UKC

What are recommendations for where to live if working in the centre of Birmingham?

Current thoughts:

• Would prefer to live rural with good train links to New Street Station (but would consider outskirts of Birmingham)
• I know I am unlikely to get easy evening access to bouldering but close would be good (I am currently in Leek so really spoiled as only 10 mins from the Roaches)
• I am tempted to go north west so closer to Snowdonia but would also want to be within ok reach of the Peak as would miss it
• Priority is outdoors but close to a climbing/bouldering centre would be nice for rainy days
• Main activities are bouldering, walking and scrambling (and winter climbing if we get another good winter)
• No children so not worried about good schools
• Willing to look east and south as well - north east to stay near Peak, not sure about south though
• Reasonable budget so should be able to buy something in most places (unless really posh) as don't need anything too big
• One option might be to buy a cheap flat in the centre of Birmingham for when at work and could then potentially buy main house further away (but I am naturally against owning two places so would be conflicted by this)

Telford and Shrewsbury seem to fit the bill but open to any ideas.

Look to the east.  Good trains to Balsall Common, Dorridge etc. Live in north Warwickshire.  Close (ish) to Warwick Uni and the climbing wall there.  Lots of countryside.  In truth it’s fine to head to the Peak and Wales due to motorway links. Far better pubs and shops (Solihull) than north of Bham. House prices high but because it’s so convenient for work and leisure. 
 

Having said that, our halcyon days (pre child) were flat in centre of town and house in N Warwickshire.  
 

Took me over 20 years to suss out where to live in Bham but I do think a lot of it’s where you’re at in life.

Get in touch if you want to chat to a climber and long term resident who has moved around a bit.

Hi, 

Having done exactly this for a couple of years, I rented both in Worcester (close to Foregate street), and then in Warwick. 

Neither exactly rural, but both close to the countryside. The Worcester commute was a pain at times, though might be more tolerable if you're not going in everyday. The town itself is pretty, and pretty typical commuter town. The Red (I think) climbing wall had just opened in the last few months before I left. Close access to Malvern, Wye Valley, etc.

Warwick I loved as a place to live. Great town with loads going on and a really good, if slightly straight laced, vibe. Commute is/was easy. Pretty well placed for driving up to the Lakes, and North Wales not too far away. 

Hope that some of this is helpful 

My subjective views:

South Bham is nicer than North.

West nicer than East.

Driving into the centre daily is utter punishment. No matter where from. So if it were me I would look carefully at current and future train links. In the South this opens up Bournville (where I live) and Barnt Green. West it means Hagley and Kidderminster.

Telford/Shrewsbury might work, but the commute is a serious commitment.

I have an small apartment in the centre (next to the mailbox) about to become available to rent (current tenant leaves mid October) if that interests you. It was a hedge a long time ago for perhaps exactly your situation, but I never needed it personally.

For us we opted for Bournville for a main residence because of the community feel, how green and leafy it is, and access to transport (airport - 25min, trains - 10 min walk, motorways 10min. All are important for me). But children were also a consideration for us. Without children I might have been tempted by more commuting time and more rural living, but I don't think it would be the correct decision for me.

No Pubs in Bournville.

When the train companies get their act back together there will be 3 trains per hour from Telford/Shrewsbury. I wouldn't drive as it is hard to know how long it will take. Should be 40 mins but could take 3 hrs. The smaller towns on that line, closer to Bham will only get 2 trains per hour. Shrewsbury is a much nicer town but the Station is in the middle of the town without parking. Telford or Wellington has parking.

https://www.ncp.co.uk/find-a-car-park/car-parks/shrewsbury-station-tfw/

£22/week.

Very true.

But there's a microbrewery in my garage with a "tap room".

And more importantly for people without a key to my front door there is a growing presence of micro breweries with their own tap rooms in cotteridge on the doorstep of Bournville. And one of them I can get to on completely traffic free cycle paths from my house.

I've not lived there for many years but Mosely was nice, had good pubs, and near one of the climbing gyms (creation)

You're never going to be that close to real rock so I would prioritize a short commute so you have more time to head climbing.

If you bike a lot of the village stations outside Birmingham are bikeable along quiet country roads.

I commuted from Mosely to Arden's Grafton for a while using bike and train until I moved to Stratford. If I was to work in Birmingham city center now though I'd probably choose a short commute.

I'm another one from Solihull. Countryside within walking distance for summer evenings, convenient for the motorway for the weekend (peak grit is daytrippable with a prompt start), and only a few minutes on the train into central Brum.

Lichfield?

It depends whether evening cragging is important for you and whether you’re ok with driving 1.5-2h to get to most climbing areas in the Peak.

