Milfner Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 21 hours ago, Rustibrooks said: Lads and ladies, I need some tips (again I know) Me and the missus are thinking about leaving London, due to London rent prices. We’ve been browsing Rightmove etc, but do you have any recommendations of decent areas in around Birmingham? I’ve seen a few decent properties/areas around Sutton Coldfield, is the area pretty decent? Thank you in advance lads Apologies if this is not the correct thread for this mods. I guess it depends what you specifically want around your house, but personally I've lived within a ten minute walk of a cross city line station all my life & I couldn't imagine living in Birmingham and not being within a short stroll of it. Around Chester Road is a really nice area (Wylde Green & Boldmere) for the north side of the city. Sutton to be honest is a bit dead. For the south side, Bournville/Stirchley are probably the places to look at. Moseley is nicer than Kings Heath but both have good high streets & the transport options aren't as good. As mentioned before, Harbone is nice & Bearwood is probably the next up and coming spot but no trains run through there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 23 minutes ago, Milfner said: I guess it depends what you specifically want around your house, but personally I've lived within a ten minute walk of a cross city line station all my life & I couldn't imagine living in Birmingham and not being within a short stroll of it. Around Chester Road is a really nice area (Wylde Green & Boldmere) for the north side of the city. Sutton to be honest is a bit dead. Sutton Town Centre is a shell of its former self, but the residential areas are ok. Four Oaks/Mere Green have always been desirable in terms of houses/schools etc and on the Cross City Line If you want more of a village life @Rustibrooks then look at Shenstone, just a few further stops down the train line - nice place, and home of a few ex Villa players over the years. Lichfield at the end of the line is a great place. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted July 21 VT Supporter Share Posted July 21 Sutton isn't really "dead" though despite the popular opinion pieces you often see. The shopping centre is not great certainly but if you want shopping then go into Brum. It's fine other than that, lots of pubs and restaurants and good stuff and all the surrounding mini high streets like Boldmere and Wylde Green. People just seem to fixate on the shopping aspect, which to be honest, I'd rather they levelled the whole grace church centre and rebuilt it with bars and open spaces and just let the shopping happen in town instead. I like living in Sutton, it is way better than people make out, and nowhere has more amazing green space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 13 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said: Sutton isn't really "dead" though despite the popular opinion pieces you often see. The shopping centre is not great certainly but if you want shopping then go into Brum. It's fine other than that, lots of pubs and restaurants and good stuff and all the surrounding mini high streets like Boldmere and Wylde Green. People just seem to fixate on the shopping aspect, which to be honest, I'd rather they levelled the whole grace church centre and rebuilt it with bars and open spaces and just let the shopping happen in town instead. I like living in Sutton, it is way better than people make out, and nowhere has more amazing green space. By Sutton I meant the actual town centre. Sutton's a big area so I broke it down in terms of high streets. Agree on the green space. Sutton Park in particular is taken for granted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted July 21 VT Supporter Share Posted July 21 58 minutes ago, Milfner said: . Moseley is nicer than Kings Heath but both have good high streets & the transport options aren't as good. Don't forget Camp Hill line opens next year with stations in King's Heath and Moseley. Going to the stupidly busy I'd imagine. Eventually when Midland Rail Hub is built they will have a pretty regular service I'd think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted July 21 VT Supporter Share Posted July 21 28 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said: People just seem to fixate on the shopping aspect, which to be honest, I'd rather they levelled the whole grace church centre and rebuilt it with bars and open spaces and just let the shopping happen in town instead. Exactly what they are doing in Solihull. So much of the shopping has moved into Touchwood from the traditional Mell Square so they've got a master plan to knock most of it down and rebuild it into a restaurant/bar area with town centre living. Sutton should definitely be doing that. Not sure why it's not already happening really, would be a goldmine for a developer I'd think. I've a feeling the new rules Labour are bringing in will encourage this kind of development and simultaneously make them much easier to build. Watch this space I'd say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 1 hour ago, sidcow said: Don't forget Camp Hill line opens next year with stations in King's Heath and Moseley. Going to the stupidly busy I'd imagine. Eventually when Midland Rail Hub is built they will have a pretty regular service I'd think. Still a while a way though. Autumn next year now. 1 hour ago, sidcow said: Sutton should definitely be doing that. Not sure why it's not already happening really, would be a goldmine for a developer I'd think. The space in between Gracechurch & the railway line on Brassington Avenue has been waiting for some high & medium density housing to be built on it for years but nothing has ever happened. They've just approved an Aldi + a massive car park there instead. Pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted July 21 VT Supporter Share Posted July 21 5 hours ago, sidcow said: Exactly what they are doing in Solihull. So much of the shopping has moved into Touchwood from the traditional Mell Square so they've got a master plan to knock most of it down and rebuild it into a restaurant/bar area with town centre living. Sutton should definitely be doing that. Not sure why it's not already happening really, would be a goldmine for a developer I'd think. I've a feeling the new rules Labour are bringing in will encourage this kind of development and simultaneously make them much easier to build. Watch this space I'd say. Sutton has a plan too. It was "unveiled" recently and appears to be basically sticking a load of high rise flats on the top of the grace church centre. The exact opposite of what is needed. I really hope it gets rejected and reconsidered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 9 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said: Sutton has a plan too. It was "unveiled" recently and appears to be basically sticking a load of high rise flats on the top of the grace church centre. The exact opposite of what is needed. I really hope it gets rejected and reconsidered. What is needed then? Sutton town centre is a place which should be bustling but isn't. Putting some residential right in the middle of it helps fix that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM3000 Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Sutton badly needs more entertainment type venues, it's nice but boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 8 hours ago, Lichfield Dean