Moved to London? How did you choose which area?

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I ended up in battersea because it's convenient for work and everything else. It's expensive and has no tube.we have the Thames,an easy walk to most things In town; galleries, museums etc. We have clapham junction, the commons, the park, restaurants, caffs, bars.

Only a short jaunt to Clapham or Stockwell tubes. I sometimes work near Clapham common tube or Brixton, but I just get the train to junction and walk or skateboard. Screw the tube or buses at rush hour, they drive me bonkers.

 

[hash tag]

Clapham or stockwell tubes are both a fair lick for me. Probably a shorter walk to Victoria. Nearest are pimlico, Sloane square or perhaps Vauxhall.

 

[Thimble Queen]

I chose Brixton bc I have friends there and was spending quite a bit of time there anyway... I could still get to uni fairly easily and I had easier access to the lifestyle I wanted. Then when looking jobs, i just didn't apply for anything that was more than 45 minutes away. It was relatively easy for me to find jobs then bc I was working as an administrator/project officer/EA and there was a lot of those types of jobs available.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Where could I afford that wasn't literally on fire or flooded with drugs.

The answer has got progressively smaller in the last 15 years.

 

[RubyToogood]

If I was looking again actually a big consideration would be cycle-ability.

 

[Gromit]

I chose not London.

Commuting in from Herts means;
Better air quality
Lower crime
Better schools
Cheaper property

However it is a popular option so the rush hour commute can be rough.
Luckily for me I rarely travel to work in the peak.

 

[marty21]

I chose Brixton bc I have friends there and was spending quite a bit of time there anyway... I could still get to uni fairly easily and I had easier access to the lifestyle I wanted. Then when looking jobs, i just didn't apply for anything that was more than 45 minutes away. It was relatively easy for me to find jobs then bc I was working as an administrator/project officer/EA and there was a lot of those types of jobs available.

I've tried to keep the commute down to 45 m and below . Having said that , I walk a lot more now so often take an hour there and back but the walking doesnt feel like commuting .

 

[Poot]

I just had to pick somewhere - anywhere - and didn't know anyone. Before the end of the day because I had no spare cash to get home. I found a shitty 'bedsit' (not even) in Greenwich. Got kicked out. Worked in a pub. Kipped on a sofa. Another shitty 'bedsit' (fyi, London, you're the only place who thinks a single bedroom with no facilities is a 'bedsit') Anyway, I got a grown up job and moved to Sydenham (cheap) then a nice houseshare in Streatham which my friends chose and I was happy to go along with.

Turns out that I am a south-of-the-river sort of a gal and when I moved in with Mr P I was working in Parsons Green and he was in Tooting so we choose Wimbledon for easy access and convenience for shopping and pubs and walks.

 

[marty21]

When I moved here I wasnt bothered about north or south of the river. I did enjoy my 2 years SOTR in Southfields . But I guess 28 years NOTR makes quite a statement.

 

[mango5]

Mmm, food for thought. We're really just doing the preliminaries of working out where to look. We haven't even secured employment there (although himself is awaiting the results of a promising interview...). With us being older and a mini-Back in tow we're looking at a two-bedroom place and our budget is yet to be determined. But we really do appreciate the suggestions of deciding factors.

I've lived south and north and right in the centre. Personally I like to be no more than a 50 minute peak-hour bus ride into the centre where I go for work and fun at least 4 times a week. It's great to have easy access to the river. Green spaces are important and easy to be within a ten minute walk of. I am not keen on the tube, but most of London isn't particularly close to tube stations.- I think they are a distraction when picking a place to live. I tend to go for areas in zone 2 with loads of buses like Camberwell where I am now and Holloway when I was north.

I think the most important consideration is mini-back their interests and confidence. I think London can be pretty rough for teenagers. Your biggest constraint will be affordability (and possibly parking).

I know someone who has moved to London in her 60s. She can't drive due to a health problem and is a huge fan of the public transport infrastructure and free/plentiful cultural stuff. She's loving it but would caution against if being around loads of people bothers you!

 

[mango5]

. dp

 

[Sea Star]

my choice was where my friends lived and had a room spare; then where i could afford; then where my girlfriend lived; now its back to where i can afford - shortly to be not in London at all.

edit - oh and i tried living in North London once - lasted about 6 months

 

[Guineveretoo]

Another shitty 'bedsit' (fyi, London, you're the only place who thinks a single bedroom with no facilities is a 'bedsit')

I lived in "bedsits" in Cambridge that were like that, too. I decided that "bedsit" was when you had a lock on your bedroom door and were supposed to live in it, with access to a shared kitchen and bathroom but no other shared space. "shared house" was when you shared communal spaces like living rooms as well as kitchen and bathroom, although not necessarily sharing cooking/food, and shared the bills and rent. "lodger" was when you lived in the house, but it was somebody else's and they decided how much rent you had to pay.

 

[Thimble Queen]

I've tried to keep the commute down to 45 m and below . Having said that , I walk a lot more now so often take an hour there and back but the walking doesnt feel like commuting .

I walk to work now too. Its the shortest journey I've ever had to work ❤

 

[editor]

Moved to Leyton with a band when I was 18 ended up living below friends of the singer's from Wales. Then moved to Leytonstone, Walthamstow, Plaistow, East Ham, Hackney, Shepherd's Bush, Kilburn and probably other shitty places I've forgotten before visiting friends in Brixton and falling in love with the area. They had a place going spare (because none of their friend wanted to move into the Barrier Block in Brixton back then) and I've been here ever since. It was as rough as fuck when I moved here - really bloody dodgy - but it was still the best move I ever, ever made.

