r/Cardiff • u/ginspaw • 8d ago
Scared to move because of Cathays’ reputation.
Hi everyone, sorry if I’m just worrying over nothing, but I’m really stressing out about moving to Cardiff for University because apparently there’s loads of crime in the Cathays area (where i’ll be staying).
I’ve had a few people tell me and I’ve been reading online that apparently Cathays is a dangerous area (especially for women) and it’s really freaking me out. All I’m seeing online is how high the crime rates are and articles from days ago about students that have had bad experiences or have been attacked themselves. I’m nervous about going to University anyway but learning about how scary the area is and how much crime happens there is really worrying me since I’m always super jumpy about being hurt or approached at night or when I’m alone even when I’m in familiar places.
I’ve already secured my accommodation in the area but now I’m seriously considering requesting to move to a different one even if it’s further away from the building I’ll be studying. Am I overreacting or is it really that bad? I’m really freaking out about it and I can’t stop panicking.
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u/PhyllostachysBitch 8d ago
It's totally fine. It's a million miles away from south London. And a trillion miles away from Haiti.
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u/ExtraNewspaper2973 8d ago
Cardiff is broadly speaking very safe. Cathays itself is especially safe - it’s a densely packed area with a whole bunch of students living there, and it’s pretty well monitored along a lot of the main roads - the kind of area that discourages would be criminals from committing any sort of horrendous crimes. Crime statistics for the area, and for Cardiff as a whole, can get skewed quite easily because the population is low and the crime rate is pretty low, so one or two crimes can make the statistics appear much worse. If you’re a woman moving to Cathays on your own, you should be as safe as any major city in the U.K., if not safer. I can’t speak to the security of the uni campuses or accommodations because I didn’t attend uni in Cardiff, but I (M) lived in Cathays for a year and never had any trouble whatsoever, beyond a bike theft (which WILL happen to you if you have a bike in Cardiff, unfortunately)
My partner lived in Cathays for four years and said it’s among the safest places she’s ever lived, and felt safer than the city we live in now (Leeds)
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u/ginspaw 8d ago
Thank you so much! That’s super reassuring. I never even considered that the crime statistics could be skewed, I think I was just blinded with panic 😭
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u/Pineapple-n-Olives 8d ago
Maybe look at the crime statistics where you currently live. You'll see nearly everywhere seems dodgy when you view those.
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u/Yetts3030 8d ago
Also worth noting the crime statistics for Cathays also include a huge chunk of the city center so all the shoplifting/Friday and Saturday night drunken fights etc get lumped into Cathays. N.b. I'm not saying the city center is unsafe, it's also a pritty safe place, but there tends to be more crime in city centres then residential areas generally and this combination makes Cathays look much worse on paper than it is in real life.
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u/PM-me-your-knees-pls 8d ago
Moving away from home for the first time is naturally very stressful. There are currently thousands of other people who (whether they show it, or admit it or not) are going through the same emotions. Nowhere is 100% safe but by any standards Cardiff is pretty chill.
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u/Ashbiz_1 8d ago
It's generally safe as everyone saying. If you are worrying about your safety at night, you may always walk back home with your housemates or ask someone to walk you back especially when you're returning late from a night out.
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u/ExtraNewspaper2973 8d ago
Sorry, I’m splitting my comments up cause my phone gets all laggy and shit when I type really long paragraphs.
Town, as in the centre of Cardiff and where all the clubs and good stuff is, is a little bit different. In the daytime it’s fine, but it can get quite dicey at night, particularly Queen Street, the Hayes, and (to a lesser extent) St Mary’s Street. These three are the main shopping/clubbing/dining streets of Central Cardiff, IE almost no permanent residents, which means they are a little weird at night since the only people still around are either pissheads passing through or homeless people. These streets aren’t NECESSARILY dangerous, but they are marginally moreso than residential Cathays just by their nature.
The only other important parts of town to mention are I think Bute Park. Bute Park is the main public park of Cardiff - it’s a pretty massive set of fields and forest, with a river, and it basically cuts central Cardiff in half along the taff. It’s absolutely lovely in the day and normally full of people, but at night it’s pitch black and they lock a good half of the entrances, making it even harder to cut through it quickly. I used to have to walk through it alone every night at around 11 or 12, and it was pretty fucking scary, but that’s just cause it was pitch black. I would very rarely see anyone else in there at that time though.
