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Where is the best place to live in Liverpool?

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My son has just landed a job in Liverpool and as he is currently in Tokyo so not able to do it himself, I have to help him find a flat there. As far as I know he will be working quite centrally.

 

Does anyone know which would be the best area for me to look at for renting a flat, and which areas I should avoid? He is looking for a decent area, not more than 30 mins or so away from the centre, preferably nearer.

 

Is there a Liverpool forum? When I google I only get Liverpool FC.

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Just from my own personal experience I'd suggest having a look at Waterloo or Crosby or anywhere further North and close to the Northern Line.

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I can tell you where NOT to live, if that would help?

 

From the city centre heading west, avoid the following areas:

Kensington, Fairfield, Old Swan, Huyton

 

From the south, heading north:

Toxteth, Shiel Road, Everton, Anfield, Walton

 

There will be 'nice' streets (by Liverpool standards) amongst the above areas, but unless you know what streets to avoid, your son WILL be mugged or killed.

 

Where to live?

Mossley Hill is nice but on the outskirts of the city, so might be commutable to the city centre in 30 minutes. Also, there are plenty of flats apartments in the city centre.

 

x

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I'm from liverpool and lived in Kensington for about 3 years. As Jason says, it's a bad area (as are the others he has mentioned). Don't worry though, your son wouldn't necessarily be killed..... I survived (although one of my cars didn't).

 

Aigburth/Sefton Park area is great and well served by buses and rail into the city centre. A bit further south there is Cressington which is quite posh and expensive.

 

Along the docks area near there there are many nice new flat developments. The last place I lived in Liverpool was in a lovely gated place with a lake and fountains in the middle which had views out across the Mersey and was a short walk to Brunswick train station, and only a few mins ride into town centre. Absolutely fab, really miss living there a lot :(

 

Anyway there are loads of good areas, those are just the ones I have personal experience of :)

 

Urgh thinking about it makes me want to go back so much :(:(:(

 

Edit - for commuting, you can't beat the railways so looking for somewhere near a station is a good starting point.

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Thanks for the comments so far, it gives me somewhere to start looking.

 

I forgot to add his budget which is around £400-500 per month - is that feasible for a one bed flat or will he have to share?

 

A studenty area would probably be the best, as he will be working at the University.

 

He will more than likely jog or cycle to work, so a route through decent areas would be good as well.

Edited by hennypenny

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Thanks for your input everyone.

 

I won`t be jogging to work! I`d have a healthy aroma after that. I would like to cycle if I have the option of putting my bike somewhere safe. Perhaps Liverpool is a more dangerous place for bikes than Tokyo.

 

The last place I lived in the UK was a fairly quiet, leafy and relatively safe area called Didsbury in Manchester. I liked it there. The closest place in Sheffield is perhaps Eccleshall Rd. Does anyone know of a similar area in Liverpool? Would Cressington or Aigburth fit that bill?

 

Thanks.

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It might be worth posting the following Forum members, Pussycat, Andy78 and Liencam who are all from Liverpool originally. I'll give the former and the last one the heads up to check the forum for you. Not in touch with Andy, sorry x

A good mate of mine lived in Croxteth and that seemed lovely. She'd also lived in Toxteth, not so great but handy for uni.

Congrats on the job Crayfish as well!

Edited by EdnaKrabappe

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Thanks for your input everyone.

 

I won`t be jogging to work! I`d have a healthy aroma after that. I would like to cycle if I have the option of putting my bike somewhere safe. Perhaps Liverpool is a more dangerous place for bikes than Tokyo.

 

The last place I lived in the UK was a fairly quiet, leafy and relatively safe area called Didsbury in Manchester. I liked it there. The closest place in Sheffield is perhaps Eccleshall Rd. Does anyone know of a similar area in Liverpool? Would Cressington or Aigburth fit that bill?

 

Thanks.

