Nice/not-so-nice bits of Bristol?

Can anyone living in Bristol offer me any pointers for nice areas to live, or areas to avoid? I have young kids, so family-friendliness and school quality is important to me, but feel free to answer even if that's not your area of expertise...

I live in Totterdown which is not the prettiest place, but it's quiet on my street and there are a good number of families.  Mostly it's young professionals.  I've only been here since September but there was a Totterdown arts fair in the fall, there is a community farm and childrens education/play center and Victoria Park. But it's not exactly a very community based neighborhood, but maybe I just don't see that part of it.

Between Totterdown and Southville (just South of the Avon and docks from Clifton) is pretty grim.  But then around the outside of Southville (to the West) and South of Totterdown (Knowle) it seems pretty middle class and pleasing to the eye.  Right around the University (Clifton) is going to be dominated by students, but there are very affluent homes in the same vicinity.

If I could afford it, I'd live to the North of the city in Sea Mills, Sneyd Park, Stoke Bishop or Redland or beyond.  If I do get a real job here, that's were I'll look but I wouldn't expect to find the cheapest housing there.

I've been told that East of the city (St George, Eastville, Fishponds...K help me out here) is not so nice - probably more pot luck with the quality of housing and your neighbors.  I've been out to Keynsham which seems lovely and if you have a car readily accessible to Bristol and Bath.

Bath is Bath of course, but I prefer the variety of Bristol.  In fact I hopefully will be able to remain here for at least a few more years.

If you have a car, it would be fairly easy to get a nice place in a nice village rather than being city bound.   Without a car, a distance of 10 miles can make for very painful commuting. 

Between Totterdown and Southville ... is pretty grim.

You mean Bedminster? When I lived in St Lukes Road 25 years ago, it was definitely Bedminster, but creeping gentrification has resulted in it being co-opted into "Totterdown". When I first arrived in Bristol in 1970, Totterdown was the area in the V between the Wells and Bath roads, but it seems to be encroaching upon Knowle to the south and Bedminster to the west. Similarly, there are streets which are now reckoned to be in "Southville" which were definitely Bedminster years ago.

I live in St Werburghs which is a darling little part of East Bristol, full of vegetarian lesbian social workers and holistic therapists, but which is getting an influx these days of young professionals who can't afford Montpelier prices. Incidentally, the name of the latter district of Bristol is NOT pronounced the same way as the French town. (The one with one more letter 'l'.)

Yep, Bedminster.  I wasn't sure if it became another neighborhood before Southville.  I have been walking that way a lot lately and definately prefer my patch in terms of eye appeal, but then I don't go off the main roads, so maybe there is hidden beauty in the side streets.  Closer to the park down that end is quite nice, but I bet its fairly costly. 

When I got this place I was told that Totterdown was "kinda scary", but it's just as normal as anywhere else.  A lot of it depends on who your immediate neighbors are.

How far in the city are you wanting to be? Areas I've always been told to avoid are Knowle West, St. Pauls and Easton. My bil lives in Long Ashton which is close to the centre and is a nice area, but it is a bit on the expensive side. Further afield there are places that are a few minutes drive but nice areas, such as Stoke Gifford & Bradley Stoke, but they are also expensive, and driving can often be a nightmare at peak times (at other times it's usually fine). I don't personally like the look of Filton, or Southmead, they seem very run down.

Not sure on most of the schools there, my husband went to Filton high school and hated it, but maybe it's improved since then. 

I live near Bath and I love where we are, but then I wanted relative peace and quiet, we live with a farm across the street It's a bit of a drive to get to Bristol, but then we only go to see my husband's parents now, so it's not so bad.

And just because of the insane cost of living, definitely don't go to Bath unless you have an amazing job, it's one of the most expensive places to live in the whole of the UK. 

I live in Redland at the moment and love it here. Our flat is on the first floor (that's second floor in US terms) of an old Victorian house on a quiet street just off the Downs at the top of Blackboy Hill/Whiteladies road and it really is a lovely area although the housing around here (Redland and Clifton) can be expensive (luckily, we got a really good deal on our rent and we split between 3, so I don't pay too much).

How far in the city are you wanting to be? Areas I've always been told to avoid are Knowle West, St. Pauls and Easton.  

I agree about these areas - I wouldn't want to live in any of them, and I'm also not too keen on Fishponds or Kingswood either, although I was looking it up the other day and it seems that Easton has a lower crime rate than the others. St. Pauls has a fairly high ethnic minority population and is known for its high crime and drugs rates.

Further afield there are places that are a few minutes drive but nice areas, such as Stoke Gifford & Bradley Stoke, but they are also expensive, and driving can often be a nightmare at peak times (at other times it's usually fine). I don't personally like the look of Filton, or Southmead, they seem very run down.

Stoke Gifford and Bradley Stoke are nice in the sense that the houses are new and the areas are clean and tidy, but to be honest, they really don't have much character. Bradley Stoke is just a collection of residential roads and roundabouts - all of which look the same and it's very easy to get lost - and not much else! There are a couple of purpose-built pubs and the odd supermarket/takeaway scattered around, but that's about it. It's basically a 'planned town', planned in the 1970s and built from the 1980s onwards... 30 years ago, Bradley Stoke was nothing but fields and now it is a collection of 9,000 houses and has a population of 20,000 people.

