Cheshire, U.K.

Nouveau riche central.

The downside is the accent, OP. Like nails on a chalkboard.

[quote] How do the locals take to outsiders?

They always display quite inscrutable grins.

Warrington is a horrible shithole town and Alderley Edge, Prestbury and Knutsford are very nice.

It's a County, not a City.

Indulge yourself in the Real Housewives of Cheshire.

That will show you all you need to know about the place.

^^^ What'e the matter with Warrington? I lived there for three years near the Army Base. I thought it was a wonderful town.

Warrington expanded and became an overspill for the worst elements from Greater Manchester, they exported the shit-heads. It's about a step up from Little Hulton now.

Is there much commingling between the poor and rich areas, or is it very severely ghettoised?

Poor people can't afford to live where the rich are, but the rich buy drugs from the scum. The rich didn't all get that way in a conventional manner either.

Rich people in Cheshire need good security systems on their property.

I am not a Brit, but I think there is a neveoue riche vibes. I got sick in London and I watched a "The Real Housewives of Cheshire" (yes, they have one). It's a lot of new build homes that were meant to look like old country estates, tan men and women - some of the men are ex-footballers. It's definitely a low rent version of the American series.

Yes R7, proximity to Manny proper is a major downside, it must be said.

R10 thank you sm! Think I found my next bingewatch...

Has Liverpool gone to shit, as well?

I love the Cheshire cheese

I’ve always been confused why rich people would live way out there. Why Cheshire vs suburban London?

Chester which is the county town there is beautiful.

R15 more open land to build big houses with massive gardens, lots of public green space, safety and security from urban crime, place for kids to play/dogs to walk/ponies to ride, no having to mix with poor local riffraff...

"no having to mix with poor local riffraff..."

Despite the irony being that most of those with McMansions in Cheshire have come from the local riffraff.

It's footballers wife heaven. Bag some footballer, get pregnant ASAP, get a nanny and then just fake tan and hair extension the boredom away!

I think it’s sort of the “Surrey” (Mercedes, sauna, room for a pony!) of Manchester, R15. If a character on Coronation Street won the lottery, they’d move to Cheshire.

In Cheshire, U.K., all seems to breathe freedom and peace and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils.

It's always amusing to hear Brits talk about crime, you don't know crime at all.

Isn’t Holkyoaks, small town in Britain with the highest murder rate this side of Midsomer, supposed to be in Cheshire?

What about the cats?

R22 It is indeed, set in Chester.

Another vote from me for Chester, lovely city.

^^R24

I spent six months in Runcorn. Engineering and tech workshop of the north. Great train system. Great bus system. Too much petty violence drunk youth stumbling around between footballl games. Especially at closing time. Very quaint architecture and gardens. Lovely old towns. People easy to talk too but guarded too. Great pubs very homey some really really old and loaded with character. Very rainy and cold for 6 months a year. Good Indian food and good fish and chips. Quite international lots of workers travel so surprisingly worldly folks.

R26 ok good thanks I'm taking notes!

How did you find the cost of living relative to your career? And how were your neighbours?

Returning for a moment to RHOCh--I am fertile and have natural big ones already, and am naturally prettier than most of these women, but to bag a footballer clearly I will also need fillers/botox, teeth whitening, a tan (fake or real), a fitness instructor on call, acrylic nails and a garish designer wardrobe. And to learn to do baddie/stripper makeup. A lot of work, but I want that AmEx.

Me in my Hollyoaks era:

O.p. My neighbors were quiet. kept to themselves only saw them when walking dogs. Had brief pleasant conversations but they acted like they were wasting your time and worried about it. Getting to know people at the pub was more relaxed. A few drinks opens people up allot. I was kind of surrounded by retired folks so not maybe the best demographic for relaxed interaction. Not sure But more Nordic character of keeping to oneself than the California culture. Cost of living relative to wages was high by US standards. Kind of Serious and fatalistic people but interesting and kind.

Chester looks cute. So many little towns in UK seem interesting - but so many are also surrounded by modern postwar blech.

What sort of income would one need to live comfortably in the passably nice/safe parts of the county? I don't need to live in the gated community of Mini-mansions next door to a footballer, just in the general vicinity or in biking/half hour driving distance of them. Perhaps near a park or a green area, I love the countryside and have lived in rural areas most of my life.

If you have to ask, r32…

R32 Very small detached house in Alderley Edge would set you back about $650,000 including stamp duty (tax).

Real estate is a racket all over the world.

You used to see cheshire cheese in nicer cheese counters in the US, but I haven’t seen it in years. It was one of my favorites when I was younger so I ordered some from The Cheshire Cheese Company when I was feeling nostalgic. Very good. Highly recommended.

R35 what’s the smart alternative, though? Squatting? You get scalped renting as well.

Cheshire is fine. There’s a Footballer’s Wives side to the place, but they tend to restrict themselves to certain villages or their more rural homes. They don’t have much of an impact in most of the area. They live there mainly because it has nice quiet areas which are within easy reach of Manchester and Liverpool, and with direct links to London (you can be there in a couple of hours).

There are some rougher towns, but no more than you would find anywhere else.

I started visiting the area when family moved there, and was really pleasantly surprised by how pretty the area was. My family members live in a village not far from Chester, and it is typical Midsummer Murders territory: independent shops, a nice hotel which serves great food, interesting architecture from the 17th century onwards. Village life is centred round the local primary school, a cosy pub and a gorgeous church set in front of the village green, and the community is determined to keep it nice. People are a wee bit insular though: the locals refused to allow a fish&chip shop to open in case it encouraged youths to hang around outside.

Property prices can be pretty cheap too, unless you are looking for Georgian splendour. If you are happy with a victorian or Edwardian terrace, or a 20th-century semi-detached, then you will have a large choice at much cheaper prices than in many other areas.

[quote] If you are happy with a victorian or Edwardian terrace, or a 20th-century semi-detached, then you will have a large choice at much cheaper prices than in many other areas.

Really? That’s reassuring. I’d assumed that property there would be more expensive than most other counties, even at the bottom of the ladder.

R3 why was the Cat named thus? I'm sure one of you is old enough to know.