[Closed] Thinking of moving some where new. Suggestions?

Not sure about the 100,000 but Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield?

Depends on reasons for moving, what line of work you are looking for etc.

Is this how they run witness protection in this age of austerity.....?

It doesn't have to be 100,000 but i'm looking for that sort of size. I'm looking for a nice city with good mountain biking.

Manchester/Sheffield/Leeds.

Somewhere between Manchester and Leeds would be perfect I reckon.

Bath is really nice ,expensive though but with good access to cycling

Bristol was recently voted the best UK city to live in. You can ride MTB from the door. Lots of MTB destinations within short drive. UKs first cycle friendly city. Good access to everywhere in the south. Its definitely not northern though.

out of those I'd move to bristol, but then as far as I'm concerned that's still in the far north.

exeter would be about my limit.

qwerty - Member

Bristol was recently voted the best UK city to live in. You can ride MTB from the door. Lots of MTB destinations within short drive. UKs first cycle friendly city. Good access to everywhere in the south. Its definitely not northern though.

The same Bristol that seems to have 90% of the stolen bikes threads on here ?

I've got my eye on Bewdley, for similar reasons. Nice houses available for cheap but you'd experience some horrific accents

Of those, Manchester. If you live in north Manchester there's riding from the door - as the Monday Night Pub Rides attest - and if you were prepared to live further east in somewhere smaller there's brilliant riding from the door (we live in Todmorden which is 30 minutes on the train from central Manchester). It's also an easy drive to the Lakes, north Wales, north Yorks... like the centre of the universe. Really.

Birmingham.
Slap bang in the middle of the country so easy access to most places.
Great city with brilliant pubs, bars, food and shopping.
Lots of nice little towns on the outskirts that give good access to both countryside and the City.
Lots of jobs and easy commute to other towns with more jobs.

Frankly, it's almost perfect.

What a bizarre first post!

Birmingham.

I heard it was a 'no go' zone these days 🙂

[quote=weeksy said]qwerty - Member
Bristol was recently voted the best UK city to live in. You can ride MTB from the door. Lots of MTB destinations within short drive. UKs first cycle friendly city. Good access to everywhere in the south. Its definitely not northern though.

The same Bristol that seems to have 90% of the stolen bikes threads on here ?

The poll was in Bike Thief Quarterly.

out of that list 'none of the above' fall in to the category marked 'nice city' IMO. as Jambo. dartmoor, quantocks if you want natural. FOD, the south wales centres within reach, and haldon on your doorstep.
also handy if you fancy the beach.

cardiff, manchester, bristol, cheltenham.

dartmoor, quantocks if you want natural. FOD, the south wales centres within reach, and haldon on your doorstep.
also handy if you fancy the beach.

Some good stuff but there are no nice cities in devon.

exeter is nice
plymouth is a shithole.

I was thinking of Exeter but there's no jobs for me. It's between Cardiff and Bristol in the south and Manchester in the north. What are your opinions on these? Also how do other northern cities like Sheffield Leeds and Nottingham compare to manchester.

Bristol (and to a lesser extent Bath) born & bred, Nottingham educated and now live in Manchester.

All have their plus points.

Bristol in the summer (on a sunny day) is simply unbeatable. Lovely atmosphere (especially if, like me, you're of a liberal persuasion).

Manchester is great fun - right on the door step of the Peaks (the Saturday morning train is a gem), the Lakes and North Wales. Also the city has a bit more of edge to it, a [i]proper[/i] city if you know what I mean.

Also, if you have ambitions of owning your own home, it's got to be Manchester

ETA: What do you do for a living? For me that would have a huge bearing on it.

If it was me and riding was the primary concern I'd say Bristol, Bath or Sheffield, with much of the final decision based on budget and desired level of poshness.

The most holy caliphate of Birmingham is much underrated and very inexpensive but the roads and drivers are some of the worst in the U.K. for cycling on and any decent off road will involve an hour+ drive so although I'm very fond of the place I can't recommend it on that basis.

Nottingham, and more especially Derby, are handy for the Peaks. Either side of the M1 for travel, Derby has come on as a city in the 10 years we have been up here as the uni has developed, Nottingham has two unis and even more studenty.

Neither showing on the STW bike theft hotspot list either 😉

dartmoor, quantocks if you want natural.

Since when has dartmoor or quantocks been a city?

Birmingham.
Frankly, it's almost perfect.

Now theres something I'd never see written down.

