I moved to Sheffield in November and i love it, We live in Worrall, 4 miles from centre, but has a village feel and really close links to the peaks. Like previous posts, it feels friendly, loads of outdoor stuff, plenty of ale and house prices are reasonable. I wouldnt live anywhere else!

Thanks for the replies, help and offers of advice. All very useful. It is certainlly looking like Sheffield is leading at the moment. My wife would rather the Midlands or North and I like the idea too. We have family near Sheffield ( Worksop way) and Chichester.
As far as football, I like the blades 🙂 so safe with that. Hilly road rides are better for me too. We all like outdoor activities so will be OK with that, though we will miss a hot beach and relatively warm sea. We will have to make our minds up soon, getting fed up with procrastinating. Pulls a pondering yet thoughtful face.

I live in SW Sheffield having moved here 15 years ago from Oxford. It’s a great place to live for outdoor pursuits- I can run and cycle into the PDNP within 10 minutes from here, yet have all of the facilities of a big city 15 minutes the other way. It’s by far the best place I’ve lived and is loads cheaper than down south (although house prices vary quite a bit from place to place within the city). Happy to answer any specific questions if you email me.

Wow, those crime stats are surprising.

TLR, where do you live?

Edit: in fact where are all of you? Sounds like we’re all neighbours

Wow, those crime stats are surprising.

Not sure how much to read into that. The stats are based on a 1 mile radius from a point (ie an area). I can’t work out if the crime is adjusted for population density.

Either way, I live a few miles out of Sheffield on edge of peaks so I don’t think those stats apply here.

We have family near Sheffield ( Worksop way)

We have lots and lots of doorstep riding Worksop way. Clumber, Sherwood Pines and decent off-road riding all the way to Sheffield.

I’m born and bread here, I think you get used to the roughness.

For me, it would be Sheffield…

Chichester is going to have a vast amount of development in the coming 10 years or so. It effectively has to increase in size by 30pc which means plenty of nice Green bits going under concrete. (And by definition the development always impacts the trails out of town, with single track improved with tarmac.)

Also there will be major development of the A27 past the town in the next 5 years and whatever they do about that will be negative for the town.

So if you like it now, you might not like it after the ‘improvements’. On the other hand if you don’t like it because there’s not enough concrete then you’ll love it in five years time!

“TLR, where do you live?

Edit: in fact where are all of you? Sounds like we’re all neighbours”

I’m at the top end of Dore, not too far from the Dore Moor pub. Anywhere near you?

Could be a good subject for another thread.

Chichester is going to have a vast amount of development in the coming 10 years or so. It effectively has to increase in size by 30pc which means plenty of nice Green bits going under concrete.

South coast is taking a massive hit in this respect. It’s becoming an unbearable place to get anywhere by car. And losing greenery by the week 🙁

I have just looked on rightmove and chichester is quite pricey, cheaper than london suburbs, if it was me i would choose chichester as i like the sea. If the salary was the same though i d head north as it would go further.

I live in Brighton. Out of the two I’d choose Sheffield. Chichester just feels twee! And those bloody roundabouts on the bypass… Haven’t been to Sheffield since 6th form when I was at school nearby but I hear plenty of good things about it (and my Mum’s side of the family are all from that neck of the woods, just the Derbyshire side of the city).

I just looked up the stats – Sheffield is 20 times as big as Chichester and triple that if you could the whole conurbation!

Ha TLR we probably are neighbours. I live just off newfield lane myself.

Are you the 60 year old black lady, or the 80 year old white lady?

I grew up near Petersfield, so not too far from chichester, now live near Matlock, not far from Sheffield. Sheffield wins hands down for me. surrounding area is stunning. City is pretty vibrant. no comparison riding wise.

“Waves at pook and tlr and superficial from Fulwood”

I’m one of those who came here for uni (in 1988) and never left.
Sheffield is perfect for me.
Only down side is distance from the coast.

Those crime stats look Mickey mouse to me. Are they absolute values or relative to population size etc… I can’t see anything on the website. Also.. within a 1 mile radius of the centre… Just by default of the relative sizes, they are very different compositio within one mile of the centre. Looks like a crap comparison site! Maybe it works bettter for towns/cities of similar sizes..? Even then different places are made up differently.

Sheff’s ace – vibrant city, great music scene, beautiful countryside on it’s doorstep, 2 big footy clubs currently failing to realise their potential. Loads of nice suburbs, towns and villages nearby if you don’t want to live in the city

I moved to Sheffield to study in 2002 and have stayed (well I’m now just south of Sheffield).

As others have said, Sheffield is really a collection of villages (some pretty grim, others really very nice indeed). It lacks the infrastructure and commerce of places like Leeds and Manchester which can be seen as a good or a bad thing. I love being so close to the peaks but do feel quite constrained by the lack of work opportunities in my particular area of IT dullness. Having said that, Manchester is just about commutable by car from the west of the city (the nice bit) and from the centre by train.
Re riding Sheffield offers the below all within 30 mins of most of the city and as others have said you can ride out of some areas straight into the Peak(s)

Dark Peak
White Peak
Wharncliff downhill
Grenoside downhill light
Parkwood springs
Lady cannings plantation
Endless roady-ing into the peaks

No experience of Chichester but it don’t seem lumpy enough for biking down that way imo 🙂

Docrobster – I’m Fulwood too! I’ll shout hello out the front door.

Did you hear me?

^^ you two please stop bromancing about Fulwood!

