Tell me about Manchester - Prestwich, Chorlton...

[mauvais]

Juuust while i am still idley daydreaming though:
– are both of those places ok for cycling to say the centre? They look less a far than i currently cycle to work, but there look to be some big ring roads.
– i presume they are both pretty good for public transport, but how late do those trams run?
- any recent experience of schools in either area (primary and secondary)?

For Prestwich:

Cycling to town, yeah, fine. 5 miles or so maximum. It's the best way to get about. The main roads (Bury New Road, Bury Old Road) are usually clogged, especially with ongoing roadworks, which makes cycling safer IMO, and the tram is at capacity during peak commuting times. Be aware that Prestwich is up a hill, but if you're going to work, that's the better arrangement. Biggest problem is probably bike crime so if you're looking at jobs, ask about secure cycle storage. I've spoken to a few city centre people recently and it does tend to be available.

All trams run until some time between midnight-ish & 1am. After that there's always Uber.

No experience of schools.

 

[killer b]

It's 10 minutes into town on a bike from Whalley Range. Not sure about the tram, never needed to use it but TfGM have a decent website that could answer that question easily enough.

Mrs B is a governor of a local primary and has a reasonable overview of the quality of the local schools - I'll ask her later.

 

[bakinglaul]

Hi there, I moved to Whitefield 5 months ago and looking to buy this year. Problem being is that there has only been about 3 properties up for sale since we moved, as we're looking to live on the left hand side of Bury New Road. Also everything is ridiculously expensive as it's also closer to Ringley Road. Now also considering Prestwich to broaden our search and hopefully be able to buy something with more for our money. Can anyone recommend where to look in Prestwich, or where not to look? Thank you!

 

[mauvais]

Tell us a bit about what you're looking for.

 

[chilango]

It's 10 minutes into town on a bike from Whalley Range. Not sure about the tram, never needed to use it but TfGM have a decent website that could answer that question easily enough.

Mrs B is a governor of a local primary and has a reasonable overview of the quality of the local schools - I'll ask her later.

Iirc, and I'm going back 20 years, I breiflb lived near Whalley Range (technically Old Trafford, but only a few minutes away) and the tram station at Trafford Bar wasn't far and the trans were frequent.

 

[bakinglaul]

We're looking for streets that are a bit quiet, a community feel, we're both around 30, hoping to start a family in the next couple of years.

 

[mauvais]

We're looking for streets that are a bit quiet, a community feel, we're both around 30, hoping to start a family in the next couple of years.

What's your rough budget? Where do you work & how do you need to travel there?

There's lots of areas of Prestwich that are what you describe. I don't really know Whitefield but I gather from others that it's pretty similar. Generally Prestwich is slightly more expensive than Whitefield but not much; they're both at some degree of premium due to the tram. There are pockets of Prestwich that are more expensive than immediately makes sense; I suspect this is access to particular schools and/or popular religious areas.

Property goes quite quickly, with some estate agents having effectively cornered the market (sealed bids etc), and you could try things like leafletting areas you're interested in with an interest in buying their house. The return rate will be very poor but you only need one, and it would save the seller thousands in EA fees.

 

[bakinglaul]

Thanks. We went to a mortgage advisor at the weekend who told us our max budget is about £265k. We both work in the city and use the tram. We'd like to stay in Whitefield but there just doesn't seem to be anything on the market at all in the last six months, or at least anything worth buying, hence the few that are on the market have been on the market for a number of months. We're now thinking about branching out into Prestwich but really don't know anything about the area, other than being told by a few people that it's nice.

 

[mauvais]

Thanks. We went to a mortgage advisor at the weekend who told us our max budget is about £265k. We both work in the city and use the tram. We'd like to stay in Whitefield but there just doesn't seem to be anything on the market at all in the last six months, or at least anything worth buying, hence the few that are on the market have been on the market for a number of months. We're now thinking about branching out into Prestwich but really don't know anything about the area, other than being told by a few people that it's nice.

This thread from the beginning has a fair bit of info.

'Prestwich' encompasses quite a big area, from the housing near Heaton Park reservoir down to Sedgley Park and the Salford border. When I talk about it I'm really talking about north/south from Tesco & the village down to St. Mary's Park or Scholes Lane, and west/east from the Clough to Heaton Park.

Lots of green space - a whole corridor of parks & green space from north of Salford up to Bury; no major threat to this from new housing as yet. Some new bars and restaurants without being really try-hard. Repaved high street a year or so ago. Obviously tram (Prestwich, Heaton Park) although as you probably know it's at or near capacity during peak times. If the economy ever goes into reverse I think it'll be better protected from total decline than some areas based on its fundamentals.

For £265k I think you ought to be able to find something. It is still going up in price. I wouldn't like to guess what's going to happen after March so biding one's time might pay off, but you could have said that for years and priced yourself out of a lot of places.

Clive Anthony is by far the biggest estate agent. They effectively operate a cartel with sealed bids and people paying well over starting price; good for sellers, less good for buyers. You can try going and making friends with them. Jennie Platt are similar, slightly different approach.

