[Closed] Manchester, where to live

Newhey - ride straight out the door. Trams to Manchester and next to M60.

Prestwich/Whitefield would suit you I think.

Prestwich is the home of the MNPR - so there's 1 massive +ve.

Cheetham Hill is good if your packin' heat and into gang warfare...

I'm down in the Sale/Timperley area and that fits in with your commute times, pretty much bob on 30 mins to the centre of Manc 95% off road down the canal. The problem is the house prices, you'd be paying for access to schools that you're not using.

Loads of really nice road rides form the door as you've got the choice between a fast, flat blast round the cheshire lanes of head out towards Macc or Marple and hit up some hills.

MTB from the door is really pretty restricted unless you don't mind a 30 min drive or 45 min pedal towards Marple*. - if that's more of a priority then you're probbaly better off looking north round Prestwich and the like, but there are enough natives on here that can give you the low down on that!

I guess it depends on your priorities, but if you don't need to drive, Glossop is on the edge of the Peak and 30 minutes into Manchester by train with awesome mountain biking and road riding on the doorstep plus decent local shops, pubs, restaurants etc. Also good for walking, climbing, trail-runnng etc.

You'll also get a lot more for your money in property terms, renting or buying - think around £550- £600 pcm for a two bed terrace. Obviously you're not as central and it's more of a hassle to go out in Manchester itself. I get that's all weighted towards riding and other outdoor stuff over urban living, but hey, it's a mountain biking site after all.

Prestwich / Whitefield. Both have tram stops and direct busses into the city centre. My wife commutes in from Simister by car and bus via Prestwich (no useful bus in Simister) in about 40 minutes.

Cheetham Hill is a  bit like the Wild West.

Be aware when considering Prestwich that the Church got rid of the pie fridge behind the bar some time ago.

Property prices in the surrounding area have suffered accordingly

For the places near the arndale from the metro - your best looking north manchester, as you can then use the Bury line or the Rochdale line and get off at Exchange Sq. Shudehill/Market Street (all stops around the Arndale)

I used to commute via Prestwich to Market Street - would normally take 20mins to 30mins once on a tram (depends how many people are trying to crush on the tram)

Is Marple still about an hour's commute to city centre in car?

The road traffic in Manchester has got noticeably worse, I think, in last ten years. The M60 is just horrible now anywhere near rush hour which just narrows your radius

I'd look at Charlesworth near glossop as it's a walk to broadbottom station and then its 40 mins in the train to city centre .it generally avoids the road traffic of glossop but you still have to drive through mottram which has big traffic issues

My MTB mate lives in Charlesworth and loves it for the proximity to the peak

What about Shaw? It's a bit near Oldham but might be easier to get into town

I spose Prestwich is easier for access to town and can road ride up to ramsbottom and thereafter to Calder valley

I'd be looking at Charlesworth/chisworth/glossop/Marple bridge myself but can be a nightmare getting into town, might have to take a bedpan on your commute?

☺

Not Cheetham Hill. Ever.

Prestwich/Whitefield is a great place to live. Parks, good schools, local shopping.

Bury 10 minutes away which is a great little town.

Loads of top class riding, easier access and just a nicer place to live than pretty much anywhere that close to Manchester regardless of price.</span>

Happens to be good value too.

Glossop and Oldham/Mossley  is worth a look, lovely places,  but the traffic is beyond belief.

Didsbury

Thanks all, maybe I'll avoid Cheetham Hill... I'll definitely be taking more of a look at the Prestwich area. Glossop is an intriguing idea as she has family in Sheffield, will have to have a think about that one as it would be slightly longer on the train.

edit: I do have a car but don't plan on touching it near rush hour!

I'd encourage you to drop timperley off your list unless you like flat road riding. It's shit for mtb and shit for proper hilly road rides. Shit for kayaking and rock climbing too, his knows why I moved here.

But good for flat roading.

Glossop is an intriguing idea

IIf you like sitting in traffic jams. The roads around there are gridlocked pretty much 24/7. Traffic from anywhere out that way is absolutely horrendous

As Lord Summarise said, if you're heading into Victoria side of town the you're much better looking at North Manchester. There are several very good reasons Prestwich and Whitfield keep coming up

Didsbury and Chorlton have now been entirely colonised by BBC refugees from London and are now as ****y as Shoreditch, with similar pricing

We have a few mates in Didsbury and a handful hanging on in Chorlton until their  ex squat/mum's old semi is worth more than Northumberland.

They are still nice places to live, but my god, that amount of traffic and stress every day?

