Exeter's best areas to live in?

sorry I'm not sure this is the correct place to post this thread, because it doesn't have anything to do with the university, but it's only for general advice on the city of Exeter.

my family is going to move there from Manchester, but we don't know anything about the city, the best and the worst areas in terms of crime or general problems, price of rent or conveniency whether it's near to a hospital, college or shopping centre.

so, I was hoping to ask people who live in Exeter if you can help me with these information.

reply here or send me a private message, either its fine! thanks a lot! :smile:

Reply 1

Angelil

19

Hiya

You want to be as central as you can if you want to avoid crime - last year someone was stabbed in a laundrette around the Blackboy Road area, and in the Pinhoe area, a woman was attacked/beaten and then left under a truck...luckily she came round before the truck moved away :s-smilie:

That was also last year. Neither of those areas are particularly central so I'd be inclined to say the more central, the better. However, the price you pay for that is that the rent goes up (last year the house I was living in was £70 per person per week (6 people living in the house) not including any bills, meaning it cost £420 a week or £1680 a month) and you have a lot of students nearby - some of them can be quite noisy, particularly on the way back from nights out. Though some of us are lovely :p:

The central area (Pennsylvania Road, Union Road, Longbrook Street etc etc) has everything you need - the town has lots of shops, leisure centres, gyms, cinemas + a walk-in centre. The hospital and main police station are probably 15-20 mins walk from town - everything in Exeter is very compact. Let me know if you need more info :smile:

Reply 2

Leonardo85

OP

8

thanks a lot, that was very helpful!

I thought Exeter was a big city! :p:

and I have also read that it's the safest (or most safe) city of England, you agree? sorry Im not being paranoid, but at the moment we live in Salford and it's incredibly bad, I dont want my family to move just to get to a place like this one! I realize that crime and bad people are everywhere, but you know, some cities are better than others!

also, I have heard that theres another area very good in Exeter, topsham and something "hill" (I think) :p:

above pinhoe, do you know them? - thanks again a lot for your help! :biggrin:

)

Reply 3

Angelil

19

Yes, on the whole it's very safe.

Topsham is lovely, but it's a very tiny village and is about 10-15 mins train ride from Exeter city, so you'd be a bit out of the loop if you went to live there (not that there's anything wrong with that!).

Reply 4

iceman_jondoe

18

Whats the exeter uni gym like cost wise? anyone know?

Reply 5

Angelil

19

Exeter Uni gym costs:

Basic membership is £28 for the year, + £1.70 upwards for a session.

Gold membership is £175.00 for the year. Everything is free to use except the punch bag, the exercise studio (not the gym, that's something different), the main hall, fitness classes, and use of the rubber-crumb/sand pitches and indoor tennis courts.

Platinum membership is £210.00 for the year. Everything is free except the main hall, the exercise studio and the pitches/indoor courts as previously stated.

These prices are the offpeak prices for students and staff of the university and are subject to variation if you're not staff/an Exeter student and if it's on-peak. Once you've joined, the prices cover your membership of the Streatham Sports Park and the St Luke's campus sports facilities.

Full listings can be found here: http://www.sport.ex.ac.uk/downloads/prices/sports_park/Prices_0607_cat1.pdf

Reply 6

tdg1986

6

If you're moving down as a family then the areas to avoid are the top end of Exwick, anywhere near Burnthouse Lane (it's down towards the bottom of Topsham Road), the top end of Mincinglake and also the main student areas which will be noisy. There's a few other not so nice areas but I can't remember them at the moment!

Topsham's nice, Pennsylvania (the bit north of Union Road) is also nice as is Pinhoe and Redhills. Generally they're a bit further out of town but the buses around Exeter are fantastic so it doesn't take much time to get into town (albeit the high number of old people round here make the tickets fairly pricey).

Compared to the rest of the country Exeter is incredibly safe. I did work experience at a place on the Salford Quays last year and went to Salford a couple of times and it didn't seem like the nicest place in the world! Mind you basing things on reputations is a bad idea...I've lived in Nottingham since I was born and never had a problem even though everyone think's its terrible for crime!

Reply 7

Leonardo85

OP

8

hey thanks thats helpful!

yeah I know I shouldnt base decisions on reputation, but you can't do much more when you don't know anybody in the place and you have never been there... plus my whole family doesn't speak English, so I have to look for info and it's not easy at all! :s-smilie:

hey hows Stoke Hill? do you think thats a good area to live in? thanks a lot again for the info you have given me so far, it is extremely useful! :biggrin:

Reply 8

tdg1986

6

Stoke Hill's quite a nice area. It's to the southeast of Pennsylvania and has some really nice parts. One of the rougher areas is just to the east of there...if you wanted to look on a map on the internet then King Arthur's Road is one of the not so nice areas from experience. Stoke Hill is kinda Mincinglake Road area (again if you want to search for it!) The buses into town are about every 10 minutes at the most during the week and its only 10 minutes into town. Probably not more than half an hour if you walk.

Reply 9

MiaWallace

Can I ask what the Heavitree area is like?

thanks

Reply 10

Angelil

19

Seems nice from what I've seen of it, I've quite a few friends that live there.

Reply 11

The Boosh

17

Exeter is divided in to districts.

Wonford is the old council area next to the hospital.

St Leonards is one of the most expensive places to live.

Heavitree is a mix of the two.

All three of these share boundaries so you get some cross overs.

Exwick is on the outskirts and is a little bit far if you like to be close to amenities. Exwick has a dodgy area (farm hill) and various good areas.

St Thomas is a residential area - typical smaller victorian terrace houses.

St Davids is inbetween the university, beside what would be considered city centre, and the train station.

And obviously city centre is city centre.

Topsham is a bit far out but nice.

Whipton is a bit council orientated and naff.

Marsh Barton is an industrial estate.

Alphington is too far out if you like city centre.

erm... there is another couple but i cant think atm.

Reply 12

MiaWallace

That's really helpful Boosh. Thanks for your reply Angelil

Reply 13

nightripper

exeter is VERY safe, the example near the start of the thread is very unusual. Farmhill is the most dodgey area probably however it is still safe to walk through at night. just showing how safe this city is. and as the city is so compact it is easy to stumble home no matter how far way you live. except exwick but this is actually a separate town so hey what do you expect.

Exeter's best areas to live in?

Related discussions

Articles for you