Newbie moving to Portsmouth area soon

[plseller]

Will be moving to Portsmouth area soon on a company transfer. Am currently living in San Francisco with my wife and 2 daughters. Am particularly interested in any info that people have on safe areas to live in that have easy access to preschools / shops.

I will be working on an IT project within Portsmouth and ideally would like to live close to work, however I was wondering whether it's better to live outside the city.. say in the Petersfield area. I had an impression that there are some areas in Portsmouth than can get a bit rough and have an ASBO problem (not a problem if I were single, but I have 3 girls to take care of now) my wife is a fulltime mother so I was looking for a place that was convenient to the facilities she needs & not too boring.

Any help would be appreciated.

[alanp]

hello and welcome to the forum
i do not live near Portsmouth but i copied some links to the local councils website that might help your search.
http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/business/11379.html
http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/living/index.html
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/localpages/moving.htm

alan

[stevewool]

just like any large city good places and bad places,

[Ako Si Jamie]

I grew up in a place called Ryde which is on the Isle of Wight, directly opposite Portsmouth. It's about 3 miles across the water and that is the safest and most trouble free place I've ever lived at and I've lived all over the UK. That was during the 80's though so it might have changed a bit now. It might be a pain commuting on a boat every day and it can be a bit sleepy on the island but it's an option worth considering.

As for Portsmouth, it's the second most densely populated city in the UK after London so it's probably best looking outside of the city. I think the nicest part of Hampshire is the other side of Southampton around the New Forest or around Winchester but that's a bit of a distance from Portsmouth.

[plseller]

Thanks for the tip re Winchester. Accdg to Google maps it's not too bad - about 40-50min drive, which is a typical commute here. But I don't know how congested the M27 gets.

Actually this will be the 2nd time I will be living in the UK. I had a 5 year stint from 2000 with the same company (I was single then) and thought I'd be happier in the US so I applied for a relocation. After being bored out of my skull in suburban Americana, I realized I was much happier there... overcast sky notwithstanding. So I reapplied to get back and thankfully my old manager was happy to get me back.

[Ako Si Jamie]

The towns and villages along the River Itchen in the Winchester area are meant to be very nice. Not sure what the M27 is like during rush hour though.

[jane2009]

I lived in gosport just 5 mins in the ferry across gunwhaft portsmouth...Its very quite here its nice to lived...The problem is just the traffic in the morning and in the afternoon...but it is cheaper if you take ferry for £2.40 return....Also southsea is nice place to lived....

[Arthur Little]

I reapplied to get back and thankfully my old manager was happy to get me back.

Great! I'm not familiar with the Portsmouth area. But - as you've seen already - there're people here who are always pleased to help whenever possible. to our friendly site ... and hopefully you will soon find somewhere to your liking.

[philphil61]

Hi plseller welcome to the forum

I have a mature filipina friend who lives in the UK and she used to live in Portsmouth - I will send her the link to this thread and see if she can offer any advice.

Hope all goes well with your move and stay in UK

[plseller]

Thank you for the inputs everybody. I'll post an account of how the move goes and where we finally end up.

[Farmerg]

[plseller]

I had posted a few months back about moving to Portsmouth and it is firming up. As I am a non-EU national they had to do a labor market test first for my position so it's taken a little more time. I apologize if this is the wrong thread but I have some specific questions. To put my situation in context, I'm married... wife is a fulltime mom and I have 2 girls (a toddler about to enter preschool and an infant).
Was thinking of renting in the Gunwharf Quays area. Key factors being proximity to the rail station, shopping access for my wife, and walking distance/few bus stops to St. John's RC church which has a preschool programme I am hoping to put my child in.
I am looking at one of the new highrises in the area but will I be better served renting a house for the same price? I am a little concerned that being in a regeneration area, that the area would be a bit rough and I was looking at the extra security of a highrise. I have no sense of good or bad areas in Portsmouth, although I've picked up in my research that I should avoid the Fratton area.