Where to move too in London

[young_one]

Right lads, figured a few of you will either live in or have lived in London so thought here might be the best place to ask.

I have been offered a pretty good job in London and I was just wondering where are the nice places to live in our nations capital? And how much should I be looking to pay per month?

Bar the obvious like knightsbridge (I have not been offered a job as the King), I have no idea as to the pleasent places and the scummy ones. I wont be taking a car if I do move so place with good transport would be nice.

Thanks guys.

[arbitor]

i have spent time in wimbledon and around there tis very nice.. dont know if thats central enough for you but i like it very much

[TheAnimus]

best question is, where are you working?

For instance at the moment i live west hampstead in zone 2, but i'll be moving (well completion pending) too west finchly, zone 4.

This will make my morning travel time go up by about 10minuites at the very most.

As for nights out, it will make my last tube 30 minuites earlyer (which on a 'school' night has no effect, as i've normally got an 8:30 am be at desk start).

As for weekends, well at present a minicab is £15, that will rise to £20-25.

The price difference is hudge, currently i rent a crappy studio thats a conversion, its split level so my bathroom and kitchen are 5 steps down. The walls are paper thin. This costs £800 pcm. But its a safe neighbourhood.

This would cost £500 tops in zone 4.

so where abouts u working?

[young_one]

I have actually been offered two jobs but only one am I taking seriously, would rather not say which firm but I believe the office I would be situated at is near St. Pauls Cathedral.

I am pretty open to living further away if it is cheaper but dont really want to miss out on the whole London atmosphere.

Thanks for taking the time to answer this though lads, I know it just sounds like I am lazy and dont want to research myself but I figure who better to ask than those already living there.

[TeePee]

Paternoster Square?

[jamin]

Steer clear of East London, your best bet is NW London for price and public transport. Kensal Green isn't bad...

[TheAnimus]

I'd be tempted too say anything on the picadilly line then?

Highbury isn't bad if you want central, but because its central is expensive.

You could go for somewhere like snaresbroke, but because thats miles out, you might not like the time it takes to get home after a night out!

[Barrichello]

I would say SE London is best for the city, which is where I work, not far from St Pauls myself. I have lived in London all my life and after moving out of the parents in St’reatham (south west London –zone 3 - 15 years ago) I have lived in loads of places all over South London and there are lots of places I would recommend. I would recommend probably SW and SE areas as apposed to extreme West and East. Most due to transport links (and yes extreme East in particular can be scary) Extreme east and west are fine if you like using the tube daily (believe me London in summer “or even any time of year” on tube trains is not pleasant) personally I prefer more fast direct over ground trains.

I actually work not far from near St Pauls myself, at Cannon Street (about 5mins walk to St pauls) and I have to say since moving to the SE (Blackheath/Lee) (zone3) I have found my travel has improved a lot and the area is great. It takes on "overground" 20mins (direct train from Lee to Cannon Street) or (Blackheath to cannon street) Just like Blackheath and I can also recommend Clapham in SW London as well (where I previously lived) has lots of tube stations/train stations with links to the city. Just that Clapham is very expensive now – although saying that Blackheath is starting to become the SE equivalent of Clapham now so may well catch up sometime soon (but its great for nightlife/bars/restaurants etc)

Not sure about North London – as they say you normally find South and North Londoners don’t like each others areas much, (and i must of only seen the worst parts myself) but im sure there are similar places up there to choose from up there that someone else can comment on.

Anyway good luck with your new job and moving to LDN

[unreal]

Some parts of East London are ok, like Leytonstone, Walthamstow here (no, really, isn't too bad lol), but it tends to get worse as you head nearer into the capital... (Mile End, Forest Gate, urgh). Woodford in Redbridge (edge of East London, but Central Line is awesome) is very very nice. Wimbledon and the area around that is awesome, my uncle lives there but its quite a posh area... actually insanely posh.

Just find yourself someplace near a tube station And not one of those annoying ones with 100 million directions and lame stops of places that sound like areas of a gardening conventions that no one's heard of...

Bah I know what I mean in my head anyway 8)

[TheAnimus]

As a recent migrant worker too london, its quite intresting too me, how when people mean north, they mean north, or north west, never north east.

South london is cheaper, and whilst i've not lived there, i've crashed a few times at mates who live there and its just not quite as nice on the whole.

The classic phrase is "south of the river at this time mate" uttered by a london taxi driver. Central is where it is at, and as such i think south london gets a stigma.

But given your posistion of st. Pauls, a place to rent for a 1year mabye more, it makes sense too hug the tube line. Central, Northan and Piccadilly are therefore the best bet.

It really does depend on your budget, thou, belsize park is loverly, but expensive. Camden Town is trendy in an indie way.... Clapham is a **** hole which has got some proffesional types living there, but is still a **** hole. A friend of mine lives in snaresbrook and claims its a nice cheap place, but as such its quite far out.

What sort of budget you looking at, what sort of music do you like when you go out?

I guess it could be as simple as Exmouth Market, or Leister Square.

[gman1981]

I live in Surbiton and like it very much. Expensive but a great area to live, with less than 20 min link into Waterloo and 10 mins walk from Kingston town centre.

[shiato storm]

westminster, kensington are nice. shepard's bush...bit cheaper but nice parts,
south of the river; putney, clapham, wimbledon all quite nice, battersea

london is expensive though.

[Blackmage]

Steer clear of East London, your best bet is NW London for price and public transport. Kensal Green isn't bad...

heh, i used to live thier. i feel safer in stratford,East london now.

[Nick F]

i have spent time in wimbledon and around there tis very nice.. dont know if thats central enough for you but i like it very much

Second this, I live right next to Wimbledon and it has everything you could ever need with good transport links.

Rent can be a tad expensive though.

[SteveC]

Transport is hell in the morning, so best to minimise exposure to it as far as possible.

I'd plan potential routes in to work, and use the journey planner on the tfl website to get a rough idea how long they take. Be aware also that tfl tend to underestimate journey times, so while the absolute values are of little use, comparing one route to another this way can be more useful.

As for different areas, I tend to find they're all relatively similar. Apart from the general average 'east / west' wealth divide, most of London has 'smarter' and 'rougher' areas side by side (Archway and Highgate, Wood Green and Crouch End, Wapping and Shadwell etc)

[Steve]

I hear Windsor Castle is going cheap.