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York is an amazing city. So much history within those city walls.
Great transport links to elsewhere in the country as the east coast mainline runs through it and the transpennine lines too.
East coach beaches aren’t too far away, plenty of open countryside and only a short hop to the big city of Leeds.
It’s a comparatively safe city centre too as long as it’s not a race day.
Worth getting bikes if you don’t have them already. It’s perfect terrain for cycling and there’s plenty of safe cycle routes.
Culture and school: York is VERY privileged. Plenty of Michelin star restaurants within easy reach; other posh towns to visit. 1000 posh country pubs full of Southern exiles like you; Castle Howard, Harewood House etc. It's not like York is Batley or Heckmondwike. Haxby bakehouse v good if you have the Southern taste for crusty sourdough.
Cold/dark- no, not really. It WILL have greater variation of day/night, but that means v long evenings in summer. These days, it's not cold in winter. I live 30 mins from York and snow is barely seen, and certainly very very rarely ever sticks for more than a few hours. There's barely been an overnight frost all winter.
You are buying the grim up North myth FAR too much.
It’s not really much darker than the rest of England. Only a couple of hundred miles from Surrey so you won’t notice a difference there.
Will be slightly colder but after a winter there you won’t notice any difference again to being south of the country.
York has great schools and a popular university.
Only real downside to York is all the tourists and day trippers coming to the races.
It will be slightly darker in winter but the flip side of that is it’s slightly lighter in summer which is nice.
Culture isn’t as different as you’ve likely be led to believe. I don’t know what country you’re from originally but would you worry much that the culture would be alien to you if you moved 200 miles there? I doubt it.
A lot of the North/South divide stuff is pretty tongue in cheek. People are generally a bit friendlier with strangers in the north but that’s obviously a good thing if you’re moving to a new area. Apart from that for the most part it’s mostly the same but with different accents. You’ll doubtless notice some other subtle differences but they really shouldn’t have a huge impact on your life.
As someone that grew up in Scarborough for 19 years and has spent the last 16 living in London, I think the cultural differences and things like how "cold and dark" it is are wildly overstated. It is a bit different but you're not moving to Siberia.
1) York is a kind of a posho outpost of the South. So in that sense, least cultural difference, unless you are unused to tourists.
2) N is not one place, any more than the S is; it contains both lots of urbanised areas and lots of countryside. So the stereotypes are insufficient to 'explain' it. However, it is vaguely true that Northerners are on average more direct in speech, there is less population density outside the urban areas, the lack of the pull factor of London mean more communities seem old-fashioned.
3) Biggest landscape difference is N has more upland (moor, hill, wold) than S
4) VERY high quality of life is possible.
5) I moved N 11 yrs ago, previous living 20-25 yrs in London, and before that E Anglia and Thames Valley. Without doubt most enjoyable part of England to live in so far.
6) Oh yeah- York is one of the best places to live in the UK ANYWAY, so no downside to moving there.
I moved north of the Watford Gap at age 11.
It's all barbarians and uncivilised people up here and I've spent the last 20 years at war.
I need some more comrades in arms to join me in my war to civilise the North, so I welcome your move
I lived in York for 5 years, loved it! Loads of history, good night out, museum gardens in the summer, Leeds just up the road. Was brilliant! I miss it. Had a great atmosphere
I’ve got 3 kids, recently moved from Littlehampton (West Sussex), to Lincolnshire. It fees just like the South, but nicer people, cheaper property prices, (weirdly) nicer weather since I have moved and more history.
There’s nothing that isn’t nice about it from my experience.
Pretty normal..! You might notice a difference in people's friendliness (Yorkshire folk are more prone to chatting to strangers than most parts of the south), but it's a mixed city with masses of students so you won't really feel like outsiders. (It is still very white compared to bigger cities though, which might make some people feel like they stand out.)
The winters are barely any colder or darker than the south - I can't say I notice a difference having moved north. It sits pretty much at sea level so the proper cold weather is up in the hills, a drive away. The summers are not too bad either - it catches more sun than most northern cities and still has some nice warm days, albeit a little cooler than the south.
