Which English city should I go live in?

iguana

Mrbrianmolko wrote:

As much as id love to live in London, i think it will be just to expensive to live there! Il be starting off on about 26-28k sterling, which i presume will last pissing time in London. Although it will be handy to get a job there.

£27k is the average annual salary in London. I know people who live comfortably on £20k, it's just a matter of choosing the right area to live in. Housing costs can vary wildly from one area to the next. My house cost £250k, but the same house 5 minutes south of me would have cost £420k. Rentals go along similar ratios.

If you could walk to your office you would save about a £1000 a year on transport. There are 33 borough councils in London, the trick would be to live and work in the same borough, but to pick one of the less swanky boroughs, eg. not Westminster or Kensington and Chelsea. Someplace like Brent, Waltham Forest or Haringey* would be ideal, not too far out that going to central London for nights out/culture would be an ordeal but affordable accomodation.

*Particularily Tottenham in Haringey. Cheap accomodation, 15 mins from Oxford St and you could always go to a Liverpool away game at White Hart Lane or Arsenal stadium.:D (Guess where I live ).

Saruman

Sizzler wrote:

If you are making such a big decision, feck going to england, get yourself over to the states

Well since he can go to the UK and have the option of coming home any weekend and more importatly... since he can get a job there and live as easy as here where as in the states he would need a green card which means the lottery.. well its just not that simple as go to the states.

Besides.. working in the US sucks.. way different ethos over there.. no statutory holidays.. only days off you get are July 4th and Christmas and even depend on the job.

I like Manchester, i think its nice.. Also Liverpool.
Never been to London, well other than passing though.
I lived and worked in Leeds for a while.. its ok but a bit of a dump.
Nottingham is a lovely city!

iguana

Saruman wrote:

Besides.. working in the US sucks.. way different ethos over there.. no statutory holidays.. only days off you get are July 4th and Christmas and even depend on the job.

No healthcare, no social welfare if things go bad, stricter drug laws, no proper football (and he is a big fan).

gary the great

Hmm that makes for intresting reading Iguana, im in the same situation as the op. i could get a job in a london council handy enough and tbh London would be my preference over anywhere else, was just worried about the cost of living. So you reckon i could live on 27k fairly easily?

What I will do is apply for some places in the coming weeks, then drag this thread back up and get peoples thoughts. But tbh i reckon its gonna be London, Liverpool or brighton, in that order.

WhiteWashMan

leeds is pretty hip and happening.
but the weather is nicer down south.
guildford is great, but expensive.
london is london is london, and i recommend everyone spend some time there.

it really depends on what you want in a city.

smashey

What is the big problem with Birmingham here? In the last year, I have spent time in Manchester and Birmingham and if I had to choose, Brum would be the place. Like every other big city, it has places to avoid but it also has a lot going for it. There have been some great developments there since the early nineties.

A Dub in Glasgo

Mrbrianmolko wrote:

Yep faith england only, theres something about scotland i just dont like. Everytime i think of it i just think of scumbags in celtic and rangers jereseys!!

You are deluded if you think there are no scumbags in England!

Blackjack

Middlesbrough. Lovely English City.;)

Paul Tergat

Manchester and Leeds are both class places to live...just avoid Bradford at all costs!!!

Killaqueen!!!

Sizzler wrote:

If you are making such a big decision, feck going to england, get yourself over to the states

Yeah, America is amazing but, depending on where you go/what you do, work isn't great in terms of money.

I don't see the point in moving to England but obviously you have your reasons...

London is great. And in terms of ease to get to Ryanair flights - Gatwick is 30mins away on the train. It's very easy to get around. Shopping is good and if you like the city life, than its great. Nightlife, too.

But you may not like the sheer amount of people (not to mention Brits arrogance ) but when I was there, I met some friendly people.

county

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

You are deluded if you think there are no scumbags in England!

there isn`t,we sent them up to scotland years ago;)

A Dub in Glasgo

county wrote:

there isn`t,we sent them up to scotland years ago;)

Or they went to Ireland

Mrbrianmolko

Killaqueen!!! wrote:

I don't see the point in moving to England but obviously you have your reasons...

