Coventry area, UK
 

Dear Fodorites, I'm taking up a job in Coventry for six months and I'm looking for information about the area. What are the high and low points? What are the desirable areas to live, either in Coventry proper or within a 20 mile commute? Thanks for the help.

The low point is probably Coventry itself. It's improved a bit in recent years, but generally it's a bit grim.
The surrounding area is fine though, particularly to the south. Some of the most desirable towns being Leamington, Warwick, Stratford, Kenilworth, which are all within 15 miles, and a host of smaller villages.
Being as it's right in the middle of the UK, access to most other places is very good, for example, London is little more than an hour away by car.

I lived there for a few months. There were 2 low points, for me.

Firstly, there is very little of the old town that the Germans didn't destroy and therefore the city centre is a visual lesson in how not to use concrete in large quantities.

Secondly, speaking as a former roads engineer, the ring road around downtown sucks. On and off ramps within a very short distance of each other equates to a significant chance of vehicular accidents every half mile around it.

I'd plump for Royal Leamington Spa is I were you.

Another vote for Leamington Spa or Warwick, failing either of those, consider Solihull or possibly Rugby.

Kert, Stellarossa, Julia, thanks for the input. I've done a bit of wikipedia research and Leamington Spa / Warwick indeed sound like good options. I wonder if you can answer some more questions. How bad is traffic? (I'll be working in south Coventry, near U of Warwick). Is life in Leamington Spa dominated by students? (I'm in my mid-30s)

Life in Leaming Spa is dominated by the geriactic folks living there in retirement homes. Warwick is a very quiet town - younger folk i think will be happier in Coventry and its university influence. I stayed in Coventry a few nights and found it rather nice, in spite of the dour concrete mass of the town center. If looking for quaint older looking towns Warwick and Leamington Spa - more youthful and vibrant Coventry.

Geriatric? That's not the Leamington Spa I know. It has quite a young sophiticate(ish)night scene, which I should thing would be a good fit for someone in their 30's. There are a lot of new bars and restaurants and the coffee shop scene has really taken off.
The car jouney to south Covetry is fine, about 15 minutes from the centre of Leamington.
Also consider Warwick, as the two towns are more or less joined up.

quite a contrast of opinions here, geriatric vs young sophisticate-ish...
I was under the impression that many people working at U of Warwick live in Leamington?

I'll have to admit it was a long time ago i was in Leamington Spa and that's what it seemed like but i defer to your more recent observations.

Hehe, palq quotes from their 'european tour: 1976' journal once again.

Leamington will suit you just fine, Eric.

Stellarosa: this time you have a valid point.

Author: Stellarossa
Date: 08/09/2006, 12:52 pm
I'm guessing it's a real slow day in the cubelife of palq, right?

Just had to post something, anything so people knew you were still around?

Flash your lights. Don't flash your lights. Do you ask people what you should eat for dinner each day? You sound like those sad people who call into Dr Laura and ask things like 'I am my mother's son, am I morally obligated to go to dinner with my husband's wife because the last Christmas but one she left my name off her christmas card?'

No one cares.

Author: Stellarossa
Date: 08/09/2006, 02:23 pm
The only song I recall with those lyrics was by PiL, a song called Rise released in 1985.

So to stop you being bored, we have to endure your banal postings on whatever pops into your head. Yeah, thanks for that.

I'm sure you expected me to post something along the lines of 'OH NOES!!!1!! PalQ is doing the opposite of what I wanted!!' No cigar, not close.

Author: Stellarossa
Date: 08/09/2006, 01:15 pm
Well some people post to give and receive useful information.

Your opinion changes during a posting because your are easily influenced which is borne out by the fact that you asked the question in the first place whereas everyone else would flash or not flash and wouldn't feel the need to ask strangers on the interwebs whether they should or not.

I don't rate Dr Laura. A blanket belief that every mom should stay home with their kids until they are of school age is rather hackneyed and simply not credible in the 21st century.

All very interesting Pal_Q, and thanks for your input. Coming back to the subject at hand, anyone has other comments?

From what I've been reading so far I'm more inclined towards Leamington. One drawback I see about Leamington is the apparently large number of drunks on weekends, another the price of housing.

Are there nice areas in south Coventry?

The University of Warwick is just off the main road between Coventry and Kenilworth. Have a look at Kenilworth; it's fairly small, quiet, pretty - generally a nice place to live. You can easily get from there into Coventry, and south to L/Spa and Warwick for entertainment. The only drawback with Kenilworth is that it's quite pricey these days.

Coventry itself has a reputation for being a bit dismal, but it's not a bad place really. I was there a few months ago and was pleasantly surprised by how well-kept it looked compared to how it used to 20 years ago.

South Coventry is the better part of town; the area around the university is quite posh. North Coventry is not great, and not as convenient for your work.

I was born in Coventry and grew up in Kenilworth (live in Canada now), so if you have other quetions, let me know.

Tania

One drawback I see about Leamington is the apparently large number of drunks on weekends, another the price of housing.>>>>>>

Welscome to Britain old bean. There are pissed people in EVERY town centre. That's why most sensioble people avoid them at weekends.

As for house prices; it's a national obsession.

Leamington Spa is pretty and quiet in a hycinth Bucket kind of way. Coventry is much more lively, for good and bad (to give you an idea of what it was like try and listen to a copy of "Ghost Town" by the Specials - it's about Coventry in the 80s)

Tania, Audere,
Thanks a lot for your input. I'll let you know if I think of other questions...

Tania, I'm going to visit the area next month and I'll take a look around. Can you recommend specific areas in Leamington where I should look, and areas where I shouldn't bother?

