I came to Manchester in 2004, put it this way, it's better than it was in the early 2000's, especially down south. The town centre itself is quite good, from my experience people just leave you alone. You might spot the occasional city wierdo, but it's okay in the day I guess. At night the city centre can be unpredictable. The other day I was walking from the MEN Arena at 10 in the evening and saw a party bus full of dancing half naked women. It was pretty epic. Parts of Manchester can be pretty dull. Theres Rochdale, a really poor , almost ghetto-like area from my experience, I particularly don't like south manchester, well, parts of it. As someone mentioned before, you get a lot of scum of society luring around the bottom, well, "chavs" or wannabe gangsters, especially in council estates like Wythenshawe and Moss Side. On the whole it's not too bad I guess. There are many student opportunities, such as work and leisure. Many students can work part time in retail stores and small businesses, theres the usual student jobs available. On the whole I think you should enjoy it. It's pretty good I guess.