Moving to Manchester, advice wanted!

rokkala

Hello, I'm moving to Manchester in about a month for work and wanted to get an idea of what areas I should be looking at/avoiding.

My work will be pretty much bang in the middle of the city centre, but I want to live somewhere where I can ride out the door and be in good cycling country in not too much time.

No kids to think of, just the girlfriend. Don't want to have to commute by car, so good rail/metro links would be essential and a nice area in general.

Not mega-minted, probably looking at renting a 2-bedroom flat or house to begin with. Any thoughts please? Thanks

napoleond

Best bet is on the outskirts such as Hazel Grove to the South East or even Poynton. Easy access to the peak district and/or cheshire lanes and good travel links. Getting closer to the city centre means higher crime rates/anti social behaviour etc and further to ride.
Or somewhere like Hale/Altrincham.
Most of the other areas are pretty bad for crime rates etc, although its probably my skewed perspective as I actually know exactly what's going on!

However, I (and many others I work with) travel further afield living in the cheshire countryside and would rather have the commute. I live in Holmes Chapel, it's ace! Definitely worth travelling for...

Matt the Tester

also buy a gun. :P

OffTheBackAdam

Don't!
Or is that advice too late?

thortweezul

Somewhere in the south would be where i'd go, Didsbury village is a lovely area with great transport links to the city centre. Easy access to some lovely Cheshire countryside, some nice rides around Wilmslow and Alderley Edge. The Heatons are nice too though proper yuppie towns.

RideOnTime

OffTheBackAdam wrote:

Don't!
Or is that advice too late?

+1

rokkala

I'm coming from Glasgow, so Mancs not exactly a scary proposition...

So is the consensus that it has to be somewhere south of the city to meet my criteria then? Prestwich and Bury etc to the North still dodgy for crime rates/nice areas?

Yossie

Its not the scariness - its not - its just a dump. Spent 3 years there a while ago, nipped back as I flew into there and its still a dump.

Sorry.

Agree with Nap - live outside, commute in.

napoleond

thortweezul wrote:

Somewhere in the south would be where i'd go, Didsbury village is a lovely area with great transport links to the city centre. Easy access to some lovely Cheshire countryside, some nice rides around Wilmslow and Alderley Edge. The Heatons are nice too though proper yuppie towns.

Didsbury has one of the highest burglary rates in the city. Heaton moor is very nice but has burglary probs too.

pottssteve

Is Didsbury still student central? Lots of young kids with their poorly-protected rooms stuffed with shiny electronics - ideal for the local scallys.

I was raised in N. Manchester - near Bury. The moors have a bleak beauty but the towns are, by and large, depressing sh!t holes. Heywood, Rochdale, Middleton, Bury. Just don't do it.

+1 for Hazel Grove, or anywhere along the rail link to Buxton, if you don't mind being a bit further out. New Mills is on the edge of the Peak District. I seem to remember that Wilmslow/Alderley Edge were OK.

Steve

shouldbeinbed

You're gonna get crime wherever but its not like Dodge city here, the south is definitely more cycling centric than the north. But theres as many nice areas & good rides on the outskirts of Oldham , Ashton, Rochdale Bolton etc as Stockport & Didsbury. If you don't mind the distance, you could live on the south end of the Ribble valley area

DrKJM

It's been a while since I've been there for more than a visit but my Mum and sister still live south of the city. Woodsmoor/Great Moor/Davenport/Bramhall are all good in terms of access to the countryside and are close to the rail link into Manchester. Offerton maybe worth a look although I have no idea what it's like now in terms of crime etc. Marple has a rail link and is slap in the middle of God's country.

KulaBen

Stick to the south of the city, and the border with cheshire and the peaks and you're golden. Sadly as a result house prices there are some of the highest in the north of England. This is balanced slightly by insurance rates being very high in the north of the city! Bring a brolly and fit mudgaurds. Welcome!

mrushton

I live in Nth. Mcr (Bury). Some fantastic cycling around here but it's up and down. Cragg Vale not far away and the roads out to Halifax and Huddersfield via Rochdale/Oldham and Preston via Bolton/Blackburn will test the best riders. Depends on your budget. Bromley Cross nr.Bolton was recently voted one of the most desirable places to live . South Manchester is OK if you want a Stockport or Wythenshawe postcode
I an put my bike in the car and be in the Peak District (Glossop) in 30 mins from where I live. I'm not keen on Cheshire. Some lovely areas but crazy prices and crap drivers imo (Blackburn has some of the worst driving as well)

CYCLESPORT1

Alderley Edge, like its neighbour Wilmslow, is famous for its affluence and expensive houses. It has a selection of expensive designer shops and cafe/restaurants that attract people living the true "Cheshire lifestyle", such as the numerous Premiership footballers, WAGs, actors and multi-millionaire North-West business people that live in and around the Wilmslow area. It is one of the most expensive and sought-after places to live in the UK outside of central London, and the base for CYCLESPORT INTERNATIONAL

rokkala

Thanks all.

