Honest answer? Both my parents were born there and I still visit family frequently that way and TBH it's a fking dump, you couldn't pay them enough to move back.

You could buy their football club for about a tenner I hear.

A mate of mine lives there and claims to like it. He moved there because of his job and also his missus is studying at Chester University so it is pretty handy, but he claims to like the place too. He is, however, from Levenshulme which makes the Helmand Province look like a nice place to live.

I used to work in Wrexham and live in Chester. It's very much a nicer place to be in terms of shops, restaurants, bars, etc.

To give you an idea of what commuting was like, I lived city centre. I worked on the industrial estate. It took me around 20-25 minutes to get to work on the nice, windy back roads.

No 'national pride/prejudice' issues here, born and bred in Wales. Simply prefer Chester.

Fantastic Ambiwlans service I've heard.

I would just stay away from the whole of North Wales really. Apart from the country roads obviously! In all fairness you probably dont get all the cretin that occupate my area of the south wales valleys though.

I'll echo the posts above, I lived in Wrexham between 2000 and 2008, it was bearable as I mostly kept to my close group of friends and we'd do stuff outside of town. I also managed to find a quiet cul de sac to live in (apart from some of the neighbours).

All I miss from being there is the cheap rent (now in Harrogate), and the car related things I left behind. Some friends who live there even told me leaving was the best thing I'd ever done.

Chester is nice enough though, and small enough so that commuting anywhere doesn't have to include 40 minutes to get out of it first, and there are some very nice villages around.

Was in Wrexham once. Had just bought a car in N.Wales near Chester and was taking it home but wanted to do the Evo triangle thing. Somehow got totally lost in Wrexham and pulled up to a dodgy looking garage and asked for directions. Three blokes in the garage each spent about 15 minutes sketching maps for me to pick the best one so good memories from Wrexham

I was always down that way, looking at all the bits and bobs in the shop, as well as the cars on display! All the better when they built the shopping center off the A whatever it is, as I could drop her off, and go to DT for a mooch!

I moved from Crewe (a dump) to work near Wrexham in 2008. If I thought Crewe was bad, nothing prepares you for Wrexham itself.

As others have said, you don't have to go too far to be in truly spectacular countryside, and a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. I bought a house near Mold, which gave me a 25 minute commute to Wrexham, before changing jobs.