# Considering a move to Bristol need advice



## jokasmoka (Dec 4, 2011)

Hey all,
Thinking about moving to Bristol after Christmas. How's life in Bristol? I always had the impression it's a really creative city with a great music scene and generally quite chill. Is it friendly/easy to meet people there? I've also got 2 little kids so just wondering if you reckon it's a good city for kids to grow up like plenty of activities for them.What are some nice places to live...like friendly community/creative vibe but not something snobby/boring/too quiet/expensive...;-)


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## porno thieving gypsy (Dec 5, 2011)

Saw this intresting documentary on the music scene there


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## Gerry1time (Dec 5, 2011)

Bristol's awesome, have been here 13 years and have no intention of moving. It's certainly a creative place, although you do get a touch of new media and hippy bollocks coming along with that, just like Brighton or Shoreditch or wherever. Can't comment on whether it's good for kids, but every fucker seems to be having them these days, so can't think that it's bad. Council run schools traditionally aren't great but are slowly getting better. Loads of very good private schools though if you want to go down that route.

As for where to live that's creative and so forth, I'd check out Montpelier and St Werburghs, the latter's more of a little village by itself next to the city centre. Anywhere round the Gloucester Road's pretty good though I'd say. Doubtless others will have other ideas.


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## big eejit (Dec 5, 2011)

What he said.

Is Bristol friendly? I was chatting to a bloke on a local train the other day and it came up that I was from Liverpool. And he said that he knew I couldn't have been from Bristol cos I actually spoke to him.

So I'd say Bristol people aren't 'Northern friendly', but they're not bad by southern standards.

(goes off to hide somewhere else)


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## strung out (Dec 5, 2011)

i don't talk to anyone not from bristol on principle


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## big eejit (Dec 5, 2011)

If I go to the Bristol meetup I'm going to have to sit on my own, aren't I.


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## Geri (Dec 5, 2011)

I think people are friendly here - I often get into conversations with people in the bus station when I am waiting for the bus.


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## gentlegreen (Dec 5, 2011)

strung out said:


> i don't talk to anyone not from bristol on principle



I don't talk to anyone - no matter where they're from - though I'm want to shout obscenities at strangers when I'm out on my bike.

Mind you, I'm only a naturalised Bristolian - I was raised in South Glos - half a mile from the city limits ...


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## big eejit (Dec 5, 2011)

Geri said:


> I think people are friendly here - I often get into conversations with people in the bus station when I am waiting for the bus.



When I used to get the bus I was always getting into conversation with people - mostly about how bloody useless First Bus were. That's something to note about Bristol - the public transport is a joke.


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## jokasmoka (Dec 5, 2011)

Thanks for the info guys. Ta for posting that documentary too. Definitely the music scene is a big big +++. Live somewhere now where it is pretty much non existent .Don't get to go out all the time these days because of the lil ones but I still love a good sesh   ;-)
As for talking to people down here I don't find it that friendly anyway..not like Dublin say
I'll check out those areas you mentioned


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## Thora (Dec 5, 2011)

St. George area is good if you have kids - you get a lot more house/garden for your money, there's a lovely big park, lots of nurseries, playgroups, nice schools etc.  It's friendly and has a nice community feel.  Montpelier and the like are nice but very expensive - mostly students or middle class hippies.


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## BlackArab (Dec 9, 2011)

Montpelier can be a pain if you own a car and don't like neighbours who play loud d&b post-club. St George/Whitehall/Greenbank/Eastville has cheap houses and is good for kids with good parks. Do try Gumtree or Venue magazine for houses as Bristol property agents are scum. Buses are crap and it can be massively helpful to live near one of the local train stations (Clifton, Montpelier, Stapleton Rd in Easton or Lawrence Hill).


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## xenon (Dec 9, 2011)

BlackArab said:


> Montpelier can be a pain if you own a car and don't like neighbours who play loud d&b post-club..." And the middle class hippies, obv.


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## gentlegreen (Dec 9, 2011)

Seconded for East Bristol - been in Redfield 27 years - best of all worlds - especially the easy access to Bristol's best park of all - the Railway path.


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## BlackArab (Dec 9, 2011)

Ah yes forgot those, add to this the middle class trusties and anarchists. Let's not even get me started on St Werbs!


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## xenon (Dec 9, 2011)

Southville's OK. Pretty near the city centre. 20 minute walk. Few pubs, places to eat. Bedminster has a few old traditional green grocers, butchers. Pubs, looks a bit rougher round the edges than Southville, which has been gentrified, even since I've lived in Bristol some 12 years.

