Moving to Swindon

rammster

Moving to Swindon next month.
Was looking for info on good places to live there having good local catchment areas for primary schools.
Also some info on what life is like in Swindon would be very helpful
Would be very grateful for any info.

Gingernutmeg

Swindon is an ok place to live. It's a bit bland but it's got everything you need (although the jobs situation isn't great here at the mo, Swindon's been hit very hard by the recession). It's relavtively quiet, the people are friendly and it's in a good location - easy commute to Reading, Bath, Oxford, Bristol, London and you're in the country quickly if you fancy a day out - you're not far from Cirencester, the Cotswolds, all those kinds of places.

In terms of places to live, Old Town is considered to be the 'best' part of Swindon - places that border it like Kingshill and Okus are 'nicer' too, although Okus is a rather grim looking new build on the top of the hill. Local estate agents will tell you to 'avoid the P's' - places like Pinehurst, Penhill, Park North and Park South etc as they're the 'rougher' bits of Swindon and they're not so good. Old Town and South Swindon are the oldest bits of the town, North and West Swindon are mainly new builds (North Swindon especially) and it can feel a bit bleak up there. There are some nice little villages within a few minutes of the town too, like Highworth, Purton and Wroughton. I don't have kids so I don't know about schools, but at a rough guess I'd say that you'd be better looking at living in the best place you can afford. The local council will have information about cachement areas.

As for life in Swindon, it's ok. As I said it's a quiet place to live, there's rarely any real trouble and you've got good leisure facilites in the town (cinemas, swimming pools, ice rink etc etc). It can be a bit too 'quiet' but then that's relative to where you're moving from lol! Town centre shopping's a bit rubbish, and the recession hasn't done it any favours, but there is talk of 'regeneration'. However, you've got places like the Outlet Centre and the big Orbital Shopping Park - mainly chain stores, but good for day to day stuff. Buses aren't brilliant so if that's going to be an issue then I'd look carefully at where you live - Swindon's definitely been designed for cars. However, the road system's a bit strange too, you need to like roundabouts to live here!