Please help me find a city - not an easy one

[icecreambrownrice]

I've been thinking about this for months. I'm indecisive and suffer from acute anxiety. I tend to ruminate and second guess my decisions.

I know no one can objectively say which location is 100% ideal but I'm open to suggestions and recommendations.

I have twin DDs in sixth form, am a single parent. Family in South, not close to them. Currently renting a three bedroom house in a village near Cambridge.

Have saved up a healthy deposit looking to move to a city. I love love love London but I can't afford it, at least not in the SW areas that I want.

DDs will be at different unis, I'm in my 50s, my no.1 priority is location and amenities. I just want a little house with shops and excellent transport links.

Max budget £400k for 2-3bedroom home. I'd be so happy in a cottage-style home with a patio garden.

My criteria:

I need hustle and bustle
I hate living in the suburbs
I need excellent public transport (phobia of driving)
House as close to the bustling city centre as possible

No flats due to leasehold, service fees etc
Multi-cultural - I'm mixed race
Safety is key as I'm alone most of the time.
I commute to Farringdon, London once a month.

I've thought about Nottingham, Manchester, Birmingham, and Reading. I just don't know if they're right for me. Not keen on Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield, Leeds. I spent most of adult life abroad so I still see these cities as foreign places.

I can't even narrow it down. Help.

Oxford?
[[//3 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in Hendred Street, Oxford, OX4 (rightmove.co.uk)

Reading is really small for a city.. University and students big proportion of population. Not edgy and gritty at all - town centre mainly filled with big chains like John Lewis. Very good for transport. Main change from Great Western Mainline to North or South.

Have you visited cardiff?
This little street is amazing. This particular property is too big / expensive but they are the style you want whilst being so close to the city

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137538164?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

Sleeper train from Glasgow or Edinburgh lands you in King's Cross - 15 mins walk from Farringdon.

If somewhere like Bath isn't for you then you may well like Nottingham- but I would be very fussy on area- somewhere like west Bridgford would suit - I used to live there. It's close enough to walk into city centre, quite upmarket and has shops and restaurants on doorstep but doesn't feel like suburbia.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142984034

I absolutely love Newcastle but I would say Manchester (my home city) has more of the buzz/edge you're describing. It's got everything really, it's not the prettiest city centre but wrt the other cities on your list it probably has the most going on. Only issue is the inner city isn't the nicest and you might want to look at the suburbs for a property. You could look at Altrincham and Prestwich (for eg) which are short journeys in on the metrolink. You need to live

Have you thought about waiting until you are sure your dds are settled at uni?
There are a lot of holidays and in the first year or so they will want to come home and see their friends, which won't be where you are if you move! So they'll end up staying with mates not with you.
Also not all uni accommodation is all year round, so they may not actually be able to live in their uni town full-time so will still need accommodation with you.
There's also the risk that one or other doesn't get on well and chooses to leave.
Tbh i'd wait until they are second or third years if uou don't need to move.

You could get something in Canterbury for that , close to London and the coast .

I live in Nottingham, definitely not! Look at Liverpool it's amazing!

Beeston in Nottingham is a great area with a nice community. near the university so there are lots of international / university people. Fast train to London with no changes.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143323625#/?channel=RES_BUY

Manchester sounds like it fits best what you want - big city buzz, gritty, lots going on, loud, multi-cultural, good transport links, vibrant. I bet your girls would love visiting g you there too

Manchester sounds like a good fit but there are only really flats in the city centre. When you say you don't want a suburb, would you be ok with a buzzing/bustling suburb with excellent transport links? If so I'd look at somewhere on the metro. Chorlton/didsbury/altrincham. You could live in any of those areas and never leave- so much going on, but easy 20-30 mins on metro into city centre.

Reading is in line with Coventry in my opinion, its an hour train to Euston and house prices are cheaper in Coventry than the surrounding suburbs. Its very muticultural.

Leamington spa and Warwicks are much small towns but not as much hush and bussle, and an hour and 20 to Marylebone, though walking distance to al shops and amenities, coffee shops, restaurant galore etc

Cardiff.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143270657#/?channel=RES_BUY

earls done is a village style area within the city, shops etc on the doorstep and station nearby.

Not that Reading is a city yet but if I was going to live in Central Reading, I'd go the Village (St Johns Hill/Road) or Newtown nearer the Kennet (School Terrace). There's loads of houses on Rightmove in West Reading in the Welsh road names part at the moment as well. Anything off Erlegh/Redland Road is nice but it's definitely a student area.

Try following What's On in Reading, Edible Reading, Reading Museum on Twitter/Instagram - there's loads on. The buses are great all over town, and so is the Elizabeth line when you want to leave.

Also the U3A is very active if you want to meet people.

I'm originally from Manchester and that would give you the gritty city vibe, but exeter is also a fantastic city to be in, with a much lower crime rate and lots of different places to explore within easy reach on public transport too

How about Leicester?

I think if you lived in Manchester you’d be best with a city centre flat for the hustle and bustle and gritty urban vibe you’re after. Once you get into the “naice” suburbs it’s really boring and mostly just traffic congestion.

Errr it is a city. It's got lots going for it but multi cultural it is not.

Liverpool, just voted 7th best city in the world. Lovely waterfront. Fantastic social scene, music, theatre,cinemas and full of funny warm welcoming scousers. What's not to like.

Definitely not Reading. It doesn't have a big city feel at all, and is very suburbia like.

I would consider SE London and places like Crystal Palace, Greenwich and Bexley village. You may not get the best looking house but you can always work on it over the years. And you have separate cycle lanes to cycle all over London!

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/65825204/

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/65603788/

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/66129497/

Have you ruled London out? If you are open to buying a flat London is possible.

Just a suggestion but have you thought of looking at two bed Victorian/Edwardian maisonettes in London? Own front door, garden, similar feel to a cottage, often share of freehold between two maisonettes. It'd put you within price range for some ok areas.

I lived in Nottingham and hated it. In the face of it, it's got good shops, arts, bars etc. But I didn't find the people very fun or friendly (sorry east mids folk) and there was loads of crime. Especially prostitution even in areas you wouldn't have thought were iffy. Big posh houses and I used to get kerb crawled just for being a female on my street...at 8am and off to my office. Times change though. It may have improved!

I love Birmingham but not sure about living there.

Best cities I've lived in either Glasgow or Newcastle. Though I'm loathe to say it when southerners push house prices up 😉

I was in love with the mews houses up Glasgow's west end behind Byres road. That is what you're describing!