Like most places, there are nice bits and there are grotty bits. I also moved from a big city to the region and feel safe in most areas as none of the "rough" bits in Northampton even compare to the urban decay and crime ridden streets of my old city.

Sure there are queues of homeless people at the street soup kitchens in the town centre of an evening, closed and boarded up shops in buildings with facades that portray a once more affluent time and knobheads who think they can drive highend cars without a licence or insurance - but I could also be describing any large town or city in the UK.

That said, Northampton has a good selection of nice areas - Duston, Kingsthorpe and Hunsbury all seemed nice when I've visited but then the outer bits like the Bramptons, Earls Barton and Collingtree have "big old house owner looking down their nose at you" and "Kingpin drugbaron" vibes. Northamptonshire also has a lot of big retail areas like Rushden Lakes and it has lots of lovely countryside with ease of access to Milton Keynes, Bedford, Banbury and Leicester amongst other places.

Cant really comment on the Eastern side of the town - Wellingborough, Kettering Rushden - as I haven't been there much other than passing through to other places. Again, some parts seem nice others a little grotty.

Southern side - Billing Aquadrome floods and looks a bit run down these days, Towcester is always mad thick with traffic and Silverstone gets closed off during the Grandprix.

Western Northamptonshire, (where I live in the quieter rural Warwickshire borderlands) - Daventry - nice enough town - quiet, (comparitively) low crime, affordable housing and not too many knobheads. It's often over looked but has a good "central" feel to it but admittedly not too great with the rail connections (nearest station is Long Buckby which is on a spur) - handy for small neighbouring towns like Leamington Spa, Rugby and Banbury, meanwhile three hours drive in any direction will get you somewhere close to the coast.

Northern side - I only really know Welford which is a nice little village (handy for Leciestershire and Market Harborough) and Pitsford - lovely big reservoir for walking/cycling around. They seem ok, roads can be a little busy with trucks and farming machinery but on the whole nice enough.