NYC to bristol after thanksgiving!

I know this is unsolicited, but I was thinking recently about what it is that I like about Totterdown (I'm considering moving to be closer to my job, but keep coming up with reasons I really don't wanna  )

In my opinion, the whole point of living in an urban centre is your proximity to the things that make the city what it is - shopping, culture, sites, libraries etc.   With the cost and inconvenience of urban driving, proximity to direct lines of transport and being in walking distance is a huge plus. 

Totterdown is about 10-15 minutes walking distance to Bristol Temple Meads (the main rail station).  That used to mean much more to me before I had a car, but even now it is a big plus for when the cost/convenience of the train is greater than the car.  No taxis, no schlepping bags across town.  Just a short walk to the station then the world is at the door.

Totterdown is 20-25 minutes walking distance to the city centre which includes the harbour, Hotwells/Clifton, Park Street, St Augustines, Old City, Broadmead and Cabot Circus shopping.  No worries about buses, taxis or parking fees when the festivals and markets come to town.  Easy access to all kinds of restaurants and pubs.

Although our local shopping district (Bedminster/East Street) is grim on the surface, there are a good number of independent shops, and the area is developing.  Just down on the other end of the southside is Southville, which has nicely developed into an young-feeling, arts-minded, haven of independence and hope.  (Read not as many betting shops or pound stores as East Street).

The downside of the southside is the density.  Totterdown was built for the railway workers in the 1800's, and is a model of Victorian utilitarianism.  The houses are largely narrow and unornamented, but the people are great and it's actually very quiet in my street.  Windmill Hill was built in the Edwardian period, the houses are more substantial and have neat little features.  I would consider moving over to Windmill Hill, but since I work out of town and have to slip through the city every morning I'd be concerned about tacking on more traffic lights and potential jams to my daily commute.  On a good day I can get onto the M32 in ten minutes, but just up the road from me the traffic backs up pretty badly.

I'm sure that other folks could come up with a similar list for their other bits of the burgh, but these are my thoughts and opinions.  Just thought I'd share them!

Thanks for sharing, Hollyberry!  I think you're completely right.  In NY, my husband and i lived in an area called washington heights in Manhattan just above harlem.  It used to be a terrible area in the 80s and 90s with a lot of drug and crime about.  When we moved in in 2005, no one envied us.  We grew to absolutely love the area.  A block and a half away from the subway, a park on the next block, and a beautiful park 10 blocks away; everything we needed on a daily basis nearby. 
When we went to visit Bristol, I will admit I was terribly distraught after our first visit with the estate agents.  We were largely in Southville and Bedminster.  The agents were going on and on about North Street, and how we were looking in an up-and-coming area.  I don't know.  Maybe it's being in unfamiliar territory, but i just couldn't believe how depressed I felt about everything we saw.  i didn't feel like the areas we saw were unsafe.  I just felt...like there no...vibrancy to the places we saw.  There were no places to be seen in Totterdown or Windmill Hill.  plus, it's not that cheap.  I reckon people spend more of their income in the UK on their living expenses than we did in the US. 
Needless to say, we went back two days later and looked north of the river.  We saw two lovely places in the Redlands(?) and picked one on Hampton Park.  I really liked the proximity to a main street - whiteladies - and park, Clifton Downs.  Even though there are tons of students around, i do feel like the area is buzzing.  which i now know i clearly like.  The two-bedroom is small, but we didn't bring a lot over from the US anyway, so I think it'll be perfect for a starter place to get to know Bristol better.  I must be totally twee!
On a side note, I reminded myself to enjoy this time as a new adventure.  Now, I'm just really terrified we won't find jobs.  Well, rather, jobs we're for which we're looking.  We have a two-year phone contract, car, flat for 6 months, and no jobs.  blllllaaaaaarrrrrrrgggghhh!!!
anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts on what draws you to a certain place.  It felt good to articulate the same.     

Ahhhh.... Washington Heights... I love that area. Always have - even in the 80's!
I'm a Latina from the L.E.S., and I have a lot of family there.

Wanna house swap? Take our flat in London?! 

  I must be totally twee!
  

Oh dear... I hope not! 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=twee

ha!  good to see a definition associated with that word!  perhaps not, but the area is so charming. 

LM, charming is one word i might not use to describe washington heights.  if we still had the place, i would have definitely house swapped with you!  we were right off 183rd and ft. washington.  whereabouts in london are you?  how long have you been there?  do you think you'd ever go back to live in NYC?  we lived in london for two years before we moved to nyc.  i love them both. 

Needless to say, we went back two days later and looked north of the river.  We saw two lovely places in the Redlands(?) and picked one on Hampton Park.  I really liked the proximity to a main street - whiteladies - and park, Clifton Downs.

That's my favourite area of the city . If I was still living in Bristol (which I really want to be doing, but unfortunately I work almost 200 miles away from the city), I would definitely be renting a place somewhere in the Whiteladies Road area .

