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Manchester advice needed

13:06 / 11.10.02

So it looks like I´m moving to Manchester in a few weeks. Thing is, I´ve never been there. So I need your help. Any barb folks live(d) there?

Basically I need advice on where to live and direction to papers/ websites where most flatshare ads are to be found.

I´m guessing that there´s a studenty type area near the university or somewhere fairly central with good pubs and cafes and things to do there, and if so I imagine that´s where I want to be, so if anyone can give me a few suburb names and average price for a decent room in a shared flat that would be great. Something along the lines of Stoke Newington or summat.

And if you want to throw in anecdotes about what a great place it is and how much I´ll enjoy it there, then feel free.

Thankee all. Much appreciated.

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

22:36 / 13.10.02

Don't worry, Loomis; the lack of any form of response so far doesn't imply that there aren't any good areas / bars / people in Manchester. I've lived there for years now, but not as a student.

I used to live centrally (Piccadilly Village) and was intoxicated by the vital club/bar-life, the excellent restaurants and cafes, not to mention all the booze. My finger was truly on the throbbing Mancunian pulse, but that was years ago. I've now migrated south to Cheadle and couldn't tell a new, with-it bar if it leapt out and mugged me with a baseball bat.

As far as suburbs to live as a student; Didsbury, Fallowfield, Rusholme are all pretty much student-exclusive areas. Didsbury's got loads of good pubs, some excellent (and not so excellent) little eateries and good links to the city. Fallowfield is really in the thick of all the student action and a little more up-beat than Didsbury, consisting of more modern bars & pubs (a long, sun-filled Saturday afternoon in the beer garden of the Queen of Hearts still makes me smile). Finally, Rusholme is legendary for its mile of spice - there must be over 100 curry houses along one mile of main road and the smell lifts you salivatingly through Rusholme on a Jasmine scented spice cloud. Nice, if a little rougher than the other two areas.

Hope this helps. 8)

07:32 / 14.10.02

I love Manchester

I'm with Strange Attractor's list, though Didsbury has gone a little West Hampstead in recent years, so might be expensive. I'd maybe add Longsight... central, still cheap, kinda studenty. Hulme is central, cheap, slightly dodgy (near Moss Side).

The local paper's The Manchester Evening News, but I can't find it online, and manchesteronline.co.uk has crap property listings.

PM me if you want to hook up with some people who still live there.

14:42 / 14.10.02

I live in Manchester. The Manchester Evening news webiste is called manchesteronline.co.uk. The have a classifieds section in there with flats to rent.

I'll just echo everyone else about the places to live. Didsbury is very nice, studenty but expensive. Fallowfield is the main student area reasonably priced. Other than that you have Rusholme, Hulme, Moss Side and Whalley Range. They are a bit concrete block inner city but they are cheap and close to town. You hear a lot about inner city violence but I have never had any problems.

12:43 / 16.10.02

Thanks so much for the info folks. Sorry for my lack of response, but I'm flitting about Europe beneath a backpack so have only been jumping online every few days. Funnily enough I spoke to a Mancunian last night and he was saying pretty much what's been said here, and he also suggested Chorlton and Whithington. Do they fit the bill also? And Strange Attractor, unfortunately I left the student life behind a year and a half ago, but it's still the kind of area I like to live in. Hanging onto my yoof for as long as I can ...

And he filled me in on a few phrases, so soon I'll be able to say "that's bobbins man!" like a local; as long as I'm not singing along with His Moznificence, "Oh Manchester, so much to answer for."

Only down side is that I just got an email from my boss (she's transferring up there, and I'm going along to hang onto my cruisy job) saying that we can't start until January, which is kinda sorta a little bit FUCKED as my whole life is packed in boxes waiting for me to get back from this trip and move up, but am sure things will work out. At least I'll have plenty of time to visit Manchester and get to know my way around.

Thanks again for the info everyone. Soon we'll be having barb meets in Manchester to rival those of London ...

14:27 / 16.10.02

Buk, didn't mean to imply Moss Side/Hulme were dodgy, just that that's their reputation. Both pretty central, and some new developments going on, I think, though not been back for a while.

Loomis, Withington is getting to Didsbury prices now, I think, and Chorlton is also fairly up-and-coming.

Geographically, I guess places get more expensive the further out they get...

