What are some pros and cons to living in Manchester???

Posted by FearlessEnthusiasm@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 10 comments

looking to move to Manchester and looking for both pros and cons to living there.

What areas are best for people in their late twenties?

Thanks in advance!

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oudcedar@reddit

It rains and when it doesn’t you often don’t see any blue sky all day. Otherwise it’s a great place to live, catering for many different lifestyles.

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FearlessEnthusiasm@reddit (OP)

Don’t mind the rain, I’m used to extreme cold temperatures and would take rain over that any day.

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I mean it depends on where you live. I'm from North Manchester which is known to be a bit rougher (although I've never had any trouble my whole life) but most people would recommend you move to parts of South Manchester like Didsbury, Chorlton, the Heatons or places like Monton or Worsley in the west. But there are decent places all over. The pros would be the tram network (bee network) which allows you to get around Greater Manchester easier so you can go to the city centre which is pretty nice nowadays, or the Trafford Centre or Salford Quays etc. It's also near the Peak Distict- you can get a 40 minute train from Manchester Piccadilly to Edale which is in the heart of the National Park. So that's good. The cons would be that house prices in the nicer areas have gone up and are competitive. There are plenty of areas that are rough af, don't expect it to all look like Ancoats. Also depending upon where you are coming from they are probably more grey skies here- but that does mean that when the rest of the country had massive droughts a few years back we still had lush greenery everywhere, so you take what you can get lol.

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FearlessEnthusiasm@reddit (OP)

Where I live does not have a good transit system so that aspect greatly excites me, looking to live in the castle field area potentially. Still weighing my options but would like to live near the retail centres, such as the Trafford centre as I am a retail worker. Don’t mind a small commute if necessary. And I would be looking to rent at least at first anyways.

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dbxp@reddit

Pros

Good music scene
Constant events
Centrally located in east west terms so Leeds and Liverpool are very doable as day trips
Peak district easily accessible which has reasonable hiking, far better than what you'd find a reasonable distance from London

Cons

Expensive for what it is - housing can easily be 30% more than other regional cities and lots of bars seem to think they're way fancier than they really are, you can easily pay £7 a pint in a place that looks very normal and it's not like London which is expensive but you can see where the money has gone.
Deprivation - The city is pretty split, the centre is doing well but if you go a bit out of town or to the satellite towns some places are very run down and feral kids are common
Growing pains - The city's population has increased a lot in recent years and it isn't dealing with the growth well. The Metrolink is really packed during peak hours and the narrow pavements in parts really don't deal well with the foot traffic.
Wide catchment area - More so than other regional cities Manchester pulls in lot of people from surrounding areas at the weekend meaning you get tons of gormless people who walk into bike lanes without looking or insist in walking along the street in a line.
Hen nights - Manchester is a big destination for hen nights and stag dos lately, the hen nights in particular have a reputation for causing all kinds of trouble
Limited cultural attractions - It's easy to be fooled into the idea that Manchester is a mini London but it has arguably fewer cultural attractions than Bristol and Liverpool even though it's bigger.

In summary whilst I still like Manchester Liverpool and Nottingham are arguably better as the growth of Manchester has pushed up prices and put big strains on infrastructure.

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FearlessEnthusiasm@reddit (OP)

Thank you for your detailed input! Definitely want to weigh the cons and much as the pros when making a decision.

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filbert94@reddit

Where are you moving from and why Manchester?

Honestly, I'd probably say Bristol, Leeds or Liverpool these days.

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FearlessEnthusiasm@reddit (OP)

I am moving from Canada. Initially wanted to move to London but it is very expensive and have started exploring various other options. Looking for a place where there is a good music scene and ample things to do in the area, amongst other factors.

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Accurate-Flatworm361@reddit

Con. The weather. I met an Australian pilot who was involved in safety test flights. Manchester was the place they went to for testing stuff in poor visibility.

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