Have lived in Cardiff and currently in Bristol. They are both nice. Lived in a few other cities, too, for reference. Cardiff punches well above its weight as its a capital city. Seems to get a lot more going on than a city of that size should. The centre is compact and flat so easy to get around. Not much riding from the door without a long slog to start. Very handy for some good natural trails and trail centres by car. Bristol has a some nice trails near the centre, good for an evening ride or a little play. Its also a short drive to some good bigger stuff. Very nice feel in Bristol. Took me a while to get used to it, though. Very laid back, liberal, slightly slower pace of life. I wouldn't let the bike theft thing worry you about Bristol. Its probably above average but then it has a well above average number of cyclists.

Birmingham.
Frankly, it's almost perfect.

Never been one of my favourites...

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I'd vote for Bristol, I think. Or Manchester. TBH it rather depends on your income and which bit of it you can afford to live in.

Birmingham.
Slap bang in the middle of the country so easy access to most places.

It still has easy access to Birmingham but is a much nicer,very small city with easy access to the countryside and Cannock Chase is just down the road, relatively speaking.

the answer is sheffield.

you can buy affordable houses 30mins walk from the centre, AND have this on your doorstep:

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and, we've got the best graffiti:

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Swansea - some good riding near city centre, close to Afan / Brecons / Brechfa etc. Can surf before/after work. Don't expect a particularly cultural experience though.

I'd say Bristol but then I do live there. Moved 10 years ago and love it.

Things I love about Bristol

* Local riding - Mtb : ashton court, Leigh woods, Belmont, pump track. Also the mendips and wales aren't too far away. My favourite rides have been cycling from my house through the centre, a few laps of ashton court, stop off for a few pints in clifton and then a wkd urban ride downhill into the centre and round the harbourside riding half cut 🙂

Road - tons of very friendly cycling clubs and a great Cyclocross scene

* Bristol bath cycle track - use it every day for commuting and love it. Lovely in the summer riding to Bath or stopping at pubs on the way

* Summer - amazing having a pint by Harbourside. Street parties, St Paul’s Carnival, St Werburgh’s City Farm fair, Love Saves The Day festival, Tokyo Dub festival, Harbour Festival, brisfest

* randomness - Some of the cool graffiti (a lot which Bristol city council advocate) [url=

[url=

and, we've got the best graffiti:

I think you'll have to do better than that to beat Bristol

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how do other northern cities like Sheffield Leeds and Nottingham compare to manchester.

Sheffield is quite nice and is right on the edge of the Peak District. Leeds has an attitude problem, I didn't like living there at all.

Nottingham is a ****ing shithole, and it doesn't count as northern.

I lived in Sheffield for 3 years as a student and really liked the place. As others have said there's some stunning riding right on your doorstep and if you pick the right part of town to live you're out the door and into the Peak District. I used to live near Endcliffe Park then Ranmoor for a year and have many fond memories of long days out on the bike.

I've just finished a 3 year stint in Leeds doing a PhD at the uni and to be fair was happy to get out of the place. In all fairness though I think that had more to do with the fact that due to funding constraints I was living in some pretty grotty areas. North Leeds and the outlying areas (Adel, Otley, Skipton, Ilkley, Roundhay, some parts of Horsforth) are rather lovely though and there is a trail that runs right from the city centre into some lovely XC riding.

cardiff, manchester, bristol, cheltenham.

Thing is, by the population size requirement, what are you after? A vibrant "scene", loads of clubbing, trendy bars and coffee shops, or a place you can just go out and have a good fight on an evening? 😉 (Swansea is ideal for that 😛 )

I'm not keen on big cities myself. Miserable anonymous places at times and nightmare with traffic and expensive to live with tiny houses and no parking. For MTB it's also adding on a fair bit of time to get out of the place to travel to trails. I live in Surrey, close enough to London so I can pop in for entertainment at times and easy access to airports, but also plenty of MTB stuff about which is quick for me to get to whereas it would take a lot longer if I lived in London. I'm not big on night life though so happier with a quieter place. In fact I'd like to find something a bit more rural, but yet still convenient.

I grew up in Devon and in younger days just wanted to get out as it seemed dull, but I'd like living there now. However it's still miles away from civilisation.

jam bo - Member
exeter is nice
plymouth is a shithole.

+1 to that.

Todmorden = centre of the universe. That made me laugh out loud and spill my brew.

I'm not keen on big cities myself. Miserable anonymous places at times and nightmare with traffic and expensive to live

I live in Surrey

Am I the only one who got martinhutch's joke?

