Connected Communities How convenient is your neighbourhood?
WAVERTREE is the bestconnected place on Merseyside, according to new figures – but what’s it really like living in the city’s most convenient area?
Official statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the area between Salisbury Road and Woodcroft Road, in L15, to be Merseyside’s best-connected to services and amenities.
The study ranks every one of 32,844 neighbourhoods in England, based on how long the ONS says it takes an average person to reach primary and secondary schools, GP surgeries and food shops, plus major railway stations and airports.
The study shows that residents of the area are less than 10 minutes away from schools on foot and the proximity to GP surgeries and hospitals also ranked highly.
Other factors in the area’s favour was Liverpool John Lennon Airport being just 38 minutes away by public transport and Liverpool Lime Street, 26 minutes away.
We visited the area to ask residents whether they feel it rings true.
Tim, a resident of Portman Road, said: “It’s pretty good. It’s close to the city. I can jump on a bicycle and I can be there in 10 minutes.
“You can walk to Sefton Park in half an hour and you’ve got several supermarkets on your doorstep. I can go down the bottom of the road and get a bus to the airport, which I do frequently.
“Smithdown Road is quite good, quite a lot of bars. It’s a decent place, multi-ethnic, quite diverse.
“It’s much more affordable than around the Sefton Park area.”
Patricia, who lives in Granville Road, also praised the connections to public transport: “The buses are good. The 86 takes you right into town”.
Meanwhile, Hightown, between Formby and Crosby, came out as the most “isolated” place in Merseyside in the same study, with an average of 22 minutes to a primary school and 25 minutes to a secondary school by foot or public transport.
GP surgeries in Hightown are on average 15 minutes away, by walking or public transport, while it takes 51 minutes to get to hospital on public transport.
It takes 76 minutes to get to Liverpool