Not sure on most of the schools there, my husband went to Filton high school and hated it, but maybe it's improved since then.   

I don't think it's improved much since then! For GCSE exam results, it is ranked at number 13 out of 15 schools in S. Glos. and for A levels it is ranked number 13 out of 13!

I went to Marlwood School, which is about 6 miles north of Bradley Stoke, which I really liked. I believe it has gone down hill a little bit since I was there (1994-2001... in 1998 it was ranked in the top 10 comprehensives in the country for GCSE results!), but it is still ranked at number 2 in S. Glos for both GCSE and A level results and each year they have several pupils applying to Oxford and Cambridge.

In Bristol, the top ten schools are (unsurprisingly) all private fee-paying schools (and some of their annual fees would make your eyes water!), but there are a few good state schools too - Cotham High, St. Mary Redcliffe and St. Bede's.

Lockleaze [near st werburghas] is where me and my husband live atm. We are planning on moving though because it is a horrible part of town, though not as bad as easton in my openion. My husband is on benefits and the social worker who came and talked to us said not the go out after dark over the road from us because there is a lot of drug problems there. I have heard north fishponds isn't so bad but i know for children. My hubands parents live stockwood [south east] which we are looking to move to. It is really nice in my opinion. from what i know the schools are fairly nice there.

Re. north Fishponds - I know people in Downend which is nearby, and they say it's pretty nice.

Lockleaze is quite a way from St Werburghs geographically (way over the other side of Muller Road and the railway) and socially (Lockleaze is a bit chavvy, full of council flats and inter war semis with Critall windows, St Werburghs is mostly owner occupied late Victorian terraces).

Indeed muller road is a big divide

Oh for those who don't know what Chavs are (well my best defintion) trashy white people meet loser gangsters. BTW is this only a Bristol thing?

When we take the bus (24 or 25) we either go past St Weburghs or Easton, of the two i tend to go though St Weburghs.

I don't mean to let out my anger about this area but  i think its worth knowing. We have a young couple with two kids a year apart exactly in the flat above us. They never let the kids out if its even a tad drizzly and even on a good day the mum who doesn't work wont even sit out there while they play. the oldest just started his first year of school, and i know that he only goes once or twice a week. (we can hear everything they say ans do in our flat). Most interesting thing we have heard from the mum is "Get of my F***in Telly" which was directed to the kids. If i didn't think they might kill us i would call social services to straighten the mum out at the least. in my opinion this is a perfect definition of a Chav, oh and they do wear sweats of the time.

Ok i am done ranting about my neighbors. So definitely avoid Lockleaze like it is the plague.

Oh for those who don't know what Chavs are (well my best defintion) trashy white people meet loser gangsters. BTW is this only a Bristol thing?

It is nationwide. Your definition is right on the button.

Most interesting thing we have heard from the mum is "Get of my F***in Telly" which was directed to the kids. If i didn't think they might kill us i would call social services to straighten the mum out at the least. in my opinion this is a perfect definition of a Chav, oh and they do wear sweats of the time.

Those are textbook chav signs.

I would avoid most of South Bristol, pretty much south of the river. Clifton is a nice area. Absolutely avoid Knowle and Hartcliffe.

I lived in Easton for 4 years, and it was amazing. It has a much undeserved bad rap. It is full of lovely restaurant (the Thali, Eatern Taste, Cafe Mateya to name a few) and excellent shops I loved it to bits, its so full of culture!

I've also lived in St Andrews its as nice as clifton IMO and not as pricy plus you have Gloucester road on your door step. Montpelier, St Werburgs are also very Nice.

I have lived in Sea mills and it is snoozeville not much happening.

I currently live in Horfield (I get around) and I like it, its near Gloucester Road and the rent and house prices are reasonable.

In short it depends what you want, if you want lively areas that are busy and buzzing I'd suggest Clifton (if you can afford it), Easton, Stokes Croft and Montpelier maybe even st george.

The Boho areas are Montpelier, St Werburgs, Whitehall, and Easton

If you want family areas try St Andrews, Southville, Bishopsworth, Henleaze, Downend, Totterdown, Redland.

If you want directly near the city centre try Hotwells, St Pauls (I've worked in St Paul and in my opinion it gets a bad rap as well), KingsDown and Stokes Croft.

If you want BIG houses and have loads of space cash try Sneyd park, Leigh woods, Long Ashton or Stoke Bishop (Clifton as well)

I would personally avoid Knowle West (some parts of Knowle are fine), Withywood, Hartcliff, Southmead, Lawrence Weston, henbury and Shirehampton there is a lot of relative poverty in these areas and they are quite far from the city centre.

Bedminster, Bradley stoke, Bishopston, St Anns, fishponds and Lockleaze are meh... I can't say too many bad thing about Lockleaze as my wife was born and raised there.

Cafe Mateya

Cafe Maitreya has won "best vegetarian restaurant in Britain" multiple years recently.

I knew I'd spelt it wrong but I couldn't be arsed to look it up.