I used to live at the top of Blackboy Hill next to the Downs (officially called 'Durdham Downs' rather than Clifton Downs, but everyone just calls it 'The Downs'. Also, it's 'Redland', rather than the Redlands ... but you'll get to know it all pretty quickly I'm sure). Two of my best friends live round the corner from Hampton Park (off the other side of Cotham Hill), and my parents play tennis at the tennis club just the other side of Clifton Down station . 

Whiteladies Road has lots of stuff going on - shops, bars, restaurants, a club or two, and it's only a 15-20 minute walk to The Triangle, Park Street, the city centre and the shopping centre .

OMGoodness, Ksand!  we walked down to the triangle last friday and i was absolutely THRILLED to see a wagamamas!  i completely forgot about wagamamas (i even have got the cookbook to take to the states) - super excited. not to mention there seemed to be a noodle restaurant even closer! 
I was happy that the shops along whiteladies road weren't so much high street shops but rather small independent shops (i guess the chains are further down towards the triangle).  i'm sure i won't be able to set foot into the furniture shops ($$$), but the little organic store on the corner of ashgrove road and the kitchenware shop towards the top of whiteladies road are sure to get plenty of my business. 
Next time you're in Bristol, and not completely busy, we must have you over for a meal!!!

we walked down to the triangle last friday and i was absolutely THRILLED to see a wagamamas!  i completely forgot about wagamamas (i even have got the cookbook to take to the states) - super excited. not to mention there seemed to be a noodle restaurant even closer! 

You know, I've only been to a Wagamamas twice in my life so far, but both times have been the one on the Triangle .

The first time I went (2007), I couldn't even enjoy my food though, as it was a lunch with my masters degree supervisor, one of his post-doctoral researchers, and my thesis examiner, who was providing the data for my research... I was so nervous that I could barely eat anything (I was a research student in the Earth Sciences department at Bristol Uni, which is in the Wills Memorial Building just across the road from the Triangle).

The second time was much better though - I went at Easter this year with some old colleagues and we had a great time (and great food) .

(i guess the chains are further down towards the triangle).

Actually, not so much . The chain stores are mostly all in the city centre shopping centres - Broadmead and Cabot Circus (about 500 shops down there, I think!), and in Cribbs Causeway (the shopping mall with about 150 shops off Junction 17 of the M5, which you can get a bus to from Whiteladies Road).

Blackboy Hill/Whiteladies Road, the Triangle, Park Street and the city centre (down by the Hippodrome, the Cathedral and the Waterfront) mostly have smaller, independent shops, with just a few chain stores mixed in. Clifton Village is lovely and has some nice shops, but a lot of them are really expensive.

Next time you're in Bristol, and not completely busy, we must have you over for a meal!!!

Sounds good  - thanks .

I'm actually in Bristol this Friday, but then I'm going to be in London on Saturday and Sunday and then driving back up to Lincoln on Monday for work... then I'm back in Bristol again from the 21st- 25th Dec and the 27th Dec-1st Jan .

If you'd like any help with places to go, or someone to show you more of the area, just let me know .

I'm sure you'll like where you picked, amber!  Congrats, and welcome to Bristol.  It's a great town.

If anyone wants to do a Bristol get-together, count me in!

A bristol get together - excellent idea, hollyberry!  yes, let's do that!  i don't actually move up to bristol until the 10th of january - so i'm good literally anytime after probably the 20th-ish or so if you ladies would like to come over (if it's not too far for you, hollyberry?).  Of course, I'm also very down to meet at a cafe/restaurant/bar somewhere convenient for everyone, esp. if we get more people! IN!

If I'm not working, I'm in. 

I can get anywhere in Bristol easy enough - between Whiteladies Road and Park Street there are be loads of options for coffee/food/booze - all of which I enjoy immensely

If I'm not working, I'm in. 

I can get anywhere in Bristol easy enough - between Whiteladies Road and Park Street there are be loads of options for coffee/food/booze - all of which I enjoy immensely

Same here - I currently live and work in Lincoln, but I work shifts with various random days off, so I can be relatively flexible with coming down to Bristol.

I know I will definitely be in Bristol the weekend of 12th and 13th Jan (I'm on a course in Exeter 9-11th Jan and will be stopping by my parents' in Bristol over the weekend). I could also potentially be in Bristol from Friday 18th-Monday 21st Jan, but that's as far as my roster goes at the moment .

i am completely flexible, so any of those dates work for me!  Hollyberry, do any of those dates work for you?  SO FUN!

I am not working the 12th or 13th, so that works for me.

Ksand, you are a woman on the move!   

I am not working the 12th or 13th, so that works for me.

The 12th will probably be better for me actually, as I will have to drive back to Lincoln on the 13th (which takes about 3.5 hours)... I need to be back at work at 5.45 am on the 14th!

Ksand, you are a woman on the move!   

Tell me about it... I was in Lincoln this morning, I'm in Bristol right now, and will be in London tomorrow .