But you may not like the sheer amount of people (not to mention Brits arrogance ) but when I was there, I met some friendly people.

As i said i must go to england career wise, its near impossible to get a career in my feild without experience and that cant be gotten here in ireland for the foresable future. And I want to get outta Ireland for a year or so while im young, experience something a bit different and start a new chapter of life.

Anyway im seriously thinking London at the mo, i was there and loved the vibe. But we'll see how it goes!

Keep the advice coming!

iguana

Mrbrianmolko wrote:

Anyway im seriously thinking London at the mo, i was there and loved the vibe. But we'll see how it goes!

If you are thinking London start by checking out jobs, here are a list of the London boroughs. Each one functions with it's own council so it gives you a starting point as to which councils you can seek out work with and a vague idea of where they are.

Living in the inner borough's generally zone 1 and 2 will be more expensive, but if you live too far out it won't feel like London. Price wise the inner circle of outer boroughs, if that makes sense, will be a lot better value than inner London but not too far out that central London feels far away. It's why estate agents say that zone 3 is the new zone 2.:D Obviously though it will depend on the jobs available, and some inner borough may pay a higher London weighting - a salary adjustment to help cover higher cost of living.

Once you find an area which looks like a possiblity you can look it up and ask questions on movethat or find out the prices of flatshares on gumtree. Remember when you are calculating expenses to account for council tax and water charges. It is also as in Ireland quite a bit cheaper to flat share than to have your own place.

gary the great

Great thread lads, lots of good info and links there Iguana. Just had a look at LGjobs there and the only place in London that are advertising jobs in my feild at the moment is Newham. But i read the Wiki and apparently is the 4th worst place to live in Britan, thats why theres loads of jobs I presume!!

So that doesnt really appeal to me. Not in anyt rush to move anyway, when the right job in the right place comes up il go for the interview.

iguana

gary the great wrote:

Just had a look at LGjobs there and the only place in London that are advertising jobs in my feild at the moment is Newham.

Try looking up the website of each council, they all have their own job pages which will possibly have the vacancy adverts first and tips on how to apply.

Rippy

Yeah Newham is really nasty. I lived there for 8 years in the 90's before escaping to Cork. Pubs, shops , clubs but most of all the people all dreadful.
Full of Cockney W*nk€rs! If London Redbridge ,just up the road is much nicer.
Wanstead and Woodford cheapish, villagey, nicer people , central line and
M11 to Stanstead very handy.
I would agree with Norwich , lovely city which has it all, long drive to Stanstead though.
Hull or Lincoln are pretty cool too.

gary the great

Rippy wrote:

Yeah Newham is really nasty. I lived there for 8 years in the 90's before escaping to Cork. Pubs, shops , clubs but most of all the people all dreadful.
Full of Cockney W*nk€rs! If London Redbridge ,just up the road is much nicer.
Wanstead and Woodford cheapish, villagey, nicer people , central line and
M11 to Stanstead very handy.
I would agree with Norwich , lovely city which has it all, long drive to Stanstead though.
Hull or Lincoln are pretty cool too.

Ye thats what i thought, no wonder theres loads of jobs there!

Revelation Joe

Personal choices:
Nottingham - great nightlife, great transport, reasonably cheap, avoid The Meadows and St Annes areas, and it used to be four women to every man
Brighton - as above but avoid Moulsecoomb. Doesn't have the women-to-men ratio. Fifty mins by train from London. Very very busy in Summer
London - same as any big city really. Good parts and bad parts. Tubes, buses and trains mean getting around is easy. Good choice of borough councils for work.
Bristol is supposed to be OK but I've only been there for work so don't know much about it.

Other possibles: York, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Reading (very nice place), Derby
Places to avoid: Slough, the Essex coast (Harlow/Basildon/Southend/Romford)

That's all I can think of for now...

Del (Essex born, Nottingham bred, lived in East London, Slough, Kent and Brighton)

fricatus

I spent two years living in Birmingham and the best day was when I was looking out the window on the flight home! I haven't been back since and my life is better for it.