Right, well it's looking like Prestwich is certainly where we should be focusing. Via train/tram it's actually as long from Glossop to Sheffield as it is Prestwich anyway. Commute into Manchester looks doable too, it's going to be exciting to find out if we get that wrong bladder wise! There seems to be surprisingly little property for rent around Prestwich, especially with a garage. Anyone got a house for rent? :p

Have a look at Whitefield and Besses too. Prestwich is largely Victorian, so there is no off road parking. Whitefield and Besses have a lot of newer housing stock and are only one and two stops further up the tram line.

I ride into work each day from Whitefield, it's fine for bike commuting

As well as all the Prestwich suggestions if you want somewhere a little closer to the city centre it might be worth looking at the Lower Broughton area of Salford.

Both Prestwich and LB have easy access to local mtbing areas (dedicated trails at Philips Park & Waterdale, get to these from LB with a nice riverside ride via the Cliff and Drinkwater Park)

Chortlon/Didsbury are a 20/25 minute Metrolink ride from the city centre.

I lived in Chorlon for a while - a 2 up 2 down terrace with bathroom extension was £850 a month

Also try looking at the Heatons. I live in Heaton Moor and the city centre is a 9 minute train ride away. Couple of decent pubs/restaurants as well as the Savoy Cinema.

You could also commute by bike but that would mean going down the A6.........

Should get something decent for £900.

worth looking at the Lower Broughton area of Salford

Particularly if you want to be violently relieved of your iPhone and your wallet on the way home every night, and burgled every week.

Mind you... the Spices of Kashmir do the best chicken tikka kebab in the known universe

Chorlton if your salary is paid by the taxpayer, Didsbury if it's paid for by profit.

North Manchester is the dark side, but I've heard good things about Prestwich.

East Manchester is purely theoretical and only really exists in another dimension.

North Manchester is the dark side

Thats actually a 'There be Dragons' myth perpetrated to keep all the yoghurt-knitting bedwetters Southside 😉

East Manchester? I don't think we need to go there. Either literally or metaphorically

Whitefield is a little bit cheaper then Prestwich  and is catching up in terms of places to go out.  Full of people who seem to think they are in TOWIE mind. Depends if you prefer Tesco (Prestwich) or Morrisons (Whitefield).

it might be worth looking at the Lower Broughton area of Salford.

Wow. I can't believe someone actually typed that!

This was my experience of Lower Broughton:

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I lived in Higher Broughton when I was a student. It was slightly less like Aleppo than Lower Broughton but fun could still be had guessing which make of car would be burnt out in front of our house every morning. It was usually an Astra but for some reason Manchester Evening News Ford Transits were popular too.

It was dead easy to get drugs though, and it was fun watching the various expensive German Executive Cars come and go to the knocking shop a few doors down. If you are partial to coke and hookers, then Broughton is the place for you 😀

Once again thanks for all of the information, plenty to think about. North Manchester is certainly winning but I'll a look at the Heatons too as a 9 minute train ride is appealing, The A6 won't be fun to commute though? I guess that Bury New Rd is pretty alright though?

I enjoyed Crumpsall though. ☺

We had Jewish, Iranian and Polish neighbours a couple of Holt's houses and an awesome kebab shop.

Went to college in Hulme, which appears to have been reconstructed entirely in LEGO.

East Manchester used to be iron foundries, huge engineering works and a funfair.

Now it's a traffic jam with a football stadium and a Velodrome.

Oh well scrap Lower Broughton then!

TBH I only know a small part of it at the edge and that bit's fine, up near Bury New Road.

Bury New Rd fine for cycling, very slow in rush hour of course if you're driving.

chvck

Member

Once again thanks for all of the information, plenty to think about. North Manchester is certainly winning but I’ll a look at the Heatons too as a 9 minute train ride is appealing, The A6 won’t be fun to commute though? I guess that Bury New Rd is pretty alright though?

The A6 is fine to ride on - unremarkable. It's not great because there are a lot of traffic lights, but every arterial road into central Manc is the same in that respect, and you can usually plan a good cycling route between them. There is one part of the road in Longsight that is a mess in the evening, so you either avoid this or take it steady for a minute or two.

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned, but Macclesfield is 25mins on the train (I enjoyed the commute for 4 years before going self-employed).

Magnificent riding from the door on- and off-road. A few local riding groups/clubs.

Cheaper house prices - quite a wide variety of property types and pockets of affluence/poverty so needs a bit of thought, but I guess that applies to everywhere.

I’d give Broughton a swerve also.

A few years ago a mate had his car pinched. The Police found it in Broughton and told him to go and collect. By the time he got there it had been stolen again.

Brother in Law’s Mitsubishi GTO got pinched too and ended up smeared down a wall in Broughton.

