Best places to live around Manchester

Big_Hairy_Spider

earthlysparky wrote: »

Glossop/Hadfield/Padfield.

you've got the best of both worlds then; semi-rural living, and only 30-45mins on train into city centre.

Second that, we moved from Bury, love it here.

DominicJ_2

Stalybridge and Mossley
Mossley is pretty rural, and I live there, train every half hour into manchester, takes about half an hour
£80-120k means your looking at a two bed stone terraced in the nice area, or a three bed ex council in the not as nice.
I'll have a three bed terrace with a massive garden for sale in about a year in the nicest bit of the not very nice area, for considerably less than the average if you fancy waiting that long
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Mossley.html?sortByPriceDescending=false&maxPrice=120000&minBedrooms=2

Stalybridge is a lot less rural, but has "parks", although they are infested scum most of the time.
Not really sure about house prices, I've not looked in that price range near the station.
Trains are much better at stalybridge, 3x as often I believe.

suestew

DominicJ wrote: »

Stalybridge is a lot less rural, but has "parks", although they are infested scum most of the time.

We obviously would like to avoid areas infested with scum :-)

Elsewhere

Hijacking your thread slightly... my daughter is also looking to buy in the Manchester area, but she depends on public transport - she works in the city centre.

She's mentioned Prestwich and Whitefield. Are they OK? (no kids - and countryside not necessary - she grew up in rural Dorset and consequently thinks city life is excellent.)

And vax2002 - you missed an absolute treat not seeing Rammstein. I saw them in London as a 50th birthday treat in 2002 - saw them again in Manchester last week for my 60th :T Their show is spectacular! (Maybe they'll make it to Dorset by the time I am 70 and save me all the travelling... )

pauletruth

15 minutes by road from stalybridge. unless its the rush hour then try an hour plus the road into manchester is a pain.

savageHK

Agree on Rammstein - saw them last year in Manchester and they do a great show!
As for areas of Manchester it very much depends on your precise location as to how nice the area is and how much the property will cost. I do like South Manchester but given your pricerange you'll not be in a 'nice' part of South Manchester. If you're happy commuting on the train there are options futher south beyond the ring road which will be more rural and (hopefully) cheaper.

Hugbubble

Elsewhere wrote: »

Hijacking your thread slightly... my daughter is also looking to buy in the Manchester area, but she depends on public transport - she works in the city centre.

She's mentioned Prestwich and Whitefield. Are they OK? (no kids - and countryside not necessary - she grew up in rural Dorset and consequently thinks city life is excellent.)

Both Prestwich and Whitefield are nice (although, of course, there are nice bits and not so nice bits). I love it the city centre, but have a few friends who live in Prestwich. It has a good tram link to town, and the added benefit of the largest municipal park in Europe when your daughter does fancy some greenery!

Prices are very reasonable too, compared to South Manchester

DominicJ_2

she depends on public transport - she works in the city centre.

Check the train maps for stations with decent service into manchester
Rightmove recognises "xyz Station" as a place, so look at everything within half a mile of the stations with good service into manchester.

sonastin

Hugbubble wrote: »

of course, there are nice bits and not so nice bits

Sadly, this statement can apply to pretty much all of the areas mentioned so far. Talking in terms of towns and areas like this can be a bit too much of a broad brush to be able to identify the nice and not so nice areas. Take Eccles for example, on the face of it a tiny part of Salford but the Monton side of Eccles is an entirely different beast to the Weaste side. If you're not local to the area it is easy to be misled by estate agents descriptions leading you to believe that you're looking at one place when its actually more like the next town over which is one you've been advised to avoid. I've seen parts of Burnage and Whalley Range described as Didsbury before now - at that time the differences were particularly stark!

I'd also say it depends what else you're looking for and where else you are likely to spend your time. If your hobbies and free time are more likely to be spent one side of the city more than the other or you work isn't actually in the city centre then it is probably worth looking at living on that side of the city. North side is probably slightly cheaper - Bolton, Bury, Rochdale all have some really nice areas to live in.

rentergirl

Agree with the above, but also Prestwich. Your money won't go far in Manchester, which is dearer. Avoid Rochdale and Oldham. You might find a conversion flat in W. Didsbury. Renting is a good idea, to get the feel of the place.