The best places to live in the north have been revealed – and four of them are in West Yorkshire.
If you ask us, every single part of West Yorkshire is a beauty – so it’s hardly surprising to hear that not one but four towns made the top of the Sunday Times’ list for Best Places to Live in the North and Northeast.
Seven Yorkshire towns featured in this year’s list, with Ilkley in West Yorkshire taking the top spot. The Sunday Times cited its ‘eco-conscious attitude along with its ‘good sense of humour with good looks’ as the reason for it making the top spot.
According to the paper, the former spa town “has a beating community heart, a business brain, culture and a good sense of humour” – referencing its eco-conscious climate action group, which secured funding for electric cargo bikes in the town and helped create the first designated bathing site in the UK here thanks to their Ilkley Clean River Campaign.
Here are the other West Yorkshire towns that made the list.
Todmorden
Known as the kindness town of Yorkshire, Todmorden’s community spirit is unrivalled in the Calder valley. Like Slaithwaite, it’s become a popular choice for commuters fleeing the city with trendy eateries like Latin American-inspired cantina Yakumama and The Golden Lion pub sitting alongside more upscale restaurants like The White Rabbit.
Chapel Allerton
Leeds’ Chapel Allerton, warns The Sunday Times, shouldn’t be dismissed as just “another fleeting hipster hotspot just because it’s got decent coffee and an arts centre.” Rather, it argues that its LS7’s winning combination of indie shops and community spirit puts it at the top of the list.
Slaithwaite
Surrounded by Pennine moorland, Slaithwaite is a charming choice for commuters given its location between Manchester and Leeds. Two craft breweries, artisan burgers at Rumpus and not-for-profit Handmade Bakery will appeal to those ex-city dwellers who can’t quite put their hipster comforts behind them.
