Sunday Times’ 3 best places to live in Greater Manchester & what makes them great

Three Greater Manchester have been included in this year’s Sunday Times Best Places to Live list – the city centre, Sale and Stockport. These areas have all seen investment and regeneration in recent years, and are fast-becoming some of the most-sought after postcodes in the region.

But what is so special about them? Here is your guide to the three best places to live in Greater Manchester, according to the Sunday Times.

Sale

Sale is a town in Trafford that really started to grow in the 18th century thanks to the expansion of the Bridgewater Canal and beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Today it is home to around 60,000 people, according to 2021 census data.

It has become a popular place for families to live over recent years for several reasons – including schools. Trafford is the only borough that still offers the 11 plus entrance exams for state grammar schools. There are five schools in the Trafford Grammar School Consortium – Altrncham Boys, Altrincham Girls, Stretford Grammar, Urmston Grammar and Sale Grammar. It also has great transport connections, with a Metrolink stop in the heart of the town that sits on the line that runs from Altricham to the city centre and terminates in Bury.

One of the area’s main attractions, especially for people who love the outdoors, is Sale Water Park – an artificial lake created in the seventies as a by-product of the construction of the M60. The lake and the surrounding 152 acres of parkland are now an important nature reserve, home to all kinds of animals and plantlife. For the more adventurous among us, the park is also home to Trafford Water Sports Centre, that offers activities such as kayaking, paddle-boarding, windsurfing, sailing, with boat hires available on weekends. There’s also a beautiful walking route along the River Mersey that connects the park with neighbouring Chorlton Water Park.

The food and drink scene in Sale has also enjoyed a boost over recent years. There are plenty of bars, cafes, pubs and restaurants that people from all over Greater Manchester travel to visit. Some of the notable names include A Little Sweet, a bakery run by Hong Kong chef Jeffry Koo and Venus Tay, former contestants of Bake Off: The Professionals and, last summer, celebrity chef and Sunday Brunch host Simon Rimmer opened his second Greens vegetarian restaurant here. European-style bistro Perfect Match, located on Cross St in Sale, also made it into the Michelin Restaurant Guide.

The future is bright for Sale. Its central Stanley Square has already been transformed into a modern community hub, which was mentioned specifically in the judges’ comments, and regeneration projects continue with the construction of more office spaces in the town centre. On the arts and culture front, Sale also boasts the Waterside Arts Centre, which recently showcased the puppets created by a local animation studio for Guillermo Del Toro’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Pinocchio.

Stockport

Philosopher Fredrich Engels, in his 1845 book The Condition of the Working Class in England, wrote: “Stockport is renowned throughout the entire district as one of the duskiest, smokiest holes, and looks, indeed, especially when viewed from the viaduct, excessively repellent.” But that certainly is not the case today, at least according to the Sunday Times Best Places to Live judges, who say the formerly “bog-standard mill town” has transformed into a “funky, family-friendly alternative to Manchester’s Northern Quarter.”

The town may have come a long way since the Industrial Revolution, but remnants of that era still define the landscape of Stockport – including the viaducts Engels mentioned. Back then, Stockport was a leading town in the hat industry and is today home to one of Greater Manchester’s quirkiest tourist attractions, the Hat Works museum (although, it is currently closed for refurbishment).

It’s also a great place to live, as mentioned in the Sunday Times list, which says it has “brilliant independent shops, cafes and bars, it has good parks, decent schools.” While it does not have a Metrolink, a good number of the trains that travel through Piccadilly Station also pass through Stockport, so it is very easy to get to the city centre. The journey takes less than 10 minutes.

Like Sale, Stockport also boasts one restaurant featured in the coveted Michelin Restaurant Guide, Where the Light Gets in – a restaurant popular with celebrities and focuses on organic, locally-sourced produce. It also has the Vernon Hill Art Studio, home to a collective of 50-60 artists and a great place to browse and buy art, as well as Grade II-listed Stockport Plaza, which regularly hosts world-class performers.

Manchester city centre

Where do we even begin? We all know how great Manchester city centre is, both to live in and visit. In particular, the Sunday Times Best Places to Live judges highlighted Ancoats, the trendy neighbourhood that has sprung up over the last few years, consisting of converted mills and warehouses, as well as new builds. The judges have dubbed this the “benchmark for hip urban living.”

Other popular areas to live in the city centre include Castlefield, which sits on the Bridgewater Canal and is home to a number of bars and restaurants, the Northern Quarter, which is packed full of vintage shops and independent bars and cafes, and the Green Quarter. The numerous transport links mean that it is also very easy to travel around Greater Manchester and beyond. All the Metrolink lines run through the city centre, there are two train stations and regular buses from Piccadilly Gardens and other busy areas like Oxford Road.

The restaurant scene is also thriving, with a handful of Michelin Guide restaurants and one Michelin-starred restaurant Mana, located in – you guessed it – Ancoats. There is always something happening in the evenings in Manchester, especially in terms of arts and culture. While the arena showcases the top acts from around the world, there are also dozens of mid-size and small venues for music, comedy and theatre. If that’s not enough fun for you, there is a bustling nightlife, with clubs hosting DJs and playing music for all tastes – from metal heads to techno ravers.

The Manchester skyline has transformed drastically in the last decade and it shows no signs of slowing down. New developments are in the works for almost all corners of the city, including Port Street in the Northern Quarter, where a new high-rise has been green-lit, the former Central Retail Park in Ancoats, which is getting a new green space and First Street, where a new student halls and food hall are to be built.