I live in Bradford (well, near Bradford - a BD postcode anyway), my wife did a PGCE at Leeds and I'm about to start a PhD there. We probably don't have the best-informed view of the 'student experience', because we're older with kids and our own home, but for what it's worth...
Leeds has a very good reputation for student life - it's a nice, affluent-seeming city with good shopping and (I'm told!) a good nightlife - lots of bars, clubs etc. The most studenty area is Headingley, which I don't really know but which is supposed to be a great place to live. Public transport's good, with a free bus running between the city centre and the unis all day.
Bradford is only just starting to experience the sort of regeneration that's happened in Leeds - plans are afoot to redevelop the city centre and it is changing for the better, but a lot of old shops have gone and not yet been replaced, so it doesn't give a sense of being thriving the way Leeds does. Obviously there's a large Asian population and that comes across in the city's cultural life (the annual Mela for instance), architecture (mosques), shops and of course its famous curry houses!
Different areas have their own personalities - Saltaire, for instance, the beautiful Victorian village a few miles out of the centre, has a bit of a trendy, arty vibe, with the Hockney gallery in the old mill and several 'boutique'-type shops (vintage clothes, jewellery etc.).
Again, public transport is very good - even small villages like Saltaire have their own train station, and places like Skipton, Ilkley and York are very accessible. We live car-free without too much trouble.
I can't really comment too much on the nightlife or the student experience in particular. Bradford's certainly not awash with trendy clubs like Leeds, but there are some nice bars and restaurants I think.
People-wise - I think Yorkshire folk are a nice bunch on the whole! But as to the student population specifically, I couldn't say.
