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.

Dublin isn't multicultural

Birmingham

Yes, I would make the compromises that mean you can live in London. Nowhere else is like it.

After that try Bristol. It’s quite gritty. Fairly multicultural too. But nothing like London.

@Finlesswonder I think Dublin, as a capital city, is as multi-cultural as some of the other cities mentioned here - e.g. Bristol. UK and Ireland are European countries so it's not surprising that the majority of the populations are white.

@icecreambrownrice , Reading isn't a city. Neither is Aylesbury.
Reading is a big town, and is bigger population-wise than Cambridge.
Aylesbury is a county town.

Dublin is probably as expensive as London and if your work is still based in the UK you could have issues with paying tax.

Dublin isn't for me. But it's nice for a weekend! Farringdon from Dublin would be quite an expensive monthly commute.

I know I am fussy but I am looking for my forever home. A home for a middle aged woman. I also want to watch concerts without staying overnight in a hotel. So the places I picked offer that as well. I just have to find a concert buddy.

I've narrowed it down to Manchester and Leeds. London will always be on my list. Thank you to the PP who talked about Walthamstow. Manchester has the edge over Leeds as it has an airport and a terrific tram system. I ruled out Leeds initially as I thought their public transport isn't great.

Haha, happy to watch concerts in Mancs. Not sure if we mean the same thing though I love classical music but have nobody to go with, also jazz and gigs in cute pubs.
Don't like the big concerts where getting tickets are a military operation.

JFYI

https://www.leedsbradfordairport.co.uk/

There can’t have been many little cottages in the centre of Hong Kong Similarly here a big bustling city like London or Manchester will have modern flats in the centre, houses further out in suburbs. Any historic houses in the centre are likely to be expensive.

So you,ve set yourself an impossible task and you probably need to choose which is most important , the central location or the type house.

I'm afraid I'm a big concert in a stadium/arena fan. But I haven't been to one since 2014! I know ticket buying is trickier these days. I don't even know who I really want to watch. Just like to know it's an easy venue to get to if/when I do go.

I did mention earlier that it was a dream. I'll most likely find a late Victorian or an ugly 80s house and I'm ok with that.

But I came across a tiny cottage for sale in bustling Tooting, London. I posted the listing here. So it is not impossible.
They are just harder to find.

Tooting may be bustling now but it's in Zone 3. Not Central London. As the city grew it swallowed up so many surrounding areas, Ealing for example was a sleepy little village.

Because of the sheer number of people London doesn't have a single 'city centre' many of what are considered suburbs are also very busy. No other areas of the country are similar.

Of course you can find nice places that are a 'suburb' of Manchester rather than the city centre, the £££ areas of Didsbury and Chorlton for example. The former is where all the trendy young things want to live, usually busy, lots of independent shops, butchers etc. It still won't match the crowds of London because well there are simply less people. That's all.

If the stadium/arena part is important then Manchester is probably best choice from your top 2! 2 stadiums (3 if you count the cricket grounds I guess) plus the Arena itself.

Not sure you'll get a cottage in the hustle and bustle but there are houses closer to the centre than the suburbs

Have you looked at South Norwood?Excellent transport links and close to Crystal Palace. My sister has just bought there after being priced out of the usual Streatham/Brixton locations and has managed to buy a really lovely place with great neighbours.
I think with the current housing market you could get lucky!

Nottingham is nice but the train to London is hellish expensive if you plan to visit. Have you been to visit these cities. It sounds like you need to do a whole bunch of weekends away in different places.

Peterborough? Good rail link.
Northampton isn't a city, as far as I know, but affordable and again good link. Ditto Bedford.
Milton Keynes - you might find a cottage in the surrounding villages. Lots of Victorian houses in Bletchley.

Chorlton, on the outskirts of Manchester City centre, might for the bill. Not quite city centre, but a quick cab / bus ride into town. Quite edgy, very mixed community. Think ex students who don’t want to leave!
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86547981#/?channel=RES_BUY

Birmingham. Gloucester.

And Cheltenham really isn’t a city

Glasgow is fantastic but the West Coast mainline is in a sorry state and the axing of HS2 means that's likely to remain. If you need to get to London once a month you will have some nightmare journeys.

If you're not sure about your ability to tolerate cold and damp, I wouldn't risk it. I'm from north east England, love cold weather but north west dampness still gives me pause.

Newcastle is in a much drier part of the country and has good public transport. It is also better connected to London but that is not saying much. On paper it's a good, fast connection (east coast mainline in better nick than west) with a cheaper option on the Lumo service and cross country route if the east coast line goes tits up. But it will not be easy and it will feel far away.

I am a northerner and my heart lies there (lived there many years) but I don't think that's the case for you. You could absolutely make these northern cities work for you but if you don't have something attracting you to the place it will be an enormous uphill struggle.

Ideally you'd be best off waiting a year to move so you can give your DDs some stability in their first year of uni. If you want to go now, I'd only entertain London as that's where you clearly want to be.

Many uni students take a while to find their first job and an awful lot look in their home town or where their parents are based. Having a London base could be a real help to your DDs when they are looking for their first professional jobs.

PS I have also lived in Birmingham and it is a wonderful place, well connected, good public transport and properly multicultural. I really loved living there and it should be top of your "non London" list.

Oxford has more going on than Cambridge for sure, but it's not big or multicultural in the way most people mean. With your budget you're definitely looking at suburban, non exciting places on Oxfordshire

Another one here who thinks you should take a look at Cardiff.

Aside from any other benefits, it's the closest of the three to London by road and train, so I'm not sure why you ruled it out on that basis.

Having said that, it sounds like London is your best bet and I agree with pp that your desire for a cottage is at odds with the city centre desire... best bet to visit what you can get in three or four places rather than just rely on Rightmove.

@HJ40 I agree- I can't understand why the OP has discounted Liverpool or Bristol though as they both seem to fit her criteria- hence why I posted 2 cottage type homes on Totterdown- walk to the centre- I'm not Bristols biggest fan but given that OP likes gritty and urban - can't see why it doesn't fit. Being upfront though I don't personally like Birmingham and I'm not keen on Manchester either- but if OP is prepared to have a modern flat I can see Manchester would probably fit her criteria - the areas with terraced cottagey houses and central though aren't nice (in my opinion)

No, Reading isn't small for a city. It isn't a city. It's a town. It's one of the largest urban areas in the UK to be without city status!

It certainly isn't a bustling city in the way Hong Kong is/was, though.

Personally I live in a smaller city and love it, but if you want a cosmopolitan feel and the buzz of a big city, I would really recommend Manchester. It's lively, buzzy, with a young diverse population. It also has one of the biggest Chinese communities in the UK, and a great Chinatown with some really enjoyable restaurants in all price brackets. Try visiting OnePlus, which has a hot pot place, a noodle bar and a Chinese barbecue restaurant on different floors.

Maybe book a hotel in the city centre for a minibreak and see how it feels to you?