Areas in London

Hrududu

I'm thinking of making the move to London in the next few months. I won't be making the move before I have a job sorted though.

As of this moment, not having a job sorted its hard to tell where the best location would be but it would be nice to look into a few areas while I have the time. The type of area I'd be looking at would be I suppose the London equivalent of Ranelagh. Restaurants, pubs, safe area, nice vibe. Decent transport links would be a bonus too.

So any thoughts?

Fysh

From past threads, I think it depends on who you talk to. Have a look here and here for a few useful links and tips.

Personally I've found northwest london to be pretty good in those areas you describe - I've been living in Kilburn for three years and loved it. There's a decent nightlife around here, a great cinema/theatre, several decent restaurants, two decent if small parks in easy walking distance, and pretty good transport links.

There are a few folks living south of the river in the likes of Tooting and Balham who can give you more of an idea of what it's like round there.

Hrududu

Thats great thanks. Kilburn was on my list alright. For south of the river I've heard good things about Clapham, depending on what part you are in.

Playboy

Clapham, Balham, Wimbeldon are all great but can be expensive depending on what you are looking for. Streatham, Brixton, Tooting are cheaper and all are close to Clapham for social life with good transport links into the city if thats where u will be working.

ballsymchugh

agreed with playboy, you should check out brixton. it may have a bad name but there's some grand parts to it like everywhere else. it's got the academy which is great for gigs, and is only a few mins walk from clapham high street which is great for socialising. the common during the summer is great for just tooling about too.

Seanohea

Hey, I've lived in both ranelagh and clapham, and I would say you would enjoy clapham.
I lived in clapham junction, only a short walk from clapham common and high street. Clapham high street is filled with bars and restaurants and is as safe an area as you can get around London.
Clapham is great for transport too with the northern line passing through clapham common and clapham junction great for overland railway.
I'm moving back in October and I am going to be living in clapham again.

Monkey61

It depends on how much your going to be earning really and what distance you want to be from central.

I like Clapham and Balham. Clapham is much better for pubs and restaurants though, Balham has nothing in the way of nightlife really. Tooting is cheaper and nice enough, but a bit further out and a more ethnically diverse lower income area so less like Ranelagh. Brixton is great for nightlife but can be very rough around the edges in parts and it is a lot less relaxed than the other two.

At the moment we are in Vauxhall/Oval which I love, although it has a less self-contained feel, it is beautiful, great parks and a short enough walk along the river into central. It's definitely my favourite out of everywhere I have lived.

As a wild card and slightly further out, but the most Ranelagh like place of all I think, is Ealing. All the high street shops, bars, restaurants etc that you could need, absolutely gorgeous area, lovely parks, local events, blues/jazz/beer festivals in the summer, bonfire nights etc and hard to believe that it is in London, plus good transport links for Heathrow. Very green and cosy.

As far as North goes, personally I think Kilburn is skanky and horrible, but that's just me. At the further end near the tube station, there are some decent pubs and nice houses on the back streets, but the rest of Kilburn High Road is horrible. Queen's Park looks nicer. Willesden up the road is horrible.

Dr.Giggles

When I moved here I wanted to go to Clapham Junction, It has a good buzz about it, great for transport loads of bars etc. My problem was that it was too expensive for me. £400-£460 a month on average for a place (and ..im not talking pretty places either, oh and thats for a single bed, there were a few gems that I missed out on though)

I have heard good things about Putney also. In the end I decided on Earlsfield but ended up in Tooting because I got a great deal, but I am basically in Earlsfield. Gotta say...Tooting broadway ain't so pretty, actually its kind of hideous. The areas around it though are perfectly fine, safe and all that. I actually like living in Tooting and its also far cheaper than Clapham, Hammersmith etc and transport is good ie Tube, busses and Train.

I think what you have to remember is that if you live somewhere like Earlsfield you are only 3 minutes from Clapham junction on the train and lots of other good going out areas. So shop around

Fysh

Monkey61 wrote: »

As a wild card and slightly further out, but the most Ranelagh like place of all I think, is Ealing. All the high street shops, bars, restaurants etc that you could need, absolutely gorgeous area, lovely parks, local events, blues/jazz/beer festivals in the summer, bonfire nights etc and hard to believe that it is in London, plus good transport links for Heathrow. Very green and cosy.

Ealing is fine if you want to move to Ealing - otherwise what you're getting is somewhere that's an hours tube away from the rest of London. A few friends of mine lived there and loved it, but it was a pain in the hole to get anywhere else, especially at night.

Monkey61 wrote: »

As far as North goes, personally I think Kilburn is skanky and horrible, but that's just me. At the further end near the tube station, there are some decent pubs and nice houses on the back streets, but the rest of Kilburn High Road is horrible. Queen's Park looks nicer. Willesden up the road is horrible.

Kilburn is a bit grubby-looking compared to West End Lane, but my brother and a couple of friends live in West Hampstead and the consensus is that Kilburn & Queens Park have a much livelier community, better pubs and restaurants. There's Queens Park and Kilburn Grange within easy walking distance if you're in Kilburn and looking for green space, too.

Dr.Giggles

My sister lived in Cricklewood which is near Kilburn for the summer and loved it, and the times I visited her I really liked the night life around there.

Kilburn is also London beers central :P

keano_afc

What areas are best avioded? Myself and the wife are moving over in the new year, she got a job in London Bridge hospital. We were looking around Tooting, Clapham; anywhere south really.

hoff1

Just wondering what is the average cost of rent per week in london I know it differs from area to area but what would reasonable accom for 1 person cost? Also what is the best site for accom ,I'm looking to move into to a hoouse with a few people in their 20s as I moving over on my own . Thanks

Cailin22

hoff1: I'm just after moving over from Ireland and i'm paying £420 a month including bills which is good for London. I'm sharing a house with three other girls. I found the house on gumtree so i'd say that's your best shot.

Fysh

I think gumtree's a good start for houseshares - a lot of the more popular property sites don't seem to cater to people looking for shared accommodation. I've heard good things about spareroom.co.uk as well, although I haven't used it so can't speak from personal experience.