If I get the job I'm after I'll be moving to Manchester soon. I've partly chosen Manchester cos it's dead close to the Lakes for riding. So even tho Cheshire's tempting, it's the wrong side of town for nipping up to the Lakes.
So where's nice on the northern side of town?

Prestwich and Simister if you want to be within 5 miles of the city. Loads more a bit further out.

Personally I'd rather not live in North Manchester. Key question is where abouts are you actually working.

I live in Rossendale which is around 20 miles north of Manchester with a direct motorway link to Manchester (although it does clog up in the morning). Sod the Lakes for riding, there's loads of fantastic riding in Rossendale and Calderdale from your doorstep.

Oh Rossendale is quite cheap to, East end of the valley where I live (opposite end to the motorway) modern 4 bed detached house with seperate garage around £ 200k. PLus my house is 1150ft above sea level so there's proper riding from my front door.

Ramsbottom/Rawtenstall area is where I am and quite good. Just off M'way but ace riding from the door.

Also consider Howich, Rivington on the doorstep and just off M61 for shooting up to the lakes.

Since I've moved up here I hardly ever ride the peaks as the riding round here is almost as good and it's easier to get to south lakes.

If outdoors/hills/biking are your priority, then yes, Ramsbottom/Rawtenstall way are a good place to start although quite a long way from Manchester.

If you want to live closer to town, then there are some nice parts of Prestwich & Whitefield.

The Peak District will take a while to get to from anywhere in the Manchester area if you have to travel on the A6 through Stockport or through Glossop.

If you do choose to live on the Cheshire side, then Wales is very close-by.

it's crap north of Manchester, move to Alderley Edge

South manchester ftw.

I've been living in prestwich for about 2yrs now, glad I chose here, you get more bang for your buck than south manchester. but as stumpyjon mentioned, there are dodgy parts of north manchester (prestwich and Whitefield are nice tho) and it depends where you're going to be working

Dude north Manchester is rarther…..erm how do I put it…..erm
s–t? As a south Manchester dude if you have a family
chorlton-cum-hardy, Disbury, West Disbury, realy nice chilled
you can get to either the lakes or peaks witout mch trouble

If I get the job, Salford. My aunt used to live in Bury. What's that like?

ok, what is your requirement. Do you have family? can you afford something posh or are you on a budget?
unfortunately Salford isn't great for public transport unless you are close to the crescent (train) or the tram – will you need the car where you work or are you prepared to cycle commute? Salford is pretty rough so you may need to be careful where you cycle through

I've lived in Salford, South Manchester and North Manchester and work in the middle of manchester, I'll try and help where I can 🙂 Bury I don't really know apols

like most cities there are good and bad bits and they are almost street specific not just good and bad areas

Well, I live in North Bury, been here over 20 years and love it.
Edge of the countryside so great riding from the door plus it's only a ten mile commute which is pretty reasonable. And there's an off-road option of 15 miles if you want to ride on fat tyres.
The local riding is excellent and there's plenty of it, but if you do want a change then Lakes, Dales, Peaks and North Wales are an easy drive away.
Best thing is riding from the back door – it's all my garden! 🙂

I was born in Bury, still work there.

I live in Rossendale, though. Bury became to rough to tolerate and I moved up the valley too.

Not sure if you'd call it north Manchester but Chorley and Buckshaw Village seem like good places. Excellent access to the M6, M61 and M65. Up to the south lakes in next to no time and you can get across to the Yorkshire Dales fast too. Chorley to Salford on the train takes about 30 mins.

Scotchegg – that must be just after I moved in! 🙂

south manchester- hora lives there.

terrahawk – Member

south manchester- hora lives there.

Not for long, he's moving to Mossley. (we hope, sorry Keith)

rossendale is where it is at, been here for 10 years and love the place.

Dales in 40 mins, Lakes in just over an hour and rucks of Pennine rides from my front door, perfect!

South Manchester is great for riding straight out into the peaks – Hayfield, Edale, castleton and ladybower all rideable straight outa the house. Also Lakes, Yorkshire Dales and North Wales (Coed-y-Brenin, etc) are all close enough for day rides.

