If you drive out from the centre of Bristol for about half an hour, wind around a couple of country roads and emerge in front of a giant, slightly out-of-place Tesco building, you have stumbled across Yate.
What is it like?
A couple of years ago, the most interesting shops were The Works and a few charity shops, but recently Yate has 'upped its game'. I'm not entirely sure why we're suddenly getting so many popular, mainstream shops- I couldn't believe it when I found out we were getting a Starbucks
Is it expensive to live there?
The houses are decently priced: you can find a good selection from £250,000 to £800,000 so it's fair to say you can find something within your budget. A pleasant semi/ detached house is usually priced somewhere around the £300,000 mark, and more and more new houses are being built either in the area or its neighbouring town of Chipping Sodbury. The cost to live there is entirely dependent on your lifestyle- you could easily spend a lot of money if you're the kind of person who has a gym membership, goes food shopping three times a week and goes out for coffee with friends weekly.
How about the education options?
In all honesty, the schools aren't brilliant: most of them are rated to be either 'Good' or 'In need of improvement'. Because of this, many children travel from Yate to Bath/central Bristol in order to get an Ofsted 'outstanding' secondary school education, which isn't cheap, but there are plenty of primary schools and the secondary schools in Yate working their way up the league tables every year.
What about things to do?
For the kids and dog walkers, there's a good amount of green space, notably Kingsgate Park. A new Cineworld is opening in the recently built Riverside retail park and the youth café 'The Armadillo' was built a few years ago. The shopping centre is hit and miss. The most popular shops are New Look, Next, Dorothy Perkins, CEX, Game, The Body Shop and Boots, but there's not a whole lot of variety in anything that isn't clothes or food. There seems to be two coffee shops per normal shops, and at least four Costa cafes specifically. As well as this, there's nowhere to buy books or CDs, unless you count Tesco, which I do not.
All in all, if you're a student who loves the hustle and bustle of a vibrant town, or a classy businessperson who needs quick and easy access to the biggest cities, perhaps look elsewhere, but Yate is a great town, particularly for young families and those in retirement.
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