I’ve been offered a job in Birmingham, near the university campus. Where’s good in Birmingham to live for easy access to University Station and for getting out for rides (biking that is, not the other), preferably by public transport or a cycle commute but would consider getting a car if practicality demands.

Where’s good for riding? Wyre Forest? anywhere else?

I’m thinking either centre of town to be able to take advantage of rail links to work and countryside(?) or somewhere more rural to the south/west of the city.

Would be looking to rent a two-bed flat or house in a nice area. What are rents likely to be?

Any advice much appreciated.

I detest most parts of the west midlands with a Passion. If you must go there, avoid wolverhampton like the plague

I believe the M5/M6/M54 area is the most congested road in the country.
I’d go for South or South West with access to the Wyre, Malverns and Clent rather than planning on getting to Cannock easily from the middle or North.
I don’t know what riding is available directly from Birmingham, but it’s got more canals than Venice, so you should be alright for flat riding if that’s your thing. 😉

Harborne’s a nice area within walking distance, decent high street and not far to the town centre. Or you could go towards Longbridge or Rubery, they’re on the same train line as university and are easier to ride out into the surrounding countryside, but not as nice as Harborne. The centre of town would give you better access to the various train lines as you say.

Riding is fairly good really, Lickey and Clent are good for short evening rides that you can ride or get the train to, and you can also easily get to the Malverns, Wenlock Edge, the Long Mynd, the Wyre Forest, the Cotswolds and Wales if you have a car.

Oh yeah forgot Cannock, really good now they’ve changed the the trails if you haven’t got local knowledge. And you can get the train almost all the way there and ride from Rugeley station

Lived here for three years now – work at University – reside south, nr Solihull. As far as riding goes, its not bad – mainly due to ease of access to many other places. Road riding is surprisingly good. Off road from my door is a mixture of canal towpaths and bridleways – couple of loops possible. Invariably quite mucky in winter so I’ve not bothered much recently. Cannock, Wyre and Cotswolds (Snowshill for instance) are all within an hour and provide good riding – I use these pretty regularly. Have not tried Clent or Malverns yet. Within 1 1/2 to 2 hours you have Shropshire (Long Mynd) and the Peaks – did both once last year. Then access to mid Wales is also easy.

So there is loads of variety but you have to travel a bit.

Brum itself seems fine – I hardly go into the city at all – couple of times a year. Lots of choice centrally with flats. Mosley more bohemian (for Brum anyway). Harborne is fine. Kings Heath worth looking at, bit cheaper. You will have more choice if you don’t have kids and aren’t tied to areas with good schools.
There are several towns outside but then you would have to travel to work. I used to ride in but gave it up as traffic was a worry and two colleagues have nearly died commuting.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, that’s given me a few areas to look at.

To get the best of the local riding, a car is really the best option, Clent/Wyre/Kinver/Cannock are all great area’s to ride but without a car you’ll be struggling to get to them easily regularly (not impossible if your willing to ride to get there).
Unless you move close to one of these area’s, but even then you’ll ‘only’ have that one area to ride.
I used to commute down the hagley rd, and though it’s busy, the place is pretty congested, with lots of closed rat runs that you can use on a bike if you willing to travel a little further for a quieter journey.

BTW I have an house in Bartley green for rent 😀

PS. the Venice vs Brum canal thing is not a fair comparison & just down right silly. Venice [26 miles of canal] is supposedly smaller than Hyde park (360acres) v Birmingham [36miles of canal] 104Sq miles (66000 acres apparently)

And how many shopping trollies get thrown in the Venice canals?

A mate who I visit quite often lives in Sutton Coldfield

Seems an OK area with easy enough access- from the North & East [at least]

Birmingham, surely a place most peplr are trying to get away from not move to…?

When I was looking to move that way the two areas I was looking to buy in were Harbourne and Mosley.

If you are working at the Uni you could try living just south of Brum in North Worcestershire – Bromsgrove/Rubery/Alvechurch area. A short drive/train journey away and much nicer place to live than Brum with countryside/riding on your doorstop. Lots of nasty areas in the city and the city centre nothing special IMO – i rarely visit.

You could always look around the Kingstanding/Great Barr/Streetly area – you’re the Uni end of town. Sutton Park is close by and good for a couple of hours of singletrack, Cannock is 30 minutes away and the Uni is within biking distance. Sutton is very pricey property wise, Streetly is nice also but slightly cheaper than Sutton, but things get more affordable nearer the Kingstanding area – but like anywhere there are some places there you’re best avoiding.

fatz – Member
Birmingham, surely a place most peplr are trying to get away from not move to…?

gota be some southern nonce !!

