Where to live in london?

BrokenArrows

Ok so the office is in Slough.
Don't want to live there but id like to be in a nice area with a reasonable commute.
I would prefer to use public transport instead of driving.

I dont know london at all. Any suggestions?

Country lane

Cant blame you for not wanting to live in Slough, but there are some lovely parts not far from it such as Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross...even Windsor (which also has decent nightlife) and down towards Ascot. Depends on your budget, lifestyle etc!

Fysh

If you're moving over to the UK and wanting to take advantage of everything London's famous for, you'll be much better off living in London and commuting out for work than living near work and having to trek into town. Sure, Slough might only be 30-60 minutes from London by train - but those trains don't run at night, and they don't go direct to wherever you want to go, so if you're heading to a gig or a night out you've got to make alternative plans (whether it's a pricey taxi home, crashing at a friend's place or booking a hotel). Whereas if you live in London, you can catch the last tube or a night bus - takes a while, but it gets you home.

I would suggest you start by working out what trains would go from London to Slough at suitable times for you (check the likes of First Capital Connect, First Great Western and probably several others - TheTrainline have a good list of rail operators here).

Once you know what train routes suit you, you can start to work out areas you can live in. The major stations (and some smaller ones) have good underground connections as well, so you can expand your choices that way. Pick some areas, then look them up on UpMyStreet to find out more about them. Once you've got a few likely places, post up and ask for more info about them - we've got a reasonably nice distribution of boardsies across London so there's bound to be someone who can give you a few tips about any given area.

BrokenArrows

Fysh wrote: »

If you're moving over to the UK and wanting to take advantage of everything London's famous for, you'll be much better off living in London and commuting out for work than living near work and having to trek into town. Sure, Slough might only be 30-60 minutes from London by train - but those trains don't run at night, and they don't go direct to wherever you want to go, so if you're heading to a gig or a night out you've got to make alternative plans (whether it's a pricey taxi home, crashing at a friend's place or booking a hotel). Whereas if you live in London, you can catch the last tube or a night bus - takes a while, but it gets you home.

I would suggest you start by working out what trains would go from London to Slough at suitable times for you (check the likes of First Capital Connect, First Great Western and probably several others - TheTrainline have a good list of rail operators here).

Once you know what train routes suit you, you can start to work out areas you can live in. The major stations (and some smaller ones) have good underground connections as well, so you can expand your choices that way. Pick some areas, then look them up on UpMyStreet to find out more about them. Once you've got a few likely places, post up and ask for more info about them - we've got a reasonably nice distribution of boardsies across London so there's bound to be someone who can give you a few tips about any given area.

Thanks for the info.
I was thinking of living close to work to begin with. Once i get comfortable and start to know the place ill probably move somewhere more central.

I been talking to a few people and they all seem to say Windsor is the best place to be if your working in slough.

One thing i have noticed is rent is very expensive no matter where you try and live.

BrokenArrows

another thing. Whats the most popular bank in London. Who has the most ATM's around?

johnny_doyle

you can generally use any card in any ATM. Some ATMs charge for this service; most are free. Generally safe with Nat West, Barclays, Abbey National, Nationwide, Alliance and Leicester.

As you travel along the the M4 past Slough, there's a place called Cippenham - it stinks, literally. Big sewage works there.

I used to live in Cowley, Uxbridge. Reasonably easy to get to Slough (by car though - we used to shop in the Co-Op there but it's been replaced by a very large Tesco) and handy enough with Hillingdon and Uxbridge tube stations nearby for getting into London; Heathrow nearby for trips home.

silvervixen84

I had a lot of trouble opening a bank account as they want proof of address etc. Llyods TSB will open one for you with just your passport, and they're very nice to deal with.

breadmonkey

silvervixen84 wrote: »

I had a lot of trouble opening a bank account as they want proof of address etc. Llyods TSB will open one for you with just your passport, and they're very nice to deal with.

Really? My girlfriend is having big trouble getting any sort of proof of address and is really gonna need a b bank account soon. Do you mind if I ask when you opened the account and at what branch?

afatbollix

This is what I did..

Changed my Irish bank acc address to my UK address and ordered a statement and got the landlord to change the Water bill into my name and order a statement..

silvervixen84

breadmonkey wrote: »

Really? My girlfriend is having big trouble getting any sort of proof of address and is really gonna need a b bank account soon. Do you mind if I ask when you opened the account and at what branch?

I tried NatWest first and they fobbed me off, then I found out that Llyods do it no problem. I opened it in Ruislip (my town) and had to make an appointment to open it, it took about 40s for the clerk to go through everything but it's a simple process and she was lovely to deal with.

if you go to Llyods website, then to current accounts there is an option of "new to the UK" and it's all there for you

afatbollix

That acc costs £12 a month tho doesent it?

Or Im thinking of the HSBC one.. and you cant close the acc for a year so have to pay it for a year..

silvervixen84

Mine is about 7 quid a month but i get lots of extras such as travel insurance, breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance and a free travel money card so I can lodge money to it for when I go home (to pay the irish credit card!! )

afatbollix

So it doesent cost you anything to send money back? It cost me a 10er the last day to send some back for the credit card..

silvervixen84

afaik it doesn't cost anything as it's part of the silver acc benefits but don't hold me to it, i've just ordered mine in the last week and haven't had the chance to try it yet!

afatbollix

Might set one of them up so.. Thanks!!

If you are commuting by train - try Ealing Broadway - it is nice but can be expensive.

You would have trains about every 15 minutes to Slough at peak times.

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/ldbboard/dep/SLO/EAL/To

You would also have mainline trains to Paddington and the Central and District line into London.

I can't really help you if you are driving - maybe somewhere like West Ealing, Chiswick or Hammersmith.

I lived in Ealing Broadway/Ealing Common for about two years and took the train to Maidenhead which is just past Slough.

On warm days you should be able to smell the chocolate from the Mars factory on your way home from work.

Protip: If you can buy your tickets in advance especially at the start of a month as the ticket office gets very busy in the mornings. Weekly tickets usually aren't worth it if you don't intend going out there at the weekend.