We lived and got married there but then had to move to the relative ghettos to buy our first house..

Still miss fulwood 🙁 #jealousy

Ah, I too once lived in the professorial belt (Hangingwater Road).

Hillsborough now. It’s handier for Greno though 😀

I think it’s called the Professorial Quarter now. We’ve got about 17 quarters.

“Edit: in fact where are all of you? Sounds like we’re all neighbours”

Hathersage here. I used to live in Brighton, worked in Chichester for a while and did jury service there.

Sheffield. No contest, for all the reasons mentioned above.

“Edit: in fact where are all of you? Sounds like we’re all neighbours”

Should go without saying, but Grenoside. 😉

Crime: They didn’t make Four Lions in Chichester 😉

I love the Peak District and Lakes are only 1.5hrs ? Whichever you chose OP the outdoor life will be wonderful

In answer to the OP, Sheffield by a country mile. The best place I have ever lived, so much going for it, though it is often seen as a poor relation to Leeds and Manchester (though I don’t entirely agree with that TBH).

“Edit: in fact where are all of you? Sounds like we’re all neighbours”

Until last week I was in Hathersage, have just moved to Totley, right up from the Fleur de Lys pub. If there are any locals who ride up on Totley Moor drop me a line as I don’t know the trails round there that well and don’t have many people to ride with this side of town at the moment.

i grew up just over the other side of chichester harbour from chichester so know the area very well, its a lovely part of the world.

the south downs are simply stunning, i still miss not having them to mountainbike in, and the coast itself wonderfully varied from open sand beaches to hidden tidal creeks. the sailing is amazing in chichester harbour.

beyond that london is a short drive as is brighton and of course portsmouth if you want the channel ferries is 30mins away. so as a base to live it has a lot going for it.

i’d move back.

Crime: They didn’t make Four Lions in Chichester

In Four Lions they don’t commit any crimes in Sheffield 😉

In the late 90s I thought Sheffield was a dump but a lot of money has been spent on it since and it now looks pretty modern and appealing. It’s my ‘go to’ drinking place, some great bars, loads to do

I live in Millhouses, not far from the park, ride to work through Eccleshall Woods, limb valley (or houndkirk and blacka if I leave a bit earlier) the SW corner of Sheffield is certainly not a ghetto. There are plenty of good schools, house prices are way less than ‘the south’ although not the crazy bargains of 10 years ago.

I like it here a lot and short of being able to live in the highlands/Pyrenees/Tenerife and not work I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

As everyone has been so helpful on here so far and it looks as though I am a step closer to moving I now have the decision, where in Sheffield is good to live and where to avoid? Outskirts or neighbouring villages would also be good. I know Whitwell a little and Worksop a long long time ago. We are hoping for quiet and friendly rather than night life. Outdoors rather than inside.

Good luck with your choice. Yesterday I was digging out some routes a fellow STWer sent me starting in Chichester. Noticed how close the airfield and circuit are, Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival 🙂

What’s your budget and house size requirement?

Ecclesall, Dore, Whirlow, Fulwood and Lodgemoor areas are all very nice and right on the edge of the Peak, but are at the higher end price wise. Basically the western parts of S17, 11, 10.

The obvious villages in Hope Valley are expensive, and I’d rather live on the edge of Sheffield personally.

The villages between Sheffield and Chesterfield always look nice, but I don’t know much about living there.

We are looking to rent a 2-bed house with garden. We have a 9 year old who will be going into year 6 in September so that is a priority. Budget would be cheap and cheerful if we can. It’s been a long time since we have lived in the UK so would rather not commit too much to one house straight away. My wife and I have agreed on Sheffield over Chichester so far which is good. The area would also depend on work availability for my wife, which is why we are trying to see which areas could be suitably so we can narrow her job search down.
Thanks for the help tlr.

When we moved into the Sheffield area last year, we were looking at rental houses and were shocked by the rental prices in the Western side (nice areas) of Sheffield. In the end we rented in Penistone, which is to the North of Sheffield. Rent was much more reasonable and it has excellent access to the countryside (and trans pennine trail), shops and excellent schools. It also has a train station- sheffield is 40 mins, barnsley 15 mins and huddersfield 30 mins which gives alot of choice for where your wife could work. We found it an excellent place to rent while we sussed out out the area and where we wanted to buy.

Cheap and cheerful: Walkley (slightly less cheap, but cheaper than nicest areas), Hillsborough (more cheap, not the nicest but fine – I live there – and very handy for city centre).

Woodseats is cheaper than some bits but still nice, with its own shopping centre. Quick access to the Peak via hutcliffe/ecclesall/abbeydale woods and Beauchief abbey grounds. Not as quick as dore / lodge moor/whirlow etc but prices more sensible.

Part of me likes the idea of moving to somewhere like the outskirts of Sheffield, or somewhere near Hebden Bridge, for those “closer to nature” and “escape the rat race” sort of ideals.

But having come to Southampton ~25 years ago from Wirral (and having lived in the likes of Prestwich; Dogellau; Shropshire), I’m not sure I could return “up North” to what I remember through rose tinted glasses as being much harsher winters and not so nice summers.

The irony for me is that I would have much better odds of owning my own home up there, while through a combination of crazy house prices down here and my own boring personal circumstances I’m not sure these days if I will ever get on the Southampton housing ladder.

And it’s not as if there is no access to nature around here, with the likes of the New Forest <10 miles away, albeit these relatively small green zones in the concrete jungle are more tricky to get to without a car.