It's not the 90s anymore
Not in the rest of the country anyway. 😛
Manchester is great ! That is a fact, if its grimy then grime is also great !
Don't get me wrong - I like Manchester and it's pretty trendy and cosmopolitan these days - it's just not for me.
York.
Another place that's only technically a city. If we're including them then Lancaster is quite nice, but it's not really what the OP is looking for.
I would also consider if you can ride from your doorstep in any of the cities
From many parts of Sheffield you can ride to Parkwood springs, grenoside and warncliff woods, Bolehill and rivelin valley, stanage, blackamoor and houndkirk etc etc
Most of my midweeks rides are either from my or a mates house meaning that I'm not driving for 1\2hour either way to get somewhere.
If I were going to live in a city, it'd be Manchester or Newcastle I reckon.
Leeds and York are nice though.
Cardiff, for the reasons mentioned above, plus I know for a fact there's already one Scot living here already.
I hated living in Aberdeen.
Do you need to live in a city ot just ne near enough one to get the city vibe? I left Aberdeeen for Stonehaven and loved it. Ok, way not a city, but a short train or bus trip (weekend last bus back was 2AM), and even a taxi back wasn't too bad
Loved Glasgow though
"Gateshead seemed nice" - honestly i've never seen or heard those words before, even from the locals.
I only went to the Sage TBF.
Ha. Pains me to say it, as I'm bred to hate the mere mention of the place, Newcastle is a canny city. Not too sure about the bike riding to be honest. Plenty of good stuff within reasonable driving/train time, but wouldnt want to ride from there.
Mackem........Grrrrrrr 👿
As much as I love Newcastle and especially Gateshead.
If I was looking for a city to Live in that I had no ties to,Edinburgh would be top of my list
Well all the controversy has made me definitely wanna take another look at Newcastle. Seems like the north of England getting a fair few shouts in general. Interestingly nobody's mentioned Liverpool or Brighton which I'd heard are worth a look.
But fantastic responses folks, genuine thanks!
Liverpool is a horrendous hole. Brighton has a better choice of hole, but would not be a city of choice for me.
I've never found the appeal for Edinburgh every time I've gone found it a bit of a dump.
I've never found the appeal for Edinburgh every time I've gone found it a bit of a dump.
😕
I've never found the appeal for Edinburgh every time I've gone found it a bit of a dump.
You could get this impression from any city you visit, depending on which part you are in.
I'm with Kayak, St Davids is my kind of city.
Possibly not the cultural attraction the OP is after though.
You could get this impression from any city you visit, depending on which part you are in.
True but I really did find it very dirt and scruffy. My wife loves Edinburgh and seems very popular but I didn't think it's up to much myself.
I moved from Cheshire in 1991 for London and been here ever since, except for a short stint about 3 years ago when I moved to Manchester.
The main thing which hit me was the weather. I wasn't expecting it to be great in comparison to London but it rained almost every day at some point (I was there from Sept-May)... maybe this wasn't typical but it meant I didn't ride anything like as often as I wanted to... (maybe I've just gone soft!)
I have just re read the Op's Brief so Edinburgh is out (Drac will be pleased)
You really do need to give Newcastle at least a try.
EDIT: OP.... I am with you on Aberdeen, I have spent a lot of time there and just could not make myself like it. I have got a lot of good friends who live there who love it, so what do I know ?
Bristol is grim. Not Northern grim, but still grim.
Rather depends where you are. Sure, there are bits you really wouldn't want to live, like St Paul's, Montpelier or parts of St Werberghs, but it's a big city.
I would say Bath, it's compact, easy to get around on foot, and close enough to all the major road networks, plus it's on the main rail line to and from London and Bristol. You can easily cycle from Bath to Bristol on the Sustrans path...
Or there are places between the two cities which give you all the advantages, without actually living in a city, like Keynsham, Bitton, Saltford.
Another vote for Cardiff.
Manchester.
It's got the largest brick built structure in Europe; Stockport Viaduct.
Accept no substitutes.
Manchester has everything that you say you like.
There's art, lots of music, theatre, independent cinema, a great university that keeps the whole place alive and on its toes, a just-out-of-the-city trail centre, Dark Peak riding from Marple or New Mills within 45 mins if you don't live to the north of the city, great night life, s****y restaurants, China town, great pubs etc. The weather's not brilliant and commuting can be a pain the neck.
But yeah, Hora lives here, so ...
It's got the largest brick built structure in Europe; Stockport Viaduct.
Well that's all well and good but Newcastle (well tyneside anyway...) has the largest wooden structure in Europe - Dunston Staithes.
As anyone who's ever watched a McMoonter shed build thread knows, wood beats brick every time.
I was born and raised in Leeds and loved the city. We moved to Newcastle upon Tyne 10 years ago. Absolutely love it. If you do move to England move anywhere north of the Pennines. Newcastle has everything you need. Close to beaches, Hour and half from lakes, Kielder, Hamsterley on your doorstep and the seven stanes are close enough for a day trip. Cracking night life and if the arts and culture thing floats your boat then the Baltic, Sage, Northern Stage, Theatres.And theres the Metro centre if you still do the shopping thing.And of course there is the Geordie factor, Friendly helpful funny canny people. You don't get that south of pennines. Fact.