You can easily commute up to Salford from South Mancs/Stockport along the river mersey, canal network and old train lines like the Followfield Loop give loads of off road alternatives.

Alternative live on the edge of the peaks, Marple, Mellor, New Mills and Hayfield are a stones throw away from excellent xc riding. Although you'd probably have a bit more of a commute to Salford even in the car.

We're in Marple. 2 train stations. Loads of riding from the doorstep. Nice community, friendly people.

If you're young, New Mills, Mellor or Marple maybe a bit stuck 'behind the times' for you. Although we do have a little cinema, cafes, a theatre and even electricity now!

home of singletrack area is very nice ! you cant go wrong.. we have an abundance of fells-tracks all over.. (3 valleys)…. oh and just down the road nr Bacup is 'Lee Quarry' ! you have to see and ride this rugged quarry ! mint…..

Have a look at Davyhulme, Very nice area, virtually crime free, easy access to motorways, near the trafford center for any high street shoping needs with free parking. 20mins cycling commute to salford, 10mins cycling to reach the transpennine trail and out into greener pastures and a pint in lymm.

We've moved from Accrington, down to near Delamere…

To be fair, the towns are nicer, but that's it…

I used to be able to ride out the back door and out into the hills..

Can't anymore..

As for getting to the Lakes, it's only about 40mins further on… And the Peak is not that far either..

I'm 37, single (no kids) and after a decent quality 2 bed house with bike storage (4 bikes!) and garden/patio/yard to clean them in. Decent area but not worried about bars and that, I can go to the centre of Manchester for that.
Just looking at the map, SW of town would work too – easy ride out to Cheshire on the road bike, easy drive into the Peaks and not too much of a trek to the Lakes either really…
So what's good round there. And sensibly priced – I won't be going anywhere Wilmslow/Alderley Edge etc any time soon!

Within M60 Chorlton's a good bet. Further out you have Sale and Altrincham. Some of the areas further round the M60 like Gatley and Cheadle are also worth a look.

Didsbury is fine if you want to go out on the lash and for people who want to be able to say they live in Didsbury. As a result it's awash with new flats. Chorlton is, apparently, the 'new didsbury'. I've lived in both places for at least a year each, more crime than I experienced living in rough parts of Liverpool when at uni and your car insurance will be higher than many other nicer areas of Manchester for good reason. House prices are high and IMHO do not equate to a better quality of life in this area. There are however, lots of nice looking young ladies in the metropolitan on a sat night, hence the extra £1 totty tax on the price of a pint.

Former resident of Bury, moved up to Rossendale – Bacup end, about 5 mins ride from Lee Quarry.

I used to work in Salford – from Bacup, its about 1/2hr to 1hr depending on traffic on the M60 in the morning.

When i was in Bury, it took longer from where i lived (to commute to Salford) because of the amount of traffic in Bury.

Bus links wise – there is the X43 that goes through Rawtenstall, then via the M66 to Prestwich, and gets to manchester and terminates at Piccadilly Gardens.

Houses wise – a simple 2 up, 2 in the middle, 2 down and a cellar back to back terrace is about £60,000 – 2 bed terraces are about £60-70k

Rent first and get a feel for the place. S Manchester is v different to n Manchester, salford's an easy bike commute from either. Riding wise, it's pretty academic – from either you're a relatively short drive from great riding in all directions. South Manchester to the peaks is doable by bike but it'd be a bit daft. Most people drive

Living in North manchester? What a simply frighful thought! I'm afraid most of it resembles a Dickins Novel.

One simply has to live South of the city dahling. Where one can get a decent latte of a morning. Where the Guardians protrude from every man-bag. Where one can feel insufferably smug while paying twice as much for vegetables because they're nobbly and have real mud on. Wher one is never more than 50 yards from a yoga class. Its all about priority 🙂

Or put another way, no one "lives" in N Manchester, they just exist. Wot wot?

Bury – NO.
Prestwich, look at the tram stop on the map- to the right/slightly above for circa 1/4mile. elsewhere in Prestwich no.

Chorlton, Sale, W.Didsbury- yes.

If you look common like me Stretford is fine.