Going southish: Rusholme-Fallowfield-Withington-Didsbury-Cheadle

Just found this great map

All the places we've talked about are central/south Manchester. North is a whole new country. And possibly cheaper.

15:10 / 16.10.02

Definitely cheaper but not at all studenty. I haven't contributed to this because South Manchester might as well be in a different country from North Manchester. I live 10 minutes from the city centre and I?m not even on that map! There are some scary places in South Manchester, they still charge the earth for accommodation but shooting people is a participation sport.

Manchester is a happy shiny place just now, I'm loving it.

11:07 / 19.09.06

A loved-person of mine is currently rather depressed and lost and is moving up north and I have offered to help them to find out about Manchester. I would be swooningly grateful if anyone here could add to the above stuff with more up-to-date info. Does anyone know whether Withington is still good for single-person-with-little-money living, as it was when I lived around there?

Also, does anyone know about good volunteering opps or places where low-skilled work might not be too painful for a currently rather tender but actually extremely competent person?

All Acting Regiment

11:31 / 19.09.06

Hullo, I am your man. Withington is a bit more expensive these days but still students live there, so it can't be too bad. Fallowfield is cheaper with a £2 pub, Rusholme cheaper still with lovely curries, Moss Side is very cheap but also gang territory, not a good place for a single vulnerable person to live- although I inhabit the edge, I live with some pretty beefy guys and girls.

Volunteering: the Basement Cafe, activist centre/bookshop/library/internet cafe in the city centre. It's like a physical barbelith. They're only too happy to give jobs to people and I have contacts there whose numbers I can pass on.

I'll be happy to show this person around/introduce them to crews if they want.

13:14 / 19.09.06

*swoon* - so grateful, Legba. Thank you.

And The Basement is a brilliant idea. I had forgotten all about it, but I remember many a happily formative hour spent sheltering from capitalist hegemony in the Basement during my altogether rather crappy youth. Although didn't it used to be red and kind of gloomy? Sure this must be the same place.

All Acting Regiment

13:18 / 19.09.06

That's the one. It's nice and bright now, usually.

Tabitha Tickletooth

12:06 / 30.10.07

I am currently without home and considering Manchester as a new stomping ground. All of the above information seems very helpful, but I'm also looking for a bit of help on the job front. I'm a writer/editor by trade and I've been working in the civil service for the last couple of years. Can anyone suggest good websites for creative/media or maybe local government sector jobs? Or even any agencies that other 'Lithers might have dealt with or could recommend? I'll focus more on the housing situation once I've worked out whether I can actually get a job there (I've just been travelling for several months, but I have a solid work history in London for the last half a dozen years).

Another vaguely related question is: am I going to find it impossible to rent a flat without a job? Seems like all the estate agents (*spit*) at least say they want payslips and a current work reference. I'm very happy to say I don't have either!

All Acting Regiment

13:04 / 30.10.07

Well, there's always the Metro and the BBC in Manchester. You have qualifications and so on? I'm not that experienced with looking for a flat whilst having a job, but I can ask about if you want.

13:46 / 30.10.07

My fiancée and i moved into our flat while she was without-job. The impression we got was that, if it had just been her moving in on her own, she'd have needed to get someone to act as a guarantor for her. As she's just out of uni, it would have been quite easy to get her parents to do it, but i really don't know what would be expected of someone a bit older.

Do you have anyone who could guarantor for you? Or any savings in your bank?

Afraid i'm useless with job-hunt know-how, but as All Acting says, the Metro does jobs, as does the M.E.N.

(also - yay! You can come join in the Manchester Critical Mass rides!... if you still have a bike, that is)

Tabitha Tickletooth

10:34 / 02.11.07

Ready-made cycle community - that's another box checked. I do indeed have a bike. I've just been cycle touring in Europe for the last 7-8 months, which is why I find myself in this situation.

Thanks for the tips. Fishing around it appears we will be expected to pay six months rent in advance, which we can just about do. I shall check out the Manchester Evening News online and see if they have any jobs.

I think I'll go to Manchester for a few days and just hang around to get a feel for the place. London, as always, is very alluring once you go back to it...

Sorry about slow speed of reply on this; I do appreciate the help. I'm relying on library access for internet and it is rather intermittent. (I must praise the library services of Shropshire, though, who offer free wi-fi access and let you plug in your laptop even if you are not a library member.)