i'm relocating from melbourne to birmingham quite soon. can any brits give me some advice/info about birmingham? i've never been there before, only visited london for a few days as a backpacker in 2003. the first thing i'll need is cheap temporary accommodation that's has easy access to public transport. is there a reliable site to look for short term (1-2 weeks) rentals? next thing will be to look for permanent accommodation. my workplace will be in wythall just off A435 hollywood bypass so i'm looking for somewhere either in the city centre or on the south side that will be convenient to get to work. what are the nice suburbs on the south side? and more importantly, which suburbs should i try to avoid (crime, lack of public transport, etc)? my family's preference would be to stay in an area with a strong chinese community. public transport - how are the buses and trains in terms of reliability, speed, places that they go to, price, etc? road cycling/commuting - is it common for people to ride to work or ride on the roads for fun/fitness? how are driver attitudes towards cyclists? is birmingham a flat or hilly city? is bike theft a major problem? most importantly, what's the badminton scene like in birmingham? should i bother to bring my racquets and shoes?
Mmm I am not from birmingham, but can try help in some way. The area where you are working looks a decent area. Basically most places in the south west of Bham are fine. I have no idea about short term rentals, there may be, but can your work not arrange some for you temproarily? Any cheap, short term rent in likely not to suit a family situation. With respect to Chinese community, again I am not much help, I can only say there is a large supermarket, where you should be able to get all the food you like - community wise I don't know. Public transport - good in my opinion, there will be plenty of buses all over birmingham and they are fairly cheap IMO (a day rider should be about £3-4), trains are more suited for longer journeys, taxi are pretty expensive. Overall though in the UK you are best advised to get a car.... Cycling - I would say it is not common for people to cycle to work, although there are city to city variations I don't believe birmingham has a large network of safe cycle routes. It is not very hilly, but not flat either, just a right balance. Cycling is common pastime for leisure in the country. On the most important aspect - Badminton - you are in Luck, birmingham has very strong badminton all over the city and I know there are some good clubs near your work (Barnt Green is the closest I think). When will you be arriving?
thanks for the info james. it's likely that i'll be moving to birmingham in late june/early july on my own first. once i find permanent accommodation then my family will move later. i'm planning to cycle to work on roads rather than on bike paths. paths are too slow. i also don't like wasting time waiting for public transport when i could be exercising on my bike instead. i've seen already that uk has many more brands of bikes than in australia, looks like i'll be having a great time bike shopping again i haven't touched my racquet for 4 months already, will try to get back into it in birmingham before my family arrives.
Ok, good luck & hopefully we will meet up at some point! Hopefully another birmingham member will enlighten us more.
I've worked and lived in Brum for a year (seems like ages ago now!), I wouldn't recommend cycling to work (if the office is in the city centre) due to loads of tunnels and flyovers. Buses frequency would depend on the route, but I found those from Perry Bar to the City to be quite frequent back then.
the office is about 10km south of birmingham cbd. google maps draws A435 to look like a major road but on street view it looks like just a regular suburban shopping street to me. possibly a bit narrow for slow cyclists so i'll have to ride faster
Not underestimating him or anything but I think qualification requires more than just recreational play...
You're one rank above me - the semis would be pushing it, just as long as you don't meet Lin Dan or LCW along the way.
you'd still have to break one of his legs and shatter both his wrists before we can hope to reach double figures in a game of singles with him though!
