Is Solihull far away enough from Birmingham?

[Hatebirmingham]

I live in Edgbaston and HATE Birmingham. I’ve been here for 6 years and I think it’s bloody awful. It’s run down, unsafe to the point where I could list multiple areas where I barely feel safe driving through, never mind getting out of the car and there are so many areas that don’t even feel like you’re in the UK. I see teens around and would be throughly depressed for these to be the children that my own would attend school with - lots seem to be wannabe ‘gangsters’, rude, intimidating etc. I find the vast majority of Birmingham incredibly depressing.

We can’t leave the West Midlands unfortunately.

I was wondering if Solihull may be a better fit for us. My oldest DC is starting school next year so we still have time to move without interrupting education. My question is - is Solihull (particularly Dorridge/Knowle) far enough away from Birmingham to not be affected by Birmingham’s ‘issues’?

IABU: Solihull is still too close to Birmingham
IANBU: Solihull is much better than Birmingham

Had thesame around coventry road and didley road especially. DH was not impressed at all. He once ushered me out of a food shop on Coventry road because he was fuming that the staff were talking about me.

Funny that we moved to another county, still shop in international shops and areas but never had that problems again.
Lots of our mates moved out in last decade. Nice areas are pricey, shit areas are shit.

Bullring is grear

You sound offended on behalf of Birmingham. I was brought up in Birmingham, have lived in the rougher and nicer parts and I wouldn’t want to live there now. That goes for any large city in the UK as they all have a lot of issues.

Solihull is just a rough as Birmingham now

What about Stratford upon Avon/Leamington spa/Warwick way if you want to leave Brum but have to stay in West Midlands? I lived in Selly Oak for a few years and my in laws still live in Harborne. I absolutely hated it

I think this was a dog whistle post—inviting covert and overt racism.

So, judging from a lot of the posts here, Birmingham and many other large cities have gone downhill in the last few decades. I wonder what the problem could be?

Well every day's a school day. I thought Solihull was in Birmingham!

It's still a bit close @Hatebirmingham

Not all of Birmingham is awful. Bournville and Selly Oak are nice. (I thought Edgbaston was OK actually!)

Lots of more reasoned responses from more recent posts! Thankful to those who can see it isn’t racist to want to live in an area where the overall culture is awful no matter where that might come from.

I have considered Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth. But I have heard that Leamington is also going downhill? I have no actual experience of these areas though - are they nicer than Solihull?

Some people have mentioned driving around - I have driven around Solihull many times but wanted responses from people who know the area. They look like nice areas to me, but so does Edgbaston!

And before I’m called a racist too, I lived in Whitechapel for five years and absolutely loved it. didn’t feel unsafe there at all. But in Selly oak I saw two drivers have an argument and one of the drivers jumped out with a machete (!!), in fact I had to phone the police a number of times whilst living in Brum due to unsafe/violent situations out and about in public but never had to phone the police in central/east London . Maybe I had bad luck in Brum

So what did you mean when you said even your Arab XH found them rude?

@Hatebirmingham What, people have called you racist?

Why?!

Some parts are, but not Dorridge and Knowle. The centre is full of drugs on a night out and there is often trouble, but that goes for a lot of places. It’s still not anywhere near as the roughest as parts of Brum in general though, if we’re not talking about Chelmsley Wood, Smiths Wood.

I think the high street in Leamington- like nearly the whole of UK - has gone downhill sadly. But Stratford upon Avon is still thriving, I imagine because there will always be international tourists that help bring money in. Lots of good schools and grammar schools around here. Locals moan about traffic in Stratford but if you’ve lived in Birmingham then you won’t think the traffic here is worth complaining about!

Same here!

I used to live in a conservative Muslim country and never once experienced it over there. Felt very safe and the locals were very respectful. I now live in a town with a large Arab/Pakistani community and all the people I’ve met have been very pleasant.

When I was a cabin crew for an Islamic airline, the crew used to try and swap their Birmingham flights as they were notorious for being horrendous. Did it once and never again!

I lived in a shitty area of Bham and for the rent we were paying, I could have lived in a lovely semi detached house in the town I’m currently in.

Poverty is the main cause I would say. If you’re trying to be racist, places like Small Heath in Brum have had a large Pakistani Muslim population for a long time and never caused any issues, other than for those who don’t like that demographic of course. 🤔

I have just looked at Sparkbrook on Google Earth and it looks a complete dump, I don’t blame you for not wanting to go there. Unfortunately it does look like a lot of ‘quintessentially’ British towns these days, the decline and decay of our country continues at some speed. I hope you find somewhere better to move to, I would be looking to do the same in your position.

Hagley and surrounding areas?

I would feel safer walking down the street in Sparkbrook than Chelmsley Wood, which is predominantly a white British demographic. Poverty, drugs, knife crime and A LOT of anti social behaviour.

The people there in general including white British people. He now lives in the same town as me which also has a large Arab/Pakistani community but they’re all very pleasant.

I had quite a lot of Muslim and Indian friends in Bham, I had a lot of run ins with rude white British brummies.

No idea about the demographics of either area, was basing my comment on the general look of the area which was tatty, rundown and depressing. Such a shame, this country should be able to do better.

I am a white female in Birmingham and I have never felt unsafe not once. What you are seemingly trying to say is that white people = safety, non white people = unsafe? What about these non white people make you feel unsafe? Their skin colour? "Staring you down" is incredibly ambiguous. Nowhere here is unwelcoming to white people. You need to do some soul searching. I promise you the problem lies with you. Unfortunately for you there are still loads of non white people in Solihull but less than Birmingham. If you can stomach it that is.

💯 😂

Driving through is even worse than it looks.
People just stepping out in front of cars, people doing random u-turns, people driving on the wrong side of the road to overtake, even if there’s cars coming. Piles and piles of rubbish bags all along the streets. Rats.

I despair every time I drive in that area.

I’ll bite: what about the high street in Sparkbrook or Sparkhill is unlike the UK?

I live rurally so can appreciate your comments about some areas of cities being run down, unkempt, poverty etc but what do you mean by not realizing that you are in the UK?