+1 Bath
great place and right next to Bristol if you get bored
And only £6.80 return on the train offpeak
Brighton! It's brilliant. I've lived in Reading, Newbury and Bristol and none of them come close. Loads of culture, great pubs, great food, night life and lovely countryside and good cycling scene. Only downside is it's ba long way to travel to proper mountains and it's expensive for accommodation.
I moved from Manchester to Cardiff. Don't do it. There is nothing to see here. Move along.
A very biased vote for EDINBURGH here. Fantastic place to live - and you can be in the hills, on the beach or on the trails in 30 mins...by bike!
A couple of hours on the train to Newcastle if you ever need reminded of why you moved to Edinburgh!
Manchester.It's got the largest brick built structure in Europe; Stockport Viaduct.
Accept no substitutes.
It's provincially quaint though and tiny. The bit in the middle made of shops and offices that isn't grim housing would fit inside Hyde park.
If it's not London then it has to be St David's, everything else in between is grim apart from Bath which is a nice place and plenty of money but not in a gauche northern way.
When you say St David's I assume you mean the "city" of ~1800 people in Wales
As opposed to the Train Station in Exeter?
😛
Btw.. what is Exeter like to live in anyway?
If it's not London then it has to be St David's, everything else in between is grim apart from Bath which is a nice place and plenty of money but not in a gauche northern way.
Do you affect a snobbish self-obsessed London media ****er persona on here for effect or is that genuinely what you are like?
OP out of interest what do you do? There are not many professions where you can live any where.
Anyway if you like the outdoors how about Bangor?
If I could live anywhere it would probably be San Francisco
I'm in Leeds, it's great for so many reasons and I'm going nowhere else any time soon.
Having said that I would also consider Sheffield, Bristol, Cardif, Edinburgh. Probably not Manchester, simply for the reason it rains A LOT (was raised to the south of Manx)
Do you affect a snobbish self-obsessed London media **** persona on here for effect or is that genuinely what you are like?
Purely for giggles.
Fair enough. You do it well. 🙂
I always view MrSmith as a less funny davidtaylforth
I have just re read the Op's Brief so Edinburgh is out (Drac will be pleased)
Hahaha it's my opinion many people seem to like it.
London
Cardiff has a few things going for it:
- Far more facilities and amenities than most cities/towns of its size, because the hinterland is really big (i.e. the Valleys) and the city draws a lot of people in.
- It has loads of cultural things going on, because much of the Welsh National this and that is here. There are two theatres I know of, two posh venues for ballets, operas and the like, there's also one chav-tastic cheap venue, and the stadium too for.. er.. monster truck displays... 🙂
- The riding's good, far better than Bristol which seems to have one overcrowded tiny bit of woodland full of angry trail users and bike thieves as far as I can tell. The trails start just outside the city (and are accessible off-road from the centre) and continue all the way to the North Wales coast. You can ride to Cwmcarn on good trails and even the Beacons and theoretially Afan if you have the time and legs. No car required. There's also a rail network in amongst the trails - you can get a train to Cwmcarn in about 20 mins from Cardiff Central.
- The town centre's lovely. Castle, park and river are all right next to the shops, and the bay is not far away as an alternative for eating out. Loads of new development, big fancy shops as well as small independents still right in town.
- Traffic isn't really bad when driving, except for a few hotspots at rush hour but even that's not as bad as most cities. It's only about 5 miles from the very edge of the City to the centre, and the back roads are quiet. Cycling is a breeze.
Just to be contrarian I'm going to say Chester. Handy for North and Mid Wales, close to bigger cities for culchah, good for mways for trips back up norf. Nice place, too.
Normally I'd just say Manchester too, though.
Bath Bath ???? have you all gone mad, traffic nightmares and stupidly expensive.
There is only one answer and that is Newport an unrelenting crap hole but its cheap and the riding is superb.
Bath is not really comparable to the likes of Bristol, Cardiff etc is it, it's bloody tiny.
Anyway, OP has not given enough information. Buying or renting? How much $$$? Do you want bang central or suburbs? Kids/schools or not? What about your work + commuting?
(edit) Newport .... lol
Just to be contrarian I'm going to say Chester. Handy for North and Mid Wales, close to bigger cities for culchah, good for mways for trips back up norf. Nice place, too.Normally I'd just say Manchester too, though.
I work in Manchester but live in Chester for the above reasons plus I don't like Manchester- its just a sprawl with no character and the traffic is worse than London I reckon. I'd prefer Liverpool to Manchester any day.
Glasgow, although kind of similar to Manchester, I much prefer as it has more character and of course in 30 mins you can be in the Highlands.
When we lived down south we frequented Bristol a fair bit. Great city especially the centre, docks and Clifton areas. Bristol is always mentioned in threads like this for good reason.
Manchester city center is a shit hole always has been always will be I've lived here most of my life.
It has two great theaters + Lowery (Salford) but apart from that I hate going into town (I live and work in Sale. )The city center is just a dump.
Hereford would get my vote as I've lived there and feels more like a rural small town than a city.
Chichester