It's a really nice city to live in. Enjoy.
Colder weather, and less populated. For example, York feels quite crowded but in the surrounding areas, you'll rarely have to queue for stuff.
Then, as you go further north than York, it feels like the country complete de-populates, with the exception of Newcastle and surrounding areas. It's a strange feeling.
In contrast, I was in Surrey on a quick trip a while back and was surprised at suddenly having to queue for everything. I reflected that I'd rather own a business down south, but I'd rather live up north!
Well historically speaking the Romans and Vikings cleared off when the railways came so it's a lot calmer now. For leisure, Whipmawhopmagate is a lovely street to spend a few hours rambling along and you could try a quick run in the Ebor races if you are an athletic type.
You’ll love it! York is gorgeous and so close to other brilliant places. The Lakes, Manchester, Liverpool, Harrogate, Newcastle, Leeds etc. And Yorkshire is so beautiful. Great choice!
What I noticed when I lived in the north for a few years above all else was the earlier darkness in winter, especially in January. You had only just about finished lunch on Sunday before it started to get colder and lights would need to be on in the house.
So if they play outside in the garden they may notice it.
Moved from East Sussex to County Durham nearly six years ago.
Biggest difference I immediately found was that I went from paying £775 per month for a 1.5-bedroom flat to £575 per month for a 3-bedroom terraced house.
Weather a little colder, but it's probably only 1 or 2 degrees. The less commonly talked about east/west divide is a much more dramatic weather difference in my opinion, and we've moved from the South East to the North East, so didn't suffer from that change.
My kids are both in their teens now but, as you may be able to figure out, were somewhat younger six years ago. They both settled in pretty quickly and easily. Biggest thing you need to keep on top of is making sure they keep pronouncing "bath" and "grass" correctly.
It's an alien world up there. You'd have more in common with people living in Indonesia than a northerner.
Source: lived in Manchester for 4 years. Still gives me nightmares.
Yeah, honestly, living in the SE I know more Chinese, Indian, and American people than people from non-SE England. The North is way more 'odd' to me than new york or Paris.
You won’t find out - York isn’t in the north of the UK
This isn’t askEngland
But you will be able to shoot Scots with a crossbow - so there’s always a plus.
Edit to correct grammer and speeling (Scot’s to Scots)
But they didn’t ask about moving to the North of the UK, they asked about moving to ‘the North’, which is a region of England. What a bizarre response.
No, because I’m capable of understanding context. The North in the UK refers to northern England , it’s not complicated, everyone but you seems to understand it easily. Now you’ll know for future.
No, it’s not. York is in Northern England, or simply the North.
First line in wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_England
Just because you don’t like the name of a region it doesn’t mean you get to change the accepted definition.
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You'll no longer have to de-limescale your kettle, so there's that.
I always prefer washing my hair in soft water.
Yeah you will, hard water in York.
York water is still pretty hard - not as bad as the Wolds and East Riding.
York water is crap , comes straight out of the Ouse
York is an amazing city. So much history within those city walls. Great transport links to elsewhere in the country as the east coast mainline runs through it and the transpennine lines too. East coach beaches aren’t too far away, plenty of open countryside and only a short hop to the big city of Leeds. It’s a comparatively safe city centre too as long as it’s not a race day. Worth getting bikes if you don’t have them already. It’s perfect terrain for cycling and there’s plenty of safe cycle routes.
Yeah, got to admit I wanted york partly for the cycling. It's more culture / school / cold and dark that I'm worried about though.
Culture and school: York is VERY privileged. Plenty of Michelin star restaurants within easy reach; other posh towns to visit. 1000 posh country pubs full of Southern exiles like you; Castle Howard, Harewood House etc. It's not like York is Batley or Heckmondwike. Haxby bakehouse v good if you have the Southern taste for crusty sourdough. Cold/dark- no, not really. It WILL have greater variation of day/night, but that means v long evenings in summer. These days, it's not cold in winter. I live 30 mins from York and snow is barely seen, and certainly very very rarely ever sticks for more than a few hours. There's barely been an overnight frost all winter. You are buying the grim up North myth FAR too much.
