Which part of Bristol to rent in /avoid?

[Geri]

I used to visit Montpelier to see friends who lived there, quite liked that area - no idea if it is near a park, or how expensive it is though.

No parks, unless you count that tiny piece of grass outside the Star & Garter. Very very handy for good pubs though.

 

[strung out]

Actually the planning comittee meeting to determine the application is tomorrow (Wednesday) evening. Will probably be declined, as you say, but will no doubt ultimately be approved on appeal.

the application's been approved. i hope ashton is looking forward to being home to the biggest sainsburys in the south west.

 

[Geri]

I would laugh my arse off if they ended up with a big Sainsburys and no football ground.

 

[strung out]

innit, though of course im sure the whole sainsburys deal is subject to work starting on the village green

 

[Geri]

Yeah, but they could sell the ground and then go bust. Steve Lansdown might do a runner with the money.

 

[strung out]

apparently he was heckled about being a tax dodger at the meeting tonight and completely lost his rag

 

[Chris P Duck]

In which vein, no one round here giving any love to the Gloucester Road kind of area, St Werburghs/Montpelier/St Andrews/Bishopston? There are good parks round there, close to town, and loads going on.

Ok, ok .. I'll pop me head up and say something... moved to Bristol about 20 years ago and after a spell in Redland have lived just off the Gloucester Rd in Bishopston since about '94 and yeah it's alright. With a lot of students in Bristol each year, I get the impression that a lot come here and then don't ever move on so there fair amount of non-bristolians around, so it ain't exactly gert-lush country, for good or bad.

Nice little park in St Andrews, yes Gloucester Rd gets busy on Saturdays ... but with all the little independent shops and cafes I like to call it cosmopolitan and vibrant.

It is a bit pricey but it's ok.

 

[strung out]

i like gloucester road and being a north bristol boy my whole life, bishopston, montpelier, cotham etc would be my perfect area to live in.

south and east bristol is much cheaper though i think.

 

[Gerry1time]

With a lot of students in Bristol each year, I get the impression that a lot come here and then don't ever move on so there fair amount of non-bristolians around, so it ain't exactly gert-lush country, for good or bad.

Guilty as charged! (me babber...)

 

[BlackArab]

No parks, unless you count that tiny piece of grass outside the Star & Garter. Very very handy for good pubs though.

There's a park on St Andrews Road just up from the Old England. It is however more concrete than greenery.

 

[strict machine]

But the concrete is a pool!

 

[Callie]

Guilty as charged! (me babber...)

moi babber surely ?

 

[3_D]

What do you think the reasons are?

Not really sure why, having myself lived in Whitehall and St George for several years I really liked it. But needless to say, the reason East Bristol is cheaper is that not so many people want to live there. I guess maybe people perceive it as a 'rough' area of the city?

the application's been approved. i hope ashton is looking forward to being home to the biggest sainsburys in the south west.

I understand it is, yes. Very little opposition from local residents, only from political activists.

apparently he was heckled about being a tax dodger at the meeting tonight and completely lost his rag

Wouldn't blame him, would you? After all he has paid more tax to HMRC than all the rest of those present at the meeting put together and, no doubt, continues to do so.

 

[strung out]

i do blame him. he shouldn't dodge taxes if he doesn't want to get abused at a council meeting in a city (and country) he doesn't live in.

 

[3_D]

Don't be ridiculous, 'tax dodger'? Lansdown undoubtedly STILL pays more in tax to the British govt than you or I have ever paid. And his business helps to prop up our city's economy. As a socialist, I salute him!

 

[strung out]

yes, because he's paid more tax than i ever have, it's completely fine that he dodges tax now. stop being such an apologist.

 

[gentlegreen]

Lived in East Bristol half my life (26 years) - cheap and cheerful and the Bristol to Bath path is Bristol's best park - once the little'uns are riding their own bikes. In fact, these days, proximity to that would decide where I lived.

http://www.bristolbathrailwaypath.org.uk/home.shtml

As said, if it's shops, eateries, pubs and nightlife you want, then it's Horfield / Bishopston - but you pay a hefty premium - and it gives me an excuse to get on my bike.

