The Best Place to live?
Borth in the Rain
I know we like living in Ynyslas but I think sometimes people don’t always agree.
To be honest we don’t mind what other people think and if everyone wanted to live where we do it wouldn’t be as nice as it is. However I’ve just come across this article from Wales Online which confirms what we’ve said all along. Borth and Ynyslas is a lovely place to live and ideal for bringing up a family.
OK, we’re never going to be millionaires but we think having the beach on our doorstep and access to the surrounding countryside, along with the excellent schools and enough facilities to suit our needs is enough. If we need to the city for things we can easily drive there, but rarely feel the need and don’t really like it once we’re there anyway.
I agree with what they say though – what the area needs is families living there full time, not just people coming to their holiday homes for the summer and then leaving. The winter can be just as nice here as the summer and we love it all of the time.
5 Responses
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Hi Alan,
I am moving to Aberystwyth in January (my husband got a position in Aberystwyth University). Last week when I was trying to find information on the web about what life is like in Aber/Mid Wales (e.g. what is the weather like, what do people tipically do, is it easy to meet and make friends, and renting a house, find good schools and so on), I came across your blog and just follow for the last week. Nice blog!
And today you make me really happy when you mention this article from the Wales online. I should have to find a house in Borth!
Good luck,
Eli.
I guess it’s a bit like marmite here… you’ll either love it or hate it. We clearly love it and hopefully you will too.
What will your husband be doing at the uni? Anna and I both came here to do a degree, couldn’t bear to leave so stayed on to do PhD’s and then still wanted to stay so ended up working at the uni. Anna still works there.
It’s a lovely place to live, great scenery, a nice friendly atmosphere and a fairly close knit community that is large enough to not feel claustrophobic. Because of the university it is fairly cosmopolitan for somewhere so far from anywhere else as well.
To answer some of your specific questions though…
1. The weather is very welsh, although it is drier and sunnier here on the coast than it is inland, and warmer in the winter too.
2. People typically do whatever they want. It’s beg enough that there will be others interested in whatever it is you want to do as well.
3. Meeting and making friends probably depends on you really, but having connections at the university which is the biggest employer here will help.
4. The rental market is pretty good both in town and in the surrounding areas, so you shouldn’t have too many issues there.
5. All the schools are good, we’re lucky in that respect. There isn’t much choice when it comes to secondary schools other than between first language Welsh or English, but both are good.
Al.
When I win the lottery!
Actually Darren, the article linked to in the post says that house prices and the cost of living here are much lower than the national average. Unfortunately so are salaries and mine is even lower than that! I think it’s worth the sacrifice though.
Al.
Hi Alan,
Thanks for your information. I really appreciate it. After visiting Aberystwyth and Borth in September (a short visit), I was a bit “scare†because I found them a “bit smallâ€. But after searching through Internet I have discovered that there are plenty of things to do and nice places to go! And the primary schools seem pretty good. I and my husband are both scientists and we have two young daughters. But regarding the rental market, when I try to search for some properties to rent using property website such as rightmove or findaproperty, there are not many choices. Maybe I will need to look for some local estate agencies and check their webpages.
You know, one of my dreams was to leave close to the beach. I love the smell and sound of the ocean. Thanks and best wishes,
Eli