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Hi I am new to this forum. has anyone from London made a successful move to Birmingham ?

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Coolguy100

New Member
Hi I am currently seriously thinking of leaving London and trying out Birmingham. This is strictly for economic reasons as I want to sell my London house and used the equity to live somewhere mortgage free outside of the capital. I need somewhere with a good secondary school and pretty decent links to Birmingham university and also some decent places to shop. I have done a bit of research and for my budget it seems as though I could get a pretty decent place in Great Barr, but I am also considering Oldbury as it seems to be good value for money. Has anyone got any ideas about these areas ? I live in a mixed part of London and want the same mixed but safe feel about the place with a sense of community.
 
I was supposed to drive up to Birmingham today but the agent only had one property for me to see in Oldbury. 2hrs each way for one property !! Hopefully next weekend will be more successful.
 
If you want cultural mix I wouldn't look at great Barr or oldbury particularly I don't think. But there are others that know more about the city than me. purenarcotic Red Cat MooChild perhaps?

There was also another thread on here about the city have a hunt for that too.

I like Birmingham, we live north Brum. It's cheap, it's on the Cross city line (so is Brum uni) and it's easy to get anywhere but it's far from everyone's cup of tea. South Brum (kings Heath, Moseley) are far trendier places
 
I have heard about South Brum and Kings Heath and Mosely. One they seem to expensive and would defeat the object of what I am trying to do, and also I am missing a proper community feel which seems to be lacking in a lot of middle class areas.
 
I can tell you what everywhere within a couple of miles of the university was like in the early 90s, but that's probably not all that useful. I read somewhere that Balsall Heath is gentrified these days, so things have clearly changed. Twenty years ago, it certainly had a community feel, in that half the community were on the streets in a vigilante campaign against streetwalkers.
 
I do not want to spend over 150k for a house as that would mean me taking on a mortgage. 120-130 would be preferable and that is doable in Oldbury. is there other decent areas available for that ?
 
No idea, sorry. Doubt it to be honest. I lived there when I was a student and I was more concerned about £2.85 baltis than anything else.
 
Racially and culturally diverse. I live in an area which although is majority white British, has also all other nationalities as well which makes it a sweet melting pot of cultures and lots of different choices of restaurants and foods available. It is also very peaceful. Well to be honest we do have a few incidents but I chose to live on a road with a lot of older folk so it has always been pretty quiet. Good respectful people will do for starters as I am not one for rowdy behaviour or alcoholics bothering people.
 
A general google search asking for advice about Birmingham brought me here. To be honest I considered Milton Keynes first and visited there a few times but I just can't get my head around living there. Something does not feel right.
 
The only places I really knew in Birmingham was Smethwick because I have a relative living there, however it does not quite feel right for what I want.
 
Yes I think it is the constant roundabouts that do my head in and that huge shopping centre. It just does not feel right for me, though I know some people like MK.
 
£120 - 130k will get you an OK smallish house in Kings Heath, Stirchley or Selly Park. Much better for the university than Great Barr or Oldbury.
 
Hello hello. I moved from London to Birmingham for uni, met my partner and now it's my home. I lived in Selly Oak first (it gets nicer the further back from the uni and student housing you go), Balsall Heath (quiet but dead, only a 10 minute walk into the city centre though) and now Moseley way.

Moseley is by far and away my favourite place to live, it's great. Kings Heath and Stirchley are also nice. I know nothing about Great Barr but in general Birmingham is a very diverse and mixed city. Great Barr isn't particularly easy in terms of university access though.

It's taken me a while to really warm to Birmingham but I like it. I love London and it's my favourite city by a million miles but Birmingham has a lot going for it as well, it's just sometimes a bit harder to find.
 
One really annoying thing about Birmingham is the lack of 24 hour transport, I find it really irritating and just bizarre that the 'second city' has only one or two 24 hour buses. I don't even need to use a 24 hour service that much, it just annoys me that it isn't an option to use.
 
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