Why do you like where you live?

[stephec]

Compared to where exactly.

Nowhere specific, I travel around for work and see a few different places, although if you compare it to Bolton and Salford Town centres then Widnes is a paradise.

 

[stephec]

Primary residence is in Littleborough. Slightly north east of Manchester, absolutely nothing to do with Rochdale and it’s news worthy residents.
Great village, local shops and pubs etc. local country park, Hollingworth Lake which I run around regularly. Quite busy local roads for roadies but the mountain biking around here is immense!
Mary Townley Loop???

We also have a house on Lago Di Como (for the purists) which is excellent for cycling. Granted there are no big ‘cols’ but for every day rides it’s ideal and if you prefer, fairly flat.

The last one is the view from about a 15 metres walk from the front door.

I used to go to McCormicks for work and would always try and have a stroll into the centre of Littleborough if I got chance, nice independent shops, a few pubs, a good chippy, and a lovely pie shop, what more do you need? 🙂

 

[AndyRM]

North Shields

Not too flash, not too run down, a pleasingly scruffy place to live.

5 minute walk from the Metro into Newcastle (which takes half an hour) or if I go the other way it's 5 minutes to the coast.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

Before I moved here I lived in Llandudno Junction
a new estate on the top of a hill

That was nice - Llandudno close - could be there in 10 minutes on my bike
took a bit longer getting back on it - hence the ebike!

Only moved due to the job situation - I could get jobs in Lancashire/Cheshire/Liverpool but not in North Wales

sorry - not that
Only moved here for love
Just met my now-wife and moved to be closer to her

one of them anyway - I change what I say to suit the circumstances

but I did like North Wales - lived there (in different places) for a fair while and knew my way round
would have stayed if circumstances were different

An aspiration of mine, that would have been much more fun before health issues, was to climb the Stwlan Dam private road.

Any idea how practical it is to take a full size bike on the train to Blaenau Ffestiniog from Llandudno Junction?

I had plans to get across to the dam from Llyn Brenig after climbing Road To Hell in March '22, but the wind was mighty gusty, so I cautiously headed back to Prestatyn after crosswinds by the north side of Alwen Reservoir blew me over to the other side of the road!

 

[Vantage]

Nowhere specific, I travel around for work and see a few different places, although if you compare it to Bolton and Salford Town centres then Widnes is a paradise.

As a Bolton resident, I can actually believe that. This place is a sh**hole.

 

[blackrat]

There's a quote about sarcasm somewhere.
Gaeta obviously isn't mine, just a pic of our bikes outside it as it's down the road from us. The pool/lake view is mine though.

Oh no! Absolutely no intent of sarcasm, your photo of Lake Como led me to ask the question. I think we'd all like a piece of that.

 

[presta]

Actually Chelmsford is alright, more of a city than the one I live in , good shopping and things to see , and it's easy to get in and out.
Essex vastly improves ,once heading North from Chelmy, well I think so.

I used to do most of my shopping in either Chelmsford or Colchester because there's much more choice than here in Braintree, but there was two miles to queue commuting in the rush hour. It was a 40-45 minute journey from Braintree, compared to 20 minutes in the middle of the night, with no traffic. It works out at about 3,500 hours sitting in queues.

 

[MontyVeda]

I'm slap bang in the middle of a city... but it's a little city so a five minute stroll south and I'm pretty much in open countryside. There's a decent network of old railways which makes getting to the coast and up the Lune valley an easy ride. If i want hills I can head north or east or south. If i want a flat ride I can head south and west toward Blackpool and Fleetwood. The city itself is nice enough with lots of pubs and a vibrant local music scene... but to see any bigger live bands it's usually a trip elsewhere.

 

[nagden]

We have lived in Normandy for the last 20 years. We consider ourselves to be extremely fortunate to have chosen such a nice place. Nice community spirit good social life. It’s very rural and quiet but it suits us. For me the roads are relatively car free with lots of routes to choose from for cycling and my wife can ride her horse on a good network of bridleways. Returning to the UK is not a possibility, we consider here to be our last move.

 

[stephec]

As a Bolton resident, I can actually believe that. This place is a sh**hole.

Compared to 10 years ago the town centre's gone way downhill.

Although I've been to Leigh today, so look on the bright side..........

 

[briantrumpet]

Compared to 10 years ago the town centre's gone way downhill.

Although I've been to Leigh today, so look on the bright side..........

UK town centres going downhill and being populated only by national chains (tacky or not) seems to be a near-universal trend. Whenever someone in Exeter complains on social media about how Exeter's gone downhill, someone else will chime in and say "Well, if you think Exeter's bad, you should see xxxx!"

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

I tend to cover longer distances so where I live and where I cycle to are quite different. I can get out to Warwickshire, Peak District, Leicestershire and so on all within a 4hr ride so I have access to lots of great places to ride. My favourite routes tend to be out through Staffs into South Derbyshire places like Abbotts Bromley, Rosliston, Barton, lovely little villages with quiet roads and a fairly well established cycling culture so drivers are respectful of cyclists.

That's the beauty of cycling, I can experience dozens of places in a single ride that I will never live in. I think it stops me getting bored of home as I am always visiting somewhere new or different.

 

[stephec]

UK town centres going downhill and being populated only by national chains (tacky or not) seems to be a near-universal trend. Whenever someone in Exeter complains on social media about how Exeter's gone downhill, someone else will chime in and say "Well, if you think Exeter's bad, you should see xxxx!"

There's a few that seem to buck the trend, near us people always go on about what a good place Bury is, although to me shopping is a necessity of life, not a leisure activity.