If you want a short-ish commute I’d suggest SW Brum. I live by the Lickey Hills and ride to work in the centre – about 30 mins via road/canal. I have a reasonable amount of local riding on the doorstep and the M5 and M42 within 5 minutes drive. You can make a long ride out to the Clent/Wyre Forest area too.

Alvechurch and Barnt Green have a village-y feel and are <30mins by train on the cross city line to the University.

If you want ‘cool’ try the Moseley-Kings Heath or Harborne areas for the young-uns. Too built up for me though.

Alternatively, on the north side of the city centre, Sutton Coldfield or SE, Solihull area.

Birmingham = England’s biggest roundabout.

@Johnnywhitesox: i think we might be confused over which university campus we’re talking about. The one i mean is in the south of the city near Selly Oak, so the other side of town of Sutton Park. Not sure i’d want to commute across the centre. Quite like the idea of being near the snowdome in Tamworth though.

@ aka_Boz: Bromsgrove looks like a possibility, thanks for that.

Any opinions on Wyre Forest vs Cannock for riding? I’m not familiar with either.

Any opinions on Wyre Forest vs Cannock for riding? I’m not familiar with either.

Both are really good XC rides – Wyre needs local knowledge to get the best out if it though. Cannock has a few way marked trails (Follow The Dog/Monkey trail) which IMO are great fun and well worth the 45 mins trip for me to drive there. There’s also supposed to be good off piste stuff as well, but ive not ridden any of that.

If you are working at the Uni you could try living just south of Brum in North Worcestershire – Bromsgrove/Rubery/Alvechurch area. A short drive/train journey away and much nicer place to live than Brum with countryside/riding on your doorstop. Lots of nasty areas in the city and the city centre nothing special IMO – i rarely visit.

there’s a health NW Alps “scene” if you live in the area Boz mentions, you’ll need a 29er, wacky bars and your own niche to join though*

*only kidding, all are welcome to “chugg” along with us

wyre forest v cannock
wyre is 100% natural and doesn’t get very busy
cannock has way marked trails that get very very busy and natural stuff that is quiet

both the wyre and cannock natural stuff need local knowledge, but if you are in the area you’ll have plenty of time to explore or hook up with someone who knows the best bits for fast track knowledge

Cannock is good for waymarked trails, and its quite a big area with other stuff that I have probably just touched on – journey time from Brum is reliably quick. Its a dependable ride in all but the worst weather.

Wyre is a large forest with hidden singletrack. Some very nice riding to be had. Most of the trails are probably illegal, and can have branches thrown over them. They also seem to suffer a bit in the wet. From Brum it can take longer than you think it should to get there. Many of the roads run through small towns and it doesn’t take much to get stuck somewhere along the line.

Just for convenience I usually ride at Cannock or go to Cotswolds. Wyre would be great if it were on my doorstep and I wish I would make the effort to go more often, but usually I don’t as the journey seems such a fag. Locals probably cheering at this point.

I live in brum and always have, cannock is close and is fantastic if you know the good stuff, I’m close to Sutton park which you can ride 2 hr in comfortably, Sutton or Erdington would both be good bases for you, the other sides would be sell oak mosely etc m, which have the lickey hills close by, feel free to email me for more detailed info and the midlands is not shit as some have said
Commuting is a piece of piss by train in brum to get to either side

We still seem to be missing the fact that Brum is a shithole, full of people who talk funny.

Funny does not equal anything that makes one smile in this context, by the way.

The cross city rail line goes from University right across town & out to Lichfield. Busy though. Lichfield would put you 8 miles from the Chase & Snowdrome. Would need a car though.

I’d leave the Midland in flash by the way. Hate the place. Born & bred here, but its time to shift nearer the sea.

@ TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR

Hey. See above. I didn’t miss the fact you point to!

Brum is a great place for a piss up if nowt else. Had some quality nights out there. I still love legs 11 just from the memories!!!

Moved to Brum a year or so ago and love it – huge amount of regeneration over recent years means the City Centre and outlying entertainment districts are great for a night out as befits a second City. Personally i live in Harborne which as far as I can tell is the posh part along with Edgbaston.

Ride wise, I stop off at Cannock on the way back from work a few times a week – the main trails are being added to this year and the cheeky stuff is not to be missed. And the Shropshire hills within 1.5 hours. From Harborne/Selly Oak you can jump on canal tow paths and find your way to Worcester on a nice pub crawl – on the way, attempt that tricky wooden death steps which we are still waiting Rocketdog to ride 😀

Bee told there are now three Legs 11 outlets 😆

I’m still waiting to ride them steps too 😉

full of people who talk funny

I always found the Brum acent quite nice, go a bit further afield and it’s a different matter. I had a customer in Lye who had the most incomperhensible accent I’ve ever heard outside Scotland…

As Johnniewhitesox says Sutton area could be a good option. Close to most things and trains go direct from Sutton to University. Close to Sutton Park, Cannock, Sbowdome…..

