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areas to live in Cardiff?

Do it Gavin. Cardiff is a brilliant place to live. [/biased]

Have a look at Canton and Victoria park areas as well, lots of good parks and very close to the city centre.
 
thank you everyone for your input, its really serious food for thought.

I going back to see my folks in Merthyr fairly soon, so we might have nose round for a day or so on the way back.

I never thought I'd be thinking about this!
 
spacemonkey said:
Do it Gavin. Cardiff is a brilliant place to live. [/biased]

Have a look at Canton and Victoria park areas as well, lots of good parks and very close to the city centre.
Click to expand...

If youve got kids though its worth bearing in mind north is where the "good" catchment high schools are.
west and east the schools percieved ( and note this isnt my personal opinion- but by listening to parents of kids I teach in cardiff) by parents to be the good ones are a catholic and anglican( east catchment) and anglican ( west catchment)
If you arent a church goer north is probably your best bet for schools when they reach their teens.
 
Well we had a day driving round the burbs of Cardiff, I guess like most valley's types I only know the city centre. We were quite taken on the whole I have to say, the north of the city looked pretty nice - and to be honest, even the apparently less salubrious areas didn't look that bad.

That whole northern band of the city seemed pretty decent, from Llandaf right over to Llanishen. What are places like Gabalfa and Birchgrove like? Also Fairwater.

Also noticed that the house prices for broadly similar properties in an area seem to vary quite wildly - seen three bed semis for 190, then slightly larger smarter ones for 270, which is a bit confusing.

My main concern at the moment is the work situation - most of the IT work seems to be in or around Bristol.

But besides that - yes, we were quite taken with the idea - so we're now in the 'considering it very seriously' territory.

Thanks alot
Gav.
 
Gavin Bl said:
That whole northern band of the city seemed pretty decent, from Llandaf right over to Llanishen. What are places like Gabalfa and Birchgrove like? Also Fairwater.
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The Gabalfa estate has a reputation for being fairly rough - though that's Cardiff rather than London rough :). My aunt lives there and she's had no complaints. It's a bit near the A470 and A48M, mind. Mucho ozone.

Fairwater's pleasant enough but a bit dull and a nowhere-ish, if you ask me. Don't know Birchgrove well

Another place you might want to consider is Pentyrch. It's a village on the northwestern edge of Cardiff, but so close as to be a part of the city. Decent pubs and amenities and stuck right up on a hill below the Garth - great for getting out into the greenitude with your kids.

Good luck, either way.
 
bendeus said:
The Gabalfa estate has a reputation for being fairly rough - though that's Cardiff rather than London rough :). My aunt lives there and she's had no complaints. It's a bit near the A470 and A48M, mind. Mucho ozone.
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Gabalfa's lush. Taff trail: kingfishers, cormorants, herons, sticklebacks, eels, the occasional abandoned and burnt out stolen motor vehicle but that only adds to area's part urban/part pastoral mystique. A lot friendlier than Lisvane. Only one pub though and it's sh*t.
 
Brockway said:
Gabalfa's lush. Taff trail: kingfishers, cormorants, herons, sticklebacks, eels, the occasional abandoned and burnt out stolen motor vehicle
Click to expand...

heh, i could walk up the taff trail to within about 400 yards of my mam's house in merthyr. ...

...or I could cane it up the A470, of course.

kingfishers and herons does sound ace though.

cheers
 
Fairwater looks very nice, in reality much of it isnt 'great'. There is a massive problem with kids from the council estates and anti social behaviour, gang culture...older teenagers seem to be waging some sort of turf war there at the mo. The schools are pretty bad ( behaviour etc)

Id say if you have children look carefully at school reports ( ESTYN) and catchment areas and then decide on areas.
Im moving into Cardiff and have been able to move near work but havent hasd to consider schools as my kids are home educated. If I did I wouldnt have moved where I am!
 
Brockway said:
Gabalfa's lush. Taff trail: kingfishers, cormorants, herons, sticklebacks, eels, the occasional abandoned and burnt out stolen motor vehicle but that only adds to area's part urban/part pastoral mystique. A lot friendlier than Lisvane. Only one pub though and it's sh*t.
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One pub in Gabalfa?

I can think of three without giving it much thought, although I guess that depends what you call Gabalfa!
 
LilMissHissyFit said:
Fairwater looks very nice, in reality much of it isnt 'great'. There is a massive problem with kids from the council estates and anti social behaviour, gang culture...older teenagers seem to be waging some sort of turf war there at the mo. The schools are pretty bad ( behaviour etc)

Id say if you have children look carefully at school reports ( ESTYN) and catchment areas and then decide on areas.
Im moving into Cardiff and have been able to move near work but havent hasd to consider schools as my kids are home educated. If I did I wouldnt have moved where I am!
Click to expand...

