Moving to north Wales?

[wherethecityis]

We are considering moving to north Wales.
We are going to check out some areas next weekend, and were wondering where is nice to live within a reasonable commuting distance of Bangor?
We would want to be further east than Bangor, and preferably near the coast.
Thanks

Your last point is exactly my main con regarding moving.
My children could stay at home and work in London while they save for a house.
But also with our wages here we’d be able to save enough for a huge deposit for both DC. Neither of those things would happen if we moved.

That would sway me too.

I find North Wales far friendlier than England and it is great to be around such a distinctive culture. But jobswise it’s not the best place in the UK.

Some of these things seem so alien to me in 2023. We live in quite a diverse area and I love that my children are exposed to all sorts of people.* *

@DraiUndIcecream but then I guess that’s why houses are so cheap. We’d be better off financially staying here but we would be in a much much smaller house, tiny garden, etc.
We could never dream of buying the sort of house we could get in Wales if we stayed here

Its hard being a teenager in these areas, I was one! At least I hadn't anything better to compare it too.
Its only looking back now, I wouldn't want to move back there with kids. Mine are 10 and 15. City life is much better for kids imo.
Other than the house, what is it that appeals?

@MichaelAndEagle the appeal is literally just not doing our current jobs!
Mentally and physically we are drained here and I don’t see any way that will change unless we move

Yes it's not that diverse in parts of Cheshire but we have Manchester not far which is.
Liverpool too which is such a fun city.

Oh they will certainly be exposed to all sorts of people. I suppose one of the major plus is that they will be extremely motivated to work hard to get the fuck out of there and back to London.

Haha! I do see some flaws with the “move to north wales so your kids work hard and do well at school” plan.

Come off it, I went though Buckley on the bus today and didn’t bat an eyelid, if anywheres a dump it’s blacon chester or Ellesmere Port or Birkenhead, everybody in wales seems to just mind their own business retirement people most of em.

LOL, No one mentioned Colwyn Bay, would anyone live there? I think one of the James Bonds and Paula Yates were from there, they definitely made it out!

Would you consider the west coast of the Wirral?

Have you actually looked into work there? I work in Manchester and two of my colleagues commute in 2/3 days a week from north wales (WFH the rest) because the vast majority of the work there is seasonal hospitality stuff, minimum wage stuff, or non existent…

One thing I say (as someone who grew up very rurally) is while it’s nice for younger kids, it can be crap for teenagers. I live in a lovely place now but there is a petty antisocial behaviour problem because there is literally nothing to do.

East of Bangor, from Llanfairfechan to Conwy there isn't actually alot of space, the mountains almost meet the sea, and the A55 and railway cling to the cliffs. West of Llanfairfechan, to Bangor is a bit more open, but quite rural and not many houses.

However, the A55 is a very fast road. My old 10 miles on the A14 in Cambridge took longer than my new 45 miles on the A55, So west of Bangor ( on the A55 ) may be further than you think in distance, but less in time

Absolute rubbish. I live in Buckley and nothing wrong with it.

Some of the ignorant views on this thread are incredible.

Please DM me if you need info about North Wales. I'm English and moved here last year. I've experienced the health care system, learning Welsh and live in one of the supposed 'shithole' towns which is actually a nice community and we've been very happy here.

I’m north wales born and bred.

I'm going to stay quiet on other points and only say, if you do this, learn welsh. Especially if you plan to live anywhere further west than Llandudno.

Iny fantasy life I live in Conwy or Rhos on Sea. Or Colwyn Bay. I work in a bookshop / coffee shop. I spendy lunchtimes on the beach. I don't know of that's reasonable but it makes my head happy

I have lived in north Wales for over 10 years. Don’t speak Welsh, never been a problem. Whilst welsh is compulsory in state schools, it may be as a subject like maths or history, some lessons might be taught in welsh or all lessons and conversation will be in welsh. Some schools provide all three levels, some are entirely in welsh. Pick a school that suits how much welsh you want your kids to learn. some people
put kids into a welsh speaking school
for primary to get fluent and move then to an English speaking for secondary.

the closer you are to the coast, the less welsh it is. But not if you go west past Bangor. Rural bus services are rubbish so bear that in mind.

check the weather - the climate in say bangor is very different from colwyn bay (rains a
lot more in bangor) .

I can get a same day appointment to see a doctor. Nhs dentist rarer than rocking horse poo.
if I was to choose again, I would live in the Conwy area . Colwyn bay and rhos on sea are also on the up now the beaches have been restored.

I grew up in North Wales, bit too far from Bangor , just over the England / Wales border. I would say bear in mind the A55 in summer / Friday’s is always mega busy, so if you’re factoring in any travel time using that road, add on some extra time!

North Wales is beautiful, I’ve been in Surrey / South London 20 odd years and I’m thinking of moving back, purely for property reasons (can’t afford to buy much here on my single income), but also my family and genuine close friends I’ve know 40yrs, like family.

One negative (as you want both and I’m in South London now and raised my children here, but grew up myself in North Wales) is my friends kids / my godchildren are doing exactly what we did in North wales towns growing up, hanging around smoking and drinking (probably vaping and drinking now). There’s little to do, it’s almost like a rights of passage. Kids do go out to play there, as they live in the same town close by, not spread out for miles like in London. They don’t have a lot to do, so hang around the streets. Not always causing trouble, but I’d be a bit upset I think if my daughter was getting up to what my god daughter is. I personally have made the decision to stay in London / Surrey until my youngest goes off to Uni, so 3yrs. It’s been a long slog staying here when I’ve wanted to buy a nice property, but the schools where I grew up aren’t a patch on the ones here. Also my children are mixed race, they’d stand out like a sore thumb in the town I grew up in. No joke but people thought their father was a local takeaway owner when we used to visit. I couldn’t let my kids grow up in that environment. That’s not suggesting any blatant racism as I’ve never witnessed any, but it’s just a lack of multiculturalism there, that was very important to me.

North wales is still a lovely place to grow up, and I feel fortunate that I grew up there, and still have the same friendship group from 40yrs ago who mean the world to me

That’s where I grew up. It’s really not that bad poverty wise, certainly no worse than parts of South London. But as I’ve said up thread I definitely wouldn’t raise my own kids there!

That’s why I was thinking of moving there in the first place - because I was offered a pretty decent job. Probably much better than I’d get elsewhere and a substantially higher salary than I am currently paid in London

@Zanatdy I grew up in a huge city and that was what me and all my friends did growing up - hanging around drinking in the park. Rocket e honest I thought that was pretty standard regardless of where you grow up.

But there would be no reason we’d have to stay there once my kids reach senior school age anyway. I could look to move jobs then, or maybe move out to Chester and I’d just have a much bigger commute but by then DC would be so much older that a long commute wouldn’t be so bad.

The lack of diversity there is something that bothers me though as our area is very multicultural and I really like that

The job requires me to learn Welsh so I wouldn’t have a choice! Not sure how good I’ll ever get though