If evening cragging is important (and you can WFH, otherwise it doesn’t matter where you live), or if you want a shorter drive to the crags, somewhere outside and north of Birmingham would be best. Consider Derby, Lichfield, Stafford and the M54 corridor.

Otherwise I would go for central Birmingham. I’m probably biased as I live within sight of the Council House but it definitely has its advantages. 10min walk to the office, 20min walk to two good bouldering walls (the Depot and Bham Bouldering Centre, which is small but excellent), 25min walk to Redpoint (great for routes) and you can live closer than that if you like. Plus everything else you need on a daily basis within easy walking distance - lots of small food stores and a medium sized Tesco, bars and restaurants, etc.

It’s great (and cheap) to not need a car during the week. Getting out of the city is fine at weekends and after 7pm on Fridays. Evening hits are feasible if you leave early. Leaving at 3pm will generally cost you an extra 5-10mins. Don’t bother after 4…

I live next to the canal, which is nice for a lunchtime or evening stroll and heading towards Edgbaston feels semi rural. Some central areas can be noisy but many aren’t.

One point to flag is we have a clean air zone but you don’t have to pay if you have a Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel (there’s an online portal to check your number plate).

If you want micro beta on the various sections of the city centre and surrounding area (as they are all a bit different, with their own pros and cons), let me know.

As you don’t have children, I wouldn’t bother with the suburbs or Solihull. You lose the convenience of being within walking distance of work and the walls but gain nothing. If you want to be somewhere rural, then the commuter belt villages with a rail link could work well, eg Barnt Green (handy for the Lickey Hills), Hampton in Arden or Balsall Common. however they are on the south side, which adds travel time for the Peak. Somewhere on the north side would be better but not many small villages on rail lines there. Perhaps Lichfield or Sutton Coldfield or Four Oaks as semi rural options (Sutton Park is nice).

Having said all that, if I were in Leek but working in Birmingham, I might just stay in Leek, especially if WFH 2-3 days a week is an option. I imagine the drive into Stoke can be a bit of a pain but then it’s a reasonable train journey into New St, especially if you can avoid the rush hour.

Food for thought…

Clearly Cotteridge has gone upmarket since I lived there in 1994!

Moseley has a bit of a bohemian vibe and as you say has Creation (which is ok but not great) and three parks nearby. The issue is there is no train station (yet - might get one in a few years) and commuting by car or bus gets snarled up in fairly bad traffic (may be it’s better now we have the clean air zone). Cycling or scootering is feasible if you don’t mind the hassle.

Why don’t you stay in the peak? It’s an hour to New St from Chesterfield on the train, and you can have all of eastern grit on your doorstep. I live between Froggatt and Curbar and it takes around 20 mins to get over to the station by the back roads. 
You get to live rural with good train link to New St., live in the peak, go to the Sheffield or Derby or Nottingham walls on rainy days. Not much longer a journey than the outskirts of Brum, and makes working from home days even better. Climb on Froggatt after work. 

Somewhere around Stourbridge could fit the bill. Kinver is very nice, you can run around the rock houses area of an evening, nice and leafy and easy train access into Birmingham and good motorway access for trips to the mountains. Ditto for Hagley and the surrounding area. Plus, Black Country folk are inherently superior to Brummies  

I grew up in Oldbury (not recommended) and lived in Moseley for years and in both places I found weekend travel to Snowdonia/Lakes and day trips to the Peak perfectly fine. 

Couple of good clubs in that area if that's your thing, I'm a member of the Mercian MC. 

I started working in B'ham (from Derby) 6 years ago and couldn't bring myself to move away from my beloved Peak Disctrict. I live ~4 miles north of Ashbourne and commute by car to SE Brum. I leave 4.45am and takes around 65 minutes. Coming home I leave between 1730 and 1900 and it takes 75 minutes.

Cost of commuting is less than the additional cost of an equivalent house in Warwickshire. And as for the quality of life...

We moved to Lichfield from Jewellery Quarter. 45 mins to classic crags such as Lorry Park Quarry (RIP) and Forest Rock. Many peak crags under an hour. Positioned right on the A38. The toll road is a saviour when the M6 is (often) kaput. 3 hours drive to Coniston, 2hr 20 to Llandudno. Train 75mins from Trent Valley to London Euston. Just under 40mins train to New Street if you don't want to drive. 

Lichfield Garden Centre has a very comprehensive selection of gin, ales and cheese. I've spent many hours browsing the tin selection and have a fridge full of quality beer. Loads of farm shops within five minutes. There is a 10 mile trail called the Darwin Walk which makes a great run - it's a full loop of the city through the country footpaths. And it goes past the Garden Centre with the beer.