said: Sutton isn't really "dead" though despite the popular opinion pieces you often see. The shopping centre is not great certainly but if you want shopping then go into Brum. It's fine other than that, lots of pubs and restaurants and good stuff and all the surrounding mini high streets like Boldmere and Wylde Green. People just seem to fixate on the shopping aspect, which to be honest, I'd rather they levelled the whole grace church centre and rebuilt it with bars and open spaces and just let the shopping happen in town instead. I like living in Sutton, it is way better than people make out, and nowhere has more amazing green space. The town centre is important if you live within walking distance of it. If you live near Boldmere/Wylde Green/Mere Green its not so bad, as you have the high streets, but the town centre is a sad sight. Compared to 20 years ago, it was far busier. Going back even further, when I was at the college in the mid 90s, it was bustling every day. Its not the only town centre suffering but it just feels so baron and depressing today. All the anchor tenants have left the town. I agree with what you say, Gracechurch needs to be flattened and an open plaza area to replace it, with bars, cafes, restaurants and maybe have markets there. It definitely needs a revamp. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted July 21 VT Supporter Share Posted July 21 4 minutes ago, Xela said: The town centre is important if you live within walking distance of it. If you live near Boldmere/Wylde Green/Mere Green its not so bad, as you have the high streets, but the town centre is a sad sight. Compared to 20 years ago, it was far busier. Going back even further, when I was at the college in the mid 90s, it was bustling every day. Its not the only town centre suffering but it just feels so baron and depressing today. All the anchor tenants have left the town. I agree with what you say, Gracechurch needs to be flattened and an open plaza area to replace it, with bars, cafes, restaurants and maybe have markets there. It definitely needs a revamp. Yes, I get that, my point is that the gracechurch centre isn't the entirety of the town centre. You have the high street at one end and the Birmingham road stretch the other side and those bits are absolutely fine. Boldmere and Wylde Green don't have "anchor tenants" and yet are considered to be good places. Just ignore the gracechurch centre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 Just now, Lichfield Dean said: Just ignore the gracechurch centre I'd prefer to ignore it with a bulldozer I always get the feeling that rents were a big reason why shop units were empty. Greedy landlords asking too much 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted July 21 VT Supporter Share Posted July 21 Kingstanding is nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walmley_Villa Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 I lived in Sutton / Walmley for 50 years and move to Lichfield 2.5 years ago. The places are like night and day, moved from a Brum cash cow that they let run itself down with increasing crime etc to a place we love, with loads to do, low crime, great connections and on the up. The only way to really save the centre of Sutton is to develop the residential side and create a customer base imo. Similar to Ealing in London not just more Aldi's and Lidl's. Mere Green is ok but is turning into a bottleneck with a big car park in the middle of it. For shopping Tamworth is the best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted July 22 VT Supporter Share Posted July 22 11 hours ago, Chindie said: Kingstanding is nice. I still find it funny that it's named after Charles I standing on a mound there one time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted July 22 VT Supporter Share Posted July 22 40 minutes ago, Walmley_Villa said: I lived in Sutton / Walmley for 50 years and move to Lichfield 2.5 years ago. The places are like night and day, moved from a Brum cash cow that they let run itself down with increasing crime etc to a place we love, with loads to do, low crime, great connections and on the up. The only way to really save the centre of Sutton is to develop the residential side and create a customer base imo. Similar to Ealing in London not just more Aldi's and Lidl's. Mere Green is ok but is turning into a bottleneck with a big car park in the middle of it. For shopping Tamworth is the best option. This is prettu OTT to be honest. Sutton is hardly a crime hotbed is it? There's loads to do in Sutton town centre, just because there's a few empty units and the shopping centre is a bit tired seems to have completely warped people's minds. Lichfield is nice, and I like going there, but I can't say I'd particularly choose to live there over where I am, but I get why people like living there. Mere Green is ok you say? I mean, I suppose it could be worse, but if you're talking about somewhere with little to do that's the very definition - a Lounge (which is nice, but there's one in the centre of Sutton) and a Bistro Pierre hardly compare to what's on offer in the centre of Sutton (or Lichfield). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottaloo Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 14 hours ago, Xela said: The town centre is important if you live within walking distance of it. If you live near Boldmere/Wylde Green/Mere Green its not so bad, as you have the high streets, but the town centre is a sad sight. Compared to 20 years ago, it was far busier. Going back even further, when I was at the college in the mid 90s, it was bustling every day. Its not the only town centre suffering but it just feels so baron and depressing today. All the anchor tenants have left the town. I agree with what you say, Gracechurch needs to be flattened and an open plaza area to replace it, with bars, cafes, restaurants and maybe have markets there. It definitely needs a revamp. It only needs a much bigger Sports Direct store, that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walmley_Villa Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 1 hour ago, Lichfield Dean said: This is prettu OTT to be honest. Sutton is hardly a crime hotbed is it? There's loads to do in Sutton town centre, just because there's a few empty units and the shopping centre is a bit tired seems to have completely warped people's minds. Lichfield is nice, and I like going there, but I can't say I'd particularly choose to live there over where I am, but I get why people like living there. Mere Green is ok you say? I mean, I suppose it could be worse, but if you're talking about somewhere with little to do that's the very definition - a Lounge (which is nice, but there's one in the centre of Sutton) and a Bistro Pierre hardly compare to what's on offer in the centre of Sutton (or Lichfield). Sutton was buzzing as I grew up, would be there every weekend although it was always rough and we actually went into the City Centre drinking (mate). This is late 80s and 90s. In recent times car crime is the issue. We were broken into when I was abroad working and they got into the house whilst my wife and youngest were asleep. Fortunately our house alarm went off and they legged it. Where I am in Lichfield currently there has been one burglary in 10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted July 31 VT Supporter Share Posted July 31 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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