Norwich (Thorpe St. Andrew) Accomadation

Hey everyone, I'm new here (I did a mini intro in the Welcome Wagon Forum) I'm currently searching for a flat or house share near Thorpe St. Andrew High School, I've been looking through rightmove.co.uk and gumtree and easyflatshare or something like that. I'm just needing advice from any one locally about what areas to avoid and what is reasonable in the area. I'd really like to share since I won't know where is what and everything like that. Any advice?

I can't help much with good or bad prices, but I know the general area.   

The Hartsease Estate area is best avoided, as it has rather a bad reputation.  There seem to be some reasonably pleasant homes around the area of the school itself, but I'm not sure how many of these would actually be rentals and/or shares. 

I don't know how far you want to travel, but nearby Rackheath, New Rackheath, and Salhouse are worth considering if you can find anything there.  The drive from either one of those to the school is fairly short and easy.

Thanks for your reply Paul! I won't be getting a car when I move since it isn't necessarily going to be permanent (I have to see how I like it after a year or so). So I will be walking or taking the bus to most destinations. Is bus service good? (I've heard that it is.) Easily walkable with sidewalks and the like? The places that I'm finding are about 2-3 miles from the school (google maps driving directions) is that reasonable do you think? Thanks again!

~Jessica

Is bus service good? (I've heard that it is.)  Easily walkable with sidewalks and the like? The places that I'm finding are about 2-3 miles from the school (google maps driving directions) is that reasonable do you think?

I've never used the buses in Norwich myself (living about 20 miles away where public transport is non-existent I'm always in my car when I go there), but I know there are a good number of local bus services within the city and to the nearby towns and villages.   It's probably going to depend upon exactly where you are and whether there are buses at the times you need them. 

A 2 to 3-mile radius from the school takes in a fair bit of territory.  Go that distance west and you're just about in the heart of the city.   The same distance east will put you out into the open countryside and small villages.   The streets around the residential areas of Thorpe St. Andrew are certainly walkable, but once you reach open countryside on Plumstead Road or Salhouse Road there are no sidewalks.  You probably wouldn't want to be walking along them right next to traffic on a dark winter night (and remember that in mid-winter here it can be almost dark by 4 p.m.).

If you have any specific places on a short list, then by all means let me have the names of the roads and I'll do my best to tell you whatever I can.

Hello Paul and thank you again! It is very strange for me to get used to the fact that 2 miles in quite a long way here and will get me to a city whereas 2 miles here will get me to just another place in the middle of nowhere! I found a place with a person who seems very nice (he's a social worker) and he lives on Quebec Road in a bungalow (what is a bungalow exactly?) It's just two miles in pretty much a straight line to the school. Is Quebec Road a good address?  It seemed reasonably priced compared to lots of other things I'd seen (365 a month including all bills even council tax). Thank you again I really appreciate all your help.

~Jess

Jess,

Please bear in mind that I'm some 20 miles away and have never lived in Norwich, so my impressions which follow are purely from being a regular-ish visitor to the city.   Just so you don't put too much stock on anything I might say!

I can't actually picture Quebec Road.  I'm usually just on the major thoroughfares when driving through there -- Ketts Hill, Plumstead Rd. etc.   I have been through some of the side streets in that neighborhood a time or two though, possibly even Quebec Road itself.   The lower rent compared to further out sounds about right.   As far as I can recall there are quite a few streets around there with rows of old Victorian houses, with some 1930s and later bungalows thrown in between for good measure.   Overall, the feeling is of an older and more densely built-upon district than you'll find in the houses around the school at Thorpe St. Andrew a couple of miles away.   In fact the old gas works are between Quebec Road and the river, which gives you an idea of how well-established a part of the city it is.   In other words, don't expect anything like American surburban spaciousness!

I asked somebody I know who is Norwich born and bred about the area, and she's never heard of any particular problems around there.  As she said, being where it is it's not one of the quietest neighborhoods going, and not as nice as Thorpe St. Andrew, but nothing really bad to report.