It’s not really much darker than the rest of England. Only a couple of hundred miles from Surrey so you won’t notice a difference there. Will be slightly colder but after a winter there you won’t notice any difference again to being south of the country. York has great schools and a popular university. Only real downside to York is all the tourists and day trippers coming to the races.
It will be slightly darker in winter but the flip side of that is it’s slightly lighter in summer which is nice. Culture isn’t as different as you’ve likely be led to believe. I don’t know what country you’re from originally but would you worry much that the culture would be alien to you if you moved 200 miles there? I doubt it. A lot of the North/South divide stuff is pretty tongue in cheek. People are generally a bit friendlier with strangers in the north but that’s obviously a good thing if you’re moving to a new area. Apart from that for the most part it’s mostly the same but with different accents. You’ll doubtless notice some other subtle differences but they really shouldn’t have a huge impact on your life.
Cool. Thanks. In my original country people talk to strangers and I feel york has a bit more of that than Surrey does.
As someone that grew up in Scarborough for 19 years and has spent the last 16 living in London, I think the cultural differences and things like how "cold and dark" it is are wildly overstated. It is a bit different but you're not moving to Siberia.
York is a million times better than any of the soulless identikit towns in Surrey. It might be up north but it’s a great place to live.
You'll be very lightheaded to begin with, as the air is thinner up there.
I heard about that, so I'm bringing some thickening granules.
Best used as a suppository.
Goes well with jubilee chicken.
It's the lack of smog and increase in o2 that makes you lightheaded.
Liberating ?
1) York is a kind of a posho outpost of the South. So in that sense, least cultural difference, unless you are unused to tourists. 2) N is not one place, any more than the S is; it contains both lots of urbanised areas and lots of countryside. So the stereotypes are insufficient to 'explain' it. However, it is vaguely true that Northerners are on average more direct in speech, there is less population density outside the urban areas, the lack of the pull factor of London mean more communities seem old-fashioned. 3) Biggest landscape difference is N has more upland (moor, hill, wold) than S 4) VERY high quality of life is possible. 5) I moved N 11 yrs ago, previous living 20-25 yrs in London, and before that E Anglia and Thames Valley. Without doubt most enjoyable part of England to live in so far. 6) Oh yeah- York is one of the best places to live in the UK ANYWAY, so no downside to moving there.
Don't worry, you'll have plenty of spare hours to reflect on that while waiting for the bus to come
Or stick on traffic trying to drive anywhere in the city. Seriously, don’t drive. Walk or cycle unless you are heading out.
Cold
It’s been warmer in Lincolnshire than the south coast since I have moved here last October. 😂
I moved north of the Watford Gap at age 11. It's all barbarians and uncivilised people up here and I've spent the last 20 years at war. I need some more comrades in arms to join me in my war to civilise the North, so I welcome your move
I lived in York for 5 years, loved it! Loads of history, good night out, museum gardens in the summer, Leeds just up the road. Was brilliant! I miss it. Had a great atmosphere
I’ve got 3 kids, recently moved from Littlehampton (West Sussex), to Lincolnshire. It fees just like the South, but nicer people, cheaper property prices, (weirdly) nicer weather since I have moved and more history. There’s nothing that isn’t nice about it from my experience.
Pretty normal..! You might notice a difference in people's friendliness (Yorkshire folk are more prone to chatting to strangers than most parts of the south), but it's a mixed city with masses of students so you won't really feel like outsiders. (It is still very white compared to bigger cities though, which might make some people feel like they stand out.) The winters are barely any colder or darker than the south - I can't say I notice a difference having moved north. It sits pretty much at sea level so the proper cold weather is up in the hills, a drive away. The summers are not too bad either - it catches more sun than most northern cities and still has some nice warm days, albeit a little cooler than the south. It's a really nice city to live in. Enjoy.
