Levenshulme or Eccles?

I'm from Hull but stayed here for work after uni.

Cheers FA
There are some lovely streets in Lev, but I get the impression that it's similar to Eccles in the 'hit and miss' stakes? especially in the apparently less desirable eastern side of stockport road - which seems very similar to the set up North and south of the M602 for Eccles. However, would I be right to assume a 'bad' street on the 'good' side of either district can be as bad as a bad street on the 'bad' side and vice versa? erm - if you know what i mean? :-/

would you say eccles south of the M602 is rough? How does it compare to Lev east of stockport road? Even though Stockport road is fairly run down it always seems fairly safe to me - similar to eccles town centre. Are they much different after dark and are there places to avoid?

They both have loads to recommend them in terms of my price range. Leisure centres, libraries, good pubs, good shopping (The Antiques Village vs. 2 indoor market halls) etc. but I just can't decide which area to focus on!

Eccles has some nice houses and streets south of the M602 but like Levenshulme it can be a bit hit and miss. Eccles has very good transport links, with Metrolink and buses from the town centre and a train which takes ten minutes to get to Victoria. Eccles town centre is dominated by Morrisons. It also has a Wilkos, Boot, Superdrug, Home Bargains, not to mention a good number of banks and £1 shops! A short-ish walk to Monton you'll find more independents and some restuarants, that said the Pacifica and Smiths by the station are quite good. Cant say I've tried any of the pubs.

For your budget you might even get a 3 bed terrace in Irlam on the Height (Salford M6) lots of parks perfect for dog walking ( all my neighbours have dogs, my cats love tormenting them from the alley way walls ), some local shops/Cafes inc a largish Co-op, ten minute walk to the delights of Salford Shopping City (and a big new Tesco opening soon). Public transport is prtty much entirely bus based but you're on the main routes to Eccles/Traffprd Centre, Wigan and Bolton, so loads every couple of minutes, making Manchester City centre only 20mins away

Monton is the best area of eccles, good village centre with pubs restaurants and close to the canal and old railway/looplines for walking. Some terraces streets in monton are not as expensive as you may think, start about 110k. It's only 10 mins to the metro/train station too... If you choose south of the m602 be careful as there are some rough areas, I would personally look at the streets off trafford road or peel green road which are pretty good.

heatonparkincakes said:

Prestwich, it's the answer.

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Presumably to a question containing the word "avoid".

I live on the Eccles line, and from my experiences, Eccles itself is basically okay. It's passable. I have no strong feelings for or against. The town centre isn't that great, but the Morrisons is a big plus point for me. There are good bus links and you're right on the Metrolink. The housing stock, from what I've seen, seems pretty decent too.

Levenshulme I am less familiar with, but I think the town centre is much less pleasant than Eccles. It's essentially one road with a slightly down vibe about it, and it feels like a worse place. But actually, in my personal opinion, the surrounding area - ie. the housing, streets, suburbs - have more atmosphere and are more pleasant that the Eccles area. It's just a nicer place - from what I've seen of it.

You'll be physically much closer to Chorlton - although not on the Metrolink - and I believe rail services from Levenshulme run a bit more frequently than at Eccles. You'll also be well served by buses up and down Manchester.

I'd also say that, from what I've seen, Levenshulme has a large ethnic minority population. I'm not saying that's a bad thing (it certainly doesn't bother me at all; I used to live in Rusholme!) but if you're settling down permanently then it'll be up to your mind to decide if you're personally comfortable with that.

If it were my choice, I'd probably go for Levenshulme. (Although I would want to scout it out a lot more to be sure I'm correct in what I think I know about it) I wouldn't bother with the town centre, personally; you're into the City easily and quickly enough, and you'll be spending time in Chorlton by the sounds of it, so it comes down to the suburbs and on that count I simply prefer the style and location of the Levenshulme area.

EDIT: actually, having a look around it on Google Maps now, I should really add this: it really is hit and miss. There are some really dingy areas in Levenshulme, which makes it a bit less clear-cut

Is there not a regular bus from Levenshulme to Chorlton? It's basically one straight road between them so amazed if there isn't, would be good for cycling too I guess.

How much is your budget if you don't mind me asking? Ex-local authority houses in Withington are a bit closer to Chorlton and obviously near lot's of amenities.

Otherwise I agree with Heaton Park, Prestwich is a far superior area to Levenshulme or Eccles IMO. If it really is between those two then I'd say if you can afford Monton then go for Eccles, if not then go for Levenshulme. Beware though that the rail and metrolink pass is going to cost you a fortune that you might wish you'd put towards a better place closer to work.

Levvy (but no Chevy)

I have lived two stints in Levvy as an owner-occupier, once each side of the Stockport Road, although I now reside in Wivvington.

Levvy is a tale of two sides, the west side of Stockport Road being distinctly leafier and more pleasant, although there are a few nice quiet streets on the east side too. The district has character and 'characters' by the score. It's a rough about the edges and no pretensions inner city neighbourhood which has for the past 25 years been tipped as 'up and coming' 'the next Chorlton' etc but has never quite got going. The core poor Irish community remains, although now supplemented by other more recent immigrant communities, generally poor, too. The main thing it has in common with Chorlton is that it is almost entirely devoid of students these days. There is a less obvious middle class presence, generally of the well-educated but not well-off type with young families, who are drawn by the relatively cheap period housing and good transport links. As a minority in this district, the middle-class have few places to gather publicly and so they tend to network and socialise at home, or through school links. There is the deli in the old Post Office as a flicker of gentrification.

I enjoyed my times in Levvy, and would recommend it to someone seeking affordable urban boho. There was a bit of crime and the area remains forever scruffy but it does have a certain charm and some sense of community. The housing is good value, some are 'deceptively spacious'. Honest!

Personally I'd much rather live in South Manchester than North where I reside now (near Eccles, actually). Eccles is an alright place, I just wish the shopping precinct was open a wee bit later, as it can be dead by 6 o clock a lot of the time.

If you enjoy brutalist architecture as I do, then you'll love Eccles. I especially love Sentinel House. You also get some pretty good views if you sneak up one of the tower blocks. I'd advise you to be careful if you try to get onto the roof of any of the blocks, the bar on the Emergency Exit door sets off an alarm down at Reception which alerts someone to your presence. Don't ask how I know! :lol:

My only gripe about this part of the world is rail transport. One local train an hour or a very slow tram line are your only hopes of getting to town. Hopefully the rail service and station will improve with electrification, but we'll see.

kids said:

Eccles, North? :hm:

I'd go Levenshulme everyday. Well west of the mainline anyway.

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He obviously never memorised 'Never Eat Shredded Wheat' as a kid!

Vold Eccles is about as west as you can get!

:lol: I'm aware of that.

I just go to school in Bury and most of my friends live around there so I sort of pick up the North Manchester vibe.

Plus West Manchester sounds silly imo, it sort of rhymes, Idk?

I've always that, on this side of the city, everything North of the ship canal is "Northernland" and everything south of it is "Southernland".

I would go for Lev everytime, sure it's scruffy and has too many non english speaking immigrants but it all adds to it's charm, the shopping is great! Other than that why not look a little further out in Bury or further in like the Northern Quarter? I visited Bury on Friday and thought the town centre was fabby, there are some nice looking apartments in the town centre, I'm not sure there are many towns that feel quality to the north of the city like Bury felt.

Other than that, why not join us in the Northern Quarter, still decent property available to buy at a good price. Good luck with your search.