Anyone know West Yorkshire (Leeds in particular) well?

spirit

My (adult) children have recently moved to the area from down South.

I'm thinking of joining them. I don't know the area at all well yet. I'd want to get a small house/bungalow 2 beds and commutable to either the University or city centre for work. (finding a job when living down here is another thread I suspect!)

Anyone know the areas to look in or avoid please?

Yorkie1

spirit wrote: »

My (adult) children have recently moved to the area from down South.

I'm thinking of joining them. I don't know the area at all well yet. I'd want to get a small house/bungalow 2 beds and commutable to either the University or city centre for work. (finding a job when living down here is another thread I suspect!)

Anyone know the areas to look in or avoid please?

There are a lot of students in Leeds so I'd avoid all those areas, not least for insurance costs :eek:

There is an excellent range of public transport options for getting into Leeds centre. As long as you are in the Metro region costs are discounted.

Am not that familiar with Leeds areas these days so won't try to be specific in case I'm way off. Other than to suggest avoiding terraced areas not too far from the centre.

grimsalve

What sort of budget are you working on? What sort of area are you looking for? When you say commutable will it be via car or public transport?

I live and work in Leeds

ChopperST

Pudsey, Farsley, New Farnley, Horsforth are all nice areas with good road and public transport links to the City Centre.

Depending on budget, Adel and Roundhay are very close to the City centre with lovely surrounding countryside but command a price tag to match.

A bit further out Oulton is a lovely place to live with a golf course and lots of open space based on the Leeds / Wakefield border.

hanfrangipane

I live in West Yorkshire and grew up here. I'm South Leeds/Wakefield area so know this side better. Do you know which side of Leeds you would be looking at? North is more expensive and is close to the Dales which is a great perk, but my family is south Leeds so I've stuck this side.

North Leeds has some really lovely areas but also some of the worst areas I've come across so be wary of this - as Yorkie mentioned, the terraced areas just out of the centre tend to be either Student areas or some of the more deprived areas of the city that I would recommend avoiding.

Roundhay, Chapel Allerton and Horsforth areas are nice north Leeds pockets. CA is a bit younger and trendier whereas Roundhay is less so.
Cookridge and Alwoodley are nice, again generally more affluent areas. You could go out a little further yo Guisely/Yeadon which have more of a town feel than city suburb which is what the other areas I've mentioned are like. These are still easily commutable into Leeds centre for work.

Avoid - Harehills, Woodhouse, Headingley (relatively nice area but is main Student place and can be a bit hit and miss)

If you look on a map of Leeds, very crudely if you draw a line across Potternewton Lane, areas North of that are generally the nicer areas.

If you can give a bit more of a steer to what kind of areas you like or where you already live that might help to narrow it down. Where have your family moved to?

I do apologise if anything I've said above offends anyone who lives in these places! I am obviously generalising and there are nice/not so nice areas within all of these places, I'm just going by my own experiences!

Marktheshark

Yes, I can answer any and all questions.
Fire away.

On what you have asked so far, some of the inner city outline areas are the most deprived areas in Europe.
They are some real nasty areas indeed, basically anywhere within walking distance of the city.
They are some rather nice little gems as well within commuting distance.
The best area that is affordable to buy property in are South of the River IMO
Rothwell is like a small Seaside town with no sea ! and everyone is really nice and friendly, rather odd place which leaves visitors baffled why everyone is so talkative and friendly, one bus in to town, a missing wheely bin is a major crime for Rothwell police
Woodlesford and Oulton, again friendly people villages, Garforth similarly, especially if your scottish.
Horsforth is quite nice with good nightlife but very expensive property.

I would start with a few places I listed.
Commuting is best, most places they can walk to uni are serious dumps.

hanfrangipane

ChopperST wrote: »

Pudsey, Farsley, New Farnley, Horsforth are all nice areas with good road and public transport links to the City Centre.

Depending on budget, Adel and Roundhay are very close to the City centre with lovely surrounding countryside but command a price tag to match.

A bit further out Oulton is a lovely place to live with a golf course and lots of open space based on the Leeds / Wakefield border.

Oulton/Rothwell is where my family are based. It's a perfectly nice area - great transport links, Oulton Hall is lovely, much cheaper than North Leeds, plenty of local facilities. However, it's lacking many nice restaurants etc in the immediate vicinity (although this is getting better lately!) so it depends what kind of things you want on your doorstep. I find that North Leeds has better local high streets if you like to get out and about in your area. Having said that, Rothwell is having a lot of work done to it at the moment and centre is getting a good facelift, it's a lovely friendly little town. I've chosen to move closer to Wakefield as I wanted somewhere with a bit more going on but there are some really lovely houses around Oulton and you do get a lot for your money by Leeds standards. Commute into Leeds is about 30 minutes by car in rush hour, 15 mins with less traffic and the buses are regular and quick (20 mins or so)

grimsalve

hanfrangipane wrote: »

I do apologise if anything I've said above offends anyone who lives in these places! I am obviously generalising and there are nice/not so nice areas within all of these places, I'm just going by my own experiences!

I think you're spot on with that description.

grimsalve

Apologies to anyone who lives in these areas but I'd also suggest avoiding Hunslet, Holbeck, Middleton, Belle Isle, etc.

tykesi

I think we need more information on the OP's requirements and budgets before we are able to help further otherwise we're just weeing in the wind.

I live and work in Leeds so happy to recommend but not going to bother until we know more about what the OP wants.

hanfrangipane

Agreed - my mum is on the border of Middleton in Robin Hood. Middleton is a little better than it used to be but I still wouldn't recommend it!