Anyone from Manchester here?

[MiniCooperJ]

Could anyone from Manchester offer me some advice on good locations to move to? We've found a property we like on http://www.bridgfords.co.uk/forsaleoffi ... ington/413 in Withington, but we're not too sure what the area is like? Also, what's the drive like into Manchester city centre? My new job is located right in the centre, so I'm wondering what traffic and commute times will be like. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[kfae8959]

Hello!

Withington is between Fallowfield, which is where a lot of the students from Manchester's universities live, and Didsbury, which is a fairly smart suburb. The student population supports good public transport links to the city centre. Traffic through south Manchester is often very heavy, especially on the Kingsway and Princess Road, and city centre parking is limited, so from there you'd be better off commuting by train (the line goes in to Picaddilly, from where you can get trams or train connections all over the place). There are also frequent bus services running in bus lanes for most of the way.

David

[exportmanuk]

Agree with David

Probably quicker to walk than drive. Manchester road planners are anti private transport, They are very efficient at destroying any sort of free flow traffic. Traffic light always sequenced to stop the traffic flow 200 meter bus lanes on many roads which cause 1 mile traffic jams ( which incidentally the busses get caught up in too) Sorry could go into a complete rant They are killing the city.
Personally I use a motorbike to travel the 6 miles to work across the city quicker than the car and both are much quicker and cheaper than public transport would be for me. That said if you are working in the city center the trams and trains aren't bad.

[trashbat]

I used to live in Withington, about ten years ago. It was nice enough if you don't mind students, but it's not exclusively student by any means. Gentrification had begun by then. Driving in urban Manchester would be crap, and there's not really much need if just commuting. You could get the train in from Mauldeth Road, or the buses (busiest bus route in Western Europe, apparently!), which are probably still quite cheap with a weekly pass or whatever.

[MiniCooperJ]

Wow, thanks everyone, this is incredibly helpful! We didn't know it was such a studenty area, so that's good to be aware of. It's disappointing to hear that the driving situation isn't too great but if public transport is a viable option then I guess it's not too much of a big deal. It might probably work out cheaper too.

We'll keep thinking, but thanks to all for this