What is Leeds like?
Discussion
BruceV8 said:
There's a very interesting job going that would suit me right down to the ground, but it is in Leeds, and I live in London. I've previously visited the place where the job is but apart from the journey from the station to the place, which is near the canal basin, I don't really know anything about the city and the surrounding areas.
Interesting though the job is, it would be someting of a risk to uproot my life to somewhere that I might hate. What can PH tell me?
You are asking Yorkshire folk in a Yorkshire forum what they think about a Yorkshire town? Interesting though the job is, it would be someting of a risk to uproot my life to somewhere that I might hate. What can PH tell me?
Yes, of course we are all going to say it's crap! 
I live in Leeds: I love it. It's a big enough city to have everything you'd ever want (bar a decent football team) and small enough that you can be in the countryside in 10 minutes.
Beyond that the place seems to be thriving at the moment. The majority of the city centre was pedestrianised years ago and shopping, dining are now up there with the best.
The council seem to do a good job albeit with no money. The forthcoming development of the Aire Valley and the HS train line will see Leeds boom even more in the next two decades, imo.
The suburbs of Leeds vary - as they do in every city - those between 11o'clock and 4 being the most desirable as they are furthest from Bradford.
The airport is poor and needs better road links and a rail connection before there will be any real improvement in it. Train links are good, Londinium or Edinburgh is 2 hours.
Beyond that the place seems to be thriving at the moment. The majority of the city centre was pedestrianised years ago and shopping, dining are now up there with the best.
The council seem to do a good job albeit with no money. The forthcoming development of the Aire Valley and the HS train line will see Leeds boom even more in the next two decades, imo.
The suburbs of Leeds vary - as they do in every city - those between 11o'clock and 4 being the most desirable as they are furthest from Bradford.
The airport is poor and needs better road links and a rail connection before there will be any real improvement in it. Train links are good, Londinium or Edinburgh is 2 hours.
i studied for two degrees in Leeds, and lived there on and off for about ten years. It's a small city really, and isn't really on a par with places like Manchester or Liverpool in terms of facilities, style etc. You can walk across the city centre in 15 mins. Like many other places there are some decent restaurants and things, but since moving away it became quite apparent to me how rough it is. Lots of dodgy people knocking around, and was regularly quite violent on a night out. A good plus point is that it's surrounded by beautiful countryside; Yorks in a lovely county and it's easy to get out and away. The best places to live in Leeds are not in Leeds! Surrounding towns and so on. Once you get into Leeds itself, there are really no nice areas. A few pockets, but they are too close to really bad areas and there is a lot of crime. For all that a few years ago it was said that Leeds had "arrived" when Harvey Nicholls opened there, I don't see that there is much wealth really in the city itself. Again it's all outside. I'd probably be happy to work there again, but I would want to live there now.
Blown2CV said:
i studied for two degrees in Leeds, and lived there on and off for about ten years. It's a small city really, and isn't really on a par with places like Manchester or Liverpool in terms of facilities, style etc. You can walk across the city centre in 15 mins. Like many other places there are some decent restaurants and things, but since moving away it became quite apparent to me how rough it is. Lots of dodgy people knocking around, and was regularly quite violent on a night out. A good plus point is that it's surrounded by beautiful countryside; Yorks in a lovely county and it's easy to get out and away. The best places to live in Leeds are not in Leeds! Surrounding towns and so on. Once you get into Leeds itself, there are really no nice areas. A few pockets, but they are too close to really bad areas and there is a lot of crime. For all that a few years ago it was said that Leeds had "arrived" when Harvey Nicholls opened there, I don't see that there is much wealth really in the city itself. Again it's all outside. I'd probably be happy to work there again, but I would want to live there now.
Obvious troll is obvious.
All that jazz said:
Blown2CV said:
i studied for two degrees in Leeds, and lived there on and off for about ten years. It's a small city really, and isn't really on a par with places like Manchester or Liverpool in terms of facilities, style etc. You can walk across the city centre in 15 mins. Like many other places there are some decent restaurants and things, but since moving away it became quite apparent to me how rough it is. Lots of dodgy people knocking around, and was regularly quite violent on a night out. A good plus point is that it's surrounded by beautiful countryside; Yorks in a lovely county and it's easy to get out and away. The best places to live in Leeds are not in Leeds! Surrounding towns and so on. Once you get into Leeds itself, there are really no nice areas. A few pockets, but they are too close to really bad areas and there is a lot of crime. For all that a few years ago it was said that Leeds had "arrived" when Harvey Nicholls opened there, I don't see that there is much wealth really in the city itself. Again it's all outside. I'd probably be happy to work there again, but I would want to live there now.