In summary Broughton isn’t the best. Luckily there is Sedgely Park with its massive Orthodox Jewish community, in-house security and lack of boozers that acts as a fire break between the bad lands and Prestwich.

with a map and a pair of compasses, put the pointy end on Manchester town hall, the pencil end on Sedgley Park (just south of Prestwich), draw a circle.

Do not move to anywhere within that circle.

Why not move to Scotland? 😉

"the Spices of Kashmir do the best chicken tikka kebab in the known universe"

Damn right.

The only place I've ever been to where I've later had to go to court as a witness to an armed robbery is Higher Broughton.

I used to work there. It has an absolutely shocking level of crime.

Macc's ok, yep. Not a bad commute into Manc (about 16 miles each way though). One of my favourite offroad loops in the world is in Macc Forest. Fabulous stuff.

Glossop is an intriguing idea

IIf you like sitting in traffic jams. The roads around there are gridlocked pretty much 24/7. Traffic from anywhere out that way is absolutely horrendous (said Binners)

It's terrible if you have to drive into Manchester or have a strange affinity for the M60, but on the other side of town you're straight out into the Peak, you can cut across to the M1 and down to London with minimal hassle. Plus across to Sheffield is straight over the Peak.

The town itself is compact enough that you don't actually need to drive to the shops or anywhere else unless you're terminally lazy.

To be honest, Glossop's traffic is only a nightmare if you have to drive through it or commute by road to and from Manchester, but if you live there and commute by train into Manchester, it's mostly not an issue.

A cycle commute would be tough, though I know people who do it, and involve some biggish hills. But anyway, the traffic's only really an issue heading to and from Manchester, in any other direction, it's fine. A lot of people confuse Glossop with the M67. It's actually a different thing 😉

Have a look at Swinton and Pendlebury. Five miles west of mcr centre and two south of Prestwich. Good amenities and no SAM installations as in Cheetham Hill. Decent riding in the Irwell Valley 10 minute ride away. Train station in Swinton town centre. House rental is reasonable.

Swinton (Worsley side) is worth a look but no tram. I'd also recommend Prestwich and Whitefield.

Spices of Kashmir is OK, not what it once was IMO.

I agree with the Swinton and Pendlebury suggestion.

I used to live just off Manchester Road, close to the Red Lion and Moorside Station. It wasn't beautiful, but it wasn't bad, and I think it has improved since I lived there.

Up toward Moss Bank Road and Wardley CE Primary is pretty good if you want inexpensive brick terraces, but if you want nicer and leafier, then the Worsley side is quite lovely.

Surprised by the positive posts im reading about Prestwich and Whitefield, they must come from people who live there? my nan lives in Whitefiled, she reckons its nice too - its not. they do have Heaton & Philips Parks going for them in fairness, but in reality the whole of north manchester between the city centre and Bury is grim. stick to South east and retreat to the peaks at every opportunity.

Thats actually a ‘There be Dragons’ myth perpetrated to keep all the yoghurt-knitting bedwetters Southside

Don't start throwing Chorlton jibes at Didsbury dwellers.

We're not yoghurt-knitting bedwetters.

I think you'll find we're all Audi A3 driving, porn star martini drinking, accountants and estate agents, pretending we live in Islington - thank you very much.

+1 for Didsbury. Easy access to the city centre. Easy drive to the peaks. Not much local riding though.

Glossop is an idea. If you’re OK getting the train rather than riding have a look at the line out to Edale.

If you’re considering North manchester then think about being further out than whitefield. Bury?

What's it like around Simister these days, just north-east of Heaton Park? It's changed a bit since I lived there as a kid until ~1978. 😉

Not been up that neck of the woods for ~25 years, would love to see what The Clough and Prestwich looks like after all this time,

<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12px;">If you’re OK getting the train rather than riding have a look at the line out to Edale.</span>

The whole New Mills, Whaley, Chapel neck of the woods is okay, but as someone who lived in Glossoo for 17 odd years or so and is now in New Mills, I prefer Glossop. Not just for its location, but because the influx of folk working at Media City and the University over the last ten years or so, has really changed the feel of the place and it's big enough to have a decent spread of restaurants, shops, bars. pubs etc.

New Mills is like going back in time to the 1950s, which is fine if you want to live in an indeterminate part of the last century. Good location and riding though.

Still just a long road to nowhere with a school and a couple of glosses.

Prestwich has changed quite a bit.

The Clough is still the same.

