Funky_monks
Neo-Rustic
Mordor?
Knowing when its time to move to a more elderly residential area.
- Thread starter Hollis
- Start date
I feel I already have the best of all worlds where I am, in Upper Clapton (Hackney).
Across the road to me is Springfield Park, which is lovely, and leads down to the river Lea. Over the bridge on the other side of the river is the marshes - we even get cows in the Autumn brought down from Scotland to graze! And all sorts of birds and other wildlife.
I'm about 20-30 mins walk from several reservoirs which are now wildlife reserves.
I can walk or get a bus to Hackney Central, or in the other direction get on the tube at Manor House if I want to go into central or South London.
My estate is quiet and friendly. Lots of people here who raised their kids here, and now those kids are raising their kids, on the estate or nearby. A proper community vibe, with a good mix of ethnicities and cultures rubbing along together.
Grocery shops, GP clinics, and post office all within walking distance. Hospital a walk or a bus away. Only one pub truly local but it's a good un and anyway that adds to the quiet - I can head to Dalston on the bus if I want more liveliness.
We have the lowest crime rate in Hackney, and there's always people around in the streets walking or cycling which makes me feel safe. Plus all the boaters who live on the river.
If I ever do need more support there's even a block of supported housing for over 60 year olds in one corner of my estate! Seperate flats but with an on-site warden 24/7.
From my flat I can't hear any traffic at all, even with windows and balcony door open. Sometimes I hear my adult neighbours laughter of an evening as they sit out in the courtyard below enjoying a brew or two. In the daytime I often hear the kids laughter as they play on the swings.
That's it. Bloody lovely.
Across the road to me is Springfield Park, which is lovely, and leads down to the river Lea. Over the bridge on the other side of the river is the marshes - we even get cows in the Autumn brought down from Scotland to graze! And all sorts of birds and other wildlife.
I'm about 20-30 mins walk from several reservoirs which are now wildlife reserves.
I can walk or get a bus to Hackney Central, or in the other direction get on the tube at Manor House if I want to go into central or South London.
My estate is quiet and friendly. Lots of people here who raised their kids here, and now those kids are raising their kids, on the estate or nearby. A proper community vibe, with a good mix of ethnicities and cultures rubbing along together.
Grocery shops, GP clinics, and post office all within walking distance. Hospital a walk or a bus away. Only one pub truly local but it's a good un and anyway that adds to the quiet - I can head to Dalston on the bus if I want more liveliness.
We have the lowest crime rate in Hackney, and there's always people around in the streets walking or cycling which makes me feel safe. Plus all the boaters who live on the river.
If I ever do need more support there's even a block of supported housing for over 60 year olds in one corner of my estate! Seperate flats but with an on-site warden 24/7.
From my flat I can't hear any traffic at all, even with windows and balcony door open. Sometimes I hear my adult neighbours laughter of an evening as they sit out in the courtyard below enjoying a brew or two. In the daytime I often hear the kids laughter as they play on the swings.
That's it. Bloody lovely.
BigMoaner
We will all go together
sounds like my kinda place bill
true tho
sleaterkinney
Well-Known Member
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
i don't know exactly where you are, but there are bits of S London that are fairly leafy and suburban (although kinda expensive and in many cases full of tories) but with reasonable train service to inner / central london (although if travel to central london isn't an every day thing, then prices tend to drop a bit in the few bits that are a mile or more from any railway station) or within a mile or two of some pretty big parks (which a lot of people who have lived in london some time tend to forget about)
a lot of the home counties towns have their share of grottiness, traffic jams, and a higher proportion of tory twunts and a small town mindset
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Puddy_Tat I know, we live in one of those bits already 
hence why I can't really see what the problem is. And yes, it is a Tory borough 
one of the few London boroughs that voted Leave, in fact 
but so what? I either shut my door on them or go out to hang out with my easily accessible non-Tory friends.
hence why I can't really see what the problem is. And yes, it is a Tory borough one of the few London boroughs that voted Leave, in fact but so what? I either shut my door on them or go out to hang out with my easily accessible non-Tory friends.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
@Puddy_Tat I know, we live in one of those bits already
how about taking husband on a day trip to somewhere like slough?