Thing about Bristol with names of areas. Some do have a very different vibe. But no where's too far from any where else. Central Bristol and it's immediate suburbs are quite compact, so it seems to me anyway. (Not that i go out and about as much as I think I should.)


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## Mrs Magpie (Dec 9, 2011)

Bristol still had Lardy cake last time I was there (in Bedminster). This alone is a good reason to live in Bristol.


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## xenon (Dec 9, 2011)

Lardey cake. I'd forgotten that stuff. Not had it since I was a kid. Don't suppose you know where it was from in Bedminster?


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## Reno (Dec 11, 2011)

I lived there for a year and didn't much like it. I didn't find the people friendly at all and I know quite a few people who have been beaten up more than once because they found themselves in the city centre on a weekend at pub closing time. The constant bitching about London and the sense of superiority got on my nerves. Not being the outdoorsy type and more interested in cultural and social pursuits that a bigger city has to offer, I got bored on weekends. There is only so much time you can spend at the Watershed. After little under a year I was so fed up, I gave up a fantastic job there and moved back to London. I'm sure Bristol suits many people well, but it wasn't for me.


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## Geri (Dec 11, 2011)

xenon said:


> Lardey cake. I'd forgotten that stuff. Not had it since I was a kid. Don't suppose you know where it was from in Bedminster?


Little bakery on North Street,  opposite side to Asda


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## gentlegreen (Dec 11, 2011)

Bristol's biggest disappointment for me - apart from never having managed to find a social life, is that it's so far from the sea - it has all the trappings - harbour and spectacularly tidal river, but you have to go a long way to find a proper beach...


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## xenon (Dec 11, 2011)

Reno said:


> I lived there for a year and didn't much like it. I didn't find the people friendly at all and I know quite a few people who have been beaten up more than once because they found themselves in the city centre on a weekend at pub closing time. The constant bitching about London and the sense of superiority got on my nerves. Not being the outdoorsy type and more interested in cultural and social pursuits that a bigger city has to offer, I got bored on weekends. There is only so much time you can spend at the Watershed. After little under a year I was so fed up, I gave up a fantastic job there and moved back to London. I'm sure Bristol suits many people well, but it wasn't for me.



I'm from London originally,k don't hear too much bitchyness. Course there's more to see and do in London it's several times bigger and well, you can't really compare London to any where else save other capital cities IMO. I'd only go back if I got a fantastic job offer too. One that meant I could a least to afford to rent a flat by myself and not commute more than 60 minutes each way.

Unfortunately you do get a few aggressive wankers around chucking out time, in the vercinity of that type of verticle drinking bar that seems to play loud fucking awful music. Those places make me angry if I end up in one, anyway.



Geri said:


> Little bakery on North Street,  opposite side to Asda



Do you mean East Street? Asda opens on to East Street one side, crossing nearly opposite Barley Mo. The car park opens out on to Dean Lane. There's a few bakers up East Street though. I'll ask in one next time.



gentlegreen said:


> Bristol's biggest disappointment for me - apart from never having managed to find a social life, is that it's so far from the sea - it has all the trappings - harbour and spectacularly tidal river, but you have to go a long way to find a proper beach...



Heh. I came to Bristol for uni. Someone recommended it and also (geography not being my strong point.) It looked sort of near the sea. Beaches, city, not far from London. That'll do.


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## fractionMan (Dec 11, 2011)

Sandy bay!

It's got real sand for about ten feet, then mud for about two miles.  Complete with massive "don't step on the mud" warning signs


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## fractionMan (Dec 11, 2011)

I had someone comment on the state of my hands the other day. Weirdo.

Wait, wrong thread


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## Dr Dolittle (Dec 11, 2011)

I understand Reno and Xenon's points of view: if you come from London, Bristol doesn't feel like a big city. The streets are too empty, even in town, the people aren't quite as witty - it's all a bit provincial. After nearly fifteen years here, I still identify more with London than Bristol, though my knowledge of London is now rather out of date. One thing I like about Bristol, though, is that it's safer, or at least feels safer. I suppose its paler culture is the price you pay for that. But that's what I like about London-based Urban. It's my main link to the Great Satan.


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## Geri (Dec 11, 2011)

xenon said:


> Do you mean East Street? Asda opens on to East Street one side, crossing nearly opposite Barley Mo. The car park opens out on to Dean Lane. There's a few bakers up East Street though. I'll ask in one next time.



Yeah, I did mean East Street. Can't remember the name of the bakery, it's at the end of a row of shops if I remember rightly. I haven't been over that way for a while now though.


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## Geri (Dec 11, 2011)

BTW I have never found Londoners to be particularly witty.


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