NYC to bristol after thanksgiving!

hello!!!  my husband (UK citizen) and i are moving back to the UK (this time bristol; we lived in london for two years prior to moving to NYC about 8 years ago) after thanksgiving this year.  we're very excited.  and nervous.  and i'm just downright scared.  but excited, too! 

anyone from the states in bristol?  any thoughts/ideas/feelings about the place/neighborhoods?  i've only visited...and have really loved my visits (but who doesn't love visiting a place when they're on vacation?).

i particularly love the 'moving' forum - i know now to bring most of my kitchenware.  though i'm slightly horrified about the US reliance on cake mixes from the US.  so, as my welcome gift, i'd like to share this recipe with all my american friends - you can do it from scratch without any difficulty and it's so much better!!!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beattys-chocolate-cake-recipe/index.html

and a special thanks again to those who patrol the visa forum - you guys saved us! 

Welcome to UK Yankee and good luck with your move!  Eat as much Thanksgiving dinner as you possibly can before you move over. 

Hi and welcome and best wishes for your move! Thanks for the recipe too!

I am not in Bristol but I do know an American there and could get you in touch with her if you'd like. 

I'm not American (although I've lived in the US twice and have US relatives), but I was born and raised in Bristol and I still spend a fair amount of time there because my parents still live in the area .

Hi ladies!!!  thanks for the warm welcome!  I look forward to getting to know you all better! 
thanks beccarose - i'd love to get in touch with your american friend if you don't mind sending over her email address!  or i can send mine if she doesn't want to give hers out. 
hello again, badass (aka KSAND24)!  i really hope to meet you one day!  does UK Yankee do get-togethers ever?  do you by any chance have any neighbourhood recommendations?  my hubs was telling me of the rather affluent areas like clifton, redlands, and cotham.  he was explaining artsy areas as bedminster and windmill hill...maybe he mentioned a place called greenbank?  get this though.  the love of my life has never lived in bristol, though we do have a couple of friends there and his family is not too far.  i'd, personally, like to live somewhere...fun, urban, hip AND safe?  not too fancy, upperclass.  i also strongly desire a ceramic tub.  or almost anything not plastic. 
 

hello again, badass (aka KSAND24)!  i really hope to meet you one day!  does UK Yankee do get-togethers ever?

Yeah, that would be good. There are UK-Y get togethers, although I've not actually been to one before - there haven't really been many in the south west though.

do you by any chance have any neighbourhood recommendations?  my hubs was telling me of the rather affluent areas like clifton, redlands, and cotham.  he was explaining artsy areas as bedminster and windmill hill...maybe he mentioned a place called greenbank?

My parents live outside of the city (about 15 miles north), so I only actually lived in the city itself for about 10 months back in 2008/09. I lived in Clifton and Redland (and my friends live in Cotham and Clifton), and those are pretty much the only places I would consider living in again, because they are my favourite part of the city.

I'm not keen on Bedminster, because it strikes me as being run-down and a bit unsafe, but I know other people do like it (my old flatmate lives there now, I think). I've only really been there for training days when I worked in retail because our regional office was in Bedminster, but even then I felt like my car wasn't going to be entirely safe in the public car park just down the road .

I don't know the south of the city so well, because I lived to the north my whole life. Personally, though I would avoid the eastern areas like St Pauls, Montpelier, Easton, Fishponds, Eastville, St. Werburghs (Greenbank is in that area, I think), because they have pretty high crime rates.

get this though.  the love of my life has never lived in bristol, though we do have a couple of friends there and his family is not too far.  i'd, personally, like to live somewhere...fun, urban, hip AND safe?  not too fancy, upperclass.  i also strongly desire a ceramic tub.  or almost anything not plastic. 

The nicest places are Clifton and Redland, and they aren't entirely unaffordable (a lot of the students live in or near these areas as the university is in Clifton area). A bit further out from Clifton are Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze, which are also nice, but not quite so posh. I would avoid Southmead, Horfield and the Gloucester Road area (Bishopston, Stokes Croft) as there is a fair amount of crime/drugs around there.

Lived in Bristol for two years and I miss it. Would agree with everything KS says.

Hi I'm in Bristol.   I've been here for 4 years and love it.  I'm thinking about moving to the other side of town (work/commute related), so I'm doing a lot of digging into what places are really like.

I'm in Totterdown now, which is great.  Anyone from outside the neighborhood might think it is hemmed in and a bit run down, but the people here have been great so far.  A lot of hard working folks, academics and artists.  Windmill Hill is nice as well.  Bedminster looks dire (it's my local shopping district); it's definitely economically depressed, but I've never experienced anything dangerous there.  Plus we have the ASDA, which may or not be a desirable thing depending on your social views/economic situation. 

I'm thinking about moving to Shirehampton/Sea Mills.  I'd love to live in Redland but I'm not sure about traffic and the cost vs. what you get factor. 

The Gloucester road is ace for shopping and culture, living in walking distance would be a best case scenario for me.   A lot of it depends on what you want out of life and what your levels of comfort are.  There are tonnes of old neighborhoods that have a bad rep, but are aesthetically and culturally interesting.  The earthy, middle of the road co-ops, independent shops, the non-commercial minded folks all seem to centre around the Gloucester road.


PM me if you want to chat about anything. 

I'm thinking about moving to Shirehampton/Sea Mills.  I'd love to live in Redland but I'm not sure about traffic and the cost vs. what you get factor. 

When I lived in Redland I found it great in terms of cost vs. what I got. I was sharing with two others in a 3-bedroom flat (top floor of a 2-storey house) and it was amazing - the best flat I've ever lived in.

