Tell me about Manchester

so I am beginning to plan my OE now for June next year (hopefully)

I am looking around at where I want to live while I'm there and I'm quite keen on Manchester

have you ever lived there or just visited even?

and what did you think? advice? recommendations?

I used to go there once a month for work, it's not a bad city, though the jobs pay significantly less than in London. The city centre is nice, a few good bars here and there and the people are quite friendly all in all.

what are the areas to steer clear of?

given that I will more than likely be there on my lonesome I want to start picking up on that type of thing now


I did notice that salaries took a fair cut in Manchester compared to London but it's all relative really, I'm sure the standard of living is still much the same

what you don't earn in terms of salary you make up for in the lower rent etc...

man
chest
hair

I don't know of anyone who's moved to the UK, and not moved to London at some point... it's really where it's at... cities like Manchester as cool (haven't been there, but heard good things), but London is the only place in the UK that is truly unique in the world.

well right at this point in time London just doesn't hold any appeal for me

I would much rather live somewhere else like Manchester or Liverpool or Birmingham or Edinburgh

London isn't that far away either so no doubt a few big weekends will be in order

I think anywhere in the central city is okay, it's all quite tidy there - the rent is a lot chreaper than London (but then less salary). Of course the problem is, can you doss with anyone for a week or 4 whilst you flat/apartment hunt?

I've started flat hunting actually and even though I am looking at traveling in June next year I have already had two emails from people about flatting together. So at this point in time I'm quite confident that I will be able to arrange a place prior to going over there. I'm guessing that there wouldn't be a great need to have someone's floor to doss on as it is in London because rent is much, much cheaper so you wouldn't have to search as long to find something that suits your budget and lifestyle. But that's what I hoping for at least anyway...

i do wonder about what i might've missed out on, but i've really enjoyed my time in Bristol. You get a chance to meet more locals i reckon, and possibly see a bit more of the country too (i could be wrong though).

Have only been to Manchester once for a day of shopping. It was snowing, but it was still a fun explore, and the shopping was great
but im afraid thats all i know, except that the teenage girls go out in the middle of winter (& snow) in singlet tops with ultra mini skirts, bare legs and ugg boots

yea I do wonder the same myself by not going to London but heaps of people do the LDN thing and I want to do something a bit different

I don't know, London seems so cliche...

Who cares if heaps of OE'ers go to London? That doesn't seem like a good reason to base yourself in Manchester. There's a good reason why the majority of Kiwi's/Aussies live in London - actually, there are more like a hundred reasons....

Who cares if heaps of OE'ers go to London? That doesn't seem like a good reason to base yourself in Manchester. There's a good reason why the majority of Kiwi's/Aussies live in London - actually, there are more like a hundred reasons....

I knew posting something like that would cause someone to have a rant

it's not the sole reason why I want to base myself in Manchester, that would be pretty shallow if it was

London just holds no appeal for me at this stage

Seriously - from my 3 and a half years in London - it's not so great. It's crowded, rushed and unfriendly, and it's been done to death. If you're here for work and something to put on your CV, then London it should be. But for a proper OE (ie, something that's a bit off the beaten track) I think you're on to a winner. Don't get me wrong, I still really love London despite all it's shortcomings, but given the choice again I wouldn't have chosen it.

Good on you for trying something different and all the best

And it it doesn't work out, there's always London

London is definitely fun to visit, especially if you know people there to stay with. We spent most of our summer weekends in London, catching up with people and sightseeing.. And there are always great music events to pop in for.

well this is exactly right

nothing is ever set in stone as far as I'm concerned

I'm kinda going over there for work but not as much as I'm going over to immerse myself in the culture

I don't want to go to London and then find myself shacked up in Acton and hanging out with Kiwi's, Aussie's and Saffa's all the time

Having only ever passed briefly thru Manchester I’m not that qualified to comment on what it’s like to live there. I only ever considered living in London when I moved here and am happy with my choice. It is daunting at first but there are way more job opportunities for me in London and I wanted somewhere where there’s always something going on, something to do and easy to travel to Europe etc from.

It's what you make of it I guess and yeah as Spike said you could always come to London later on.

(oh and... living in London doesn’t mean you have to live in Acton or only hang out with Aussies/Kiwis!!

lolz

I know, I was just having a go

out of interest though, what does everyone pay in terms of rent on a weekly basis? where do you live in the UK? what percentage of your salary/wage does rent chew up?


I'm only asking because given that London is such a popular place to relocate and property is in high demand (the average price of LDN property went over GBP1 mill mark for the first time recently) it would be interesting to know


Manchester rent as far as I can see tops out at GBP150 per week...

and goes as low as GBP30 per week for a single room that is a 10 minute bus fare from the city centre...

£150 p/w would get you a really nice place in Zone 1 (excl. Chelsea or Kensington) in London. That's quite a bit to pay excl bills. I would say alot of people would pay between £90-130 p/w.

yeah, agree with TwistedSister. you can get cheaper but you end up with smaller rooms or further out in the burbs of London.

that's not too bad then

I was looking at some flatmate wanted ads and they were asking for around GBP300 per week, which I thought was pretty steep

I pay £120pw incl most bills and that's in Clapham (zone 2). A year ago that was on the cheaper side of average for here, but in just one year things seem to have shot up rent wise.

that's pretty decent rent


is it a nice place though or do you have 25 flatmates to help share the cost of living?

