A friend described it as ‘a less pretentious Brighton’

Lived in South East all my life and looking for a change, few mates have recently moved to Bristol so me a friend I’ve known since school are thinking of joining them…but I know nothing of the place.

Cycling looks much better for a start, as well as cheaper rents than round here.

The flooring’s good – it’ll give you something to admire when your bikes have been nicked 😉

(actually, haven’t heard much on the bike theft side recently – has someone been locked up ?)

The flooring’s good – it’ll give you something to admire when your bikes have been nicked

*Applauds*

I loved it when I was a student, have been trying to move back there ever since! Nice size, lively enough but not as crowded as the London, excellent access to wales and the sw

Good sized city. Plenty going on but still friendly. Much more relaxed than the SE. Good riding right by the city for an evening ride. Great access to the west country and Wales for the weekend. Pretty forward thinking and people based, ie lots of good events (carnivals, festivals, arts trails, reclaimed streets), independent mayor, etc. Property is expensive for the area but there are plenty of cheaper bits that are ok.

Short answer – it’s great.

I’m a Londoner but went to uni in Bristol, moved back to London for grad jobs and then moved back to Bristol 11 years ago.

Good cycling, plenty of things to do, good vibe, plenty of jobs, good links for travel, housing not cheap but not silly like SE.

The only negative is secondary schools. We’re going to move just outside bristol to N. Somerset for that reason. Obviously depending on where you are in life that may not be an issue.

Nice one, thanks! Yeah schools not important for a while, sounds great though. Going to visit mates before Christmas but always nice to have longer-term opinions.

Any areas to avoid? Just trying to get feel for rent.

Southmead, lockleaze and Knowle West I would avoid. Careful of cheap rentals advertised as being in Westbury on trym, chances are they are just in the arse end of Southmead.

Traffic can be bad at times but I’ve lived here 6 years and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Spent 6 months living in Bristol when I was randomly sent there for a training placement (lived in Manchester, and the company it was for had stores in Manchester) before then being sent off to Durham.

Lovely city. Found it had a small town feel but with everything you’d want from a big city. Loads of open space to enjoy. Didn’t have any bikes with me when I was there but now wish that I had.

If I ever ended up leaving Durham, Bristol is certainly somewhere I’d consider moving back to.

I’ve lived here over 20 years and can’t see me leaving.

It’s a very attractive and compact city with the docks, Suspension Bridge and lots of green spaces. Great for mountain-biking with all weather trails in both Ashton Court and Leigh Woods which are just over the Suspension Bridge and very handy for trips to South Wales trail centres, Forest of Dean, Mendips and Quantocks. Also great for road riding.

As noted above there’s lots to do in Bristol from a cultural point of view – festivals, gigs, exhibitions – and has some quite unique events for example the recent Gromit trail, the grafitti in Nelson Street and the Banksy exhibition a few years ago. Loads of pubs and restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets.

Its quite a green city (won European Green Capital bid, and was previously Cycling City), so quite a big alternative scene, and has more bike shops than any other city I have been to. Has a weekly Farmers Market and host things like a Vegan Food Festival. Lots of charities, community groups if you feel like getting involved in the city. Also home to the mouthwatering Pieminister pies.

Downsides are traffic, resident parking zones, property prices / rents, bike theives, local politics, local football teams, too many supermarkets.

Places to look for rented accomodation would be Redland, Cotham, Kingsdown, St Andrews, Bishopston, Horfield, Clifton, Southville, Totterdown. I personally would look around the Gloucester Road area as its a really vibrant road with lots of independent shops – Bishopston, St Andrews, Horfield – and has easy access to the city centre.

Downsides are traffic, resident parking zones,

interesting – RPZ are positioned as part of the traffic solution.. Discuss?

One of the few southern cities I’d live in (applied for a job, didn’t get). Everyone there loves it, which seemed a bit creepy and false at first, but is actually genuine. Seems to have just the right mix of everything, including good cycling.

I wouldn’t look at clifton unless you’re loaded and really want to be surrounded by asshats. Worst parking in bristol too. Avoid the places mentioned by domwells, and mainly you’ll be ok.

OP, where are you living at the moment? Would you be looking to rent or buy, and will you be selling somewhere in the SE?

mmm, seems i’m the only one that didn’t really enjoy living there, we moved to Bristol from Exeter in 2008 and didn’t really get on with it – lived in Redfield for 2 yrs then moved to Downend as the schools in central Bristol were all awful – drug addicts parents dropping off their kids in the morning and then shooting up at the school gates was the last straw.

Downend was ok, but we didn’t get on with a lot of people in the area, which was 99% white middle class which was the opposite of Redfield which was quite vibrant and ethnically rich which we much preferred as it had a community vibe.

I guess like any city it depends on the area you live in, and the people / friends you make – any way we moved to the Cotswolds this year and haven’t looked back.

From a commuting / riding point of view it was great, I used to ride my bike to work 3 or 4 days out of 5 and had Ashton court a 5min ride away from work, which I do miss as now i’m driving every day.

I went to uni there, liked it, but was ready to leave after 3 years. Just not a city person I think, not sure I’d have preferred any other city, so perhaps a moot point.

I’m not really a city type (grew up in rural Somerset), but I love living in Bristol. It has its problems, for sure, but the woods (& the trails) are about a ten minute ride from the centre… which kinda makes up for it.

I’m never bored here, I’ll say that. There’s interesting stuff going on 24/7 – and you can easily escape to the country (Mendips, Quantocks, S.Wales), if needs be.

It’s the only place in the south I’d consider living. HTH. 🙂

grum +1

The only cities Mrs S and I would consider living in now are:

Vancouver
Stockholm
Geneva
and Bristol.

I have a number of v good friends in Bristol and I love to visit. Fortunately only an hour away for me. I wish they’d refresh the @Bristol science museum as it’s getting very tired and worn out now so need some new ideas for reasons to take the kids.

I love to visit

No more Bespoked. 🙁

Although there are plenty of other excuses for getting lashed on IPA. 😀

Indeed – have convinced Mrs S that we should have our “Shareholder’s meeting” in Brizzle. *hic*

Lived there for 6 years, loved it, moved to a really nice Somerset town which is a bit like a scaled down Bristol, but cheap. If circumstances change I’d be back in Bristle like a shot.

Lived in plenty of bits of Bristol, my fav is Easton

Thanks again for the replies.

deadlydarcy – Member
OP, where are you living at the moment? Would you be looking to rent or buy, and will you be selling somewhere in the SE?

Renting in Sussex and will be renting in Bristol. Seems to be about a third cheaper, which is nice.