Hello again to everybody!

Hi all! I had joined on sometime before I made the move to the UK and now I am here! I had some very friendly and supportive respopnses when I joined but now couldn't tell you who was who....I arrived in Birmingham 12th of Jan and I am now residing somewhat comfortably in the Stourbridge area within the Black Country.  It is interesting how many times I have had Black Country natives ask what the heck am I doing here and can they trade places. ....If they saw Indiana, they might change their mind.   I am happy to be here though and hope now that I am starting to settle into daily life I can start having a few adventures and making a few new friends (Ani Difranco in Liverpool! March 19!).  That is the most difficult part: being away from the comfort and ease of a strong social network and having to start over more or less with new friends.

Anyways...just though I would reintroduce myself since I have not been online since I arrived.
lisa

Welcome.

  My fiance and I are hoping we'll be in Birmingham by September (I've applied to graduate school there), and after looking at some of the official sites on the city, it has grown on us.  I know you have just moved there, but do you have any recommendations on the best parts of the city to move?  And do flats going for 300-400 pounds offer much, or is it best advised to find one that is a bit pricier?  Thanks and happy travels,
~Rich

Rich,
Being more in the Black Country to be honest I haven't visited and explored the actual city of Birmingham much, but I am about 20 minutes outside it.  So, I am not sure what areas you are looking at but from what I have seen from when I looked into living in Birmingham and commuting, it can be a bit pricey.  I was looking at furnished flats because I didn't want to bother with furniture, at least for the first few months.  Most of the furnished flats I saw online were 500-1000GBP.  This was in the process of looking with a potential roommate so I was looking at 2 bedrooms and her taste was a bit fancier than mine.  I will disclose that my flat is just over 400GBP a month, furnished.  It is a size that could work for a couple, but I think much more happily inhabited by a single girl as myself.  I think you can definitely find a nice place in a nice area in Birminginham for the prices you are looking at but I would look into the area.  It is very clear once you arrive how the prices coordinate with how nice the area is supposed to be...Of course, I think this can be open to opinion as well... I will try to ask a work friend that lives near Birmingham City Centre to hear her thoughts.  I have found more luck with asking around to locals once I got here than anything else.  And, I don't want to give you any loaded advice as I am not extremely familiar with specific areas in Birmingham. If there are community papers once you arrive surrounding where you will be at school those seem to be the best (in my area) for finding what's on in terms of lettings.

The biggest thing I learned in moving here and finding a place is you can't do much until you are actually here.  You'll get much better response from Estate agents and a better idea of what you're looking at when you get here.  If you can, I would reccomend setting up temporary accomidation to give yourself sometime to find the right place.  I arrived 12th of Jan and was in my flat by 19th of Jan so it doesn't take long!

Good luck!  What are you studying, just curious? If you and your fiance arrive this summer, hopefully I will be more familiar and help out if you have more questions!
lisa

Hey Lisa,

   Thanks for the information.  My fiance and I have basically come down to the decision, in line with your advice, that it will probably be best if we head out ahead of time and get to Birmingham to look for the actual apartment.  Because we will be bringing our dog with us, I'll probably come out a few weeks ahead of my fiance to find the apartment.
    I am currently finishing a double major in Political Science and Geography, and hope to get into Birmingham University to pursue a masters in International Relations (or int'l development).  I've always been fascinated by other cultures, and have found to blend that passion with my interest in politics, especially on the global scene.  Again, thanks for the help, and good luck on staking a claim in Birmingham, we may not be far behind you.  Happy travels,
~Rich

Welcome to you both!

V - be prepared to (a) have a tough time finding a dog friendly flat and (b) paying a bunch extra per month for a dog friendly flat...and you might want to start the process of getting him ready to come on over...have you checked out the info about bringing pets over?

Yeah, we have all the paper work that details all the steps needed to get our dog over to the UK without her being forced into quarantine.   We have her microchip already and are in the process of getting the necessary info in it.  Thanks for the heads up on finding an apartment/flat for her.  We weren't sure if it would be hard or not.  Many have told us that the UK is really dog friendly and many have dogs and don't appreciate the American view of a dog as just some piece of property, but on the flip side, the UK makes it very hard to travel with your dog by rail and find a home without being robbed of your money.  Thanks for the in-put though.
~Rich