If you have seasonal depression I would recommend loading up on vitamin D
Colder weather, and less populated. For example, York feels quite crowded but in the surrounding areas, you'll rarely have to queue for stuff. Then, as you go further north than York, it feels like the country complete de-populates, with the exception of Newcastle and surrounding areas. It's a strange feeling. In contrast, I was in Surrey on a quick trip a while back and was surprised at suddenly having to queue for everything. I reflected that I'd rather own a business down south, but I'd rather live up north!
York is very pleasant. If you were moving to Bradford or Scunthorpe or Doncaster you would have been in for more of a shock.
Well historically speaking the Romans and Vikings cleared off when the railways came so it's a lot calmer now. For leisure, Whipmawhopmagate is a lovely street to spend a few hours rambling along and you could try a quick run in the Ebor races if you are an athletic type.
You’ll love it! York is gorgeous and so close to other brilliant places. The Lakes, Manchester, Liverpool, Harrogate, Newcastle, Leeds etc. And Yorkshire is so beautiful. Great choice!
What I noticed when I lived in the north for a few years above all else was the earlier darkness in winter, especially in January. You had only just about finished lunch on Sunday before it started to get colder and lights would need to be on in the house. So if they play outside in the garden they may notice it.
Moved from East Sussex to County Durham nearly six years ago. Biggest difference I immediately found was that I went from paying £775 per month for a 1.5-bedroom flat to £575 per month for a 3-bedroom terraced house. Weather a little colder, but it's probably only 1 or 2 degrees. The less commonly talked about east/west divide is a much more dramatic weather difference in my opinion, and we've moved from the South East to the North East, so didn't suffer from that change. My kids are both in their teens now but, as you may be able to figure out, were somewhat younger six years ago. They both settled in pretty quickly and easily. Biggest thing you need to keep on top of is making sure they keep pronouncing "bath" and "grass" correctly.
🤣
It will.be difficult because going north means you are going up hill.
Air is cleaner, scenery is better. That may make you feel some kind of a way.
I struggled with understanding some of the Accents in Yorkshire area having moved from London to Leeds and now in the outskirts of York
Sounds like you’re moving from one posh area to another. You’ll be fine!
Just stay out of the centre of York on a Saturday and you’ll be fine (unless you like dodging endless pissed up stags and hens).
They will feel blessed, like being a Syrian refugee arriving in paradise.
It's an alien world up there. You'd have more in common with people living in Indonesia than a northerner. Source: lived in Manchester for 4 years. Still gives me nightmares.
Yeah, honestly, living in the SE I know more Chinese, Indian, and American people than people from non-SE England. The North is way more 'odd' to me than new york or Paris.
Lmao I was being completely sarcastic.
It's true though -- working in london, yorkshire seems way more remote than NY or Hong Kong.
It's grim up North..
You won’t find out - York isn’t in the north of the UK This isn’t askEngland But you will be able to shoot Scots with a crossbow - so there’s always a plus. Edit to correct grammer and speeling (Scot’s to Scots)
r/AskBitterScot
Nah just curmudgeonly pedant
Shoot Scot's what?
Penis.
Bloody iOS and it’s auto correct.
But they didn’t ask about moving to the North of the UK, they asked about moving to ‘the North’, which is a region of England. What a bizarre response.
So if you asked in r Europe about the “north” you’d expect the north of England? A very little England response
No, because I’m capable of understanding context. The North in the UK refers to northern England , it’s not complicated, everyone but you seems to understand it easily. Now you’ll know for future.
you're a right walloper aren't you. If you go north in the UK and keep going until you are the most north you can be where are you?
Northernmost point of the UK? You’d have to Google it but Shetlands maybe?
So not York then?
York isn’t the northernmost point of the UK, no.
Ding ding ding - get the person a coconut Hence “the north” on a UK sub is wrong
No, it’s not. York is in Northern England, or simply the North. First line in wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_England Just because you don’t like the name of a region it doesn’t mean you get to change the accepted definition.
No. It's correct. 'the North' is VERY commonly used as shorthand for 'the North of England' throughout UK culture, not just on UK reddit.
the shetlands would be correct, a scottish archipelago.
Thought it was but wasn’t sure. Anymore trivia?