Anyone live in/close to York?

DiscoDave

DiscoDave

DiscoDave

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Hi Everyone,

I visited York a few years ago when I was at uni and absolutely loved the place, I then returned back home to save up some cash and started to build my career. Since then I've revisited York few times, and left with the same feelings about the place.

I've never liked the idea of renting a property, hence why I'm living at home. I estimate that in a couple of years I should have enough to put down a deposit for a good starter-property of my own, at which point I will be 26.

I would like to get a bit of info from anyone who lives round York/nearby to share with me their experiences and thoughts about York, Ie what's it like to live there/cost of living/general feel and atmosphere of the place. The main area I'm concerned with is jobs, which is a bit lacking especially in my area (IT).

My circumstances and ideas may change in the near future, which may include me moving out sooner than expected. To be honest, if i found the perfect job I would even consider just moving out and renting. But the chances of that are unlikely, but you never know...

Anyway, any ideas/opinions either good or bad are most welcome.

Thanks,
 
Loved living in York while I was a student there, and would love to live there again. The atmosphere of the place feels relaxed, the whole town can be enjoyed on foot and there's lots of great pubs if you like your beer! Who cares if they shut at 11, just go in earlier!

Can't comment on rental prices, except it's probably going to be above average in the town centre (particularly by the river), and with the abundance of student properties. Have also heard jobs aren't plentiful. Then again, if I worked in Leeds I'd be tempted to live in York and commute!
 
York is a wonderful city it has a superb atmosphere both in the day and on a night out. Summer holidays can be a pain though currently the town is rammed with kids and tourists but you get used to it after a while.

Rental prices are quite high in York itself but there are villages commutable all around, but I cant see it being hugely more expensive than Cambridge.

As for jobs like most of the UK they are a bit sparse at the moment.
 
Leeds is always going to have more jobs, particularly in the field of IT. Guess you'd have to weigh up the cost of both rent and travel to decide if it's worth it. I'd be willing to pay a bit extra not to live in a big city. At the moment I work in Beverley and already travel quite a way (from Doncaster), York would be a similar commute but potentially more difficult in winter. Will probably end up looking for a job in or near to York in the next few years so I can move there.
 
Someone I know recently moved into a rented place within the city walls and they are paying £500+ p/m for not much space at all, so you'll find some cheaper options further out. Nearby commuter villages have relatively good bus connections and York is also is pretty bike friendly and car parks are quite abundant.

If York can't provide work, Leeds is a cheap train journey away and I'm sure theres more options avalable.

I agree York is a fantastic place, great atmosphere even when its packed with tourists and the like. The people I know who have lived/living there say its a great place during the day and night. Brilliant connections to the rest of the country aswell by road or train (London is just under 2 hours on a decent connection).
 
What IT work do you do? May be able to point you to a couple of places, I used to live in York and worked in IT there for a few years.

It seems an overall nicer place to live than Leeds, if you dont mind the commute across to Leeds for work.
 
matt_fsr said:
What IT work do you do? May be able to point you to a couple of places, I used to live in York and worked in IT there for a few years.

It seems an overall nicer place to live than Leeds, if you dont mind the commute across to Leeds for work.
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At the moment I'm a sysadmin for a small company, mainly work with Windows Server infrastructure. Would much prefer to work within the networking sector, or provide consultancy for some IT solutions (unfortunately didn't get a job as a home-based consultant for some network/infrastructure management software/scripting I applied for, I really wanted that job).
 
It's a wonderful place. I rent a nice house in a village a few miles to the north and commute very quickly and easily. It's generally a friendly place and very pleasing on the eye. Fun night out, limited in the clubbing scene (VERY limited) but lots of very good pubs of all types.

Buying a house is insane here though, very high prices and quite limited supply. As mentioned above lots of people who work in Leeds live in York as its a comparitavely easy commute
 
Phoen1x said:
It's a wonderful place. I rent a nice house in a village a few miles to the north and commute very quickly and easily. It's generally a friendly place and very pleasing on the eye. Fun night out, limited in the clubbing scene (VERY limited) but lots of very good pubs of all types.