Thanks LMHF, shame about that, it seemed quite a good spot, quite green and good trains into the city. We're still thinking about other areas in that sector - Danescourt and Llandaf/Llandaf North.

Another option is Llanishen down to Roath Park, money doesn't seem to go as far there, but I can still see reasonable places in my budget.
 
LilMissHissyFit said:
Fairwater looks very nice, in reality much of it isnt 'great'. There is a massive problem with kids from the council estates and anti social behaviour, gang culture...older teenagers seem to be waging some sort of turf war there at the mo. The schools are pretty bad ( behaviour etc)
Id say if you have children look carefully at school reports ( ESTYN) and catchment areas and then decide on areas.
Im moving into Cardiff and have been able to move near work but havent hasd to consider schools as my kids are home educated. If I did I wouldnt have moved where I am!
Click to expand...

Yep. I went to Cantonian and it was shit....i think it's got worse as well. Avoid Fairwater.
 
no, primary school - but we are looking for somewhere to live until the kids are grown up - i.e. 10+ years (but then a school can change dramatically in that time presumably. As long as a school is reasonable, thats fine -

But lots of good advice here all, thanks - we're going to have a more thorough look around, and decide if we're going to go for it.
 
Gavin Bl said:
Thanks guys, that kind of advice is invaluable.:hmm:

So how about the 'nice' areas????:o:D

cheers
Gav
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Danescourt is very nice, its catchment school is Radyr comp (good) and excellent primary too. Radys nice as is Morganstown
Make sure if you look at Danescourt you buy as close to Radyr as you can ( certain streets are closer than others)

Families I know who've been disappointed not to get their kids a place in Radyr have had the wrong address... in llandaff, not in Danescourt itself. In Llandaff you will get assigned to Cantonian unless you can secure a place in Bishop of Llandaff ( hugely oversubscribed,) a very good school but mainly places go to children attending local C of E schools who are practicing christians. ( just a school place at primary or church attendance alone isnt enough)

Llanishen to Roath Park is pricey because its either in the llanishen high catchment( Good) its in the Cardiff High catchment (Times top 200 school)
Thornhill is Llanishen high catchment.
Rhiwbina is a good area, and birchgrove They are the catchments for Whitchurch high

Those really are the good schools in Cardiff if your children dont go to a church school or a welsh medium school.
Since Cardiff works on strict catchments for senior its probably a good idea to choose wisely even if your children are relatively young at the mo.
 
1927 said:
One pub in Gabalfa?

I can think of three without giving it much thought, although I guess that depends what you call Gabalfa!
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Yes, the Master Gunner. There used to be The Crown too but they closed that down. Old Gabalfa, which you're probably on about, is Cathays/Heath to us estate dwellers and may as well be another country - they do things differently there.

Most people from the Gabalfa estate drink in nearby Llandaff North which has lots of pubs.
 
the whole school system in cardiff is being reorganised, and a lot of catchments will be changing, some schools closing etc. they tried to do it last year but there was an uproar and so they're phasing it in more slowly, with increased consultation (supposedly). i wouldn't base any decisions on where to live for the next 10 years on current catchments.

cardiff.gov.uk
 
Brockway said:
Yes, the Master Gunner. There used to be The Crown too but they closed that down. Old Gabalfa, which you're probably on about, is Cathays/Heath to us estate dwellers and may as well be another country - they do things differently there.

Most people from the Gabalfa estate drink in nearby Llandaff North which has lots of pubs.
Click to expand...

I was thinking of pubs like the Three Horseshoes, or do you call that Whitchurch? Its the nearest pub to the Gabalfa interchange.

There's also Mr.Q's and teh Birch, but I guess they are Birchgrove, but not a million miles away. And there's the Three Elms which is OK if you dont mind screaming kids running round ya feet all night!
 
wayward bob said:
the whole school system in cardiff is being reorganised, and a lot of catchments will be changing, some schools closing etc. they tried to do it last year but there was an uproar and so they're phasing it in more slowly, with increased consultation (supposedly). i wouldn't base any decisions on where to live for the next 10 years on current catchments.

cardiff.gov.uk
Click to expand...


Its highly unlikely to change much. The winners will be those who live in areas served with schools which are dire.( but thats a massive gamble)
What they intend to do is close the awful ones and merge them/replace them with the good ones and use the buildings for more welsh medium schools.
Buying near a good school is still an absolute cert... not one of the 'good' schools is earmarked for closure... quite the opposite.
They wont be removing/altering catchments in the areas presently served by good schools, thats not even on the agenda
 
1927 said:
I was thinking of pubs like the Three Horseshoes, or do you call that Whitchurch? Its the nearest pub to the Gabalfa interchange.

