Bristol, England - Do any ILXers reside in this fair city?

is that festival the thing Paul Merton used to have a hand in and then ended up falling out w/ the programmers or something?

I met a very friendly one-handed cartoonist from there once.

I will be there next weekend. Have one good hook-up who said he can point me around. What shouldn't be missed? A day trip to Bath as well.

i've never been to Bristol, but it sounds like a nice place. we're thinking of moving, a change of scene entirely at some point. any ilxors recommend it?

I LOVED Bristol. I can be pretty snobby about cities, and having lived in NYC for a long time, when I go to other cities I'm usually like "this is neat, can't see living here" and very occasionally I go somewhere where I can imagine living, and Bristol was one of them. Girlfriend blogged about the trip but we never finished writing it. Here's some photos on instagram:

http://instagram.com/p/MOwmzbNkw2/

http://instagram.com/p/MME7htNkyb/

http://instagram.com/p/MME6rvNkya/

http://instagram.com/p/MMZOOFNk-w/

Dewsbury is a very fine place as well, we only murder nauseating middle class hipsters on Wednesdays.

I love Bristol, would happily move there, not just (but not least) because it seems to have retained lots of decent pubs.

I love Bristol, would happily move there

I never thought I'd see the day you would write these words Tim! :)

What are job prospects like? Living costs etc?

lived there for 4yrs in the 90s. Great city. Two world-class arts cinemas within 200m of each other, great local band and arts scene as well as bigger hitting bands on the national/student circuit, chilled out but the large number of students keep it lively. I could certainly live there again.

Living costs wise, it's Southern expensive but not London/Oxford expensive. Clifton and Redlands are the two central desirable areas. Two large universities plus a wing of the BBC and financial and legal services centre of the SW mean there are plenty of jobs.

Moved out last year after it got progressively less like somewhere I wanted to live - been in Bristol and environs since '95. Traffic is murder (in fact, there was a C4 programme on just how bad it is last year) and Bristol is one of the cities that chose to elect a mayor - unfortunately they chose to elect a complete prick who is intent on driving through his personal policies even if councillors and local referenda vote against. Absolutely loved it for the first 10 years, but then noticed I was using the things that were great about it less and less.

Tip: live somewhere you can walk to wherever you want to go. Main routes get fairly locked up in the summer (we used to be able to walk into town faster than the traffic was moving) and there isn't a late bus service very far out of the centre, and even then only on one or two main routes; couple this with expensive taxis and living 5 miles out of the centre of town can easily cost you £25 to get home in a cab.

i live up in the countryside to the north of bristol, but have to commute in to work so can completely concur with the traffic issue.

it's just horrid.

would love to use public transport, but the options for me are virtually non-existent, and would take me over 2 hours to get home, on a good day, which is useless for those of us with school run needs.

Been idly daydreaming of moving to Bristol lately too. Too much history in Oxford, can't deal with London, got family in Devon and west Dorset, both of which would (I thought - not really looked into it) be easier to visit from Bristol.

On the other hand, I value good bus services, because I am lazy can't drive and have intermittent foot/leg problems

To put it in context, we used to live central-ish and work on the outskirts of town (3 miles as the crow flies). Because there was two of us we would drive - cheaper than the buses (which would have been over £6 each per day) and easier than having to change trains (one stop on a fairly regular main line, one stop on a suburban line with trains about an hour apart but prone to cancellation). Because of the way the house was constructed having bikes was out of the question as we couldn't have stored two without effectively giving up a room.

We now live well into the country, close to Hereford and I work in Malvern now giving me about a 30 mile commute. F still works on the outskirts of Bristol, she drives to Severn Tunnel (about 25 miles) and gets the train one stop. We both have comparable, if not faster commutes than we used to.

BUT

Lots of great things about it.