 

Aigburth and Sefton Park are close to each other and certainly within commuting distance of the city centre. Note that you would have to travel through Toxteth to get there, but you should be okay commuting if you stick to the main roads and avoid the side streets at night.

 

If it's quiet, leafy and relatively safe you want, then I'd say Sefton Park > Aigburth, but it might be more expensive to live there.

 

Liverpool is a great city for cycling in, it's all flat :)

 

Don't leave your bike unlocked or unattended though, it WILL get nicked. Scousers are surprisingly resourceful, when it comes to crime :|

 

x

 

Check out the google map here, showing South Liverpool from Mossly Hill as far as the Universities at the edge of the city centre (next to Cathedral) for an idea of what's where and commuting distances:

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&xhr=t&q=liverpool+sefton+park&cp=7&wrapid=tljp129850179801506&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

Edited by Jason Bourne

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Hi Cray :wave:

 

You jogged home in Manchester though!

 

I have been looking on Rightmove, and all the one bed flats seem to be a bit pricey in the nice areas.

 

The dock areas seem to have lots of properties, are they a good place to live?

 

What is the housing market like in Liverpool, anyone know? He would only be paying the same on a mortgage as he would in rent, it might be easier to buy a house there and sell it in a few years when he moves on, if they sell easily.

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Depending on which uni you'll be working out, you might want to find out where you'll be based. Liverpool uni is very much centralised in one area but LJMU is very spread out with some buildings being a good 30 min walk across town apart and one campus being way out of town.

 

I've personally experienced more crime and theft in Sheffield in the last 3 years than I did in Liverpool in 20 years, despite living in rough area mentioned above.

 

Liverpool city is much better than Sheffield centre too, public transport much better also, only think it lacks is a national park on the doorstep. If it wasn't for that I'd be looking to move back tomorrow tbh.

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My OH's mum lives in Brighton Le Sands which is in Crosby, and is a nice area. It's got a fairly lively main street of pubs bars and restaurants.

 

The area around Calderstones Park isn't too bad either.

 

I live across the water near Birkenhead. Oxton is a really nice little suburb with a village atmosphere. There are plenty of large old Victorian mansions which have been converted into apartments so you could get something for large for around £400 with no bother.

 

If you stay close to the rail system, which is excellent and frequent, you'll have loads of choices. Or get a bike as they can use the tunnels for free.

 

As for the docks, remember that they're still very active and can be noisy sometimes.

 

If I were to move across the water though Crosby would be the furthest south I'd go, probably choosing Formby but it is a bit further out and more expensive.

 

As for forums, I don't know about Liverpool but everyone round here on both sides of the water uses Wiki Wirral: http://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/

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The last place I lived in the UK was a fairly quiet, leafy and relatively safe area called Didsbury in Manchester. I liked it there. The closest place in Sheffield is perhaps Eccleshall Rd. Does anyone know of a similar area in Liverpool? Would Cressington or Aigburth fit that bill?

 

Thanks.

 

If you like those kind of areas, you maybe want to look around Sefton Park, Calderstones Park (more expensive), Mossley Hill, Allerton, all in the south of the city, about 2-3 miles or so out of the centre. If you prefer somewhere very close to the centre, there are some amazing streets branching off Hope Street - all Georgian terraces, many of which are converted into flats. This area is very close to the University, so lots of students and lecturers already live round here, plus it's round the corner from the Everyman Theatre, the Philharmonic Hall, the Unity Theatre, both cathedrals...etc.

 

I would also just point out that 'Toxteth' is a huge area, most of which is absolutely fine. In fact, not just fine, but boasting some amazing flats and houses, plus it's close to town. There are lots of places classed as Toxteth where I would be very happy living.

 

There's also a great suburban rail network in Liverpool which often makes it easier to catch the train into town rather than the bus.

 

Crosby and Waterloo in the north of the city are lovely, and have a huge beach, but probably aren't so handy for the lifestyle you describe. They're on the Merseyrail network though so it's still easy to get around.

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