There's also Mr.Q's and teh Birch, but I guess they are Birchgrove, but not a million miles away. And there's the Three Elms which is OK if you dont mind screaming kids running round ya feet all night!
Click to expand...

The Three Elms is definitely Whitchurch (I won't even raise the thorny problem of The Philog).
The Birchgrove is Birchgrove.
The Three Horse Shoes is located in Old Gabalfa/Whitchurch/ - take your pick.
I've never heard of Mr.Q's.
 
wayward bob said:
the whole school system in cardiff is being reorganised, and a lot of catchments will be changing, some schools closing etc. they tried to do it last year but there was an uproar and so they're phasing it in more slowly, with increased consultation (supposedly). i wouldn't base any decisions on where to live for the next 10 years on current catchments.

cardiff.gov.uk
Click to expand...

thanks I'll bear that in mind too - is that primary and secondary??

I'm not too concerned on the schools front, as long as the place isn't a total disaster area - a middling comp is fine.
 
llantwit said:
Try telling taht to the parents of kids in Tremorfa Nursery School. I think maybe you're swallowing the council's line on this a bit too much.
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Im talking senior schools....
The primary plans seem to have more to do with a surplus of places than good/bad schools.
If you look at the plans for the senior years there isnt any plan to close any of the good schools.

Its nothing to do with swallowing the councils line at all, its looking at the plans and thinking "ah so they close the ones nobody wants to send their kids to if they have a choice at the same time..." It seems a sensible plan TBH, If you have to close schools and reorganise you may as well use the resources you have to the best effect.

Id be upset if they planned to close a school my kids were at and were fond of too but i can also see as an outsiders POV that maintaining a nursery 'school' when a nursery class in a school would be no less good for children is uneconomical.
On the plus side, if its a nursery school only there are relatively few children to be disrupted as children are only at nursery for one, possibly two school years depending on when they enter.

Its very sad but its not the same as them wanting to close and rebuild senior schools.
 
LilMissHissyFit said:
Im talking senior schools....
The primary plans seem to have more to do with a surplus of places than good/bad schools.
If you look at the plans for the senior years there isnt any plan to close any of the good schools.

Its nothing to do with swallowing the councils line at all, its looking at the plans and thinking "ah so they close the ones nobody wants to send their kids to if they have a choice at the same time..." It seems a sensible plan TBH, If you have to close schools and reorganise you may as well use the resources you have to the best effect.

Id be upset if they planned to close a school my kids were at and were fond of too but i can also see as an outsiders POV that maintaining a nursery 'school' when a nursery class in a school would be no less good for children is uneconomical.
On the plus side, if its a nursery school only there are relatively few children to be disrupted as children are only at nursery for one, possibly two school years depending on when they enter.

Its very sad but its not the same as them wanting to close and rebuild senior schools.
Click to expand...
Fair play. I'm just sore about this one because I know it's a very good school. It's been called a center of excellence, and has been used as a good example for teachers from across the UK to come and observe practice, and now it's gonna be closed down. I've got it on pretty good authority that the earby nursery class which'll reap the benefits is nowhere near as good. Seems mental.
 
and Id agree...
If the council have any nouse they will restablish the same staff as a team in a different location.
I doubt it will happen however.... cos organisations/ many managers dont see the sense in stuff like that:(
 
Well, looks like we are going for it! Went down again on the weekend - and decided it stacks up as place to live for various reasons (a large part of which will be proximity to my parents - and so the kids can have a closer relationship with g/parents, and I can 'do my duty' as my folks get older)

But we liked the city generally - I wasn't bowled over by the burbs, but will find somewhere that will be suitable. Really knocked out by the green space and proximity to the countryside.

Wife liked Roath Park (we might be able to afford somewhere smallish there) - the park is beautiful seems like a nice area generally, and she liked the idea of the kids going to Cardiff High (mainly as it is 20% minorities (my kids are mixed race)), but also its good rep. Downsides seemed to be a crap shopping area, and v. close to one of the campuses (I'm really done living in student areas - no offence;))

I liked Whitchurch, proper shopping area, good trains, out into the countryside, etc - wife disliked it as it wasn't very mixed and seemed dull to her.

Rhiwbina seemed OK - non-descript, Heath nice, but marooned by roads, Llanishen alternately nice and a bit grotty, Cyncoed and Lisvane v.nice, but pricey I guess. Llandaf North looked ok, but a bit tatty, nice there by Hailey park and taff trail - which was full of walkers and cyclists.

But we'll visit again a couple more times I reckon, be alot easier, leave the kids with grandparents in Merthyr - and we can decide on where we go....we'll rent for a while just to suss out the area we choose a bit more closely, and to take some of the risk of one end of the move.

Just need to sell my house and get a new job. Anyone know any big firms looking for business analysts in Cardiff :eek::D

cheers
Gav
 
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