soogies

Howdy Fodor People!

This is my first post and I'm asking a question for our college sophomore daughter.

She wants to spend a semester abroad next year and it looks like U. of Nottingham has the best classes for her.

I did a search for Nottingham here and there weren't very many good things said - like, it's the "gun capital of UK" and other remarks that make it seem like it's the ugliest city on earth.

I've read what little there is about the city in Fodors and Frommers and it doesn't seem bad at all. What's up?

Can anyone say something good???

Thank you!

crazychick

http://www.crimeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=528

gertie3751

The university has a good reputation.

carolinetaylor

Nottingham is an excellent place for a student (i spent three years in Nottingham as one so i should know). There are two universities both with a large population so it makes Nottingham a young persons city.

Of course it has its problems with guns and drugs, but you find me a UK city that doesn't.

NOttingham has some great shops, good nightlife, its lacking in museums and other cultural exhibits but it does have great transport links (2 hours direct train to London)

If your daughter decides on Nottingham i'm sure she'll have a great time as there is a vibrant foreign student population in both universities, and speaking as an ex-exchange student (i spent 6 months in the Netherlands) it was the best time of my life.

Apres_Londee

I only have second-hand information to offer, but my sister recently completed her MA at Leicester, which doesn't have such a stellar reputation itself. She likes going into Nottingham to shop, and a few weeks ago she took my parents into Nottingham for a daytrip when they were visiting her in Leicester. My parents had a great time, and from their trip photos it looks a nice place to me.

Don't be put off by things like "gun capitol", if you're from the US it will seem like a joke.

soogies

Thanks for your replies.

crazy - great link. It explained a lot.

gertie - yes, that's one of the reasons our daughter wants to go.

caroline - thanks for your input. I actually couldn't imagine how bad the city could be. I mean, worse than any large US city?? Glad to know that it seems like a great student place.

apres - yes, we're in the US so I like how you put the "crime problem" in perspective.

So now I know that the crime problem is not horrific and the city is a good student town. Good news!

I guess I was also wondering how "pretty" is it? Is it very industrial? Is it post WWII re-build? I was there about 100 years ago but do not remember much.

soogies

I meant to say I drove in the area many years ago, but did NOT spend time in Nottingham.

flanneruk

flannerclan members "studying" at Nottingham University like the place. It's got a reasonable academic reputation (going on excellent in some subjects), not that that matters to them, and - far more importantly - the town's compact enough for them to have good access to good clubs and bars. The guncrime thing scarcely impacts them, except to give them macho bragging rights over chums at home pretending to study in wimpy places like London, Liverpool or Glasgow.

From practically any other point of view than student hedonism, though, the place isn't so much ugly as yeuchy.

Unlike Britain's bigger cities, it has no real history of monument-building civic pride. Its centre is practically charm-free and interest-free: the rest of the city is little more than endless estates of perfectly liveable, but terminally dull, semi-detached houses. The reason you don't remember much is that there simply wasn't much to remember.

I don't know how typical this is, but it's interesting that flannerclan students at Nottingham migrate somewhere else (often home) many weekends, and seem not to have the close social networks there that their peers at Oxbridge or the big city universities have. But that might just be the individuals concerned.

Cholmondley_Warner

It is Britains worst city for gun crime - but the comparison with the USA is laughable.

It is the only place in Britain where ordinary coppers are routinely armed - but only in certain areas (mainly St Ann's).

The only people who are at risk in Nottingham are other drug dealers and gang members.

GSteed

Yes, but..Nottingham is also the site of an artificial whitewater canoe and kayak venue. It is similar to the one in Munich and Wausau, Wis. I have been on the course. I stayed in local hotels. This city also has connections with, Goose Fair...and Robin Hood.

Felschurch

Surely they have not cut down Sherwood Forest!

soogies

Thanks again everyone.

flanneruk - if you wish to share, what subjects are the little flanners studying? Our daughter is pre-law (political science major). Also, if you wish - where do your flanners go for fun on weekends? Our daughter loves to travel and has been to Europe a few times. Is there an airport nearby U Nott where she can catch Easy Jet or Ryan Air?

GSteed - Can you tell me the names of the local hotels you stayed in? We will be visiting her, of course. The kayak thing sounds like fun.

Thanks,

soogies

flanneruk

What on earth is U Nott?

The children seem to go home remarkably often at weekends: otherwise they seem to do pretty much the same at weekends as the rest of the week (drink, recover and not study.) But that seems no different from undergraduate life throughout eternity.

Heartier souls in Nottingham do outdoorsy things in the Peak District. East Midlands Airport is handy and an excellent cheapo airline hub, but the practicalities of weekend zapping round Europe not that straightforward (cheapos get surprisingly dearo if you go out on a Fri night/Sat am and return Sunday pm, and you're really not going to see much of Tuscany in the 24 hours between arriving at Pisa and having to leave.

However, there is a bit of a culture of collective pubcrawling in places like Amsterdam or Riga.

soogies

Sorry about the U Nott abbrev. - University of Nottingham.

I don't know how much flying she will do on weekends. She's thinking more about when she's on a longer break. She figures on taking a train somewhere in the UK on an occasional weekend.

willit

A rather silly point, but it is not normally pronounced Notting Ham (As in the Disney Robin Hood) - to my ears more Notting um.

(I am open to correction to those who live further north in the UK)

soogies

Thanks, willit. I, too, am a stickler for pronouncing things correctly!

GSteed

I arrived late and the RR hotel was locked. The taxi took me to the,Savoy. Weekend rates were on. The clerk asked if I wanted a drink. "Good idea.". He slipped on a red jacket and threw open the bar. In a few minutes we had a crowd...Lovely town!