Public transport in Bristol is uniformly shite and expensive because it's near enough to being suburban to have the highest per capita car ownership in the UK - or at least it did. The hills are routinely dragged out as an excuse, but I find it empowering to cycle up them - though I chickened out of doing Steve Loughran's two-wheeled celebration of them. :-

http://bristolbybike.blogspot.com/2009/11/bastard-hills-of-north-bristol.html

 

[floyd6]

Gentlegreen: we yokels tend to judge cities by places that are unlike the city itself (thus living in contradictions, until we're free to leave one day, as you seem to have been).
The Railway Path seems unique indeed.

3_d, strung out, BlackArab, Chris P Duck, everyone:
Thanks, guys. Looks like it's going to be East Bristol, then.

 

[Geri]

I would seriously consider Fishponds area, the kids will love Oldbury Court.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/goingout/2004/parks/oldbury/oldburycourt.shtml

 

[gentlegreen]

I would seriously consider Eastville/Fishponds area, the kids will love Oldbury Court.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/goingout/2004/parks/oldbury/oldburycourt.shtml

That's certainly a nice concentration of parks and near the railway path. I cycle through there every evening.

The rents may come down too (??) as UWE's moving out of St. Matts soon.

Brand new priority bus route going in too - though doubtless Bristol may manage to make a mess of it.

 

[Geri]

The bus situation is pissing me off - I used to be able to get 5 buses into town from where I live, then they re-routed the 4 and 24 so if I want to get them I have to walk right down to the stop opposite the jobcentre on Stapleton Road. That left me with three (48, 49 and 342). Now they have moved the bus stop further down the road and I can't get the 342 anymore unless I walk up to Royate Hill.

The new bus stops are very posh though.

 

[kebabking]

Thanks. So is it east Bristol that we should be looking at?

We'd be looking for a house preferably (tho the cheaper the better, really, so might end up with a flat), have 2 small kids. I'm planning to commute into town by bike, so 6 or 7 miles from the city centre is still alright.

schools are going to be your main concern. the totterdown/victoria park area has some good schools, but you'll be very hard pushed to find a decent school in east bristol. cheap, yeah, but your kids will be lucky to leave school able to read.

having just done this i feel your pain - we wanted that 'city village' feel with good transport links into town, good schools, decent rental properties and it not to be a hangout for drug addicts.

we found Southville too expensive, Totterdown had no room in the school we wanted, Montpelier et all too expensive - we tried Portishead but found its transport links rubbish (but it was cheap with great schools), and Thornbury was too expensive, had awful transport links and had great schools.

in the end we went for Stoke Gifford - boring, but good schools, excellent transport links, and while not cheap, better than the Gloucester road area.

 

[Geri]

in the end we went for Stoke Gifford - boring, but good schools, excellent transport links, and while not cheap, better than the Gloucester road area.

LOL

 

[Thora]

Schools are a problem all over Bristol - very few good/outstanding schools, tiny catchment areas and a severe shortage of places.

 

[butchersapron]

How can there be tiny catchment areas?

 

[Thora]

How can there be tiny catchment areas?

Well they're not really catchment areas with primary, but the furthest distance you can live from the school and get a place. Two near me were less than 500m.

 

[butchersapron]

I don't get what the problem is then.

 

[gentlegreen]

From what I remember of school it was mostly a case of what your home was like that determined how you turned out.

My parents wrongly blamed my school (Kingsfield, Warmley) for my underachievement and proceeded to fail both my sister and my little brother who went to a fancy school further away (Broadlands near Keynsham).

One of the kids I hung out with got to Cambridge but his parents encouraged and pushed him. (He turned out to be a completely vile arrogant bastard)

I would hope that if I had had kids I would have sent them to local schools. They wouldn't have had any choice to be honest. No way could I have afforded to move anywhere else.

 

[Thora]

I don't get what the problem is then.

There are a shortage of places, so if you don't live close enough to any of your local schools you might end up being given a place in a school miles away.

 

[Geri]

Someone who was in my class at school is now a millionaire. Another owns the Clifton Observatory (so I'm guessing he must have done pretty well for himself as well).

Although my school is in North Somerset, not Bristol. However, my friend went to school in Bristol and she is now a head teacher.