Three great arts venues near each other. Small-mid level bands nearly always come through town and there are a couple of great metal promoters. Two comedy venues south of the river which pull decent names. A few decent restaurants and some bleed-through of hipster London food fads (there's a gourmet hot dog place, for example). Lots of big public events in the summer in town itself, and the countryside isn't very far away when you want to get out.

xpost that's a bit frustrating as i don't drive (as yet)

That just means you have to be more careful where you live, to make sure you're on a main bus route or train line or walk/bike/pedalo to work.

yeah i'll look out for somewhere to store a bike i think

I'm contemplating Bristol as somewhere to move to as well. I've never actually been there which might be an idea before taking this any further.

Sick of London, can't afford to live anywhere around London, wife decided she didn't want to move back to the US after all. At least Bristol is a bit nearer my family. And if there are jobs there that would be a bonus obviously.

Is it feasible to live in a house in Bristol? My wife is completely sick of living in flats and dealing with the noise.

Depends 1) how much you have to spend and 2) how close to Bristol you want to live so how much time you are prepared to give up to Bristol's traffic problems.

Well I am used to living in London so if I can get somewhere in less than half an hour I'd probably consider it super-convenient. But since neither of us have driving licenses it would need to be on a bus route.

I think Bristol's great, have often thought about moving there (though some friends of mine who moved there last year from Amsterdam decided they couldn't hack the place, just couldn't get on with it at all fwiw) (xpost I think it was the congestion they hated most - they kept complaining about fumes!).

We were there a few weeks ago and with London goggles on it felt decidedly affordable, decent terraced houses in perfectly nice areas going for significantly less than a 2-bed flat in Walthamstow would cost you. If your tastes run to giant regency mansions in Clifton Village it might be a different story obv.

decent terraced houses in perfectly nice areas going for significantly less than a 2-bed flat in Walthamstow would cost you

lol was that a coincidence or did you remember from some other thread that I currently live in a 2-bed flat in Walthamstow? (albeit at way below current market rate)

Getting anywhere in less than half an hour is a bit of a stretch - we used to live about a 20 minute walk out of the centre and on a weekend it would probably take the bus about half that time to do the journey. In the summer it was quicker to walk. There are a couple of suburban rail lines but they only have hourly trains which aren't timed to tie up with the main route so don't bank on speedy connections, also Temple Meads not all that handy for town. I can't remember whether there is a night bus service on at the moment (there's been a sporadic one in the past) so expect to walk/taxi home after nights out (NB Bristol taxis v expensive; also Bristol buses pretty expensive and don't sell/allow return tickets during peak travel times).

63% of uk ilx posters live in 2 bed flats in walthamstow

I live in a 2 bed flat in Bristol o.O

Transport is a huge problem here, but if you're fit and bold enough to cycle (it's hilly and busy), that's a good option. Everything else about Bristol is grand, pretty much, and that's coming from a big-city girl.

imo Temple Meads > city centre is a fairly palatable walk but I tend to go everywhere on foot that's at all feasible

I have an interview for a job in Bristol this week.

if the traffic is bad, how are the cycling routes?

bristol is very bike friendly.

i work in the city, but live out in the sticks so have to commute in (there are a handful of very good park-n-ride schemes .. )C

a lot of the local living folks in the office bike in.

Clifton and Redlands are the two central desirable areas.

These look out of our price range tbh. What are other OK areas? Is Totterdown any good?

St Andrews, bits of Bishopston, bits of Montpelier, bits of St Werburghs. South of the river bits of Bedminster and bits of Southville are the routine choices. Hotwells has been 'about to happen' for over 10 years. We looked at Totterdown 15 years ago as an option but there is one main route through it and it's SLOW. I've seen it take 40 minutes to get from the shops at the top to Temple Meads in traffic.

What about Stokes Croft?

Brothels (sorry, massage parlours) and (daytime) trustafarian coffee shops run by people from other parts of Bristol. Used to be the most unpleasant part of walking home for me, highest chance of muggings. I know people who used to take a taxi just to get through it at night.

Kingsdown a better choice than Stokes Croft if you want to live in that area imo.

or Montpelier, it's just up the road from there and has Gloucester Rd in easy reach too.

Aye, I'd rather Montpelier too.

