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Birmingham - where's good and where's bad?

Just looked up Stirchley on the map. It's alot better located than Erdington. Quite close to Kings Heath & looks close-ish to other areas I know & like.
Will add Stirchley to list of places to look at next week :)
 
Yep nothing wrong with Stirchley :) there are lots of nice places around the city. Erdington is brilliantly placed though given the public transport and for car users too. But it is entirely down to how you feel when you're there. Like I said we often talk about moving to the South of the city but we are North Brum people at heart (friends, family, all here).

The one thing we don't have is the foody stuff Moseley/Kings Heath have, but I have a car so even that isn't really a problem :)
 
Stirchley has some good balti houses and little grocery shops, British Oak pub is ok, big garden. Parts look a bit rundown but that's because the area around Hunts road/Ivy road had been earmarked for a big Tesco. Last I heard their application has been refused.
 
Moseley and King's Heath and surrounding areas are generally nice. i would definitely look to be on the Birmingham side of any area if you're planning to use buses, especially King's Heath i believe the High St traffic is horrific, although i may be thinking of Hall Green. if you want train links, other than Stirchley / Bournville maybe consider Selly Oak? it is student-ville but because of that you could get a bargain if you want somewhere that isn't appealing to student landlords.
 
Sapphireblue said:
Moseley and King's Heath and surrounding areas are generally nice. i would definitely look to be on the Birmingham side of any area if you're planning to use buses, especially King's Heath i believe the High St traffic is horrific, although i may be thinking of Hall Green. if you want train links, other than Stirchley / Bournville maybe consider Selly Oak? it is student-ville but because of that you could get a bargain if you want somewhere that isn't appealing to student landlords.
Click to expand...

Selly is shit. Who wants to step over piles of vomit when they walk down the high street. It is fine in the summer when there are no students there and rubbish the rest of the year
 
Hellsbells said:
Just looked up Stirchley on the map. It's alot better located than Erdington. Quite close to Kings Heath & looks close-ish to other areas I know & like.
Will add Stirchley to list of places to look at next week :)
Click to expand...

The house I posted that you liked was Stirchley.
 
Hellsbells said:
What's Kings Norton like?
Click to expand...

You're heading out into the suburbs. By the station/Cotteridge end is ok'ish. Bell's Lane not so much.

Big estates, concrete roads, grim, souless pubs. You need a car to get about.

'Bleak' is the word that springs to mind. :D
 
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Really? But on the map it looks fairly close to Bournville & Kings Heath, near the canal, quite green & quiet...
I'm not interested in living somewhere with an amazing nightlife and loads of trendy cafes and shops. As long as the transport links are ok and I'm not miles from anywhere, I wouldn't mind.
What's your interpretation of 'bleak'? I mean, I've been looking at Stirchley online and I'm not sure it's the right kind of place for me. It looks quite densely populated, crowded, noisy etc. I want to get away from all that! Just not too far away though...
 
My friend lives in King's Norton and she likes it, can't remember which bit though.

it is very suburby as i recall. so one person's 'bleak' is another person's 'nice and quiet' i would imagine.
 
I would be very happy with nice and quiet!
How far is Kings Norton from other places? I mean, on the map, it looks fairly close to everywhere. I'm used to have to travel nearly an hour to get anywhere in London!
 
King's Norton village has a nice village green but a mile down the road and you're into the big council estates. Bell's Lane, Hawkesley, West Heath.

Rush hour traffic can be bad going into the city centre, from King's Norton it could easily be an hour.

Are you taking a look round by car?
 
Yeah I will be, although I don't drive myself. So if I moved there, i'd be relying on public transport and my bike.
 
They look nice enough houses. My brother in law used to live on Broad Meadow Lane.

Have a good drive round, i haven't live in Brum for over 10 years. Bell's Lane could be a leafy, paradise by now. :)
 
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i think my friend (who likes it there) is the Cotteridge edge of King's Norton, which is nearer to the train station so another plus for that side.

i would imagine from the centre of King's Norton you're realistically talking a 30 min drive to Birmingham in not too bad traffic, so probably 40-50mins on a bus, lots worse at full-on rush hour. there are a lot of bottle-necks on major routes into town, so worth leaving early/late whenever possible. train would always be quicker.
 
Hellsbells said:
These are a couple of the places I was looking at & I love the look of the roads they're on. Clearly I'm a dull, old, surburban loving person!

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/30818652?search_identifier=15b392d6be790780b6e2a703877f4e3e
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/30124670?search_identifier=15b392d6be790780b6e2a703877f4e3e
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you see, i am both not jealous cos i don't want to live in the suburbs and also thinking fuck me, why did i choose to live in Harborne, i could have a bloody mansion in the suburbs. :eek: that first house looks lovely.
 
What about Northfield or Bournville? Northfield had a bad reputation for a long time but it's actually not too bad and is well located.
 
Hellsbells said:
Yeah I will be, although I don't drive myself. So if I moved there, i'd be relying on public transport and my bike.
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The first house, Lindsworth Rd, is round the corner from Lifford Lane which has access onto the towpath. To get to town you either continue on into town or you come off the towpath and go onto the River Rea cycle route (off road cycle path) in Stirchley up to Cannon Hill and then on road into town.

Bournville train station is on the towpath, which is handy if you want to take your bike on train/leave bike at station.
 
Hellsbells said:
Really? But on the map it looks fairly close to Bournville & Kings Heath, near the canal, quite green & quiet...
I'm not interested in living somewhere with an amazing nightlife and loads of trendy cafes and shops. As long as the transport links are ok and I'm not miles from anywhere, I wouldn't mind.
What's your interpretation of 'bleak'? I mean, I've been looking at Stirchley online and I'm not sure it's the right kind of place for me. It looks quite densely populated, crowded, noisy etc. I want to get away from all that! Just not too far away though...
Click to expand...

Nowhere in Birmingham has an amazing nightlife and loads of trendy cafes and shops. If it did, the house prices would be rather higher than they are.

I live in Stirchley. Why do you think it looks crowded and noisy?
 
dunno, it just looked really built up. Actually, tbh, I was mostly going by what my mum told me as she was there last week. I'm going to take a look myself next week & may well think differently after that!
I get confused when people talk about the 'surburbs'. What actually are the 'suburbs' and why are they so bad? I grew up in Harborne and thought that was a surburb. What makes Harbone not a surburb and Kings Norton a suburb?
 
I don't live in kings Norton but it seems like some bits are nice, others are 1960s big concrete towers (though I think the hawkesley estate is getting knocked down and rebuilt soon).
It's on the rea valley route though so good for commuting by bike into the city centre.
 
erm, ok. So what isn't a surburb? And why do people have things against suburbs? I mean, Harborne's almost walkable to the centre of Town. Is Edgbaston a suburb?
 
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