicester it would be one of those two. Queens Rd is great and has my favourite restaurant (Barceloneta) and Victoria Park is lovely in the daytime

Thank you everybody for your thoughts. I am quite excited at the prospect of moving now. As the kids have grown up, we have moved further out thinking that we need more space. Now everybody is stuck in the house on screens and I feel like everything is too quiet. I miss being in the thick of it (famous last words!) and I’m fed up of driving the kids everywhere too, so hopefully being somewhere busier will mean we get out and walk/cycle more. It will be an adjustment but some of the houses are gorgeous. I am lusting after a few on Howard Street at the moment. They have resident’s parking on some of the streets.

Good idea to visit in the evening, I think it is freshers week now, so will pay a visit this evening.
Thanks all!