Sunday Times best places to live: Sheffield's Kelham Island runner up in North's top locations

The Sunday Times’ Best Places to Live guide is released annually and this year Sheffield, more specifically Kelham Island, has been named one of the top locations in the region. Sheffield is one of seven regional runners-up behind the winner of the North and North East area, which has been revealed to be Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear.

Listing the entry as “Sheffield (Kelham Island), South Yorkshire” on the guide, The Sunday Times said: “After a difficult few years, thoughtful new investments are putting the buzz back into Sheffield city centre. In many areas it’s more about potential than finished product, but the rise of Kelham Island into a fashionable world of hip hangouts and urban chic shows what can be achieved with a bit of effort.”

The list is determined when the judges visited each of the locations, assessing factors from schools to transport, broadband speed to culture and access to green spaces and the health of the high street. The other runners-up in the North and North East were Holmfirth, Ilkley and Leeds in West Yorkshire; Ouseburn in Newcastle, Thirsk in North Yorkshire and Wooler in Northumberland.

In October 2022, Time Out magazine named Kelham Island one of the “coolest neighbourhoods in the world”. The district was placed in 35th on the 51-strong list of the best bits of global cities.