What are your opinions on Fir Vale as a place to live.

What are the houses like? Spacious? Good Repair? Empty?
Problems with crime/drugs etc?
Shops and local environment?
Should it be demolished?
Do you live in Fir Vale - how do you feel about the masterplan and demolition?

..or anything else.

Cheers

I dont live there so can only comment on my visits there. The houses tend to be older and many of them what i recall are terraced type houses.

There's a good range of shops across from the NGH. The place always looks quite littered to me. The area also has a large Muslim community.

It's where I grew up and my parents still live there. The housing is pretty spacious victorian mix of semis, odd detached here and there and a few terraces. Most of the semis have fairly big gardens, but all quite hilly (the top of my parent's garden is actually higher than the roof of their 3 storey house!)

Access to the Northern General is good and roads into the city are reasonable but do get busy in rush hour. There certainly is a lot more litter around than there was when I was growing up - the saddest part is the local shops, they're now all fast food, video rental and mobile shops. You used to be able to do all your shopping locally - proper butcher, greengrocer etc - but now you need to go to the local superstore.

I think this is why there's so much litter around now, and less of a sense of community than there used to be when I was there (15 years ago admittedly) - god I'm getting old!

My fiance's auntie lives at Fir Vale, the house she lives in is lovely, but the area isnt that nice, and tbh i dont think she likes the area! it wouldnt me my first choice to buy a home, i would look elsewhere!

I've lived in fir vale for 4 years and have found it to be very nice. Plus my house has more than doubled in value. My friend bought his 6 months earlier and is now worth 3-4 times more. Prices keep rising here which can only be good.

There are some very good local shops so groceries, newsagents etc are close to hand. The chip shop is great, there are lots of takeaways and the shopping areas are usually busy so it feels safer to be around than if it went dead.

There are loads of community projects running in the area- community forums and neighborhood groups, the sheffield companions club for bar/ pub type social stuff, a youth centre, the school is very good and getting better, there is a sheffield colleeg site and just up barnsley road the brand new Longley [park 6th form college. There are adult education courses and evening classes, including english classes for people needing to improve their english skills. It is really easy to get to meadowhall, and close to the M1 for those trips out of sheffield. The busses into town are very very regular. We're right next to the hospital which was handy when my partner got bitten by our dog and we ahd to get to A+E!

The community is very mixed, with white, asian and african/carribean people all living in harmony- especially compared to som other areas where there can soemtimes be antagonism- we don't seem to get that here in fir vale.

There are green spaces to enjoy- crabtree ponds and roe woods, Osgathorpe Park, and other palying fields dotted around.

There are two mosques and two churches, both of which have various activities and opportunities to socialise. There are also social activities run from the northern general. Just up the road between fir vale and firth park is the clocktower and the old firth park library, both of which house various community projects and ativities.

We're also a short ride away from Concord leisure centre which has gentle exercise classes for older people.

We have 2 highly regarded GP surgeries and 2 or three pharmacies.

Overall, the council and the various service agencies- police, health, highways etc really seem to be committed to listening to what resdietns say and making improvements. Houses are being done up, roads re-surfaced, parks getting makeovers, the first community festival was this summer and had 4,000 people through the gate.

So I think it's o.k.

I don't live in the area now, but used to live on Osgathorpe Rd. My personal opinion is that, the area has been taken over by Asian Communities, you only have to drive through there to confirm this. I'm not saying that this is a problem, but rather you than me. I don't think whites are wanted there now,sorry if that is the way it seems.

hmmm, the language of somewhere being 'taken over' 'rather you than me' and 'whiotes are not wanted there' doesnt sound like the language of someone who doesnt thinkn there's a problem.

