Moving to Bristol

jtdw

If you're working at Aztec/Patchway it would make sense to live on that side of the city and avoid the bad traffic around the rest of Bristol - look at Thornbury, Berkeley, north of Yate, even up towards Stroud, Dursley, Nailsworth....my OH works at Aztec and has colleagues who commute from Cheltenham, Newport, even Devon! Probably no worse than commuting from the other side of Bristol :rotfl: Avoid living anywhere where you'd need to use the ring road (A4174) - it's dire in rush hour.

hth

tazgirl

Don't live there any more so can't help on traffic - but as far as I can tell there's little or no useful public transport, so do think about the driving. If you're keen on coutryside, I'd go with the people who've suggested going out northwards. There's no reason you couldn't do South Wales if you don't mind the drive - though factor bridge crossing costs into your calculations (around £5 these days? not sure if it works out cheaper if you get a tag).

I'd personally avoid living in Patchway/Little Stoke as some of it is a bit grim. Again personal opinion, but Sadly Broke (Bradley Stoke... started building just before the last huge negative equity) is a bit 'samey' - depends if you like the new build style - and until recently was a bit of an urban wasteland in terms of services/shops etc.

matto

Chepstow or Magor in South Wales may be worth considering. House prices are cheaper but you have to pay £5.00 per day to cross the Severn bridge though you should find there are car shares available. Only 20-30 minutes to Patchway. Chepstow in particular has easy access to Wye Valley or Forest of Dean.

kellyp

Definitely consider living over the water in Wales - housing is a heck of a lot cheaper. I live in the roman town called caerleon (4 miles out of Newport city centre), and my partner commutes to filton in Bristol everyday - in fact it takes him less time to get there than it does for me to get to Cardiff, which is lot closer in milage. Caerleon is lovely - lots of nice pubs! I agree that Chepstow and Magor are also nice , although Chepstow is a bit pricey. Also Langstone and Caldicot worth considering.

According to my partner a lot of Filton/Patchway workers live in Bradley Stoke and Thornbury. Those that live in Weston Super Mare have a heck of a commute.

Hope that helps!

kit

Weston is cheaper that Bristol so you get more for your money but you also end up with hell of a drive! I used to commute from Weston to Bristol city center each day.... on a good day I could do it in 40 mins (summer holidays are great, traffic free!) but on real bad days it took over 2 hours. I'd say the average is an hour.

All depends on your price range really. We are getting a lot of commuters moving to Weston due to the huge difference in prices.

Basil_Hume

The basic transport infrastructure of Bristol is quite poor and a totally car-dependent person would find it busy and slow to move around the city on the whole. If you choose to live on the outskirts, you might at first be drawn in your car to the out-of-town shopping centres, which would be a shame as the city centre - especially to the west - is one of the UK's finest urban cityscapes.

Most post-WW2 growth was (and continues to be) to the east and north of the city, since Bristol is hemmed-in to the west by the Avon Gorge and to the south by Dundry hill. The second railway running north-east through the city and then south to Bath was short-sightedly closed in the 1960s, although later became Sustrans' first bike path! Travel by bus is reasonable and comprehensive, while bike facilities are pretty top-notch outside of some notable blackspots of heavy traffic.

Bristol has a mature geography of commuting and hence "best spots" for living in the country close to the city have been relatively expensive for some time (e.g. Long Ashton, Chew Magna, Dundry etc). £160k will probably get you something reasonable, but I doubt you'd find a charming period cottage.

Bristol centre is currently subject to a major retail redevelopment, whereby about 1/3rd of the main Broadmead shopping centre has been demolished and is being re-built. The word on the street is expect neighbouring areas to the south and east of the centre (e.g. St Paul's) be better house-buying options as the centre becomes better favoured from the eastern aspect.

I am formerly a Cardiffian and have commuted the journey to Bristol a lot over the years and cannot recommend it. By car it is expensive due to the circa £5 Severn Bridge toll, although with a railway station at Patchway it could be viable (if tiresome) by train.

Quincy_3

sambessey wrote:

Nice areas:

Clifton/ Whiteladies area (Very pricey though) Dont forget the tramps, thats their begging area.

Portishead, Nothing there.

Clevedon, Old folks Home.

Bradley Stoke, Houses made of sand :rotfl:

Just a bit of an update

clutton_2

Brentry and Stapleton have 3 bed roomed semis about £160k and are reasonable areas, and reasonable commuting to Filton (2-3 miles) - Horfield is very close also, and reasonably priced.

i have just looked on https://www.rightmove.co.uk and put in Bristol - 15 miles - and find there is little difference between some of small towns in east wales and those around Bristol.

ka7e

There is the possibility of commuting by train to Parkway station and then transferring to a local bus. Areas to the south such as Taunton, Bridgwater, Highbridge and Weston-super-Mare are accessible on either Wessex Trains or First Great Western. Both Bridgwater and WSM were featured in the Telegraph on Saturday as the cheapest places to buy property in the SW. They were also said to be up-and-coming rather than the usual run-down! Telegraph Article

sambessey

TBH Taunton and Bridgewater are a looong way from Bristol though- a long commute train or no train!