Culture-wise, if you’re not speaking just to fellow students, you’re going to be speaking with welsh people, and they’re among the friendliest you can probably find across the whole country. You can usually rely on a member of the public to help you if you’re ever in need. Sometimes welsh people can maybe be over-familiar: the Valleys Lads that filter into town on the weekend can be A Lot, but for the most part they’re harmless and loud.
Overall, it’s totally fine. I’d maybe avoid being a girl alone on the street late at night, but if I were a girl I’d do that absolutely everywhere anyway. Don’t leave your doors unlocked, avoid walking down any isolated alleys without cameras or windows facing on to them. Keep an eye on your drink, try not to engage too much with any smackheads. Common sense stuff you know. You’ll be fine, you’re going to have a great time.
Avoid Caroline Street on game days. Well, maybe go just once for the culture cause really it’s something you have to see in order to believe. Keep your shoes on.
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u/Key-Moments 8d ago
Lol. Keep your shoes on !!!
Caroline Street is a famous chip shop and takeaway heaven in Cardiff city Centre. Not Cathays. Its bustling and has a vibe of its own and I am a middle aged / older woman and I still head there at some point during a night out, but the streets are NOT paved with gold. I am amazed at the hard work of the clean up crew !
Cathays is fine. Its densely packed with students. It has plenty of shops and food options and many people can spend a lot of.time.there quite easily without ever wandering into town. As a student its a great place to live and meet people and is an easy wander from town and uni.
The only thing that ticks me off is the rubbish. The houses are terraced in the main often without big front yards so the bin bags get left out on bin day and the sea gulls rip into them so it can look a bit off-putting on bin day. Again. Don't take your shoes off and watch your feet. Just be mindful of it as it doesn't make a good impression if you hit it on the wrong day. But most cities with dense populations are lving with the same situation so ...
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u/litfan35 Plasnewydd/Roath 8d ago
Maybe I'm jinxing it now or maybe my bike just looks so grotty no one will touch it, or maybe I just know how to lock it up properly, but I've been cycling everywhere on it in Cardiff for the past 10 months. It's an ebike as well, but not an obviously electric model (it's a legal one, not one of the annoying mini motorbikes deliveries use). Parked it all over, never had a problem. Even overnight in central station a few nights once. Starting to think this bike theft thing is a myth 😆
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u/Equal-Pain-5557 8d ago
“Reading online” - just remember that no one posts a message saying “I lived in this area for x years and it was absolutely fine”. Cardiff is actually pretty safe - counterintuitively, hearing about the nasty stuff happening is an indicator of it being newsworthy.
Your standard rules apply: don’t walk home alone late at night, keep your wits about you, and remember that taxis are dirt cheap in Cardiff.
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u/Illustrious-End-5084 8d ago
The crime in this area is going to be mostly petty. Like drunken behaviour or theft. If you’re not out in the night getting hammered you are very unlikely to experience any crime.
The reason crime stats might look bad is there are lots of young people making poor decisions on booze.
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u/Birthday_Educational 8d ago
Me and my wife have lived in Catheys for the last ten years and have never had any problems at all. In fact we had much more problems in Whitchurch (considered by some to be a posh area) .
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u/ProfessionalHat5620 8d ago edited 8d ago
Cathays is awesome. So safe you can crawl home on your hands and knees without anyone taking any notice. Just don’t get in any sketchy taxis… that’s a rule of life though not just for Cardiff
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u/ChuckStone 8d ago
If youve been looking at the ward crime figures, dont be alarmed.
The Cathays Ward includes the city centre. The vast majority of crime happens there, in the pedestrianised parts of town, and gets registered to Cathays. Also the university itself. Universities are hotbeds of crime... same story, lots of partying leads to crime... but it only affects you if you're involved.
Therea a fair amount of drug dealing going on, but that only affects people who buy drugs.
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u/PartyPoison98 8d ago
Cathays is fine. The vast majority of students live there without issue. The worst I ever saw there was other students being a bit drunk and rowdy.
If Cathays is too much for you, you might as well write off most of urbanised UK.
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u/FirstAd226 8d ago
Cathays dangerous? What a silly suggestion, place is no more dangerous than any other city centre area
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u/Icy_Valuable_2204 8d ago
Mate Cathays is calm you got nothing to worry about if anything 95% of the people living there are students just like you. I’ve walked home through cathays countless times absolutely battered and never thought twice about anything happening. I think more cautiously about being safe back home in fact. What accom are you in?
