What is birmingham like to live in?

dowie said:
House prices are in no way 'horrendous' in Birmingham - even right in the city centre I could buy a modern apartment for less than the equity I have in my flat in zone 3 in London...

In the various villages around Solihull you can get a nice family home for 600k and have a fantastic quality of life, top schools, open countryside nearby - basically the sort of standard of living that people would praise places like Switzerland and Scandinavian countries for offering.

For the same price in plenty of areas of London I could get a small two bed flat! While there are of course things to criticise about Brum (and the surrounding areas) I really don't think house prices are one of them.
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Humour detector malfunction here! I found it funny that the poster that I quoted was advised to avoid one of the nicest postcodes in Birmingham. Perhaps that was a hint to avoid the whole place or something...
 
I work in the city centre. At the end of day i go back home to the Shropshire countryside. I wouldn't have it any other way. My commute is 1hr 45mins. It's worth it.

I don't hate Birmingham but then I only know the centre and the airport. It's much cleaner than Manchester and it doesn't have that northern grimness. I am sure there must be some rough areas I just have not been to any!
 
Thanks for all the feedback.

tom_nieto said:
Paras - I'm working in the QE currently and living in Harborne. I have my training rotation in the West Midlands. Hit me up with any questions that you have about the area, work or whatever.

Too many naysayers in this thread for my liking! Birmingham WAS a dump as recently as 10 years ago, hell, if you arrived 5 years ago by train you'd be greeted by the palisades shopping centre and probably would have got straight back on your train.

The city has seen enormous changes in the last 5 years. It's been really good fun living through it (I'm a southerner) as there are loads of new and exciting bars and restaurants opening the whole time. Birmingham has everything you could possibly want in a city and you can actually afford a very nice quality of live and live in a properly nice area within a short distance of the centre.

There are crummy areas, as there are in any city, but they are easily avoided and you wouldn't accidentally stray into them.

The people are friendly and helpful and will say hello.

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by Birmingham even after 5 years of living here.
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Good to here, maybe we can grab a drink when I move up in August.


shadow_boxer said:
First of all congrats on job offer! May I ask if that was an offer for a core training post or non-training? I went to Birmingham Medical School and then did my foundation years in Walsall but lived in Birmingham, before moving away, total of 8 years. I personally think a lot will depend on the CT/ST posting and how well regarded that is compared to other offers you've received. If you're thinking of applying later down the line for speciality that is very competitive then a good post in the QE that hopefully will allow you to get involved with perhaps a research project / writing paper / national/intl audit will carry a lot more weight than just thinking solely about the area you'll be living in. Sure Birmingham has quite a few bad points and some good (I leave others to argue those out) but from a personal point of view as a temporary place to live during core training or even speciality training it was okay and great as a student! I've spent all of my training in the West Midlands Deanery so can not compare to others but as with most training schemes you need take into consideration long term prospects for example after training would you want to settle there which can be important for certain specialities like General Practice. For me one of the main downsides of the WMD was the distances involved between rotations. At that time you could be placed anywhere between Stafford and Hereford so trying find somewhere to live and having to change every four months was difficult but I think with some specialities, GP for example, they've now got much smaller foundation schools.
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I will rotate every 6 months and I'm trying to negotiate that I stay in the same area but I don't know yet.

I have taken a 2 year rotational trust grade job which should get me signed off for my ACCS. I know it sounds strange but I really do not want a training number (I did not apply), I would rather do my portfolio via trust grade jobs. I want to do acute medicine so I will have no problem getting a ST3 and 4+ jobs (no one seems to want to do EM)


Azza said:
Are you going to buy or rent? How long could you stand getting to work and home each day?

Edgebaston, Harbourne, Kings Heath, Mosley, Hall Green, Shirley, Solihull have nice clean quiet streets with easy access to amenities, city centre transport is fine and getting to the QE won't be bad really. Getting a place on one of those streets is a different matter though.
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I think I will rent at first, if I am happy after a few months I will just buy a small 2 bed flat. I can't manage commuting much because I work awful hours.
 
A lot of the posts here which have advised not to go seem to be from people who lived there some years ago. No doubt the city has had many problems, particularly through the 70s and 80s after the car industry collapsed, leading to high unemployment and all the associated issues a damaged economy brings.

However since the 90s, and particularly in the last couple of years, investment has been pouring into the city. The Bullring Shopping Centre, Brindley Place, New station, new library, potential for HS2, regeneration of the Jewellery Quarter and a general lifting in incomes and living standards has really improved the city centre. There is a lot more regeneration planned too under the Big City Plan https://bigcityplan.birmingham.gov.uk/ You can run or cycle along canals right into the countryside and they've recently renovated many of the cycling paths with a central government grant.

In the periphery, particularly to the south you'll find wide leafy avenues and large green open spaces which most people aren't aware of due to them normally driving in from the M6/A38 which is still a bit of a concrete jungle. Depending what you're into, Digbeth has a massive dance music scene with loads of events on at the former Custard Factory and Rainbow Venues. One of my favorites was City of Colours, a street art festival where they touch up some incredible street art. http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/city-colours-street-art-festival-11442603. There's also the National Indoor Arena which has loads of events, International Conference Centre/Symphony Hall for events and classical music, several theatres and the National Exhibition Centre near the airport for bigger events and conferences. There really is loads going on all the time which is what I love about the city.

