You will get people promoting an area where others won't necessarily agree with.
From a personal perspective i wouldn't be looking to move into the area between Kirkdale station & South park,i have good friends who are quite happy in this area which is a perfect example.
Flip side i lived for over 20 years by Marsh lane/Knowsley rd area with very little bother in all that time..some wouldn't agree,bottom line is that it only takes 1 or 2 shitty families to cause chaos in any area.
Personal bias aside, I agree with that. Whatever he decides, my recommendation would be to come here and take a walk through some of the areas he's thinking off, to get a feel for them. Also with young kids school catchment will be a big thing, so looking into schools first will probably make his mind up.
Agree with the neighbours issue...have a mate who spend ages picking the 'perfect area' to buy in (down south), schools, crime rates, nearby parks/shopping/travel all great, ended up with the neighbour from hell.