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u/GreyScope 8d ago
^ this, lived there for 4years , no problems at all, pubs etc are really laid back due to the students ironically
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u/IronRoots 8d ago
Seriously, where isn’t ‘dangerous’ these days?
Cardiff has always been a city of culture.
Just be on your guard, cycle / walk where you can, get registered cabs and don’t put yourself in dangerous situations. Cathays is one of the many hearts of the city and has some stunning history! There are so many students. Enjoy it :)
ETA: typo
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u/superalifragilistic 8d ago
I was a student in Cathays 20 years ago, have lived all over but came back to settle here in my 40s. I love this community and have never lived anywhere I've felt safer as a single female! Precisely because it's a student area and there's a constant flow of people heading back from town any night of the week. Even if you're alone, you won't stand out. Obviously take reasonable precautions - stay with a friend if you're hammered, avoid the park, don't wear headphones. Closer to Maindy and Whitchurch Road is more young professional/family than closer to Roath. My street is a lovely mix of students, families, DINKies and retirees!
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u/superalifragilistic 8d ago
Also, Cardiff Uni has a scheme for students where if you're out at night and don't have money for a taxi, you can give the driver a code, and the uni gets charged. You'll get a bill from uni the next day.
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u/RatBoyPlague 8d ago
Hi! Also a student here. We moved in a few months back and the closest we’ve seen have seen to crime is the rats stealing from the rubbish bins. Obviously stay aware of your surroundings and all that but it hasn’t seemed to be particularly problematic
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u/imdpum 8d ago
You can view the police crime map which will show you where/what/when various crimes occurred.
https://www.police.uk/pu/your-area/south-wales-police/cathays/?tab=CrimeMap
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u/Grouchy-Kangaroo-390 8d ago
I’m in cathays constantly and never see any trouble. If anything it’s the students just messing around 😂
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u/InspectionSame9859 8d ago
Cathays is super safe! I lived there for years alone with a child and I never had any problems. It's probably one of the safer areas of Cardiff in fact. I think because it's never really quiet it helps. There are always people out and about (usually students).
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u/McLeamhan Trowbridge Raised Gremlin 8d ago
cathays is slightly shithole-ish but it's not dangerous, not even near the most dangerous in cardiff either.
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u/RisingMermo 8d ago
It's not as bad as you think. It's very safe and from my experience, the only trouble you'd really find is at night (but super rare) or nearer the city centre and that's mainly drunk people. Cardiff is generally quite safe
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u/Godlovesaslytherin 8d ago
As far as how safe inner city Cardiff is. Cathays is about the safest area really.
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u/ShockrUK 8d ago
I have lived in Cathays for the past 15 years, never had a problem. You have to remember that statistics are based on reported crimes. Unlike places where they don't report crime because they deal with it themselves or they just don't want the police involved. There are areas I wouldn't go in Cardiff long before I'd worry about Cathays. I recall once being told that the crime rate is high because students have house parties and get their expensive laptops and stuff stolen. Affluent students are far more likely to report a crime. Just my 2p.
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u/gluestickbb666 Adamsdown 8d ago
I lived in Cathays for 5 years and the only crime I ever heard of was bike theft or the occasional burglary (usually done to people who left doors/windows unlocked or open). It’s definitely the area of Cardiff that I’ve felt safest living in and only moved out of it because of the hassle with parking🤣 You’ll love it after you’ve settled in !
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u/fxrevergirl 6d ago
Having lived in cathays for three years now, please don’t let this put you off. It has been a very rare occasion when i’ve felt unsafe. even when walking home from nights out alone (very stupid, please don’t do this) i have always felt safe because there are still so many people about even at 1-2am. as a woman, there will always be a risk, but so long as you are mindful of your surroundings you will be perfectly safe!
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u/transboiiiiiii 6d ago edited 6d ago
Just to add as well, if you're moving into a University accommodation (whether halls of residence or private) it's almost certainly not the actual Cathay's area.
My accommodation address says Cathay's for example but is in the city centre.
