If you were an alien coming to planet Earth and wondering where to set up home, we reckon Harrogate would come fairly high up on the list.
If you were Google-ing for ideas (don’t we all, sure aliens aren’t any different), then Harrogate was named the best place to live in the North by the Sunday Times last year.
And whilst we’ve a fond spot for many places in Yorkshire, we have to agree that there’s something very special about the town.
We often do removals for people moving within Harrogate, or to Harrogate, but less common is moving from Harrogate elsewhere. That’s got to be quite a big sign…
According to the Sunday Times it was a combination of things that led to it clinching the top spot. Outstanding schools, low crime rates and high house prices helped, along with a wealth of lovely, independent cafes, restaurants, bars and shops. There’s the wonderful Stray, a multitude of parks, and the famous Turkish Baths, which date back 120 years, and where you feel like you’re stepping back in time. As the paper put it, the town is cosmopolitan and elegant but still holding on to its ‘old-fashioned Yorkshire charm’.
With a population of just 75,000, the town attracts many more visitors. Although the Victorians and Edwardians who used to flock there to take the waters have long since disappeared, Harrogate has done well at reinventing itself. Harrogate Conference Centre attracts thousands of visitors every year (and who can forget that it was host to the Eurovision Song Contest in the 80s?), and green-fingered enthusiasts love RHS Harlow Carr. And of course, there’s Betty’s famous tea rooms – known across the world. There’s not many cafes where people happily queue out of the door for hours to enjoy a Fat Rascal.
And if being the best place to live wasn’t enough – Harrogate was also named the Happiest Place to Live in Britain! (three times in a row, if we’re counting…it was knocked off its top spot last year, but we don’t talk about that…)
24,000 people were asked to rate their local area based on 12 criteria, which included neighbourliness, recreational facilities, sense of community, safety, amenities, space, living costs, upkeep, contentment and pride. Unsurprising then that Harrogate scored highly!
It’s safe to say Harrogate is definitely going to remain in the top 10s for many years to come. It’s one of the reasons we have a self storage centre in the town, as we know the property market is competitive and people often have to move out before they can secure the house of their dreams. We can safely store their items so that when the time comes, they’re in a great position to buy. We’re also on hand if people are running out of space at home, but that old-favourite ‘location, location, location’ means they don’t want to move. Treat one of our storage units as an extra room so your home can feel more spacious again!
If you’re looking to move to or from Harrogate, why not give our removals team a call on 01423 222436?