The other thing is food and there is a massive selection. Our favourite curry place was Diwan Balti between Moseley and Basall Heath. There's also Blue Nile which is a great Ethopian in the Jewellery Quarter.

I saw it very much like a cheaper, smaller version of London.

Obviously as with every city there are rougher areas, particularly to the north, but to be honest the city is so sprawling you'd be unlikely to have to go there really.

I lived in Kings Heath for the last 4 years (moving away in February). Cheaper than Moseley (which is more hipster), less studenty and yummy mumy than Harbourne but still nice. If you might be working at the QE and have a bit of money behind you Harbourne is still nice. Its not really the student area as such, that's Selly Oak, but it does have a fair few postgrad students because it is so close to the uni. It has a nice vibe though with lots of pubs and bars.

The city has such a bad reputation and I really don't know why, I loved living there and if it wasn't for a family issue coming up, I'd still be there now!
 
Dr House said:
Good to here, maybe we can grab a drink when I move up in August.

I will rotate every 6 months and I'm trying to negotiate that I stay in the same area but I don't know yet.

I think I will rent at first, if I am happy after a few months I will just buy a small 2 bed flat. I can't manage commuting much because I work awful hours.
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That'd be great, drop me a line and we can meet up!

The West Midlands deanery is one of the only regions that you can live in one location (Birmingham) and sensibly commute. Public transport isn't as good as London, but an hour commute is not unexpected there from speaking to my friends. Commuting from Leeds to Hull is one of the better commutes in Yorkshire, so west mids isn't bad at all in comparison!
 
Someone Mentioned Kings Heath as rough earlier.
I believe one of the Editors Lives in Kings Heath, the most likely danger in the area is from an overdose of quinoa, tapas and craft ale. :)

Overall the city/region reminds me of an earlier times London (which I grew up in) and that is no bad thing IMHO.
 
As a heads up OP, the University Hospitals Birmingham (QE) is currently going through the process of initiating a merger (read as taking over) with the other large Foundation Trust in Birmingham, The Heart of England Trust (Heartlands Hospital, Solihull Hospital and Good Hope Hospital), They already have the same Chief Executive in the form of Dame Julie Moore. We are already increasingly seeing QE placement medics on the HoEFT sights so it might be that you will not spend your time on a UHB campus so be prepared for that. Cross city travel is not the best at times as it's very much at the whim of foul ups on the M6, M5 and M42. As people have said the South side of the City is most convenient for the QE, on the north side of the city Boldmere and Sutton Coldfield are extremely nice areas (Sutton Park is an amazing space, a 2400 acre nature reserve) with excellent, easy access to the carpark motorway network.

Brum really is great place to eat and drink these days, with so much choice and plenty to do, don't listen to the naysayers, particularly for a short stint you won't get bored.
 
TheMightyTen said:
As a heads up OP, the University Hospitals Birmingham (QE) is currently going through the process of initiating a merger (read as taking over) with the other large Foundation Trust in Birmingham, The Heart of England Trust (Heartlands Hospital, Solihull Hospital and Good Hope Hospital), They already have the same Chief Executive in the form of Dame Julie Moore. We are already increasingly seeing QE placement medics on the HoEFT sights so it might be that you will not spend your time on a UHB campus so be prepared for that. Cross city travel is not the best at times as it's very much at the whim of foul ups on the M6, M5 and M42. As people have said the South side of the City is most convenient for the QE, on the north side of the city Boldmere and Sutton Coldfield are extremely nice areas (Sutton Park is an amazing space, a 2400 acre nature reserve) with excellent, easy access to the carpark motorway network.

Brum really is great place to eat and drink these days, with so much choice and plenty to do, don't listen to the naysayers, particularly for a short stint you won't get bored.
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Insanely Birmingham closed many of it's cross city rail lines, however the single line that runs redditch to sutton is better than anything London has in my experience. The train line runs ever 10mins and directly through the centre!
 
Everyone will be rotating around the hospitals in the region so it's not uncommon for people to have worked at both. It's actually no bad thing to work at both QE and Heartlands as the pathology and demographics vary considerably between the two sites. It would be extremely unlikely that an anaesthetic trainee would be providing cross site cover as an SHO or registrar on a single rotation, however a 6 month rotation at each site would be perfectly normal.

Commuting across the centre of Birmingham can be terrible, but if you get in for 7:30-8 the traffic is ok. I used to cycle from the jewellery quarter to heartlands in just under 30 mins which was just as fast a driving and I didn't need to worry about a parking space at the other end. You won't get a parking permit at the QE unless you live more than 3 miles away IIRC.
 
Okay Birmingham i live there, there are good bits and bad like every other city in the world overall its a nice place everyone is friendly -some exceptions- i like some of the houses architecture its really beautiful but Italy is number 1:D
(whats with this picture im a girl)
 
I've been in Solihull the past 5 years, it's just full of wannabe-posh chavs attempting to be pretentious. As an example: @deuse, where you from? ;)
 
Daughter born in the QE. Owned my first and only property in Harbourne.

Left for work, but would live there again, really friendly people and great food. I often think that Brummies spread bad info about Birmingham to keep certain attitudes away. Yes it's multicultural, but imo it works probably better than any other major city, miles nicer than London imo.
 
Concrete said:
Yes it's multicultural, but imo it works
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