I dont think the area is 'taken over' at all. As i said in my last post, there is a good mix of asian, black and white people round here, and everyone lives together very well. I have always found people very friendly, and i'd rather live in a mixed cosmopolitan area than in an area populated by people who drive through here and think 'well, it's not a probelm- but this has just been TAKEN OVER by the ASIAN COMMUNITIES'

see this

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=144964

oooh, my opinion = bad place to live! full stop

I think that the work of the Sheffield City Council in the area is great. They will and have already made a big difference, escpescially with the Page Hall Flowers. It looks fab and everyone seems happier about their community. I have noticed that more people from different cultures are talking with each other too. Well done to the Council.

oooh, you naughty anughty person, council not responsible for the flowers, you have to thank Page Hall Community Association and green city action for that one. in fact 3 awards were won this year for the area. check out the summer edition of the firvale forum newsletter. and this is a great place to live, ignore the racist and bigoted views of a few, this is a sound area, AND accorsing to the police we have lower crime levels than many other parts of the city - and a great sense of community. i love it here!

in fact, were organising a winter planting scheme at the moment in page hall, if you contact ivor, at page hall community assoc ( i think firvale forum or east regen team can give you number) you can order a reduced price basket or refill of winter flowering plants.

That's not naughty, it's true, the tree planting and window box stuff started in March, and wasn't the PHCA not set up until June time!!! And someone from GCA informed a group that it was a Council rep that got in touch with them first as there was money available for this back in the Winter.
However the PHCA have done great things since they have been set up, as the community cohesion as greatly improved, and the effort that was put into the planting was brilliant, and the community need more of this.

Now, now (presume) girls!

Would it be a fair assumption it was a bit of one and the other? Perhaps the Council funded but the local community put in a lot of effort to make sure it happened? ;) Can't you share the glory?

Yes, it deffinatley looks like it is very much a joint effort from PHCA, GCA and the Council. They all should be very proud of themselves for such a wonderful scheme.

fyi IT WAS NOT THE COUNCIL street force provided the fir vale large planters, but the actual scheme in page hall came from the locally run environment group (which A council rep attended) which later changed its name to PHCA and became formally constituted as such. as a founding member i am aware of exactly who was involved, and i will assure you, this was NOT the council. Please do not take away credit from the efforts of local residents, as you may remember the council had given up on us not so long back, and its thanks to the effort and community spirit of local people that we again have an area to be proud of

Used to live in pagehall about 12 years ago we were lucky we could get out when we did, I don't like walking around there now even in the daytime.

Cleanfix, thats a bit unfair. You moved out 12 years ago, a lot has changed since then.

I obviously have been mis-informed at the meeting thing. But the jist of it is ,it was nice for the people involved to be told that what they have achieved here is fab.
When is the Winter Planting day?
I think that it is important to know that, Page Hall looks a friendlier, brighter and happier place, flowers make such a difference, to the area and the people who live there.

yes, it is nice that we do still have a good sense of community spirit here. its interesting that most of the people who strongly dislike the area do not live here or havent done for a long time. that says alot to me. as with many places the fear of crime is way higher than actual crime itself, and much of peoples fear of crime is due to tabloid sensationalism and media propaganda. evidently from the comments posted some of the people who are scared to walk around here dont actually know the area now at all, and there is a world of difference between feeling slightly uneasy due to a group of people hamnging out, or being jumped on and attacked, and that is no more likely to happen here than elsewhere - unless of course you walk around the area spouting rascist bull.in which case, what do you expect?
this is a hugely diverse area, i have friends here from all over the world, and when i moved here 4 years ago, it wa s almost like going back in time - neighbours who you actually know and talk to, bbqs in the garden in summer with all your neighbours there, little fireworks parties in november that you all chip into. its great!
and its not "all just takeaways" yes unfortunately there are probably too many here now, and undoubtavly this does contribute to the litter, but there are also good grocers, friendly corner shops, and specialist clothing shops and regardless of your views some of the kaftan tops are absoulutley stunning.
yes, every area has its problems, and im not naive enough to think that there arent some undesirable elements living in this area, as there are everywhere city or country, but all in all this is certainly not a bad place to live, and comments from people who obviously dont know the area, who ateempt to just categorise us as a slum, really dont help matters.
there has been so much work done recently to dispel this negative image of the area, its unfortunate that some poeple cant see beyond their own prejudices, but at the end of the day, there lives will probably be less happy if they cant see the good in the world.

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