Nothing to do with I have a flat coming up for rent… 😉

I had a customer in Lye

There’s your issue. Had you called it the Lye (or even better, The Loi) they may have turned off the Outsider Filter.

As a general (founded entirely on limited personal experience) rule of thumb, the nearer you get to Wednesbury the more folk sound as though they’ve had their jaws wired open.
A Bilston lad at work once asked me if i wanted to buy any “kay-boo-erds” (nearest i can get in type) – after a quick mime show he turned out to mean keyboards 🙄

{too slow to edit the prev.}

plus, brum’s pretty good. Went for a nice wander along the canals up there today after picking up some gig tickets. Had no time for it when i was younger, but the last few years I’ve taken the time to learn the town centre – plenty to do for everyone (there’s even a pen museum kids, hooray!)once you know where to look. Lord knows where to live up there though, i like being near the edge of the conurbation. once got a job in an off-licence in Bartley Green purely because no-one else wanted to work there – it was armed-robbed at least once a fortnight. Hope that helps.

what’s not to like, eh?

Bartley green, more bodies in the resevoir than in the local cemetery, good chips though

i love brum so much that i moved to devon.

if you really have to live there then the west side of the city is definately best. the shape of the city means that the west edge is pretty narrow so town is really close to all of the suburbs. harbourne is nice but expensive. edgabston is either ludicrously expensive or affordable but a bit edgy. best bet would be somewhere like bearwood or quinton. affordable housing, 15 mins on the bus to town, good curry, close to the m5 and close to the edge of town to escape to the riding. bearwood’s even on the mystical 11 route so that you can get to just about anywhere in the city by bus.

Crosses Bartley Green off the list…

Its exactly like this:

(or even better, The Loi)

That’s it…. 😆

Sutton Coldfield is ok (but not part of Brum) I have lived in Four Oaks most of my life and went to Birmingham Uni its about 30 mins on the train and not to bad a ride in if you fancy that. As Ringo says you can ride in Sutton Park for a good couple of hours which we do most Thursday nights and the Chase is only 30 mins drive away.
As far as house prices go its not the cheapest but a reasonable 2 bed flat will cost you from about £500 a month to whatever you want to pay and thats Four Oaks/Streetly village sort of area.
There arnt many chavs around here but you do get a few in certain areas but its pretty obvious when house hunting where those areas are. If you do decide to move into the northern areas like Sutton Erdington Kingstanging etc then drop me a mail and I will try to offer advice.

Brum, like all cities, has its problems, but overall I think it is a pretty good place to live. It has (IMO) a good city centre and (arguably as importantly) great access to lots of other parts of the country (Peak District in 90 mins, Wales in 2 hours, London in 90 mins).

The city centre is a great place to live if you’re young and like to city living, there are lots of flats and so rent can be cheap. If you go for that option, I would be looking around the Jewellery Quarter and St Pauls Square which is a very nice part of town.

Out of town Mosley is considered the arty and bohemian part of town and is also very close to the uni. Again, quite a lot of young people in the area and a very lively “scene” in the evenings.

Harbourne (and the edge of Quinton and Bartley Green) is where people tend to move to after a few years in Mosley or the City when they have some money, basically it is still close enough to the city (and the uni) to be interesting but also has a more suburban feel to it, you can decide if this is good or bad. Still a few good pubs close by and still close enough to the M5 to escape but rent/house prices do tend to be a little high.

Further out there are a few towns that are are closer to the hills and, whilst still commutable, it will take a little longer. Sutton Coldfield, Halesowen, Bromsgrove, maybe even Stourbridge are all OK places to be but the commute will take you 45 mins ish. The plus side being access to Cannock and Sutton Park (from Sutton Coldfield) or Clent, the Lickey’s, the Wyre (from the others).

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will happily help out.

Kings Heath is where its at, its even got the Wu-Tang seal of approval – GZA/Genius is doing a gig at my local this month 🙂

I’m only 20 mins from the city centre but can be out in the countryside on my bike in about 20 mins.

Other nice places in Birmingham include Bournville ( unless you like a beer then your screwed as theres no boozers or off licenses in this part of the city ), Harborne, Moseley, Selly Oak, Selly Park.