Obvious troll is obvious.
I'm not totally down on the place, and it's better than countless towns in the north, just that having lived there for a fair amount of time I have my views about the place which are built upon first hand experience.
Blown2CV said:
nope, it's all genuinely what i think. Are you saying that only positive comments are allowed to be genuine?
I'm not totally down on the place, and it's better than countless towns in the north, just that having lived there for a fair amount of time I have my views about the place which are built upon first hand experience.
If you genuinely believe that Leeds is worse than Liverpool for its people, crime and bad areas then you sir are frankly deluded. Given that you were only here as a student then it's fairly safe to say that if not in the Halls you'll have been renting/sharing in one of the cheapest areas which, unsurprisingly, are also the crappiest areas.I'm not totally down on the place, and it's better than countless towns in the north, just that having lived there for a fair amount of time I have my views about the place which are built upon first hand experience.
I have lived in Leeds for most of my life, ie. 40+ years and in many of the good and not-so-good areas so I'm in the perfect position to tell you that your opinions are wrong (yet again). They're so far out that they're not even worth replying to.
dazwalsh said:
If you are a bit more flush and willing to commute a bit longer each day then the further out the better it gets. Menston, Otley, Ilkley, Burley and Wharfdale are very very nice areas, and the outer suburbs of Bradford are really nice too, Saltaire and Baildon have good train links into Leeds. Dont let the BD postcode put you off with some of these areas.
Wharfedale is lovely and only 14-25 mins to Leeds depending on your station.Prices can be high, each stop you move closer to Ilkley adds £10k-£20k for an identical house... Due to schools, etc.
But I might be biased. Depends what you want.
All that jazz said:
Blown2CV said:
nope, it's all genuinely what i think. Are you saying that only positive comments are allowed to be genuine?
I'm not totally down on the place, and it's better than countless towns in the north, just that having lived there for a fair amount of time I have my views about the place which are built upon first hand experience.
If you genuinely believe that Leeds is worse than Liverpool for its people, crime and bad areas then you sir are frankly deluded. Given that you were only here as a student then it's fairly safe to say that if not in the Halls you'll have been renting/sharing in one of the cheapest areas which, unsurprisingly, are also the crappiest areas.I'm not totally down on the place, and it's better than countless towns in the north, just that having lived there for a fair amount of time I have my views about the place which are built upon first hand experience.
I have lived in Leeds for most of my life, ie. 40+ years and in many of the good and not-so-good areas so I'm in the perfect position to tell you that your opinions are wrong (yet again). They're so far out that they're not even worth replying to.
Everyone will have had different experiences and have a different view
Still, it's relevant to the question. As someone who studied in Leeds, moved to London and then back again when I was earning good money I can totally see that Leeds can seem/be a bit rough, no different to other UK cities. My experience was totally different coming back as a professional 30yr old and I loved the place... and the edginess of it. Seriously miss Leeds and Yorkshire, I'll be back one day... OP, if the company have any open jobs managing recruiting teams based up there, let me know!!
Still, it's relevant to the question. As someone who studied in Leeds, moved to London and then back again when I was earning good money I can totally see that Leeds can seem/be a bit rough, no different to other UK cities. My experience was totally different coming back as a professional 30yr old and I loved the place... and the edginess of it. Seriously miss Leeds and Yorkshire, I'll be back one day... OP, if the company have any open jobs managing recruiting teams based up there, let me know!!
Leeds is great. I moved here in 1994 when I was in my 20s. Left in 99 for work, went to Nottingham area, Manchester, France, came back to UK in 06ish. Spent a miserable year in Hull, came back to Leeds in 07, staying now. I can live anywhere as my work is everywhere, I'm currently flying to Aberdeen every Monday at stupid o'clock but I've been in Ireland, France, Belgium, all over the UK. I bought my house a year ago, I could have gone anywhere but chose Leeds. 20 min to the M62 or M1, same to the airport, local trains easy, great countryside nearby and city life when I want it. Oh, and detached houses in good areas with double garages for under 300k. Still want to live in London? I don't.
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