 

[davesgcr]

Hmmm - came to London in Sept 1979 and lived in Wealdstone (grim) and Lithos Road , off the Finchley Road (superb) -sent to East Anglia through work but got back a few years later.

Moved into a friends in Bromley and followed her to Osterley (not great) - but we fell out so forced to look for somewhere. Natural affinity for places like Ealing as handy for Wales , but looked at a range of areas and ended up in the poor end of Wimbledon (aka South Wimbledon) , where I made superb friends in the local community.7 very happy years there.

When I got off the train to mooch around , there was an an anti Thatcher demonstration outside the Town Hall as the old witch was visiting (this was 1982) - so that was a deciding factor , plus the price was £27K whcih I could afford with some parsimony.

When I got married - Mrs GCR liked SW19 , but had this need to be north of the river - which by another accident was stretched to St Albans in 1990 , and here we are .....

 

[planetgeli]

I just went for any postcode ending in 8 apparently.

N8 - Crouch End
E8 - Queensbridge Rd Hackney
SW8 - Bonnington Square Vauxhall
NW8 - Maida Vale/Kilburn

(not forgetting SW2, Brixton and N22, Wood Green but they’d spoil the pattern).

 

[rowan]

I've lived in south, east and north London and highly recommend Devon

 

[Kenmiller]

The main factor to consider is accommodation (expensive or not) and it must be near to your workplace. I realize these things very important to know for a comfortable life. So choose accordingly.

 

[spanglechick]

I grew up in the SE London burbs, and knew I didn’t want to live in the outer boroughs as an adult. North of the river is another country to me. Too grey.

I lived in Balham for a bit, then when I needed somewhere cheaper I moved to South Norwood, then Herne Hill and finally Upper Norwood. All of these have been based on a compromise between cost of housing and wanting to be somewhere that felt like London.

This post is very odd, because I appear to have forgotten where I live.

I finally moved to upper Sydenham, for. I’ve never lived in Upper Norwood.

 

[Poi E]

Upper Norwood doesn't know where it is. Lambeth, er Southwark, Croydon, Bromley?

 

[skyscraper101]

Originally lived in student halls in Northwick Park (1yr), then moved to Kenton (1yr), then Preston Road (2yrs), Shepherds Bush (8 yrs) - then left for 3 years to live in LA - then back to Fulham (2yrs), now Barnes (2yrs).

Some of my happiest days were in Preston Road area. I lived in a nice little house up on the hill near Fryent Country Park. Felt peaceful and quiet at night (except during Diwali), and had a nice little garden for BBQs. The worst was probably this tiny place we had in Fulham. It had mould and noise issues and no garden. Thanks God we moved.

 

[rutabowa]

I moved near (but not too near) where existing friends were living.

Actually now i remember, when i very first moved it was a spare room advertised on here, then the next few months I went all over looking for which areas i liked but i ended up moving near where existing friends lived.

That was just rooms in shared houses though, if you need a 2 bed flat it will be immediately much more limited because of rents. But that's how I decided.

 

[Winot]

Ah the delights of poring through Loot pre-internet to find a flat we could afford in a decent area. Took us a while to realise that some of the ads were fakes put there by agents.

 

[LeytonCatLady]

I chose a houseshare in Hackney because it was the first ad I saw, when I first moved to London in 2003. When I moved to a studio flat in Leyton in 2008, I chose it because the rent was affordable, and it was filtered on Gumtree as "private" (no agents). Also, Waltham Forest is accessible to Central while at the same time being a slightly cheaper borough. That's basically my personal criteria.

 

[Sue]

Ah the delights of poring through Loot pre-internet to find a flat we could afford in a decent area. Took us a while to realise that some of the ads were fakes put there by agents.

Up early for a copy of Loot then looking for a phonebox to try and sort out seeing the room.

 

[Tankus]

3 years at Bakers Arms Leyton... totally random pick as a young naive valley lad who had never stayed overnight in London before..( A full grant poly student).....
From there , within 2 years of unsettlement Anerly,, Penge, Colindale, Queensbury, Kingsbury, Peckham Rye, (way too edgy for me back in the mid 80's, nearly the last straw in London ).... then luckily Walthamstow village for 20 years and a flat in its market for 5, with a 6 month stint in Dalston inbetween... Now done in London and back in South Wales...

The 'stow, bakers and London was an absolute blast when I was younger....love the area and its vitality... terminally ill parents meant a big change to my life and the end of it for one of them ...
Priced out from going back,not that I would.... family, beaches, and a more chilled life suits me as now I look towards a pension..

 

[spanglechick]

Upper Norwood doesn't know where it is. Lambeth, er Southwark, Croydon, Bromley?

Tbf, Upper Sydenham is on the borders of Lewisham, Lambeth and Bromley.

 

[tommers]

Upper Norwood doesn't know where it is. Lambeth, er Southwark, Croydon, Bromley?

We're in Lambeth. Across the road is Bromley.

But you don't have to talk to them.

 

[Johnny Doe]

Up early for a copy of Loot then looking for a phonebox to try and sort out seeing the room.

Yeah, Loot was a thing! I moved from London to Manchester for University and when I got a job in Deptford after, I took a place in 'East Greenwich' from Loot without viewing it.

Fucking Charlton it was!