Like listening to Ghost Town is going to give you an idea of what a place was like a quarter century ago? That's some piss-poor research.

Hi Eric,

I'm afraid I'm not an expert on housing in Leamington; I know it as a place to shop, etc., but not as a place to live. Can anyone else out there help Eric?

Stellarossa, I don't understand your comment. Audere mentioned Ghost Town but only as an indication of what Coventry used to be like in the 80s. I don't think anyone is suggesting it is still true today. (Good song, though...)

Good luck with your trip - you'll love it!

Tania

First let me just that this is my first post, so be gentle please.

I live in Leamington, and it's a pretty nice place. I've only lived here since March though, so not sure what it used to be like before then. It's got a number of good shops, most of the chain stores, and there's a big Sainsbury's on the edge of town, and 24 hour Tesco in Warwick.

Warwick and Leamington are lovely places, and Coventry is easily reachable from both. Both have a lot of areas that are pedestrian friendly, which I quite like, and public transport is good. There's a bus that runs to the uni from a few main stops in Leamington & Warwick and a few places along the way if you would like to take that instead of driving.

There are quite a few nice restaurants for dinners if you like them and a few clubs in Leamington if you like going out. The clubs aren't fab, but they're not all cheesy either; I prefer going out in Birmingham, but that's a personal preference based on musical taste. There are also some clubs in Coventry, but I've only been to one or two and I didn't think too much of them.

We looked at moving to Coventry, but we didn't really find any areas that we wanted to live in. It's a dreary town to me, full of concrete 60's & 70's housing stock. This is slowly changing, but there's a lot of grey around, and the ring roads are a nightmare.

Solihull is lovely, but a bit of a trek in the mornings; the commute isn't nice in my opinion, but the city itself has a lot of nice restaurants & good shopping. Kenilworth is a lovely little town, but it's not open that late, and they role up the streets at 5 most nights; when we looked at real estate there it was more than we'd be paying in Leamington and for a flat, not a house.

Most of the areas of Leamington are nice, though the Lillington area can get a bit dicey as there's a big council high rise and the police are seen there quite often. It's not all bad, I live in that area, but there are some streets I'd probably avoid. I pay £600pcm for a 2BR, 1 Bath semi with a garage and good size garden. Council tax is roughly £150/month.

That's all I can think of for the moment, but if you have any other questions, please feel free to let me know. :)

Tania, what bit don't you understand? To tell someone to listen to song to get an idea of what a city was like years ago is stupid and, of course, doesn't work.

unicornfl, thank you very much for your detailed response. I'm going to the area for a couple of days in October and I'll check out some apartments. I'll spend a couple of nights in Leamington, can you recommend some restaurants or pubs in a lively area (price range 20 -30 GBP)?

Eric - you're doing the best thing by going to have a look round. Will you have a car? That would be best as you can then spend some time exploring Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth, Solihull and any other places you are considering.

I lived in Leamington for 2 years when I was studying at the University of Warwick (which is actually in Coventry, not Warwick). Admittedly, I left 10 years ago so the place could be very different now.

I used to laugh when I told people I lived in Leamington as the reaction was along the lines of how did I cope as a student living in a quiet, genteel, middle-England town like "Royal Leamington Spa".

Little do many people know that the town is lived in by thousands of students. Generally, they all live in the south part of the town and it's noticeable how the Parade (the main shopping street) changes half way down and the housing is very different from here.

It sounds like Coventry has changed quite a lot over recent years and so I probably can't say much about it - the most desirable parts did seem to be in the southern parts of the city towards the University of Warwick.

I agree with Where2Travel in that you can tell where the student section starts in Leamington. This isn't a bad thing and I've not seen the type of behaviour I was expecting in student sections, i.e. not a lot of folks bent over losing their dinners or flashing things they shouldn't, things that I saw a few too many times when I was a student a few years ago. That's not to say you won't see it, but it tends to be off the main strip that it happens.

The Thai Elephant is a bit kitsch, but is fun and has good service, and it fits your price range. It's within a 2 minute walk of the Parade as well. Piccolinos in Warwick has good Italian food with good service; there's one in Leamington but the service isn't a good. Macky's in Leamington is good for late night drinks, and not bad for lunch though can be a bit pricey as it mostly caters to business lunches. Chicos in Leamington has decent Mexican food, though it's not like you'll find in the States. The Art Kitchen in Warwick is good for nice Thai lunches or dinners. Toyk, as well as Armaan, are both good choices in your price range. There's a tapas place next to Armaan that's good as well, but I can't remember the name of it right now.

Pubs, I like some traditional, some kitsch, some studenty, so the ones on the list are probably a mix of all of them. Murphy's in Leamington for the atmosphere, Mumbaii Bluu in Leamington, Moo Bar in Leam for the beautiful people, and Cuba in Leam. The Tilted Wig in Warwick normally has some good speciality ales on tap that they rotate, but the food for lunch can be a bit pricey; they do nice seafood meals though.

All the restaurants I've listed are near the main areas of Warwick or Leamington so you should be able to find them with no problems or if you ask anyone in town they can direct you to them. :)

To be honest though, have a look around the Parade (that's the high street) and the streets surrounding it and go in a restaurant that catches your eye. :) We've got the typical chains like Ask, Zizzi and Pizza Express if all else fails or Wetherspoons or Yates if you want to hit chain pubs.

If you're not driving, most of the buses leave from the Parade and there's good transport links between Leam, Warwick and Kenilworth, with buses to Stratford from there as well. There's construction at the bottom of the Parade at the moment and it's pretty much closed off to traffic, but it should be open by the time you come to visit.

Where2Travel, unicorfl,
thanks for your replies. Yes, I will probably rent a car for a day to check out the area.