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
He grew up in Wokingham, there's nothing I can teach him about Slough
you know you're a city person when you think moving from Brixton to Crystal Palace is a a big change!
WouldBe
Dislicksick
Pick up some leaflets for properties a couple of streets away. Still close to London but further 'out' for the other half.
girasol
Addicted to handstands!
They are very different areas! Both in geography and the style of the houses.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
He grew up in Wokingham, there's nothing I can teach him about Slough
I live somewhere insignificant in the bit between Wokingham and Reading at the moment
Meh.
MrSki
Who am I to say you're wrong
I used to live in Twyford. It is a bit of a sad commuter belt really.
MrSki
Who am I to say you're wrong
That is very civic of you.For some reason Twyford sounds like a toilet.
Funky_monks
Neo-Rustic
The commuter belt is certainly expanding.
The village I grew up in (Kingsclere) was always suitably far from the M4 when I was a kid (you'd have had to fight through Newbury) for there not to be many commuters, but now it's very different. The pub I had my first job in was sold when my schoolmate died unexpectedly (he was managing it and had only ever worked there from unofficially at 14- 30, when he died), the landlord couldn't see the point anymore and it's now a gastropub. When I go in, I don't recognise most of the people (unlike the other pubs, where on any given Friday, I would still know 50% of the people, and I never really came back after uni (1999). Is still a working village, we still have three council estates, but less and less as time goes by.
hash tag
Reaching out
Not many civic ones around anymore
UrbaneFox
They've doubled in price
Hollis, did the responses in this thread help you to decide?
I was reflecting after my second 'near miss' with some tracksuited yoof on his e-scooter last night, that maybe it was time to throw in the towel.. admit I can't cut it anymore in the inner city, and find myself a nice quite cul-de-sac somewhere in the suburbia, preferably full of old people and 50+ empty nesters..
Any thoughts/reflections from folk who have made the journey?
Cloo
Approved by toads
Stay in the city! One thing I have definitely decided about retiring is to stay right near a high street - no leafy suburbia or villages for me. If you're 'lucky' these days you could live a decade or so unable to drive and not very mobile so you want shops, cafes, restaurants and yes, even kids on scooters, right on your doorstep or else one could end up pretty housebound.
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Yuwipi Woman
Whack-A-Mole Queen
I was reflecting after my second 'near miss' with some tracksuited yoof on his e-scooter last night, that maybe it was time to throw in the towel.. admit I can't cut it anymore in the inner city, and find myself a nice quite cul-de-sac somewhere in the suburbia, preferably full of old people and 50+ empty nesters..
Any thoughts/reflections from folk who have made the journey?
Get a scooter or one of these and knock them over:
I have a similar problem in my neighborhood. There's a laundry service a few blocks away and they have a blind corner they ramble through every morning. In the last couple of months I've almost been flattened by a truck twice on my way to get my coffee fix.
After watching my parents age, I do think its wise to make a plan for your later years while in your 50s. For some people that might mean moving to a retirement community, but for others it might mean moving to a larger city for access to services and nearby shops when you can't drive.
Last edited:
MrSki
Who am I to say you're wrong
Better off in the city where you can ignore you neighbours rather than the nosey bastards who want to know your life story. Will come undone with some of the tales I have told.
still where I am there are shops & cafes and a good few pubs but not enough if you might have made a twat of yourself the night before. The grapevine is strong round here. Loved it in London when you could just pick another familiar part to go for a drink for a couple of days if you don't remember leaving or woke up in a cell. Still after lockdown I am normally home by 7pm so I doubt that will matter much anymore.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Not having a go, but why? My sister is the same. Didn’t want to go on a tube for years after the 7/7 attacks. Can’t fathom it.
Perhaps the fear was always there and has come back. I remember being scared during the IRA bombing campaign at main line stations as a kid, and started walking the other side of street from metal bins following the Warrington bomb.
Perhaps it is irrational but fortunately living in a city is something I can - and have - opted out of.
Perhaps it is irrational but fortunately living in a city is something I can - and have - opted out of.
Similar threads