 

[bakinglaul]

Thanks that's really helpful, and a shame to hear about the way the estate agents are operating, not good for buyers as you say, and definitely not first time buyers like us! Now we've had a meeting with a MA and know what we can afford, we're pretty much ready to act sooner rather than later. The main reason I'm asking is because when you look at Whitefield on a map, to the left hand side of Bury New Road is where the nicer streets are, quieter roads, nicer houses, however, on the right hand side it is mainly made up of council houses and estates, and not so nice overall, so just wondering if Prestwich has a similar set up in any way.

 

[mauvais]

Not as such, it's more mixed. Best bet is probably to start looking in a broadly defined area and then tighten it up once you've considered & ruled out some example places based on area (e.g. too far from bars, tram etc)

 

[Patteran]

Soliciting strangers' advice on how to avoid living too close to council houses & estates in north manchester. And an immediate assumption that the potential neighbours being solicited for advice here couldn't possibly be from/of those 'not so nice overall' streets. Lovely stuff.

 

[Fez909]

Juuust while i am still idley daydreaming though:
– are both of those places ok for cycling to say the centre? They look less a far than i currently cycle to work, but there look to be some big ring roads.
– i presume they are both pretty good for public transport, but how late do those trams run?
- any recent experience of schools in either area (primary and secondary)?

I moved to Whalley Range recently. Not amazing for the tram...depending on where you are. I'm about 10 minutes walk from my stop, but I'm on the edge of WR. You could conceivably be out of reasonable walking distance and still in WR, I reckon. Then you're at the mercy of buses (which are frequent tbf).

Cycling is shit in Manchester. It has the most cycling deaths, IIRC. That said, I cycled here for years on my last stint in the city (9 miles each way, daily) and never had any issues. The roads feel safer than Leeds, but...stats.

Whalley Range is getting a new fancy cycle lane soon (end of 2019 they're starting I think) that actually looks decent - much more like they have abroad, where the cycle traffic is actually separated from the petrol traffic, rather than just painting a line near the gutter.

 

[mauvais]

Cycling is shit in Manchester. It has the most cycling deaths, IIRC. That said, I cycled here for years on my last stint in the city (9 miles each way, daily) and never had any issues. The roads feel safer than Leeds, but...stats.

It's potentially well into victim blaming but I wonder how much of this is skewed by inexperienced/careless cyclists? Like you, I feel that if you're a competent/experienced cyclist, it's pretty much the same as other cities. I've personally no love for segregated cycle facilities though; I see the benefit but for me, it's actually a negative.

 

[killer b]

Manchester cyclists I know point to both the poor state of the roads and the tram lines as significant issues for the safety of their cycling. From a driver's POV, I see (or don't see) more cyclists dressed in black with no lights at night in Manchester than elsewhere...

 

[mauvais]

Tram lines are my one concern. I've done a bucking bronco impression in front of moving traffic (but unusually for my incompetent dyspraxic nature, remained on) at least a couple of times now.

 

[Fez909]

It's potentially well into victim blaming but I wonder how much of this is skewed by inexperienced/careless cyclists? Like you, I feel that if you're a competent/experienced cyclist, it's pretty much the same as other cities. I've personally no love for segregated cycle facilities though; I see the benefit but for me, it's actually a negative.

n=1 but...Olympic star's crash horror

 

[mauvais]

n=1 but...Olympic star's crash horror

Yeah, it doesn't make you immune. There but for the grace of God etc - but compared to my experiences of Nottingham, Southampton & elsewhere, I feel it's roughly the same. Similarly anecdotal though. Plus I need to get off my arse and start regularly riding again

 

[Fez909]

Yeah, it doesn't make you immune. There but for the grace of God etc - but compared to my experiences of Nottingham, Southampton & elsewhere, I feel it's roughly the same. Similarly anecdotal though. Plus I need to get off my arse and start regularly riding again

Same

Do you tram it in? I got the tram to your end once from work and it took forever. ~1hr? Ridiculous.

Mind, I have a ridiculous commute considering the distance, too. Under 3 miles and ~50 mins. Bike would get me in in around 15 mins.

 

[mauvais]

Same

Do you tram it in? I got the tram to your end once from work and it took forever. ~1hr? Ridiculous.

Mind, I have a ridiculous commute considering the distance, too. Under 3 miles and ~50 mins. Bike would get me in in around 15 mins.

Tram is out for the reason you describe. No, we drive, my missus works in Pendleton near the wonderful Precinct, and then I walk the rest of the way. Sometimes I drive and abandon the car somewhere in Langworthy. Before we bought our house I used to ride in fairly regularly but since then there's been a few practical barriers that are small but enough to derail my efforts, e.g. nowhere to keep the bike that has electricity to charge lights etcetera. I could sort this I guess.

 

[killer b]

Where did the info about Manchester being the worst place in the country for cycling deaths come from btw? I'm vaguely interested in that kind of thing so I had a dig, it doesn't look that unusual, although the numbers everywhere are so low that it only takes one or two extra deaths to make a place a cycling death capital of the country (there's a big spike in 2007 though, wonder what that was about?)

