Bristol areas - Bradley Stoke, Yate, Downend

Essex_Maid

Yate has a railway station, so you could take the train. As with all large cities parking is expensive. Nice area, A mix of old and new homes, depending on which part, my Dad loved it (sadly he died last year). Chipping Sodbury is really lovely old and full of character, so you get the best of both worlds. Coalpit Heath is also nice.

bosseyed

If you're looking at buying, I'd say Bradley Stoke is vastly overpriced for what you get at the moment. The houses aren't exactly top quality, they're of that flimsy new build ilk - certain areas/roads in Bradley Stoke are better than others for size of houses and general 'niceness' - have you seen anywhere in particular?

I've lived in Bradley stoke a few times over the last 8 years and I would say that it can be a little souless (miles and miles of dull new build houses), but has its advantages - low crime, fairly clean and tidy etc.

Theres a brand new massive Tesco in the middle of the estate which is handy I guess.

I wouldn't say Yate was ideal - its a little bit rough and is a few miles out of Bristol.

Airport won't be a problem, its goods etc only.

If you are looking to buy, consider parts of Filton, the houses are bigger and generally better and often a lot cheaper than their tiny flimsy Bradley Stoke neighbours.

marcg

The areas you mention are all a good 30 mins outside of rush hour to the centre. I take it from your desire for a 4 bed detached + 2 cars and the areas that you are looking at that you want a new build.

Can I also suggest Nailsea? Similar to Yate in distance to centre, better in area, fantastic schools, close to airport and has it's own railway station.

Bradley Stoke is, as others have said, soulless. More importantly it is massively underserviced. I don't know about now but five years ago I was looking for a site for a nursery school and BS was top target - undersupply of 5000 primary school places and 10000 secondary for the area. In practice this means lots of kids being bussed out of the area everyday. Also massive population compared to numbers of shops and leisure facilities. This is all due to the council's policy of "getting best value for the area" which means selling land off for residential use (at one time £1.5M an acre) rather than commercial (900k).

Don't know Downend very well other than to say I think it is in South Gloucs rather than Bristol City, which is a good thing for public services. BCC are crap.

I live in BS4 in a nice pocket near the A4. Local primaries are excellent, secondary means we'll either have to move or be earning enough to pay private. Such is Bristol.

becky_rtw

Macg My parents live in BS4 and I grew up there as a child - nice place sandwiched between some grotty areas - I know about schools - DO NOT send your kids to hengrove - worst 5 years of my life!!! There are some very good scholarships for Bristol grammar if your kids are that way inclined

OP - as others had said BS is a bit souless and very underserved for transport, schools and shops. If you are determined to be that far out of the city you are better picking somewhere like Yate as others have said, Downend is also nice! Really though you might be better off coming in a bit tbh - Bristol is nice, but the outlying areas are pretty horrendous for both parking/diving and public transport...all secondary schools in Bristol are pretty poor to be honest!

bristol_pilot

Bristol is great, but I don't have kids. The state schools here are some of the worst in the country and a very high proportion go to fee-paying day schools for which travel to the city during rush hour could be an issue if that applies to you.

Chilly77

I was born in Bristol and have lived in a number of Bristol areas. I know the areas you mention very well and would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Bradley Stoke is not a "rough" area but that does not mean everyone wants to live there. I guess you need to provide information as to what is important to you so we can help you narrow it down a bit.

pingu2209

giddingsno1 wrote: »

I would move to Frampton Cotterell or Coalpit Heath. Lovely villages with local shop, post office and quite a few pubs and very good shcools, churches etc.
It is in between Bradley Stoke & Yate. I personally wouldn't want to live in Bradley Stoke (mind you there are alot of areas I wouldn't want to live in in Bristol!), its a massive housing estate. For the record I have lived in and around Bristol all my life:j

I know these areas really well. The best areas on that side of Bristol are Frampton Coterell and Winterbourne/Winterbourne Down (rather than Coalpit Heath) for all the reasons stated above.

I would not move to Yate. It is rough. Bradley Stoke has streets upon streets of housing and no sole. It wasn't well planned when it was built so things like shops and schools etc were missing. However, it isn't a terrible area. There are a lot of rented properties there.

Downend is fine, a nice area to live and older properties. However, if you search on Rightmove for Downend houses come up that are really affordable and nice, but are really close to Fishponds, which is horrible. You need to be in Downend nearer to the shops or Emersons Green. These houses are more expensive but still cheaper than Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne.

However, I would select Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne over the others anyday.

pingu2209

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Bristol is great, but I don't have kids. The state schools here are some of the worst in the country and a very high proportion go to fee-paying day schools for which travel to the city during rush hour could be an issue if that applies to you.

That is true about schools in Bristol. However, the areas the original poster mentions are all in South Gloucestershire, which has much better schools. Except Yate - which is dreadful!