Looking to Move, Exeter or Plymouth?

[TW]Fox;18370268 said:
If you ignore the crap areas (of which there are many) then you'll be rewarded with quite a nice pace of life, good scenery and low housing prices.

I simply never visit the less desireable areas and as a result they never affect me.
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Yeah I will be looking as I really need a fresh start in life away from Surrey/Sussex
 
[TW]Fox;18370221 said:
It's not really any older than Exeter, infact it's newer in most places than Exeter which ironically is what gives it the appearance that its older. Allow me to explain. Exeter still retains quite a lot of nice historic architecture. Plymouth city centre on the other hand was completely flattened in World War 2 and very little of it survived bar the Barbican area. This means it was entirely rebuilt in the 1950's and the city centre therefore is 'modern' as 'modern' was in the 1950's.

It does, however, have modern buildings and a modern shopping centre just like Exeter does.
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I think that's what I meant, I'm currently writing through a codeine haze so I may of may not be making sense.

The impression I got of Plymouth was 'old' in the sense of horrible 70s/80s buildings, giving a very dark appearance to the city in my mind. I haven't had the opportunity to go to Drake Circus yet!

Theophany said:
Where do you Exonians live then? I'm right next to St. James' Park on Victoria Street. EX4!
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Portland Street, right next to the Heavitree hospital.
 
I live in one of the less desirable areas of Plymouth. As long as you're not/look a complete fag you won't get much bother.
 
[TW]Fox;18370268 said:
If you ignore the crap areas (of which there are many) then you'll be rewarded with quite a nice pace of life, good scenery and low housing prices.

I simply never visit the less desireable areas and as a result they never affect me.
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I pretty much have the same opinion after living almost all of my life in Plymouth

Close to the city centre in general the nicer areas straddle Mannamead road up to the Manadon roundabout, these include Mannamead, Hartley, parts of Peverell and Lower Compton (although you're getting close to Efford). If I had to pick an area to live I'd pick one of them, there are nice places out further but I've always liked living within walking distance of the city centre. As a rule of thumb avoid most places west of Mannamead Road and Tavistock Road.

I live in Prague which is if you ignore the drunk foreigners is a really nice place to live but I still miss Plymouth. Plymouth has the seafront which is one of the largest natural harbours in the world, fresh sea air, lots of nice beaches within 45 minute drive and Dartmoor is on your doorstep. It's also big enough to have almost every high street shop without being too big. I miss the smell of the seafront too, San Francisco smells the same and reminded me of home :)

If I had to have a criticisms it'd be the lack of good restaurants and places to go for a night out that aren't filled with loud, obnoxious people. Also the closest IKEA is Bristol.
 
Plymouth: Wet, grey concrete and a weird mixture of brutal and incongruous architechture.

Exeter: Hills and daddy's little rich girls.
 
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Neither are terrible, both have nice and not nice areas.

Personally I always prefer Exeter to Plymouth, but also work with people who live in Plymouth and wouldn't want to move.

Plymouth is bigger and arguably there is more going on there, Exeter can be pretty quiet but that's part of the attraction to me (although I live in Torquay, but work in Exeter).
 
I'd definitely say Exeter, I'm probably biased having went to uni there (Hi Theophany, I remember Vic St well although didn't live on it).

Less crime, generally more plesant (i.e. didn't get utterly hammered by the Luftwaffe). Even though Plymouth is statistically a much more populous place, it didn't seem to me like the facilities there were much more numerous than those in Exeter. The shopping certainly isn't any better. Like Fox says, the traffic probably flows better in Plymouth but this is one of the few things against the city. Exeter city centre is easily navigable by foot and the buses are reasonable, plus rail links are good.

Plymouth has a lot of potential, the harbour and bay it sits in are stunning, much could be made of its setting. I'd love to see more of it redeveloped but it would need a gargantuan scale of redevelopment to make it more palatable.
 
Exeter everytime, I am in the unfortunate position of visiting Plymouth (and Exeter) on a regular basis and there is clear winner in Exeter in overall terms.
 
nichorob said:
Exeter everytime, I am in the unfortunate position of visiting Plymouth (and Exeter) on a regular basis and there is clear winner in Exeter in overall terms.
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I guess it depends where in Plymouth you visit on a regular basis. There are areas of Plymouth I'd hate to live in but if you don't visit them you are not affected by the presence of them. The are horrible areas of Exeter, as well.

What you need to do is appraise the area you'd live, the city centre, and the route in and out of the city centre. What goes on elsewhere is fundamentally irrelevent as you'd never have a need to visit there.

SB118 mentions 'Swilly' - this is an awful area.

I think I've driven through it twice in 10 years, which puts my point into perspective..
 
Theophany said:
Exeter, as if you even had to ask. Exeter has low levels of serious crime, lots of police on foot and in cars on patrol, makes you feel very safe.

Plus, we bloody hate those Plymouth lot. Green army my arse.

Give me the choice, I'd rather be in Barnstaple, but Exeter has easy access to the M5 and the rest of the country.
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Bideford's better :P
 
Some of the reasons for either city in this thread are quite bizarre. Exeter is better because it has lots of police cars on patrol? Eh? So does Plymouth, hardly suprising as they are both policed by the same police force!

Neither city has a crime problem.
 
I was at Uni in Plymbo for 3 years and I loved it. Granted, it's not the prettiest city but the surroundings are great, the people are friendly (yes, really, so long as you avoid the bottom end of Union St on a saturday night) and when the weather's good you're close to about a million beaches.

I've not been back for years now and it almost feels weird that I lived there, but I'd strongly consider going back if I could find an IT Support job there or thereabouts.
 
i spent a year in exeter, and two years in plymouth.

i'd take exeter any day. it's a much more upbeat city, with more of an arts scene - although this sounds pretencious, it makes it more cosmopolitan - and as such attracts more vibrant industry. this then feeds down into the high street and such. better restaurants, better pubs and less crime (i think).

that said, plymouth does have it's redeeming qualities, but the upsides of living in exeter would outweigh those living in plymouth
 
Being a proud Exionan and Devon lad, it would have to be Exeter all the time for me. Obviously this is coming from a biased view point but generally Exeter is a great place to live, it’s big enough to feel like a “biggish” city and small enough to have a sense of local charm to it.

Really good facilities, decent shops and good access to other places within Devon/Cornwall and beyond. Being a keen surfer Exeter is ideal for me, only takes about 50minutes to get to some of the best beaches with in the UK (north coast) and not to mention its home to the mighty Grecians.

I would find it hard to live anywhere else in the UK.
 
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