Solly - How things change 'ey!

JGR - Most informative, thanks. Like you say, as we're looking at renting it out we could be OK. All very useful information though.

PC1972 - Thanks for this. Sounds like a great deal but we currently live in Ashton U L and are looking to move closer to town so it's not really suitable. Thanks nonetheless.

SS - Above and beyond again, thanks. From your responses I could tell you worked in the field.
It seems our target budget might be fractionally ambitious for the areas we're aiming for. Feel free to offer other nuggets of info though!

Just to bring it back a bit, can anyone tell me what life is like in Weaste, Seedley or Langworthy these days? Surely someone lives there or has London taken over courtesy of Media City?

Blackburn must be a magnet: you can get to it from Manchester Victotia by train using either of two different routes! One (the new route) even passes through Rochdale and Burnley.

It's about to become the new "jewel in the crown" of Lancashire...mark my words

Well the area is as quiet and less troublesome as I can ever remember it. So that is one thing. The top end, Buile Hill Park etc., and Salford Quays is good for a stroll or jogging.

The only mither is that there isn’t much about in regards to services. You can get by for pubs, eating out, the odd bits and pieces of shopping. However, by and large, you’ll be travelling out, either to Salford Precinct, Eccles, Quays and further afield to do stuff or get stuff done.

Decent for commuting, although buses are limited at the bottom end and the tram trawling through the Quays might do your nut in after a while. The 10 (bottom end) & 67 (top end) buses run until gone 11, so you’ll be fine getting home from Salford matches.

edit
"The 10 (bottom end) & 67 (top end) buses run until gone 11, so you’ll be fine getting home from Salford matches [iafter queuing for many minutes in the rain and squeezing onto a single decker with 60 other fans[/i.

"It's about to become the new "jewel in the crown" of Lancashire...mark my words"
But it is no longer IN Lancashire!

Thanks bud. My auntie still lives in Weaste but I suspected her take on the area may not be quite right as she paints a gloomier picture. Then again she is 70+.
We had real problems with local hoodlums in Walkden who caused considerable damage to our place there. Keen not to walk into another "problem area".

It’s certain streets you need to avoiding rather than areas.

Isolated problem families you mean?
Probably worth me stating which street if we find something.

You're freaking me out HR, when did Blackburn stop being in Lancs???

I used to work in Blackburn when I lived in Salford and the journey by train was an absolute nightmare due to all the single track rail north of Bolton.

But it just shows you the difference in house prices between the North and the Sarff, I doubt I could buy a plot of land down here to build a house on! Having said that, where my parents live in Seedley is still a reasonably quiet area and you could get a 3 bed terrace for that.