If both you and your partner drive, as above Ramsbottom/Rossendale etc.

However you can not go wrong with Chorlton, Sale or W.Didsbury. However Sale is ridiculously overpriced now. A small box with the door out onto the street/no hallway for 140k with a yard for a garden.

…Towards Sale moor etc there are some bad estates.

If I was you'd I'd look at Chorlton- its commutable, close to the motorway, great pubs, trams coming there soon, the only downside is Binners lives there 😉

For it's sins Stockport isn't THAT bad and still cheap. Although geographically it's very south, north Manchester.

Bury – NO – seconded

Stockport is also good for the Peaks and Wales. Although commuting I imagine its a very busy route/place?

Stockport?!!!!!

Words of wisdom from Chavtowns.com

My work entails a lot of travelling around the country and I have the pleasure of spotting chavs in a variety of locations. I would have to say though that Stockport really is the pinnacle.

The bloody place exudes awfulness, I first realised this about five years ago on a Friday afternoon visit. The sheer number of unemployables was mind blowing. I was uncomfortably aware that I was wearing a suit and hadn’t attempted to disguise my car as a Ferrari – they probably thought I was a copper although if the old bill have any sense they’ll infiltrate Stockport’s criminal class by dressing in nicked Lacoste sweaters over white tracksuit pants tucked into oversized Rockports.

Take a trip along Merseyway, in a triumph of 1960s planning Stockport council concreted over the Mersey and the resulting precinct is a study in provincial English crap, here you can mingle with the local scrote population. Curiously, Stockport actually has some rather pleasant outlying towns and it is as though the town centre is a giant plughole, drawing in all the scum.

The average Stopfordian seems to roll out of his bed around eleven, take a 192 – or better still a deathtrap Corsa with a stolen stereo more powerful than it’s engine – down to sign on and then simply hangs around in the town. They aren’t even entertaining like the drunks in Manchester they’re just, well… crap!

The women seem to spend their days dragging their numerous snotnosed offspring around the dismal shops pausing only to hurl obscenities at little Britney or Rooney if one of them should show any displeasure or ask ‘is that my daddy?’ of any of the layabouts mummy might meet on her travels.

But Stockport by night is an altogether different prospect, think Wild West meets Fallujah on a bad day. Mindless, Stella fuelled fights are the norm and it’s really bad when the blokes start. Visiting aliens would think ‘are you looking at my bird?’ was a standard greeting. If you can walk from one end of town to the other of an evening without feeling apprehensive then you have either taken leave of your senses or are a prop forward in the SAS rugby team. Tony Blair needn’t worry about hospitals not coping in the event of a terror attack, Stepping Hill hospital has it’s own well practised mass casualty unit, just pray bin Laden’s boys don’t show up on a Friday or Saturday night.

Oh and one more thing – with a stunning lack of geographical knowledge Lamborghini have started flogging cars there, how any prospective buyers can get past the ranks of burberry capped arseholes leaning against the windows remains a mystery.

Stockport, what a hole. The local council have apparently been up in arms over content on this website. Sand and ostriches springs to mind

What about Altrincham?

Altrincham? Dear god no. It has the rare mix of being absolutely awash with cash in its suburbs (so ridiculously expensive), while retaining a town centre that is an utter shithole, populated entirely by scrotes from the outlying council estates

Yorkshire

Has Chorlton changed a lot recently then? When I lived there it was massively crime ridden.

I'd avoid anywhere in the Manchester region myself, especially South. If you want to be South of Manchester then as bunnyhop says, Marple is nice, and close enough to the Peaks to ride.

North Manchester, Ramsbottom if you can afford it, Rawtensall if you can't.

I personally think if you do go out to the sticks you need to have family or at least connections in that area.

We were thinking of moving to Hebden (well I was), Mossley, Saddleworth etc as we have alot of family closeby.

If its a relocation to a job I really think you'd be happy with Chorlton. True there is no riding straight out of your door but then you have alot of off the bike stuff on your doorstep and in a good area for the future.

Living in the sticks must be dull for non-riders.

Hora has always wanted to live in Chorlton. But we won't let him. We have standards 😀