![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2_Platt-Fields-Park-GVs-on-April-1-2021.jpg\")
The former Owens Park tower visible from Platt Fields Park(Image: Adam Vaughan)<\/p>\nIt seems unlikely Fallowfield will lose its reputation as a student suburb anytime soon.The former Owens Park tower visible from Platt Fields Park(Image: Adam Vaughan)<\/p>\n
Their presence in Manchester has long been a divisive issue.<\/p>\n
Some say Fallowfield<\/a>\u2019s students \u2018add to the vibrancy\u2019<\/a> of the city. While others are not so keen on the noise they bring and say the overcrowded suburb reached saturation point years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n Town hall chiefs have been working to corral this population towards the city centre for some time.<\/p>\n In the last few years several purpose-built blocks have been thrown up in town to accommodate those who move to the city for its world-renowned universities.<\/p>\n In fact, 42 per cent more students moved to the city centre<\/a> between 2016 and 2022. And the number of students living in Fallowfield<\/a> dropped by a fifth in the four years from 2018.<\/p>\n The exodus is an idea many of the long-standing Fallowfield residents – tired of rowdy parties on their doorstep – have embraced.<\/p>\n But the area\u2019s reputation as a student village is far from over.<\/p>\n The University of Manchester<\/a> is investing millions into new halls of residence<\/a> divided into five \u2018neighbourhood clusters\u2019 – replacing several blocks marked for destruction.<\/p>\n That neighbourhood atmosphere is what appeals to many.<\/p>\n Speaking to students on a sunny April afternoon, they told us Fallowfield is about more than just drinks deals, late night off-license and cheap terraced housing – it\u2019s about the \u2018community vibe\u2019.<\/p>\n And they balked at the idea of prohibitively \u2018expensive\u2019 city centre living while living on a student loan.<\/p>\n \u2018The only people I know who live in town are loaded\u2019<\/strong> Alex Machell, who is in his final year of a Business degree at the University of Manchester<\/a>, has lived in Fallowfield for two years, like most of his friends.<\/p>\n The 21-year-old says it\u2019s the social life that first convinced him to move there and stay.<\/p>\n \u201cThe social life is alright,\u201d he says, speaking outside the big Sainsbury\u2019s on Wilmslow<\/a> Road.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s lots of stuff going on. Lots of pubs. And there are good house parties.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had a full-time job I think I might like to live in town but as a student it would be about \u00a3300 more expensive.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only people I know who live there are loaded and their parents pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Community vibes<\/strong><\/p>\n As the sun beams down on what was a record-breakingly hot April day in Manchester, the signage of the takeaways, pubs and bars along Wilmslow Road glisten.<\/p>\n They\u2019re all amenities Ruby Searle, 21, says drew her to Fallowfield in the first place. But beyond that, she says the area \u2018feels like a community\u2019 and that\u2019s why she\u2019s stayed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s expensive in town. It\u2019s just not as community vibes, the city centre is so big,\u201d she says. \u201cHere we know a lot of people who live on our road, like housemates from last year and there are parties.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a big part of the appeal – especially in first year. Not that we go to them much now, we stay inside.\u201d<\/p>\n Her housemate Luned Evans, 20, agrees. She says there\u2019s always something going on in Fallowfield, but the city centre can feel isolating.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like there is more choice here, whereas town seems a bit soulless,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s more isolated.<\/p>\n \u201cMy friend is in accommodation in town and says there is nothing really going on. Whereas Fallowfield is like a proper community.\u201d<\/p>\n The girls – both University of Manchester students – live in a house closer to Withington<\/a>. They have a big garden so don\u2019t see the need to relax in Platt Fields Park like many do sunny days.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it would be really hard to move the students to town because all the student pubs are still here,\u201d says Luned.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t want to live in high rise buildings. And students can\u2019t afford it.<\/p>\n “If the only option was to live in accommodation in town I would not have come to Manchester for uni.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruby says she can\u2019t see Manchester\u2019s student population ever abandoning Fallowfield for the city centre. And living among longer-standing residents is also part of the appeal.<\/p>\n \u201cThe students play a big part in the community and things are tailored to students,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth our neighbours on each side are non-students but we\u2019ve never had any problems with them.\u201d<\/p>\n Fallowfield lore<\/strong><\/p>\n As the girls wave goodbye and drag big bags of shopping down the road, an echo of the past suddenly zips by. A Magic Bus – once a fixture of the student suburb – parks up at the junction near The Friendship.<\/p>\n These giant blue sheds on wheels became a thing of the past when Andy Burnham<\/a>\u2019s yellow Bee Network buses took over earlier this year. But it\u2019s still possible to spot one in the wild as they wait for their new livery.<\/p>\n Offering \u00a31 bus fares along the Oxford Road<\/a> corridor for decades, the Magic Bus is part of the rich tapestry of Fallowfeld lore. One that speaks of perfect kebabs, celebrity alumni like Rik Mayall and the Chemical Brothers<\/a> and house parties so rowdy they were once debated in Parliament.<\/a><\/p>\n Eighteen-year-old Chelsey Vushe was certain she wanted to live in Fallowfield while studying for her Maths degree. But why?<\/p>\n \u201cThere are lots of students everywhere. There\u2019s plenty of places to eat. And people are friendly,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n She also thinks the residents of Fallowfield are more sociable than students living in the city centre. It\u2019s a perception her friend Fynlo Horn shares.<\/p>\n The 19-year-old says Fallowfield is home to some great parties in Freshers\u2019 Week.<\/p>\n \u201cI would definitely prefer to live here while I\u2019m at uni,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Times they are a-changin<\/strong><\/p>\n Both Chelsey and Fynlo live at the University of Manchester\u2019s Oak House – but could be among the last residents there.<\/p>\n It\u2019s one of several halls of residence earmarked for destruction to make way for new purpose-built accommodation.<\/p>\n The totemic 1960s Owens Park tower was razed earlier this year and now stands as a pile of rubble.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a startling site after the iconic building stood tall and proud for decades on a skyline otherwise populated by crowded terraces and Victorian semis.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_ABNM_MEN_20092023_STUDENT_MOVE_90161JPG.jpg\")
Many students now live in the city centre(Image: Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_IMG_3959.jpg\")
Alex Machell<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_Platt-Fields-Park-weather-on-June-22-2022.jpg\")
A man enjoys the sun in Platt Fields Park(Image: Adam Vaughan)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_JS354258809.jpg\")
Demolition work at the Owens Park site<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_101020fallowfield6.jpg\")
Passengers on a Magic Bus gesture to our photographer during the pandemic(Image: Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_IMG_3960j.jpg\")
Fynlo Horn and Chelsey Vushe<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Screenshot-2025-03-26-113643.jpg\")
How the new halls of residence in Fallowfield could look(Image: Sheppard Robson for University of Manchester via planning documents)<\/p>\n