[Fiend]

Say hypothetically someone was moving to the Manchester area approximately. No specific location required yet but access to the M60 traffic jam would be useful (in or outside of it).

What would be the board's recommendations for reasonably pleasant but good value places for flat rentals??

Quietness / safety / access to amenities (including walls and gyms) would be considerably more important than a banging nightlife scene or super upmarket tweeness.

Someone has said consider Chorlton, Withington, Didsbury and maybe Prestwich, but avoid Wythenshawe and Salford.

[tomtom]

In general the better bits are south and south west. Didsbury village, west Didsbury and Chorlton are generally more expensive.

Sale is OK.
Bits of Stretford (towards chorlton side) are fine.
Heaton Mersey is fine (between didsbury and Stockport)

Withington is studentsville (yes?)
Prestwich is to the north (makes a difference re where on M60 you want to be near).
Some folk love Levenshulme (bit edgier) I’m not taken by it.

Do you want bland Suburbs
Suburbs with stuff (cafes bars etc..)
Or proper city.

[mrjonathanr]

Great urban amenities of the shops/pubs/bars/restaurant variety in Chorlton and Didsbury but would be v surprised if you could describe them as ‘good value’ unless you have a hefty professional wage coming in. Fallowfield/Withington close and cheaper but studenty.

Heaton Moor in Stockport of similar ilk, again, flats could be pricey, cheaper in Heaton Mersey I expect.

What about outside the M60 coming in, could be quicker access tbh?

Gatley, Handforth and Cheadle are well worth a look, A34 corridor running down towards Wilmslow and Alderley is a nice place to live, loads of amenities/access/green space. Cheadle Hulme is nice, but pricey.

[Teaboy]

I'm a big fan of Whalley Range but equally I've moved out to be north of the city to the bucolic bliss of Lancashire which I also rate for everything except walls

[erm, sam]

Stockport, Romiley, Reddich all match the description to varying degrees, being super easy to get into MCR, but much quicker to get out to the Peak etc. Much less chi chi than the nice manc suburbs but not at all bad...
Romiley is best of course, as it is on the stopping train to the Sheff. In fact, I think it was a similar post on UKB I made about 9 years ago that suggested Romiley to me. I like it.

[yetix]

I rate Cheadle. Easy access to a number of walls, cheap to live in, close to the M60/56 so I can get North Wales/peaks/silverdale fairly swiftly.

Heaton Moor was also pretty great, but slightly more expensive when I lived there!

Fallowfield was okay if you're content with suffering the students!

[mrjonathanr]

I’d agree, Cheadle is probably the best all round choice given OPs criteria.

[Fiend]

Thank you for the replies guys, this is all useful stuff.

Those areas (Sale, Stretford, Heaton Mersey, Heaton Moor, Gatley, Handforth, Cheadle, Stockport, Romiley, Reddich, Whalley Range) will all be investigated.

Some folk love Levenshulme (bit edgier) I’m not taken by it.

Yeah, "edginess" is not a necessary criteria .

Suburbs with stuff (cafes bars etc..)

Probably ideal. Areas where the city expansion has swallowed small villages, so there's still mini-hubs but easy access to bigger stuff (i.e. just like sheffield) would probably be best.

Fallowfield/Withington close and cheaper but studenty.

Fallowfield was okay if you're content with suffering the students!

Noted. Tolerance of excessive amount of students is likely to be low.

What about outside the M60 coming in, could be quicker access tbh?

Absolutely, the general area rather than the city itself, that's fine. Cheadle was an idea already.

[tomtom]

Worth thinking about where you are communting/travelling to and from - as certain sections of the M60 are a cluster fuck at rush hour...

[Teaboy]

If outside the M60 the areas north of the city are sometimes as nice as those to the south but cheaper. Closer to York's and the Lakes obvs but further from the Peak. Bit further to Wales when compared to Manchester. Ransbottom very nice and Bury has a metro into town and is a good town compared to the others of similar size around here.

[User deactivated]

I'd second the Ramsbottom stuff, nice place to live and pretty cheap imo.