It's north and east but doesn't fit the pattern as mentioned by other posters. Have a walk round the city centre. Grab some brunch from Pom's (pulled pork on sour dough toast) and a long black from Melbourne. You'll be sold.

Name a city in the UK beginning with B, C , M, L or P - Lichfield is a pointless answer.

Failing that Jewellery Quarter is the place to live. Right in the action, but quiet. Under 5 minutes to Birmingham Bouldering Centre - brilliant climbing wall with a board that's on Stokt - all the grading is super soft on the app to make you feel like a Wad... 5 minutes max to the M6. Flat with a parking space required. You won't have to spend any time in traffic if you live there. The food in Birmingham city centre is superior to any of the surrounding areas (Lichfield included).  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Note: I'll receive 2% commission for any new property purchases or rentals.

But he already lives as close to Stoke station as you do to Chesterfield, from which it's about an hour to New Street, and has all of Western Grit on his doorstep!  Not to mention the limestone.

To go to your last point first. Buying a cheap flat in the centre is going to be a tough one unless you seek out some of the less appealing areas around the outskirts, and even then the price is going to be quite hefty as the gentrification of Brum, Digbeth, Harborne, Moseley, Kingsheath, Stirchley etc continues. Friends who rent in the centre have had their rents pushed up massively by there landlords because 'cost of everything'.

The outskirts are well served for public transport in to Brum, I live in Solihull (which is a bit spendy) and from my station in Olton I can be in Brum in 10 mins tops (London for work is 90 mins tops to Marylebone), but you also have Acocks Green, Hall Green, Shirley, Sheldon, Tysley even, all of which have some character, all of which have easy access to trains and the motorway, and obv's you can get to the hip places like Moseley and Stirchley pretty easily too. The countryside is on your doorstep out towards Warwickshire and the Malverns, it's really quite nice tbh. 

Solihull's biggest drawback is that it considers itself a cut above and doesn't like to admit it's a suburb of Brum, to the extent that my wife who is a Brummie was asked if she was from the Black Country when she first started teaching there. This clip sums-up Solihull to a T. 

youtube.com/watch?v=U8Kum8OUTuk&

Another poster suggested Sutton and Four Oaks - lets put it this way, you can't afford to live there and both are a nightmare to get to.from unless you have a car!

lived happily in moseley and kings heath as a student in the 80s. memorable weekend trips to welsh borders and beyond..

A lot of my commute back when I lived there and worked in city center around 2010 was on bike through parks and bike lanes/quieter roads. Only a few traffic lights in city center felt dodgy but the buses and drivers were not too bad with cars. Roads probably better for cycling now than then although driving seems to be getting worse.

I used to enjoy the Fighting Cocks, Prince of Wales, and the Bull's Head quite a bit. All different vibes. 

While that’s obviously true, things are often more nuanced. The Roaches and Churnet Valley are my favourite places to climb in the Peak, but given the opportunity to move over there, I wouldn’t. Mostly because I like this part of the Peak better, and the advantage of living just outside Sheffield rather than Stoke. Add to that the fact that it’s nearly 40 years since I last climbed in Dovedale (adjudicator wall I think) or other limestone over there. I made the case for my preferences without prejudging what the OP’s preferences would be. Maybe living within walking distance of Horseshoe and Deep Rake might swing it 😂😂

Thanks for all the useful ideas.  Gives me plenty to think about.

Unfortunately Chesterfield to Bham by train is hideously expensive at peak times, about £80 return when I last looked. Not a cheap commute…

Sutton and Four Oaks both have a train station. Expensive - yes.

Not all of Solihull is posh but some of it is,as you say… They have their own council but yeah, they are just a jumper up suburb or Birmingham.

I’ve heard about the gentrification of Stirchley but last time I went for a walk there it was still pretty drab. Acock’s Green and Tyseley wouldn’t be on my list either. Hall Green and Shirley are nice enough. As you say, the rail commute from round there is short, albeit it’s into Moor St / Snow Hill rather than New St, so depends where you’re commuting to but there’s only 5-10mins walking in it so not a big consideration.

I just think the suburbs are a bit pointless if you don’t have children, unless you want a house rather than a flat.

I suppose it depends whether leaving at 4.45am to drive for an hour to work is a quality of life issue or not…

I was thinking Lichfield could be a good option if it had a wall… An hour train + walk to BBC or Depot wouldn’t work for me but might do for others.

I’ll take your comment about the board with a pinch of salt though, it’s pretty nails for a punter like me! Great Wall though.

Yes! I lived in Knowle as a kid (back then it was a village quite separate from Solihul but now swallowed up by it). My grandmother always described Knowle as a 'small village ten miles north of Warwick' rather than ten miles south of Birmingham.