Thanks for all the suggestions and information its very helpful. I currently live near Bristol so i'm trying to decide if i stay here or move to another city. Cardiff sounds quite good and its not too far from where i am now. I would probably take Manchester over Sheffield due to the location and distance to the lakes and north wales but still being close enough to the peaks. Now i'm trying to decide whether to stay in the Bristol/Cardiff area or move north to Manchester or maybe Sheffield.

Thanks,

James

Am I the only one who got martinhutch's joke?

Quite possibly. I for one didn't understand it...........

I get it now I've looked. I didn't spot it at the time 🙂

Out of the ones the OP mentioned I'd go for Bristol but I'll also add Chester although at about 80,000 inhabitants it doesn't quite meet the OP's somewhat arbitrary lower population limit. Easy access to N Wales and the Peak for riding and two big cities nearby and two hours to London on the train.

I live in Sheffield and love it, a great place to live. Job opportunities probably better in Leeds and Manchester. Its great for countryside on your doorstep but crossing the pennines to get elsewhere can be a right PITA.

Out of the ones the OP mentioned I'd go for Bristol but I'll also add Chester although at about 80,000 inhabitants it doesn't quite meet the OP's somewhat arbitrary lower population limit. Easy access to N Wales and the Peak for riding and two big cities nearby and two hours to London on the train.

Thanks i'll see if there are any jobs available for me. Also the population was just a rough guide.

Thanks,

James

Just to counteract those slagging Leeds, I think it's a great city and don't really understand the attitude problem thing, and I've lived here for the last 12 years. Like any city it has it;'s shit bits but it's also got some really nice areas if you've got the money and some nice riding from those areas as they're generally all in north Leeds. From where I live I can be at the peaks, Warncliffe/Grenoside, Stainburn in less than an hour, and Gisburn and the dales in not much more than an hour. I can be on the M62 or M1 in less than 5 minutes and A1 in a couple more. Which is good because the riding is crap form the bit of Leeds I live in!!

There's a lot of money in Leeds at the moment which means there's a good choice of places to go for nights out.

I'm originally from Leicester and have lived in Halifax for a few years as well but am very happy in Leeds and am not in a rush to move away from the city.

Am I the only one who got martinhutch's joke?

It's only appreciated by people who have shared the grim depression of having to head south/north on a Friday night...

I'm originally from Leicester and have lived in Halifax for a few years as well but am very happy in Leeds and am not in a rush to move away from the city.

Well, Leeds must seem like some kind of urban paradise, then. 🙂

I got the joke. Best thing about Frankly is the M&S - get in, grab a coronation chicken sarnie and some sausage rolls and get the hell out of there!

Oi! Halifax is dead nice. I prefer living here rather than the 22 years I spent living in York. As someone said above about Sheffield, Halifax has all that but a shorter walk into the centre and better riding 😉

Derby is very well located for transport and riding. It lacks decent restaurants apart from curry houses and the clubs are rubbish, but it is easy to go for a night out in Nottingham.

Culture wise Derby is not too bad there is a good independent cinema as well as large showcase cinema and two theatres. In the city centre there is a large modern shopping centre. If you are used to waitrose there isn't one. Derby also has decent city parks. One thing I would say is that location in the city is important.

Sheffield is a good choice if you don't mind being in the north and a bigger city.

In the last 20 years I've lived in 16 different places (most in the UK) and worked in 17 different countries. Bristol was the stand-out best of them all. It has arts, culture, food, beer, sports, festivals, events, local identity, diversity of every kind, good access to the rest of the UK etc etc.
The grass isn't greener, it's just a different shade of green.

Edited to add - the people I met there really made it.

I'm not keen on big cities myself. Miserable anonymous places at times and nightmare with traffic and expensive to live

I live in Surrey

Huh?

Depends on which part of Surrey...
Surrey Hills, good.
Surrey Quays, not so good.

Swansea.

Once you get past the weather (it rains here everyday pretty much), the lack of good jobs, the chavs, the druggies, the drunks, the violence, the crime, the grayness, the utter-shit city centre, poor public transport, millions of traffic lights, lack of music venue, etc etc it's a brilliant place to live 🙂

Oh and some of the best riding in the world on your doorstep. 🙂

I've narrowed it down to either Cardiff or Manchester what do you think?

jamesj197 - Member
I've narrowed it down to either Cardiff or Manchester what do you think?

I think you like cars as much as you like bikes and its a bit weird how youve recently joined both camps to ask the same question