The people admittedly were very friendly and very nice, but the city is so ugly, you have to go there to see just how much. It's got a tiny (and admittedly beautiful) central area, but outside that, it's just an industrial wasteland. Imagine the Naas Road starting at Dorset St/Capel St/Kevin St and spreading for miles... it's that bad.

If you're going to advance your career and have an experience outside Ireland, go to London. Matter a damn that it's expensive, you can live cheaply by makin certain sacrifices and it's got very little in the line of competition for the title of the greatest city in the world.

I've reached my thirties and am back in my native Waterford, where I'm delighted to stay. If I could replay my twenties though, I would have lived in LDN rather than Brum. When you look back you will be glad you lived in a truly great city.

If you don't live in London, it might be an idea to live in one of the beautiful smaller cities in England, like Cambridge, Bath, Chester, Canterbury or York. Don't forget though, that some of these places are Tory to the core, and as a Dub you might find more kindred spirits in the bigger cities.

WhiteWashMan

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

You are deluded if you think there are no scumbags in England!

you are deluded if you think there are no scumbags anywhere.

gary the great

Ok lads, theres been some movement on the ob scene.

Ive sent CVs about and Newham Council and Nottingham have both got back to me and said there very impressed with my CV andwould i like to go over for an interview. they both have a number of vacancys so i reckon there in the bag.

But i dunno where to go, as people say Newham is a dive but its in London, were i would really like to go.

Nottingham on the other hand(and ive read back over the posts and everyone only had good things to say about it) is cheaper and ment to be much nicer.

The salary would be the same in both places

Anymore input?

A Dub in Glasgo

Are you the original poster? I am confused

I would go to Nottingham but if you really want to go to London, pick the other one

Revelation Joe

Rent will be higher in London and Newham is a bit dodgy, so if you live in a better area you have travel to take into account too. But travel in London is easy, you're never far from a tube or railway station or a bus-stop and the tube and buses run until the early hours if you're going into Central London for gigs etc. plus the black cabs of course. Loads of things to do like pubs, clubs, gigs, museums, theatre etc and you can buy just about anything!

Nottingham is a great place. It now has a Luas-type system and again a good bus service but not as good as London. Taxis are also very good and used to be black with a white boot and bonnet so you can make sure they weren't a dodgy minicab (I assume they still are). Rent will be cheaper and despite what you read, it is pretty safe unless you are a drug dealer . Again plenty to do (gigs, pubs, clubs) but obviously not as much as London. Two big shopping centres. Biggest ice rink and biggest bowling alley in the country if that helps!

If it was me, I'd go to London but then I know it well. If I was in your shoes though, I'd go to Nottingham. Then if you really want to stay in the UK, you can apply for jobs in London

Mrbrianmolko

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

Are you the original poster? I am confused

I would go to Nottingham but if you really want to go to London, pick the other one

Nope, im the original poster, he's just robbing the information form my thread

I still havent made up my mind yet, keeping the options open for the moment

Mrbrianmolko

I have applied for a job in Dagenham and Barking in London, anyone any experiecnes?

r3nu4l

I have two Irish friends teaching at a school in Dagenham. It is quite a rough area but there's no saying you have to live there

Ilford isn't too far away, not a bad place to live and has a very good, friendly and more importantly real Irish pub, owned and staffed by Irish people Trains from Ilford take you into London Liverpool Street in 15 mins, so you're never too far away from the city

damnyanks

Edinburgh is meant to be really nice

gary the great

Another place called Runnymede have contacted me, its in Surrey. I wouldnt mind living there, in the country but close to London and the south coast. Also a better climate. The money in that particular job is better than anywhere else ive been offered, so im going to apply for it.

Revelation Joe

gary the great wrote:

Another place called Runnymede have contacted me, its in Surrey. I wouldnt mind living there, in the country but close to London and the south coast. Also a better climate. The money in that particular job is better than anywhere else ive been offered, so im going to apply for it.

Runnymede is a good area. Rents might be high though