Somewhere south of the city it is then, narrows it down a bit at least.

Are there any weeknight hard/race-type group training rides to the south of Manchester that anyone knows of?

pottssteve

You could try the Wheelers:

http://www.manchesterwheelers.co.uk/

Steve

napoleond

Rokkala wrote:

Thanks all.

Somewhere south of the city it is then, narrows it down a bit at least.

Are there any weeknight hard/race-type group training rides to the south of Manchester that anyone knows of?

Macclesfield Wheelers Thursday night chaingang, also on a Thursday there's training at Ashton circuit.

Yossie

Bear in mind though that Macclesfield is the biggest shyyythole this side of Helmand. Its shocking rubbish. Really, really rubbish. Avoid at all costs.

napoleond

But the chaingang is in the Cheshire countryside. And if you think Macc is bad try Stockport, Ashton, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Bolton, Wigan, stretford, Wythenshawe and all the areas in between

amaferanga

Yossie wrote:

Bear in mind though that Macclesfield is the biggest shyyythole this side of Helmand. Its shocking rubbish. Really, really rubbish. Avoid at all costs.

there's good and bad everywhere. Seems like you only notice the bad. Out of interest, where do you live?

CYCLESPORT1

Macclesfield is fine - you don't have to live at 1a opp. bus station view :!:

Yossie wrote:

Bear in mind though that Macclesfield is the biggest shyyythole this side of Helmand. Its shocking rubbish. Really, really rubbish. Avoid at all costs.

Yossie

Wigan, Warrington, Widnes - I'd forgotten about them. I once spent a weekend in Warrington. Now that's a real dump. An ex lived around there as well: that was reason enough to bin her. She was lovely but I couldn't face having to go there and see her.

Avoid dumps like Alsager and anything Stoke on Trent related as well. Alsager is up there is the top 10 shyyyt holes of this world - hell holes populated by inbreds. So bad they even closed down the polyversity there. Hellish, hellish dump. Awful. Nothing there and people proud of it.

Pokerface

Somewhere around Hale or Altricnham isn't a bad shout. Tram link into the city centre and loads of places to ride. Not a 'bad' place to live either.

kev77

Yossie wrote:

Wigan, Warrington, Widnes - I'd forgotten about them. I once spent a weekend in Warrington. Now that's a real dump. An ex lived around there as well: that was reason enough to bin her. She was lovely but I couldn't face having to go there and see her.

Avoid dumps like Alsager and anything Stoke on Trent related as well. Alsager is up there is the top 10 shyyyt holes of this world - hell holes populated by inbreds. So bad they even closed down the polyversity there. Hellish, hellish dump. Awful. Nothing there and people proud of it.

Parts of Warrington are bad, but not that bad.

I am born and bred Warrington and i love the place, there are nice suburbs of Warrington which leaves me to ask where was this girl from? :shock:

Yossie

Not sure, but her actual street was quite nice, she was seriously lovely, her parents were really, really nice but the whole town was freakin' awful. Warrington, Wigan, St Helens, all that way. I think it may even have been the outskirts of Bolton - I know it sounds awful, but its all the same to me really.

Wherever, it was shyyyt. Awful. Couldn't wait to get out of there.

Did I mention that it wasn't her, it was me?

napoleond

It was probably Widnes

kev77

Yossie - where are you from?

enlighten us

mudcow007

NapoleonD wrote:

It was probably Widnes

dont people who live in Widnes grow gills behind their ears?

Pokerface wrote:

Somewhere around Hale or Altricnham isn't a bad shout. Tram link into the city centre and loads of places to ride. Not a 'bad' place to live either.

Hale?! as in by Speke in Liverpool?

i woudlnt live there if you paid me an bought me a house, its where all the scallywags (who have money) go to live to get away from the squats in Speke

Yossie

NapoleonD wrote:

It was probably Widnes

Bizzarely enough, on one trip to Warrington I went with a couple of really good mates from Bootle - rough as Bootle lads.

We got in the cab and one of them turned around and said (in broad Bootle) "what's that f-ing stink?"

The cab driver stopped the cab, turned around and said, in pur Warrington: "That's fooookin' Widnes that is."

Needless to say we chortled quite loudly.

keef66

Can you keep an eye out for my MTB? Nicked from Loughborough and turned up in Manchester in pieces on Ebay a week later.