Marple's been mentioned in passing but you should consider it. 30 minutes into manchester (piccadilly) by train, maybe 40 minutes on a bike (not sure, I only work in Hyde) via canal or A6 (other routes are available). Direct train line to sheffield, takes maybe one hour. Great biking locally, so much that people who've posted above travel from their locations over here to go riding. Am away at the mo (and slightly leathered) but if you have questions, please feel free to ask

Similar choices myself, leaning towards an apartment in the city to start with, easy commute for 6 months and see what works after that

Train might be a good option as t'interwebs says that all of Northern trains have toilets, might not be able to get near them at busy periods though....

Have you thought about Macclesfield?  25 mins on the train to Manchester, reasonable house prices with the Peak District as your back garden and Cheshire on the other side.

You need to be aware of the reality of Northern Trains....

chvck

Member

Train might be a good option as t’interwebs says that all of Northern trains have toilets, might not be able to get near them at busy periods though….

Guy I used to work with had a good commute from Marple / Strines way on the edge of the Peak - ride in early morning to uni, 14 or 15 miles and slightly downhill. Then train home with the bike. Cycled it both ways in the summer. I find pushing onto a rush hour Manc train with a bike a bit stressful as the cycling provision is poor, but he wasn't arsed - guess you soon get used to it.

I suspected that might be the case tbh. At least there are loads of good options of where to live and plenty to be thinking about. I haven't fully ruled out an apartment in the city but having grown up rurally and lived in Aberystwyth most of my adult life I think that I might struggle to adjust! I also really like riding my bike.

+1 for New Mills. Great riding from the door. Trains as above. You may jest at the quality, but they wee in the shoes of all the southern train operators when it comes to reliability and punctuality.  IIRC, the bus like trains do have toilets.

Cycle commute is c 40something minutes and a bit slower going home, but it's the A6, or a longer more off-road version.

Slightly better roads than Glossop, but you wouldn't want to be driving from either in rush hour.

Marple is good too and slightly closer in with more facilities. Probably get slightly more house for your money in New Mills though.

The East is great for MTB, and Ashton tram line might be a good option. Commuting by bike into Manchester isn't great - I've done it most of my life, but drivers are pants, and my commuting by bike was spectacularly finished for good two years ago when I driver broke my spine on the way to work.  I've given it up now, and switched to MTB, but living to the east of Stockport, it's great for MTB - no need to get in the car - it's also great for road, but I've packed it in after 30 years for road riding.

Id vote for marple or the surrounding areas if riding from your door is a priority,along with it being a nice place,and decent commute into the centre.

Macclesfield would be a good choice as well.

I dont live in marple, i live elsewhere in stockport,but thats where id recommend given your criteria.

Consider Bury too if you’re having a look at Prestwich. A bit further out but it’s the last/first stop on the tram to Victoria, so not too busy and you always get a seat. The Bike Hub next to the Metro is great to ride into Bury, lock your bike in there and jump on the tram (35 min into town). The ride in from Bury to Manchester is ok too.

its a nice town centre nowadays

The riding once you get out past Bury into Rammy and Rossendale is brilliant. Rammy is a fantastic place to live (we’ve been here 7 years) . Great riding right from your door, but I work from home most of the time and wouldn’t fancy commuting into Manchester City centre on a daily basis from here

I commuted daily from Whaley Bridge for a year on the train. An hour on the dot from stepping on the train to my desk in Spinningfields, very rarely had any issues. And there were loos on the train.

Whaley is great if you like little village feel, New Mills is a bit bigger, if you want an actual town I'd probably suggest Macclesfield. Or there's Poynton, but that's lost the village feel it once had, it's now basically the same as the other south Manchester commuter places like Bramhall, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme etc.

.... and living in Bramhall or Cheadle Hulme would make you spend your quieter moments, of which will be many, idly wondering about procuring automatic weapons, and scouring the internet for ISIS manuals on how to make IED’s

…. and living in Bramhall or Cheadle Hulme would make you spend your quieter moments, of which will be many, idly wondering about procuring automatic weapons, and scouring the internet for ISIS manuals on how to make IED’s

How long did you live there, Binners?

Worked there for 6 months. During which time I concluded that actually living anywhere round there would be too awful to contemplate.

Never did manage to get hold of the automatic weapons....

Having spent a few days up here in media city I reckon the mac wafting crayon chewing binners would fit right in 😉

 I haven’t fully ruled out an apartment in the city but having grown up rurally and lived in Aberystwyth most of my adult life I think that I might struggle to adjust! I also really like riding my bike.

Grew up rural, love riding my bike but at this point I'd rather get the day done and have time for everything else for a bit. Once I get out of this hotel into a place of my own I'll be riding again but it's nice to have a chance to play in the city, it's come a long way since I was last here.