Road Casualties: Greater Manchester Police Area

 

[bakinglaul]

Patteran making assumptions at other strangers isn't so pleasant either. I'm simply asking for advice. I haven't assumed anyone on this page is from any such area, good or bad. I actually have lived in plenty of unpleasant areas in the past, council estates included, and I'm trying to find somewhere that has a happy balance of being a bit quieter but not up their own you-know-what. I'm not bothered at all about living next to a person who is unemployed, for example, more bothered about if I was living in an area that doesn't feel safe walking down the street at night. Being that I've only moved up about five months ago and really don't know what I'm looking out, just some guidance and advice would be appreciated.

 

[killer b]

TBF he was only going on the content of your posts, where there seems to be some assumptions about council houses vs. 'nice' houses.

 

[Rosemary Jest]

I lived in Moss Side for a year or two and then moved to leafy Didsbury for a few years about 10 years ago. Lived in shared houses though, couldn't afford to buy owt, especially in Didsbury. Nice down by the river Mersey in Fletcher Moss park.

Enjoyed Manchester, don't really know much of the north of the city though. Cycled to work for 6 odd years down the 'busiest bus route in Europe' and it was fine, saw a couple of accidents but nothing too bad. The traffic rarely moved fast enough to be threatening, just keep your wits about you.

The stats probably have something to do with loads of inexperienced/drunk students cycling, being that Manc is so flat, it lends itself to cycling more than a lot of cities, such as Leeds.

A copper once told me that thieves/robbers generally get around on bikes in Manchester as it's quicker than driving. This was after I had my bike nicked...

On that note, try not to ever leave your bike locked outside, I had 2 nicked in a short period and a mate even had his grips nicked, as well as pedals. Keep em locked up inside of possible.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Same

Do you tram it in? I got the tram to your end once from work and it took forever. ~1hr? Ridiculous.

Mind, I have a ridiculous commute considering the distance, too. Under 3 miles and ~50 mins. Bike would get me in in around 15 mins.

When I lived in Levenshulme I used to cycle to work in the quays - it was much quicker than trying to get there by public transport. Pretty flat route too which helped. Not so much fun if you live in the northern satellite towns like Oldham though, unless you like cycling up hills.

 

[Fez909]

Where did the info about Manchester being the worst place in the country for cycling deaths come from btw? I'm vaguely interested in that kind of thing so I had a dig, it doesn't look that unusual, although the numbers everywhere are so low that it only takes one or two extra deaths to make a place a cycling death capital of the country (there's a big spike in 2007 though, wonder what that was about?)

Road Casualties: Greater Manchester Police Area

Can't remember where I first read it but this was my first result on Google when I just searched

Bristol among top five most dangerous places for cyclists

Scroll to bottom of article for list of most dangerous regions

 

[killer b]

I found lots of stories like that, but I want to see the comparative figures godamnit.

 

[Daisy96]

Planning to move to the Prestwich area in a few months, and just wondering what areas people would recommend we look at. Need good links to the city centre as we are both currently without a car and work in Fallowfield, meaning the commute will be two buses / a tram and then a bus. We’re after a two bedroom property to rent (preferably a house) in a quiet family area near green space or parks, but near enough pubs and restaurants, the ‘centre’ etc. Can anyone point me in the right direction? We have two young children so must be an area highly regarded as being ‘safe’. We are also happy to look at nearby places such as Higher Broughton and the borders with Salford, though not too near to Cheetham Hill. Our maximum budget it £900 PCM, does anyone know of any areas that can tick these boxes? Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[Maris 51]

Planning to move to the Prestwich area in a few months, and just wondering what areas people would recommend we look at. Need good links to the city centre as we are both currently without a car and work in Fallowfield, meaning the commute will be two buses / a tram and then a bus. We’re after a two bedroom property to rent (preferably a house) in a quiet family area near green space or parks, but near enough pubs and restaurants, the ‘centre’ etc. Can anyone point me in the right direction? We have two young children so must be an area highly regarded as being ‘safe’. We are also happy to look at nearby places such as Higher Broughton and the borders with Salford, though not too near to Cheetham Hill. Our maximum budget it £900 PCM, does anyone know of any areas that can tick these boxes? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Hi Daisy
Prestwich is generally all a safe area and has some great schools and good transport links. It’s a very family friendly place. You would be able to rent a terrace house around Heaton Park side/ Bury old Rd for £900 and less a month but may possibly struggle closer to the village. Gardner road and the roads off there are very expensive and popular due to the close proximity of the shops, Clough and tram. Heaton Park area has a tram that will get you into Manchester or Bury within 20 mins so you’d be fine. There are lots of good quality terraced property around there and of course a fantastic park so you can’t go wrong. It would only take 15-20 mins walk to get to Prestwich village so it’s not that arduous.

 

[handy1]

It's shit for pubs though

It used to be brilliant for pubs in the 80's