Moving to Worcester

[lightswitchraves]

Hi Folks,

I'm moving to Worcester at the beginning of the summer. I've never been there before, but my boyfriend is from the West Midlands and has fond memories of going there as a child. We were up there over Christmas, and some friends told us that there are areas that should be avoided when moving there. Can anyone tell me a bit more about the place in terms of good places to live?

To give you a bit of background, we are both students in Reading, my boyfriend will be continuing with his studies in Worcester and I'll be working in something Horticulture/Agriculture related. I count myself lucky as in the past, despite living in some dodgy places I've never been a victim of crime. Reading has really shocked us both with really high crime rates, despite living in a pretty nice area (4 houses burgled in our street, two of our vehicles torched within 6 months).

We're looking for something within walking distance of a pub, with a bit of a garden as we have a little one come and stay with us at weekends.

Cheers!

[bushbaby_de]

Hi there, I live in Reading at the moment but am from Worcester originally. It's probably fair to say its a sleepier and gentler place than Reading but it has its fair share of Chavs and Council Estates!!!

If you can give me some more information on what sort of things are important to you I'll be able to give you some advice and given that I have the same point of comparison as you since we're both in Reading hopefully you'll find it really helpful :)

[lightswitchraves]

Hi Bushbaby,

Thanks for your reply. We're looking for something within walking distance of pub/corner shop, with a garden. We live in a terrace house at the moment which is alright but would like something detached. I've seen some properties that seem pretty central but have a pretty big garden which seems great. We wouldn't rule out moving a bit further from the centre, but the university would have to be walking/cycling distance away as we've only one car. We have my boyfriends son come and stay at weekends so somewhere he can run around with his mates. It's all a bit vague sorry! THanks for your help.

[redcrx]

lol. I love the fact that your distance from a pub came in front of the distance from the uni

[bushbaby_de]

What sort of budget are you looking at because that will make a difference too - although you will get a lot more for your money than you do in Reading! Once I know that I will get my thinking cap on for you. Ideally what sort of walking time do you want to Uni and which campus will you be based on?

[lightswitchraves]

I'm not sure which campus he will be on, he's doing a PGCE so to be able to walk there is a bonus, although he will be on placements soon enough. Just as long as it's not in the middle of nowhere and he has to walk an hour to the bus stop! I'd say the budget is £650 a month as it must have two bedrooms.

Thanks again for all your help.

[bushbaby_de]

You'll get a nice two bed with that budget - in some areas you might even get a three bed, although most are nearer £700. Not sure that there will be many detached two beds in the areas you'll be looking at though - there are a greater number of them in the relatively newer housing areas which tend to be nearer the outskirts, like St Peters or Warndon Villages (both of which are generally nice areas but probably too far out for you) Should have no problem finding a two bed semi though.

I reckon you'll probably find what you're looking for in areas like St Johns (which is the same side of the river as the main uni campus), the Arboretum, the area around Barbourne/Gheluvelt Park or maybe Diglis/Cherry Orchard. London Road and Bath Road are two of the main residential roads on the way into town so you may have some luck there, although there are a lot of very big houses on those roads too.

Personally I'd give the Tolladine area a miss. From what you say about cars being torched I'm assuming you're in West Reading off the Oxford Road somewhere, and in my opinion Tolladine (Tolly to the locals) is comparable. A lot of the other areas are like Reading in that there are nice bits and not so nice bits but you'll probably get a feel for that when you view the properties.

I'd agree with your other half that Worcester is much more pleasant than Reading and if you've looked at any of my other posts you'll see I'm planning to move back there myself sometime in the not too distant future.

If you have any questions about particular roads that you see properties on then feel free to ask :)

[lightswitchraves]

Thank you for all your help! I will no doubt be back in touch closer to the time, but for now you've really helped narrow it all down. Believe it or not we were in Lower Early first time our car caught fire, then again at Cemetery Junction.

I hope everything goes smoothly with your own move.

Cheers!

[bushbaby_de]

Oh I just assumed because there was a bunch of car fires in West Reading over the last few weeks! Well best of luck and give me a shout if you need anything else!