Wee bit off-topic

[brokensemaphore]

We're moving to West Yorkshire in November (I'm American, my husband is English) along with our toddler, plus I'm pregnant and due in February! I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for family-friendly areas in W. Yorkshire to look for houses in. My husband and his family are only helpful for telling me what areas to avoid, haha.

Thanks SO MUCH if anyone has any suggestions!!

[flapjack]

I'm pretty sure Glittergal moved to your area last year, but I haven't seen her posting in ages- she moved to Harrogate from the US.
I know the area but not well, iykim? There isn't anywhere I'd refuse to live around there, but be aware that it might turn out to be an advanced class in racism in action up there :( All of the multicultural crap that our government talks has led to frustration between particularly the black and asian communities, and the British National Party have a strong foothold.
That said, there isn't anywhere that I'd refuse to live seeing as your family are so small. Deprived areas over here have a huge amount of funding pushed into them, so the SureStart centres tend to be big and active and have a lot to do, and I love Leeds city centre- never spent much time in Bradford. The pretty little villages may or may not be active during the day, so pick yours carefully.
Good luck!

[brokensemaphore]

Thanks! My husband was born and raised in W. Yorkshire, which is the primary reason we chose there (not to mention the cheaper real estate!). Bradford is the only place I've heard to avoid. So far I've been leaning toward Huddersfield-- I haven't really seen anything negative about it like I have other places. Hopefully once we get there, I'll have picked at least a more precise area to look in!

[puddleduck]

we looked around huddersfield last year............ not sure what you are expecting but we looked in the not so great areas around £110k properties and it was very run down - a few dodgy places, very built up and not very green. i guess it depends on your budget and what you are looking for...
We moved to derbyshire instead, cheaper and greener.
Does his family still live there? Any other reasons to choose that particular area?

Vikki

[brokensemaphore]

His family lives in Batley, Keighley, and Nottingham. We're looking to rent for now, so I've just been basing houses off of what I see on rightmove.co.uk. My husband's familiarity with the area is the main reason we've been focusing on that particular area (I picked Huddersfield specifically based on upmystreet.co.uk's profile and what the houses I've seen online look like for the price.

He hated Nottingham when he lived there, and refuses to consider Manchester. I'm fine with West Yorkshire, but I feel like we're going into it blindly since we don't really have any recommendations for nice areas. His family was never wealthy, so they never lived in great areas.

[Helen_A]

Don't pay any attention to the upmystreet profile... they are utterly inaccurate...

This street is designated as elderly - with one exception its all families. Where we used to live was given a low education/working grade - when it was mainly graduates, but a mixture of private owned and housing association shared ownership (but in a really expensive bit of the south east!!)... Where my parents live have been designated 'highly desireable/high income/doubleincome plus nanny... when in the main its ex.prof. retireds....

....

:irked:

[brokensemaphore]

Is it accurate about crime? That's what I was mostly concerned with.

[Helen_A]

IME not very.

For crime figures UMS tends to use very broad regions and apply the same result across all the areas within that region. They also look at the insurance claim figures (in £ not number of claims) and conflate higher claim amounts with higher crime... which doesn't actually work!

When it comes down to crime figures, the local police force will be the place to look to for the local figures. There is usually info on their website, but each force will have a local report (on paper) available to look at in each local station and the local library, and sometimes on other premises like supermarkets. Local papers will give you a better idea of crime levels in an area as well - with the usual proviso that the local media will publish everything that looks bleurgh and a lot less of the good stuff. :irked: But to be honest, there is no substitute for asking the people who live in the areas, and the streets that you like the look of.

[brokensemaphore]

Thanks for the info!

[Patrick's mummy]

I'm Welsh but I've lived in Nottingham and Leeds and am familiar with Manchester, Bradford, Derby, Burton upon Trent, Ilkley, Harrogate, York. I'd be happy to live in any of those except B-u-T. Huddersfield is not so great, IMO.
Leeds - would look at Meanwood, maybe Headingley, Hyde Park. Ilkley and Harrogate are both lovely but expensive. York - similar.

Nottingham - Forest Fields, Sherwood, Carrington, (Beeston or West Bridgeford if you can afford it.) We lived in Hyson Green which is near Forest Fields and they both have lots to do for families. HG has a reputation for being rough but we were happy there. I'd avoid Sneinton and St Anne's crime wise.