If anyone fancies going to a gig I'm unexpectedly playing Cellar Tapes on Friday with my new project. It will be odd.

got my second interview in a week... my first visit to Bristol, although it's strange to think it could possibly be my home soon.

so it's official - i should be moving here around late august. so much to think about - where to live and how to get costs down without living in squalor being a priority. i'll be working in central brizzle, between temple meads station and cabot circus. ilxor, kinder has kindly sent me a few notes to do with various areas, but if anyone hears of rental accommodations, pref 2-3 bedrooms with at least some sort of outdoor area, hit me up :-) looking forward to discovering a new place and hopefully meeting some brizzlxors in person

So, we've started looking at houses. It appears CJ Hole have a bit of a tight grip on the rental market and drive up prices. Lots of agency fees and deposits and things nowadays - way more than when I started renting ten years ago. I'm wondering if there's a good place to seek out private lets as I'd much prefer an independent landlord (so long as they're not a total asshat)... If anyone's got any tips or knows any honest letters, gimme a shout pls !

We saw a nice one in Totterdown. Is that an okay place? I have a mate in Easton who says it's not bad there either.

Because CJ Hole are also a large estate agent, they've probably done more to drive up the BTL market in Bristol than anybody else. I found our original flat in a small independent letting place on Gloucester Road, which I unhelpfully can't remember the name of but is still there (or was 2 years ago).

Totterdown was always fine as I remembered it but it lives and dies on how congested or otherwise the Wells Road is.

glad i left

congratulations on the job DL !
hope the home hunt goes ok.
shout if you ever fancy a lunch hour meet up.
unfortunately i rarely do the after work thing due to kid kaos, unless there is a gig i want to go to.

Nice one Mark. I didn't realise you lived in Bristol. Having a lovely time circumnavigating the pitfalls of rip off lettings agencies right now. I mean look at this http://thebristolcable.org/2015/07/taking-the-piss-agency-fees-2/

Anyone know of anywhere online I could look for private tenancies or a decent honest agency that doesn't try and charge dozens of hidden fees?

i don't live in bristol ..
i live in the near-by regions of the cotswolds and have to commute into bristol for the job (near st nicks market, so pretty central).
i will ask in the office next week to see if anyone knows of a cool local groove re landlords.

aw thanks! although my suspicion is that there is no such thing as..

Found a house! Signing for it today. Up in Montpelier nr Stokes Croft. Needless to say we're excited.

Yes! Saw that shop when I was in BRL recently and thought wtaf

they gave me a couple of posters, which was really nice of them! must try to get to a screening next time I'm in town.

you can rent it out for private screenings. Still not done it though. I should fix that

I used to about 20 metres away from 20th Century Flicks back when it was in Clifton, and when VHS/DVD rental was a thing. Their 'world cinema' selection was second to none and the staff were always happy to give an opinion or recommendation which was refreshing after years of browsing in faceless Blockbusters.

Also when we lived there the wine bar / club directly below our flat used to have PeeWee Ellis from the JB's playing every few weekends and we could hear him wailing 2 floors below us. This combination of facts made the insufferably posh prickishness of Clifton bearable for the year we lasted before moving back to where normal people live :)

used to *live* ...

I don't think I ever went in to the wine bar, sounds like I should have given it a go!

We never went in either as a: we were the poorest people in Clifton and b: our lounge pretty much sounded like the club once it got going.

Bristolers, I'm putting on a new free "Global Beats" type night at Cosies in St Paul's next week in case anyone's about

https://www.facebook.com/events/745232679486744

Here's where I'm playing on NYE. Really chuffed to be on the outdoor stage for 11.30-1am. just gotta think of an appropriate banger to play at midnight

https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2021-12-31&event_id=70061

Got to be On a Ragga Tip.

I mean, that's a good choice! They've asked me to play "High-life, afrobeat, disco, psychedelic" and indoors it's more bass-oriented stuff (i think they're trying to limit the amount of tear out shit outdoors). I was kind of thinking Angelique Kidjo's version of Once In A Lifetime could work, although I'm sure I could get away with a bit of SL2.