I was paying about £350 per month in rent (£1,050 between 3 of us) and although I was in the smallest bedroom, it was actually massive... you could fit 3 double beds in side-by-side and still have a bit of room to spare! All 3 bedrooms were on different levels (the largest room was actually the dining room originally, then mine was halfway up some stairs to the attic and the third room was an attic room which had an en-suite bathroom).

The rest of the flat was amazing as well - a large living room with a chandelier and an open fireplace; a large kitchen with counters for sitting at as well as worktops for cooking and it had a built-in wine rack and cubby holes in the wall for storage (as well as the cupboards). The bathroom had a walk-in shower and a separate bath with jacuzzi jets, plus there was gorgeous sink unit  and even a bidet next to the toilet!

I really miss that flat - wish I could have lived there longer, but unfortunately, I got a new job and had to move away . Now I live on my own in a tiny 2-bed terraced house in Lincoln, which is probably about half the size of the Redland flat, and it's costing me more in rent and bills (the rent is cheap for a house, but the actual size of it is tiny) .

thanks beccarose - i'd love to get in touch with your american friend if you don't mind sending over her email address!  or i can send mine if she doesn't want to give hers out. 

Unfortunately I was mistaken- she's not American - sorry about that- but she does live in Bristol (for now, she's actually about to move), I could still put you in touch with her if you'd like?

thanks everyone!  youve given us a lot to think about; a lot of areas to stew on.  hubs and i have finally agreed that we should no longer live in a 'frat-house' like apt. in our 30s (god forbid anyone should live like that even in their 20s).

beccarose, thanks for the offer, but these ladies have covered all areas to me it seems. 

on a side note, i went to 'bed, bath and beyond' here in the us to get a scrubby brush for dishes.  hubs uses only the sponge, but i quite like the scrubby brush!  but now im really hoping for a dishwasher cause (of course!) i do a better washing up job of dishes, but don't plan on doing that too often.  i also started thinking i should buy mini-muffin tins, but then remembered i've never even thought to make mini-muffins here and that truly, the us is only a plane ride away and my parents can send over anything i desperately miss.  ...though i recall black beans being a big deal for me 10 years ago in london, but now i know how to use a crock pot!  you guys have those in the UK, right?  i wasn't planning on bringing mine since it's a us plug.  though i'm definitely gonna find a way to bring and use my vitamix!

god, not to mention my adoration of peanut butter.  but each time i get my paws on a jar of that i finish it in one week and gain 5 lbs.  who needs that?  im gonna go make chocolate macaroons now!

Hi - I've lived in North Bristol for 8 years and work at UWE.

My mate lives in Greenbank and he loves it. The area traditionally has a very large immigrant population but he says that over the past year or two it's starting to get a much bigger 'aspiring middle class' sort of population. Lots of prams/coffee shops/etc.

Clifton is very twee (and it shows in the price) but can get very student-y during term (no parking/full pubs/etc.). Good if you like that sort of vibe, but they're mostly flats out that way, so you might get loud neighbours.

Redland - also v. student-y, though cheaper than Clifton.

Bediminster is the new up-and-coming location. North Street is full of great little bars/restaurants. There are a few estates around there which have, in the past, made it feel a little intimidating, but loads of my 'young, professional' mates are buying in the area.

North Bristol is your typical suburbia - mostly made up of the Stokes (Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke, Stoke Gifford). Good transport links to Bristol and further afield and you'll get a terraced house for £750 a month. Downside being that it's suburbia - I just spend a lot of time in town.

Oh, and since you're moving here, I'll try to recruit you to my softball team Bristol has one of the largest softball leagues in the UK - newcomer link: http://www.bristolsoftball.com [nonactive] . And I need talent!

Anyway - if you have any questions about the area, just ask me! I love Bristol and over the past five years it's character has completely changed. It's got great culture/shopping/etc. Good place to move to!

Oh, and there's a Costco in Avonmouth - so you'll be able to get all the jars of peanut butter you need!

Greetings everyone, and thank you, DeLamarterWV, for your very informative and reassuring reply!!  sadly, if it's talent you want for your softball team, it's not me you're looking for.  the closest i come to playing a team sport is picking up a tennis racket and hitting...oh wait, that's a solo sport too!

We've just made it to Somerset after an awesome 6 wk roadtrip in the Southwest of good ol' USA (if anyone needs tips on that let me know!).  We just started looking at places in bristol and have made an appt with CJ Hole realtors for Wednesday.  This is what I really want *drool*: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-36720082.html   

sadly, this is really not what i'm going to get since it's out of our price range.  but we're going to look in that general area (including Bedminster, Southville, Totterdown, and Redlands).  i totally want to stay away from student areas, and i think we're a little more grit than upscale-folk.  We saw a lot of nice properties in Horfield; I know my fave, ksand, says it's a crime/drug ridden area.  Does anyone have other thoughts on that area?

I'd say it's hit or miss.  Depends on the immediate area and tenants.

I have a friend who has a nice cottage in Henleaze, which is a stones throw from Horfield.  The area is fine, but her walls are very thin and she's got noisy neighbors who have made her life unpleasant for the last few years.

It's not the more interesting end of the Gloucester Road either.

Depending on where you are going for work, the proximity to the motorways may be beneficial.  I wouldn't want to try to drive across the city from there in rush hour traffic though.  The other day it took me about an hour to get from Cribbs Causeway to Totterdown (5 miles) between 4:30-5:30pm. 

That house in Windmill Hill is really nice!  There are a lot of really nice places in Totterdown too.  I get to see some of them during the Totterdown Art Trail.

Thanks Hollyberry!  that totterdown art trail sounds nice - ima look into that!