That would be for the whole house. When people arrive in London, alot would pay between £60-90 whilst they get set up and established, stable income etc. Then, after a few months you might want to spend more eg. £90 +. Then again, you can get used to living in a less expensive home and appreciate having the extra money for other things like going out and travelling, particularly if you are not home that much.

You also have to factor in deposit (normally 5 - 6 weeks) and a month's rent in advance.. so you have to pay about £1000 up front at most places.

I would say average zone 2 - 3 rent for a double room, reasonable place is around £100 - £125 a week incl, maybe a little bit more in some of the more expensive boroughs

Nah it's a pretty tidy 6 bedroom house with a back garden so 5 others which is just the right amount for me

Errr, great english there...

Nah it's a pretty tidy 6 bedroom house with a back garden and sharing with 5 others which is just the right amount of people for me.

what's "zone 2 - 3"?

is that how many stages you are from the city centre on the underground or the bus?

Yep, that's it

Map with zones - http://www.infotel.co.uk/images/londonmaps/londonunderground.gif

£90, Zone 2 (almost zone 1), good area, 4 people in flat, no lease to worry about, can move out with one weeks notice. Damn good for what I need right now

zone 1 = mainly inner city... obviously damn expensive, but awesome to be close to everything

zone 2 - 3 what most people can afford

zone 4+ = don't bother unless you have a family or are polish

awesome

I have been looking at areas like Marylebone in zone 1 that seem reasonably cheap in terms of rent but what is that part of town like?

This is still a thread about Manchester btw but you all seem very LDN inclined so I had to start another thread in the Lonely Planet forums to get the answers that I was hoping for.

It looks like I will only be coming over for a few months next year now that I got my promotion at work so who wants to put me up for two weeks while I am in London?

probably heading over around mid-May, so what's the weather like that time of year? Do I still need to pack a jacket, jumper, thermal underwear and an overcoat?

heh

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/best&worst/2006/worst.html

manchester made it in at number 10 worst city in the UK

Can't really add to any of the comments already mentioned in this thread.

But Tower Hamlets coming in at Number Two? Sure, there is plenty of poverty in the area, but didnt think it was THAT bad?

it should be noted that the only reason why London didn't make it in the worst list is because only 7000 people actually live in London while 300,000 people commute into the CBD daily so the stats would have been quite skewed

as far as crime rates are concerned London is much worse than Manchester

just thought I needed to add that in there...

heh, go Hackney!! No 1!

Snowflake, I'n confused with your last post. London is part of that list as 4 of those places in the top ten are suburbs of London. and I presume you meant to type 7 million people, not 7000. or have I totally misunderstood what you meant to say?

Nope - I thought exactly the same thing Suzy! Mind due, you can be forgiven for not knowing those areas aren't part of London if you have never lived in London before.

Is that meant to be City of London?

Hackney has some damn nice areas, I lived besdie Vic Park for a while and that aprt of town is really nice.

SF is right girls. She meant the City of London - "The Square Mile". That borough has around 7000 pernament residents.

Tower Hamlets (our borough TS) has a population of around 100,000.


Dont forget that London has around 30 boroughs, with the total population of around 7-8 million.

I glad someone knows what I'm talking about (even if I don't)

Well, I did live in London for almost two years, so I should know what I'm talking about.

During 2005, I did a lot of exploring around London. Some really cool boroughs, parks, markets, museums, and other attractions.

aaaah, I see what SF meant now! The good ole square mile.... a world of it's own really!!

Very convenient to west end and Regents Park.

Snowflake, Manchester is the shizzle. Friendly peeps, cool shops, awesome clubs. Also, Birmingham, may sound scary and they do have daft accents but much the same, wicked nightlife, friendly folk and best shopping (bullring/mailbox)

Also, no tube to deal with or hideous london prices.

Dont cave into the putney/acton walkabout/redback scene

I lived in Oxford and Glasgow.

Oxford = 24 hour buses to London. Quaint, but cool.

Glasgow is cool. Trying to be arts capital of Europe (or at least the UK) and with the CCA doing quite well.

Edinburgh just seems too touristy.

Brum, well it's not that great IMO, had friends there and even with them life was not astounding.

Manchester is ok, I used to go up a lot for work and have done a few social trips for sport as well.

It had a lot of money pumped into it for the commonwealth games a few years back and the city area was really tidied up. A lot of big companies have also moved from London to Manchester to save money.

Rent is a lot cheaper so you get a lot more for your £

theres some nice bars and clubs and being a kiwi you'll be a novelty where as in London you're just another one and no one gives a shit.

that's awesome

I have no intention of caving, Manchester seems to be the go but plans have been put off until at least 2008 now which is ages away and anything could happen between now and then

I know far too many people in London and I know I will probably end up just like they have, hanging out only with people I know already

the whole idea of doing an OE for me is about personal growth and finding comfort outside of my comfort zone...

anywhere south of the Bridgewater canal is good.

north of it...you might as well be dead.