But agree with above Cathay's is not a rough area, it gets a bad rep as it's where all the students are so non-students don't like it
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u/InterestingCut5918 8d ago
It’s incredibly smelly, the rats are massive but that’s the worst of it. U will be absolutely fine. Cathays is an ideal location for student life, logistically ur in the best spot x
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u/ginspaw 8d ago
tysm! i’m sure i’ll learn to love the rats 🐀
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u/petrolstationpicnic Plasnewydd/Roath 8d ago
Feed them and they’ll look after you, protect you from other pests
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u/KindIndependence2003 8d ago
Apparently there's a highish crime rate in comparison but I don't know where as I've never seen it and have lived by it for years now, getting the train also between 7-10pm even, walked home many a time steaming and not even seen anyone so honestly fuck knows where it's reputation even comes from.
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u/Thebadgerio 8d ago
I lived in Cathays for 3 years and was ok. It’s essentially a big, slightly grotty, urban Centre Parcs for students.
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u/IIsaacClarke 8d ago
Cathays is perfectly safe. I’ve live here 4 years and it’s actually very quiet. It has a reputation for being party central but it’s actually so quiet.
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u/No_Wear_2322 8d ago
Cathays is really bad for theft / burglaries etc but its safe for everything else. My business got broken into a few weeks back and I've heard stories from many other businesses. The police don't do anything either
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u/lexdoesthebest 8d ago
one thing about a student area is that there’s constantly… students. no such thing as a quiet night in cathays. there’s constantly people around you. you will be fine
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u/ShoddyEggplant3697 8d ago
My misses was in Cardiff uni and had a place on dogfield street with absolutely no issues whatsoever maybe some students were a little loud coming back from a night out but that's to be expected in a student area
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u/Jamiethefurious 8d ago
Hi! I've owned a business in Cathays for almost 4 years and the crimes in Cathays are petty stuff.
Cars getting broken into and students being knobs and breaking stuff on the walk home from the pub will be the bulk of the crimes we actually see in Cathays.
The other comments are correct, the fact it includes the city centre skews the stats alot.
I wouldn't be afraid to live there if I was you....unless you hate rats, there's loads of them.
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u/Big_Software_8732 7d ago
Please don't panic. It's safe relatively speaking. You'd be right to be wary, aware, and even take precautions - lock doors and make sure windows are secure etc and perhaps not walk alone after dark - but please don't let this worry you too much. Cardiff is a safe city. The bulk of crime in Cathays is petty. Serious crime isn't in any way frequent.
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u/Similar-Complex-9266 7d ago
Cathays is fine. I lived there for almost 2 years. Always lots of young people around. As an older person felt and was completely safe
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u/curlyjo81 7d ago
I live in Cathays with my two small children. As well as lots of students, there are lots of families and older people who live in the area. It isn’t an overly dangerous area at all. Please do not panic. Cardiff is a lovely city, I wouldn’t be raising my children here otherwise.
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u/Swimming_Studio_1240 7d ago
I would be careful where you park in Cathays. Car windows can get smashed over night. The other month I walked along fairoak Road (the cemetery) and at 8am I saw 3 car windows had been smashed. I found it safe walking alone as a woman and its good being close to town. Only other downside to Cathays is the rubbish and rats
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u/Unusual-Peak-9545 7d ago
Cathays is fine! Cardiff is fine! As others have said, Cathays includes the city centre for stats and it’ll be mostly drunk & disorderly and noise crime.
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u/possumsr4eva 7d ago
I mean, there’s a huge high school in Cathays and all the kids walk safely to and from school by themselves. It’s a lively vibrant and fun place to live. You’ll have a great time
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u/jerbearker 7d ago
Cathays is probably the better option if you're planning to study here as it's closest to most campuses. I used to live in Riverside & even though it's dodgy there, I've never had issues. Have went to cinemas alone around midnight and back and never had problems.
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u/Glum_Drop7683 7d ago
Fair play for stressing, moving’s a big deal. Cathays isn’t half as bad as the headlines make out – it’s mostly rowdy students and the odd bike going walkies. The crime stats lump in the city centre so it looks worse than it is. Stick to lit streets, don’t trek through Bute Park after dark, and you’ll be sound. Bigger blocks have secure entry and on-site staff (like Host Students), which helps if you’re a bit nervy. Honestly you’ll settle in quick. Which road or building are you in? People here can give you proper local advice.
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u/Bubbly_Relief_9513 4d ago
I lived with a friend in Cathays for 2 years as students and had no problems with any crime. I wouldn’t walk around anywhere in Cardiff alone at night as a woman, but during the day it’s safe - or at least it was when I lived there!
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u/StormKing92 8d ago
Bear in mind that for crime statistics, Cathays also includes the city centre. It’s not an accurate representation of the locality at all.