If you look at the Google map you can get an idea of what's close by.  Follow Riverside Rd. down to the bridge and the intersection with Thorpe Rd.  Norwich train station is right on the southeast corner of that intersection.   Go across the bridge to Prince of Wales Rd. and you're in one the main shopping streets.   It's only a few minutes walk from there (either up Prince of Wales Rd. or Rose Lane) to Castle Mall, a multi-level shopping mall.  The central market place isn't too far away.   I'd say that it's all within walking distance, so long as you don't come back too loaded! 

Back from where we started, if you go up to Ketts Hill and then turn west to the roundabout at the north end of Bishop Bridge Rd. you're at the bottom of Mousehold Heath, a quite extensive green area which sits on the hillside.  Gurney Road twists its way up through the heath where you'll find fields for weekend ballgames, woodland trails, and so on.   Again, much is probably within walking distance if you're fit enough to get up the hill (Brittania Road which goes past the old jail will take you there as well, but is quite steep in spots!).

I hope that gives you at least some idea of what's around there.  Trying to imagine a place just from a map can be quite difficult.

I'll probably be going into Norwich later in the week.  I'll see if I can swing by the school and Quebec Road area and get you a few pictures.

Oops, forgot to answer this:

what is a bungalow exactly?

A bungalow is a single-story house, almost always detached (i.e. not physically joined to another house).   I believe the word has Indian origins, although there's a very old joke that the builder was going to keep going up but ran out of bricks, so he "bunged a low" roof on!    

Jess,

I was in Norwich today and got some pictures for you.  PM me with an e-mail address and I'll forward them to you when I've downloaded them from my camera and sorted them.

Welcome, Jess. My husband and I are also looking for rental accommodations in Norwich, but we're having problems finding anyone who will allow pets. One of the students at the university (my husband is going back to school as a mature student) told my husband there's an area called the "Golden Triangle" that's considered the best to live in in Norwich. I haven't been there yet, so maybe Paul can give you the parameters.

Suzanne

Paul you are absolutely fabulous! Thank you sooo much! My family is very nervous about me moving over to a place I've never seen, but for some reason I have good vibes about this person and am not nervous at all! I'll be sending you a message momentarily!

Suzanne, I have seen lots of adverts for places in the Golden Triangle but my school is a bit closer to the country side than the city from what I can tell from google maps so it would put me a mile further I think. I did see when I was looking that most places don't accept pets but if you keep looking I'm sure you'll find something, I love that there are so many sites out there. Good luck to you in your search!

FWIW, JessLynn, my husband is originally from Norwich, but hasn't lived there for 10+ years although his parents still live in a rural village just outside of Norwich proper.  I asked him for you, as far as what he knows.  He said he thinks that the Thorpe St. Andrew High School area is a decent area to be in.  He also suggested possibly finding accommodation somewhere near/around Norwich city centre area, which he reckoned to be no more than 2-3 miles from Thorpe St. Andrew High School.  Public transport there is good - city buses & all.  I can vouch for that because we've used Park & Ride before into city centre from the outskirts of town.

there's an area called the "Golden Triangle" that's considered the best to live in in Norwich.

The Golden Triangle is on the west side of the city, so certainly a longer journey for Thorpe St. Andrew.  The latter's high school was pretty much on the far eastern edge of the built-up area before all the new housing estates were built around Dussindale Drive.

The Golden Triangle would certainly be more convenient for U.E.A. (University of East Anglia), so I would expect there to be quite a lot of rental accommodations around there.  A little farther west is the new Norfolk & Norwich Hospital.   I think the Golden Triangle is generally reckoned to be the wedge shape between Earlham Road and Newmarket Road, although I'm not sure how far out it goes -- Probably open to interpretation.

I live to the northeast of Norwich and tend to vary my route in and out by way of Sprowston, Salhouse Road, or Plumstead Road, depending upon where I'm heading, so I'm not so familiar with the west side of the city.   I've been out past the university and come back that way from the hospital a few times, but generally only on the main thoroughfares.