University Towns

[Mr Pig]

I've never understood why people want to live in cities at all. I have fields with sheep, cows and horses around me and it costs a fraction of the price of a tiny city flat over a bus stop!

Ok, if you're a student and have to but otherwise.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Yeah, but you stand a good chance of getting caught in the crossfire between Torchwood and the aliens....

Yeah but that's not real life is.........oh never mind!!!

 

[bonj2]

I liked Sheffield so much that I never left after Uni. Upsides include the Peak District on your doorstep, a compact and easy to get around city (at least on the West/South side of the city where most of the students live), and the FACT that it's the real ale capital of the world.

Downsides aired by students tend to be along the lines of it's a bit lacking in nightclub action (at lease since the demise of Gatecrasher )

and headcharge
oh for the good old days...

 

[dellzeqq]

What's the point in doing a degree in accountancy if you mind me asking?

it will allow her an income when she's resting.....(she wants to be an actress, and may well succeed)

 

[Black Sheep]

I've never understood why people want to live in cities at all. I have fields with sheep, cows and horses around me and it costs a fraction of the price of a tiny city flat over a bus stop!

Ok, if you're a student and have to but otherwise.

are you referring to mortgage payments or council tax?

i'm in the process of figuring out where to live but am not entirely sure where to look and my darling not quite wife would much prefer to live outside of a city

 

[montage]

Hey - I will also be looking at going to Uni for 2010 - Cardiff is one of the ones on my list to look at (there is an open day soon I believe).

Ideally I want a uni on the edge/near the edge of a city so I can get out into the countryside quickly for cycling, but still get into the city easily and cheaply for the night life etc etc. Also going to look at Exeter. Liverpool sounds like a great uni....but for cycling? hmmmm.

Dellzeqq, how easy was it to get into the city and into the countryside from cardiff uni? And what is the local road cycling like? (thinking of geography or history for a course....history would be preferable to the colouring in subject though )

(oh and when you say cardiff isn't so easy to get around, chance of you explaining how you mean? )


Only city/Uni I can offer advice on is Portsmouth as the uni is right next to my college. Wouldn't choose to go there personally - a bit "contained" and penned in by the island feeling, but the night life is good.

 

[ArDee]

I liked Sheffield so much that I never left after Uni. Upsides include the Peak District on your doorstep, a compact and easy to get around city (at least on the West/South side of the city where most of the students live), and the FACT that it's the real ale capital of the world.

Downsides aired by students tend to be along the lines of it's a bit lacking in nightclub action (at lease since the demise of Gatecrasher ) and fancy shops (not that this ever bothered me).

Rent-wise, there's been an explosion in the number of self-catering flats for students (albeit at the expense of University-owned halls), and I suspect that there may have been a knock-on effect in the buy-to-let sector.

I was undergrad in London and post grad at UMIST, Manchester; both cities seem expensive to me at the time and I wouldn't recommend either city for students; but, the Uni's were good. In London the trip from halls to Uni was a 30 min tube ride with a change between lines.

ArDee jnr. is in his second year at The University of Sheffield and thinks the university and the city are great.

For Mrs ArDee and Me his cost of living; rent, food, drink seems cheap, compared to the area we live in (Hertfordshire), and he has not need to come cap in hand for extra money, too often.

 

[HelenD123]

I'd definitely recommend Cardiff. It's a lovely city, good student union, and the uni is very close to the city centre. Rents were pretty reasonable but I'm not sure what they are like now. The good about Cardiff is that you are so close to some great countryside as well - Brecon Beacons, Wye Valley, Gower Peninsula. There are lots of quiet roads in the Vale of Glamorgan, or if you want hills put the bike on the train to Merthyr, Abergavenny etc and you're sorted.

 

[punkypossum]

Preston is fairly cheap, very very easy to get around, the library is not bad a at all and it's got a good student union and nightlife and is close to Manchester, Liverpool, Blackpool etc for a night (or day) out. Also some nice countryside around. Despite being a former poly, depending on what course you are doing it's quite highly rated. Not the prettiest place in the world, but not bad either...

 

[dellzeqq]

Dellzeqq, how easy was it to get into the city and into the countryside from cardiff uni? And what is the local road cycling like? (thinking of geography or history for a course....history would be preferable to the colouring in subject though )

(oh and when you say cardiff isn't so easy to get around, chance of you explaining how you mean? )

I'm not the greatest expert but my impression was that the university was a bit out of the town centre, and the bus service a bit creaky. I should explain that there is little chance of The Kid riding a bike around town - indeed I imagine that there will be nights when a cab will arrive at our front door from Glasgow or wherever because she's gone into default getting home mode.

There is lots of cycling around Cardiff, but not much of it is flat. There are a couple of roads (other than the motorways) that bikes are banned from.

 

[theclaud]

I'd definitely recommend Cardiff. It's a lovely city, good student union, and the uni is very close to the city centre. Rents were pretty reasonable but I'm not sure what they are like now. The good about Cardiff is that you are so close to some great countryside as well - Brecon Beacons, Wye Valley, Gower Peninsula. There are lots of quiet roads in the Vale of Glamorgan, or if you want hills put the bike on the train to Merthyr, Abergavenny etc and you're sorted.

It does have these things going for it. On the other hand, developers there keep doing things like this. Ugh.

 

[HelenD123]

I'm not the greatest expert but my impression was that the university was a bit out of the town centre, and the bus service a bit creaky. I should explain that there is little chance of The Kid riding a bike around town - indeed I imagine that there will be nights when a cab will arrive at our front door from Glasgow or wherever because she's gone into default getting home mode.

There is lots of cycling around Cardiff, but not much of it is flat. There are a couple of roads (other than the motorways) that bikes are banned from.

Are you sure this is the same Cardiff I lived in for nearly 9 years? Cardiff University is a 5-10 minute walk from the city centre and there are plenty of buses. But then I come from somewhere with one bus an hour so my experiences and expectations are a little diffferent to yours.

 

[HelenD123]

It does have these things going for it. On the other hand, developers there keep doing things like this. Ugh.

And this . I always think it has the look of a block of council flats about it. Perfect for a 5* hotel...

 

[dellzeqq]

Are you sure this is the same Cardiff I lived in for nearly 9 years? Cardiff University is a 5-10 minute walk from the city centre and there are plenty of buses. But then I come from somewhere with one bus an hour so my experiences and expectations are a little diffferent to yours.

you have a point. I've been to Cardiff on seperate occasions for conferences - one was in the old part of the university not a stone's throw from the prison, and the other was a good ten minute cab ride from the city centre. I think it might depend on the department.

 

[theclaud]

Are you sure this is the same Cardiff I lived in for nearly 9 years? Cardiff University is a 5-10 minute walk from the city centre and there are plenty of buses. But then I come from somewhere with one bus an hour so my experiences and expectations are a little diffferent to yours.

The bus service has been getting better, and there is this in the pipeline. And there's a pretty good arts centre called Chapter in Canton that happens to have an impressive selection of continental beers and malt whiskies. The city centre on Friday and Saturday nights, however, looks like it's been specially rigged up for one of those reality TV shows where journalists follow the police around watching people vomit all over their shoes. I don't suppose The Kid likes rugby?