Manchester and surrounding areas?

I'm wondering if anyone knows much about Manchester or even better the surrounding areas? Pros, cons?

I wouldn't want to live right in Manchester, would pick a smaller outlying town/village. Have been looking at Nantwich, does anyone know anything about that?

Back to Manchester itself, how is the job situation there now? Does anyone know? Would commuting from an town further out be a problem?

I'm wondering if anyone knows much about Manchester or even better the surrounding areas? Pros, cons?

I wouldn't want to live right in Manchester, would pick a smaller outlying town/village. Have been looking at Nantwich, does anyone know anything about that?

Back to Manchester itself, how is the job situation there now? Does anyone know? Would commuting from an town further out be a problem?

We live in Sale, in Trafford. Because the Trafford centre is only 5 minutes away and the airport maybe 15 minutes away, and it's basically right on the motorway, it is very convenient to anywhere. I know of someone who commutes from Crewe, but I wouldn't want to do it.

I work in Horwich which is just northeast of Bolton. I don't have any problem commuting to Bolton every day, but I see the traffic piled up on the motorway for people going the other direction. I think a commute into Manchester from anywhere any distance away would be a challenge.

I think the best way to get a picture of the job situation is to go to totaljobs.com, jobsite.co.uk, cwjobs.co.uk, etc and see how many jobs are being advertised in your field.

Just my 2 pence

Commuting isn't a problem, necessarily, there are loads of train/tram links (and buses, if you're closer) but it might take you ages.  If you're going to drive, it will definitely be longer sitting in traffic than you would want.
We live in Victoria Park, and we are going to move "closer" to town by about three blocks to right near the hospital, and I love it. I keep a horse out in Wilmslow (about 8 miles away), but because I can go up when "I" want, I can avoid 99% of the traffic and still get lovely countryside time.
The job market here really depends on the industry, I think.

HI-

we live just next door to Sale in Brooklands and can agree that the connections to places are great.  DH works at the University and for him its actually better to take the bus because it leaves from just a couple blocks away and drops him off at his building.  They are building lots of trams in our area but they don't stop anywhere near his work so the walking time for him evens out the bus time.

When we were hunting most people suggested to us that South Manchester was more ideal but then of course you get the prices that go with that.