Interesting to hear Cheetham Hill is still as ‘challenged’ 😁

lived there for a while in 1990 I think. (Strangeways was in meltdown at the time). Only place i’ve been assaulted by a naked three year-old girl armed with rocks...

Has it not improved at all?

‘Improved’?

well the three year old would now probably have a gun

I’m in the South, moved from Liverpool and ended up in Bramhall where I still am now. I left my firearms in Liverpool.

stockport has good rail links and close to the hills / Peak District for your outdoor interests. About a 10 mile wobble in to Manchester on the bike.

We we also have Soya milk in our lattes.

Manchester is a changing city, sister is a primary teacher in a challenging area except it's a lot less challenging these days due to a shift in the demographics

My experience is that a few streets can make a big difference and some communities are quite strong, "bandit country" is still out there so be careful

Just have a drive around Gorton. Everything is fine after that....

There is always St Retford....but id ignore that and check out Urmston.
Easy access to the Cheshire lanes for road riding.

St Retford? You mean 'Chorlton Borders'? 😉

[i]Just have a drive around Gorton. Everything is fine after that….[/i]

As a slight digression...

My dad was brought up in Gorton; two up two down, outside loo, tin bath by the fire, the whole Northern working class cliche. My granddad worked nights in a factory his entire working life. That was a short life, as he died in his fifties. The house they lived in was flattened in the clearances and housing 'improvements' of the '80s. My dad left school at 14 with no qualifications, got a job as an office junior in town, worked his way up to become a stockbroker, with a home in Manchester's stockbroker belt (the aforementioned Poynton). He now has a comfortable retirement, and a grandchild that has regular riding lessons at her fee-paying school.

From tin baths to riding lessons in two generations. I wonder how the life chance of children living in Gorton today compare with that.

Horwich and North Bolton.

Superb for Mountain biking, great Motorway links and Manchester 30 mins on a (admittedly hellish) train journey.

Personally I wouldn't rule out East Manchester. There are plenty of nice areas and you have good access to countryside. It's also far more affordable. Since you're renting you are not stuck in the area and there is no point throwing money away just to live in a trendy area because you have heard it's cool. Manchester is currently changing very quickly.

What’s it like around Simister these days, just north-east of Heaton Park? It’s changed a bit since I lived there as a kid until ~1978

2 schools, 2 pubs, a church hall and a post box. Nearest shop is in Polefield about a mile away. I love it!

If you could stretch the commute I'd look at Macclesfield - good train service. Macc Forest routes on your doorstep!

Big n Daft makes a very good point - once you've decided on an area or two you need to check as there are expensive places right next to rough (classic example is in Prestwich you have Guest Rd which is a conservation area with massive Victorian 3storey semi's and detached, and within 200 yards you have polefield circle which is the recipient of a lot of police effort)

Yep. 2/5 of Elbow live on Guest Road and there was a drive-by shooting in Polefield not so long ago. Both are within 100m of Armstrong's Chippie.

Here's a fact. There is no street prostitution in Prestwich unlike everywhere else in Greater Manchester... because there are apparently 12 knocking shops between Besses and Sheepfoot.

I used to know the lady who did the sandwich deliveries to them.

I wonder how the life chance of children living in Gorton today compare with that.

If you make it to 20 without seeing the inside of Strangeways then I'd imagine you're doing better than most

i live in Rammy and commuted to Manchester for a good 10 years by car, was an absolute breeze if i left early enough. miles cheaper than 2 trams fares if wor lass is travelling too. there used to be plenty of dodgy carparks as well, basically a patch of baron wasteland some scrotes had commandeered and they would charge you £3 for the day.... i imagine NCP have ran em all out of town by now tho, or theres a skyscraper there instead...

but i do think it is too far out for your needs, and if you did want to use public transport it would be a ball ache.. id be listening to suggestions of South East, Stockport or Macclesfield... although the trains are not great. I work in London now and everyone is always fuming with SouthWest trains which i always find an absolute dream compared to northern rail!!

I'm in New Mills now, and there's no way to do the 20 - 25 minute commute of your dreams. It might work on the train from Marple a couple of stops nearer to town.

I moved from Monton, Eccles, and reckon from Eccles by tram these days that time constraint might just work. The train from Eccles is super quick but super infrequent which made it impossible for me. Worsley Woods, and many monotonous canal towpaths in your future from a bike perspective. If you're creative, there is some gravel riding. One of the best things about living in Eccles was how easy it was to get out. North Wales, Cheshire lanes, South Lakes, all just about possible in an hour.

I went hot then cold when someone suggested Lower Broughton. Brr, the vibe there used to incentivise me to sprint through on the bike.