Buying a house is insane here though, very high prices and quite limited supply. As mentioned above lots of people who work in Leeds live in York as its a comparitavely easy commute
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Lack of clubbing scene isn't a bother for me (more of a rock pub kind of guy..) I've done a quick search on rightmove.co.uk and you're right with the cost/supply, but there are some nice 1 or 2 bedroom apartments/houses I could probably afford. Early days yet but It's nice to get a general idea.
 
ichabod crane said:
Summer holidays can be a pain though currently the town is rammed with kids and tourists but you get used to it after a while.
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To be honest I go into Cambridge quite a lot so I'm faily used to the tourists and sheer amount of people around the summer holidays etc.

Are there any particularly rough/nice areas of York (will probably have to look a bit further out of the town centre for prices etc) just so I can do a bit of research and get a rough idea of how much I will need to save etc.
 
If you live closer to Selby the house prices fall a great deal and there are some nice country villages in that direction such as Barlby, Riccall, Stillingfleet and Escrick to name a few. All are located along the A19 which is one of the main roads in and out of your.

General rule of thumb is house prices are higher inside the A64, Acomb & Tang Hall are seen as the rougher sides of York but I wouldn't got as far as saying they are hugely cheaper to live in.
 
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having lived in york pretty much my entire life (now in southampton) i would say yes its a really nice little city, but can get abit repetitive as iots not got quite the same night life as a larger town, renting isnt too bad, but more exspensive than the average northern city (leeds will be cheaper to rent). However the main problem i would see for you is the job. IT in york is nearly non existant, you willneed to apply to an IT department of a large company and really the only ones big enough to mention are CPP and Aviva which both have thier HQ's in york.


EDIT: if ur a rock pub kinda guy, there are some great ones all around york. Although the name of the one by subway near the river and the york dungeons escapes me


EDIT: There are parts of acomb that are rough (nothing like a moss-side though, so rough in a posh sort of way, lol), but if you get in the holgate area its nice there, and i would have said that Selby and surrounding area was rough, +1 on tang hall, parts of clifton, and anywhere called kingsway, either north or south, just stay away from there
 
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ob111 said:
EDIT: if ur a rock pub kinda guy, there are some great ones all around york. Although the name of the one by subway near the river and the york dungeons escapes me
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Stone Roses? There's also Fibbers, which has live gigs all the time, and a number of other really great places to go. Evil Eye is a nice bar that focuses on the "alternative" music and scene.

I've lived in York for the past 8 years now and I absolutely love it. It's the kinda place that you can get really involved in if you like, or you can just keep to yourself and enjoy it for that too. I live in a lovely village on the outskirts of York, and it provides a nice quiet life with very easy access to the city if we need it.

Renting in York can be expensive, but it really depends on how you do it. Would you be doing it alone, or looking to move in with others? That obviously makes it far cheaper. When I initially moved to York, I rented with 3 other people and I was paying between £200 - £250 per month, but that was a long time ago and no doubt prices have gone up a fair bit since then. I'd suggest having a look on the websites for a few of the letting agencies to see what they have on offer. As has also been mentioned, there are plenty of villages that are on the outskirts of York, and they have cheaper houses to buy / rent. Getting around York on the ring road is simple (except on a Saturday, where the A64 is mostly jammed heading toward Scarborough when it is warm) but the one-way system in York isn't the greatest. You wouldn't use that to get to places like Leeds, only if you were to get a job in the centre of town.

Jobs-wise, there aren't many IT companies in York, but as mentioned, Leeds is really close-by and easy to get to, and it has plenty of IT companies so you'd be able to get something there.

I love living in York, the city is something rather special, and has a lot to offer everyone. If you're thinking about it after visiting a few times, I'd say go for it :)
 
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I grew up in York, left at the age of 18 but havent lived there since (now aged 34). It was a great place to grow up and grow to school. I lived on the south side of the city in Fulford & Heslington. Whenever I have gone back for a visit it still looks like a great place to live.

In fact i'd almost move back if it was compatible with my job - do it!
 
Correlian said:
I grew up in York, left at the age of 18 but havent lived there since (now aged 34). It was a great place to grow up and grow to school. I lived on the south side of the city in Fulford & Heslington. Whenever I have gone back for a visit it still looks like a great place to live.

In fact i'd almost move back if it was compatible with my job - do it!
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Fulford and Heslington are probably some of the nicer places to live in York. I bet the prices are very high there.

I live in a village called Wistow, about 12 miles from the center of York, and here, for a 3 bedroom semi detached, it's like £150,000, and that seems expensive :eek: Nice village though, only got a pub now and a chip shop, no post office, and the transport is pretty poor, one bus every hour.
 
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