York, Leeds, Sheffield or somewhere else?

[Eastender123]

Hi, I’ve reached the point where I am no longer enjoying living in London and would like to move back north closer to family. My family live rurally - I don’t think I could manage that, but I would like to be in a smaller city or could do a village very close to a city. Ideally would like to be somewhere that is left leaning, has a good community vibe and has good secondaries (will be applying next year). We don’t know anyone in these cities - so openness is equally important. Feels a bit daunting to be starting over again in our early 40s. Thanks all.

They all have very different feels. Leeds is a big city where as the others are much smaller. Sheffield is full of students. Don't know much about York.

York. Full of annoying middle class tourists.

I have recently moved to Leeds. We are 10 minutes walk from a station and the train takes 6 minutes to Leeds, yet we are on the canal and have lovely countryside views. I am loving it here!

I’ve lived in Leeds all my life and would happily recommend it but it also depends what you’re looking for in terms of budget, number of bedrooms, right in the country or more of a suburb, walkable to good schools?

Lots of the Leeds suburbs are walkable to a train station and have good walks from their doorstep but aren’t right in the country. If budget was high say £600,000 ish somewhere like Ilkley would be lovely although that’s classed as Bradford, medium range £300-£450 I’d say horsforth, farsley, cookridge, Otley, although Otley would be bus rather than train.

Sheffield centre I’ve only visited once but it seemed nice and I think you could probably get more for your money in south Yorkshire and have a lot more affordable areas in the countryside, and York centre is lovely, been there many times but houses are generally a lot more expensive.

York is very very expensive and very busy with tourists and stag/hen do’s.its a wonderful place, I live in a village outside it but would not want to live anywhere where I had to negotiate the ring road to get in or around it on a daily basis.

Sheffield, visited but can’t really answer.

Leeds is buzzing and vibrant and where I head shopping. I’d start here.

York is beautiful, my child is a student there, but I absolutely would not want to live there. You can’t move for tourists between May-September and November- December.
Sheffield is ok, but definitely a big student city. I’ve not been to Leeds but know people who have and they love it. Vibrant, but also I imagine not too expensive to live in compared to York.

York is so lovely, but pricey and rammed with tourists. Still, if I had to choose its probably where I'd go. I dont know much about the schools but I have a number of friends who have happily raised children there.

Second choice would be Leeds. Cheap and such a beautiful centre. More vibrant than York if vibrant is your thing. It has rough areas but friendly people. A lot of students.

Sheffield I know least well, actually all I know about it is that housing is cheap and there's lots of hills. I have a godson raising kids there, he seems to like it.

Sheffield ticks your boxes, historically left leaning, the western side of the city huddles up to the Peak District National Park. The S10/S11 areas benefit from being close to the countryside, but also easy access to the city centre. Yes, it has 2 universities, but it never felt overwhelmingly student when i lived there. Good secondaries at High Storrs, Silvedale, Notre Dame, Tapton in those postcodes, not sure of catchments.

However, S10/11 come at a price, although this may be doable. If you could bear a market town (with lots going on), i’d suggest Penistone a few miles north of Sheffield, and about 20 mins on the (hourly) train. It has a superb secondary in Penistone Grammar School - grammar in historic name only, it’s not selective, so no 11+. Again, check catchments, it’s jokingly said you need to live on the playing fields.

I have family in Strensall on the outskirts of York who have seemed happy with the local schools for their kids. Seems a nice enough village and it's outside the ring road but good transport links. If you want a smaller city then York would be better than Leeds or Sheffield.

I do love Sheffield, the hills would drive me a bit insane. Not sure I could live in the city but would happily live in the Hope Valley villages, no idea what schools are like.

SW Sheffield. Edges onto Peak District. Very rural. Fantastic schools.

Fulwood
Dore
Ringinglow
Nether Green
Bents Green

Very high number of graduates ( constituency is Sheffield Hallam) live in the area, and it has a Labour councillor. Very left leaning area

All these places are 2 mins from the country and 2 mins from a bus stop.

House prices expensive though.

Penistone is a good shout (along with surrounding villages). Penistone has great schools, train, independent cinema, active community.
Sheffield also great, its often quoted as the city where a high proportion of graduates stay probably in part to house prices/jobs/accessibility to other areas.
Have a look at villages off the m1 from Sheffield up to Leeds quite a few with good accesss. For instance the villages around Barnsley/Wakefield are good value for money compared to even Sheffield.
It all depends what your priorities are, schools? Transport? Jobs? Type of house/cost/bedrooms?

Schools are good in Hope Valley.

Really expensive though.

York is so so so touristy. And expensive. Sheffield is full of students and a bit lentlily and scruffy. So I’d say Leeds is your best bet!

It’s not lentily!

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I hadn’t factored in the tourist element of York, so thanks for mentioning it.

Sounds like Leeds overs more value for money and has a bit more of a buzz. SW Sheffield sounds interesting too. We will have to visit these areas and see, but it’s helpful to narrow it down a bit.

Our budget will be 900K - 1M for a house

But will happily spend less if we don’t need to!

Spent childhood in Leeds and have been seeing quite a bit of it recently, staying in Otley usually. Otley would be where I'd go if I had to live. Unfortunately, it's for the purposes of supporting hospital treatment which has been, respectively, at the other side of town and Harrogate. Driving, especially to St. James's from the Otley area, has been even more stressful than the hospital involvement itself and has been so all-consuming, so my perspectives have changed a lot and it makes me grateful for the medical provision where I now am.
York for me can have a split personality as a place at times - cultural and enjoying its flair by day, stag and hen corral by night. Depends on whether this is appealing.
So it would be Sheffield - Penistone or the areas above that have been mentioned, that I'd go for. Transport seems to have more choice and links. The surrounding countryside is unbelievable, when it's reachable with ease in a day.

Sheffield is the quieter of the three. York is busy with tourists. Love Leeds shopping and north/north west suburbs would get you a gorgeous house with that budget. Lots going on and the countryside you quickly get into is stunning.

I'd add to the +es of Sheffield, the theatres that are unbelievable. If your kids are in their teens, there's an offer for 16-26 y.o. , £5 a ticket plus £5 for a friend.
Then, due to the proximity with the peaks, there's a extensive outdoor culture. Camping, rambling, bouldering, scaling the edges, you name it. Joggers in every park every evening.

I’m sorry to hear about the ill health. I wish you all the best. Sheffield seems to be getting a lot of votes and sounds like the best of both worlds.

Otley isn't really Leeds though is it @Ormally
It's a little town outside Leeds with with fairly poor transport connections.

Leeds is bigger than Sheffield, with more going on. York is lovely but I do agree about the tourists.

What are you hoping to get from your budget and what are your priorities?

Also in summer York gets overrun with race goers ( many very well oiled!) .

Im a Leeds lass through and through and will always vote for it. You’d get a lot for your budget too.

TheTrees, yes, that's very true. But it's not where I lived or went to school, so I am putting it in the context of Horsforth (know due to former main workplace), Guiseley (secondary bit of work), Headingley, and parts where friends now live that I get to visit a bit, which include Adel, Boston Spa, Calverley, Skipton. It was weighing up where I would choose from them. I have never worked in central Leeds but don't think it would have been for me.

Sheffield doesn't really feel like a city, it's more of a big town. The shops aren't great since John Lewis left but there is meadowhell meadowhall.

I lived in Leeds for 17 years, then moved near Sheffield nearly 30 years ago. I much prefer Leeds as a city to Sheffield. Althiugh, I prefer where we live now, but it would be too rural for you.

Leeds traffic is ridulous so I would prioritise living near a station.