Where in Exeter is nice!?

[hugh_]

I'm moving to Exeter later in the year as the company I work for have just opened a new office there. I went down a few weeks back to meet the Office Manager, and with the intention of spending the weekend scouting the area for where to live, but I crashed the car which stopped that idea completely.

The idea is to rent a flat/house for a few months initially to find out where I want to live, but some pointers on the nicer areas of Exeter would be handy to get an idea of rents so I can crunch some numbers! The office is in the Innovation Centre at the University so I guess I'll be mainly looking at that end of town.

[theboymoon]

Near the university pennsylvania is nice!

In a very similar comment as someone made in my Bristol thread, make sure you dont have to cross the river Ex to get to work. Nightmare in the mornings.

If you fancy something a bit different, Topsham village is really quiet and pretty (and more expensive) and only a short distance into Exeter itself.

[hugh_]

Thanks

[selwonk]

Topsham is great. My sister lived there - still rents her old place out. Is the Double Locks still a good place for a pint? I'm from ooop North and I've not been down for ages

[ptp170]

Exeter lad here

Depends on what price braket of house you are looking for really. Areas that I personally would live in are EXWICK(did I mention Exwick was bad?), St Thomas...some of the places on the back of Heavitree Road are fookin' rank. The best thing I can recommend is to eye up some potentials and then go driving around some of the back lanes for 30 mins to get a gist of the surrounding areas etc. I live in Pinhoe now and it's nice and quiet down this way


Chris

[carsarecool]

St Leonards is nice and near the town too, also on the right side of town to avoid Ex Bridge.

Topsham is nice, but you pay for it.

Cheers,

Mart

Edited by carsarecool on Monday 9th June 16:16

[flow99]

For city centre living, would recommend St Leonards, nice area and still close enough to walk into the central restaurants, pubs etc. Alternatively, with the new Southernhay developments, initially renting one of the new apartments will give you a good insight into the centre. Many were bought as investments, so should be a few around for rental.

Topsham is nice, but mmake sure you find somewhere with offstreet parking as Topsahm and cars don't really go together. Also can be very 'clostrophobic' as everyone tends to know everyone's business, even the newcomers!

Otherwise, if you're buying typically out of the centre, anything west of Exeter will be considerably cheper than East Devon.

Long term there is a new settlemnt being built near Broadclyst, Whimple areas, which may effect property values in those areas dependent on the benefit or problems brought on by the new development.

Wherever you end up, the Exeter and Devon area is a great place to live.

[pstruck]

flow99 said:

Wherever you end up, the Exeter and Devon area is a great place to live.

I moved out of Exeter about 5 years ago to live 12 miles to the east. Agree with floww99's point about living out of the city to the west being much cheaper than the east.

Not sure about the areas of the city any more. There certainly are areas to avoid, and as previously said crossing the river is the major headache when it comes to commuting, so try to live and work on the same side.

[hugh_]

Thanks for all the continued replies. I'm keeping an eye on the housing market intently at the moment, but unless something unexpected (financially and economically) happens I will still be renting initially.

Interesting points about same side of the river. My original thoughts were that in the longer term I wanted to be out to the SW, towards Starcross so that I am roughly half way between the office and a sailing club of some description, which (apart from Exmouth) seem to be on the west of the river.

[Antony Moxey]

I'd avoid St Thomas (even though I was born there) as it's just too congested, what with the council's decision to increase congestion by blocking off all the side roads, and would also avoid Rifford Road/Burnthouse Lane too. Some parts of Heavitree are fine, as is St Leonards, Pennsylvania, Alphington and parts of Exwick.

As others have said, try and get on the same side of the river as your commute - Pennsylvania is walking distance from the Uni, but St Thomas, for instance, although not much further can take up to an hour if you have to tackle Exe Bridges.

You might also wish to consider the satellite towns, such as Exmouth (where I live now), Dawlish, Honiton etc. Takes me between 20-25 mins for my commute to my office in Pinhoe, and I know it's hardly London, but the pace of life in Exmouth is much easier and the place seems generally less impersonal. It's also 1000% less congested too.

Good luck anyway, you're moving to a great corner of the world, and - a point that many seemed to have missed - a place with ample opportunities for proper hoonage too!!