Are you considering relocating to Leeds? Here are five reasons why moving to Leeds could be the best thing you ever do…
 

1. The transport connections are brilliant

By car or train, you can be in Liverpool in an hour, Manchester in 40 minutes, Hull in 45 minutes and London in a little over two hours. If you want to escape to the countryside at the weekends, the Yorkshire Dales are less than an hour’s drive away, and there are lots of lovely towns to visit, such as Settle, Skipton, Grassington, Malham and Aysgarth Falls.

By road, you can travel anywhere north and south on the M1, or west and east on the M62, and you can be on either motorway in under 10 minutes from the city centre.  

The train station in Leeds will connect you to any number of outlying towns and villages for a commute of under 30 minutes, or further afield to any major city in the country. 

For longer journeys, Leeds/Bradford airport is 40 minutes from the centre by car or bus, and will connect you with the rest of the UK, Europe and beyond - or you can take a train to Manchester Airport in about the same amount of time.
 

2. You don’t have to go anywhere else!

Having transport connections is brilliant if you need to commute to further afield, or just want to visit other cities, the countryside or the coast, but Leeds itself has a wealth of social, cultural and natural attractions to keep you busy at home.

Within the city centre, you can visit the Leeds City Museum and the Art Gallery, whilst the fascinating Thackray Museum of Medicine, the Royal Armouries (complete with regular jousting demonstrations), and scenic Kirkstall Abbey are a short taxi ride away. In fact, you can take the free water taxi down the wharf to reach the Royal Armouries if you want to arrive in style! 

The Corn Exchange is also worth a visit - this is a beautiful, circular, Victorian building that’s home to dozens of small independent shops and cafes.  Next door, the recently regenerated Leeds Indoor Markets is a foodie paradise with street food and takeaways from all over the world freshly cooked to order.

Around Leeds centre, there are several villages and small towns like Menston, Guiseley, Ilkley, Bramhope, Adel and Horsforth that have all the amenities you could want, but still retain their Yorkshire charm. If you choose to settle here rather than within the city centre, you can take the train, park and ride, or drive to work in half an hour.
 

3. Friendly locals

If you’re moving from London, you might find Leeds a tad unnerving at first - just like in many Northern areas, the locals will chat to strangers, smile at each other and offer help if someone looks lost.  If you are lost and ask a local, you’ll probably receive directions peppered with less helpful information, such as “turn left by where the bus station used to be” but our hearts are in the right place!
 

4. Green spaces

The Yorkshire Dales are an easy drive away, and closer to home you’ll find plenty of green spaces in and around the city centre.  If you have half an hour for lunch, take your sandwiches to Park Square, where it’s surprisingly quiet and serene, with plenty of benches, stretches of well-tended grass and lots of trees to sit beneath.

For day trips or afternoon picnics, head to Roundhay Park, Middleton Park or Golden Acre Park - all run by Leeds City Council, with no parking charges.  Roundhay and Middleton have children’s play areas, whilst Golden Acre has forests, a circular lake walk, and easy access to a wildfowl reserve (called Adel Dam) run by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.  If you visit Golden Acre in March/April and you’ll see the park at its most beautiful, with all its colourful rhododendrons in bloom; visit in autumn and the squirrels will be very happy to relieve you of any nuts and seeds you’d like to hand-feed to them! 
 

5. Thriving economy

Leeds has a diverse economy and most recently has become a hub for digital industries (the Leeds Digital Festival, held for two weeks each autumn, is always popular).  

The economy is thriving, thanks to many of the points above - people like to live and work in Leeds, and big businesses find it economically viable to establish themselves here.  

If you decide to move to Leeds (and why wouldn’t you?), we have storage facilities on Roseville Road to the north, near St James’s Hospital, and York Road to the east of the centre.  We can help if you need to store your belongings while you settle into your new home or office.