Best area to commute to Tooting? Kingston, Surbiton, or where should I look?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

I am considering moving out of zone 2 when my lease expires. As I need to be in Tooting three days a week, I'm looking in the south west area - but I'm not familiar with it at all.

What areas would you look at if you had to get to Tooting regularly?

Are Kingston ad Surbiton ok places to live?

Kingston and Surbiton are lovely but I'm not sure they are that easy to commute to Tooting. There is a bus that runs from Kingston to Tooting Broadway.
Have you got kids? Kingston is a lovely place for families. Lots of good schools.

The bus I mentioned is a long route though, I reckon I would take an hour or so.

Balham? Parts of Clapham are nice.

Depends DS what your looking for.

Balham and Clapham are the same price as Islington where I am now, and the reason I'm thinking of leaving is money driven.

It does take about an hour to get to Tooting from here though.

Good to hear Kingston and Surbiton are nice! Is Morden not so good? I seem to remember people shuddering a bit at Morden, but it's on the tube which is useful.

What part of Tooting exactly? It's a relatively large area and some parts have far easier transport options than some of the other areas.

Do you need to get to St George's Hospital, for example? Or somewhere else?

Morden's not bad, There are some grim parts of it but some nice bits too. I live in Raynes Park and work at St George's. The bus takes me about 45 minutes. There are 2 that go from here to there and if there is a problem I can get a train to Wimbledon and then other buses from there. What are prices like in Colliers Wood? That's also on same tube and bus line as Tooting and is a bit nearere to other transport connections in Wimbledon.

Yep, St George's is where I need to get to.

I'm looking at all these areas on maps but I suppose I should really trek out on the train and get a feel for some of them?

Prices are truly shocking. I lived in Sydenham years ago for a year and I wasn't fond of the area but it was very cheap. When I looked at it now it's bloody expensive for somewhere so far out with not much going for it.

Balham and Clapham will be very similarly priced to Islington - they have all been very naice areas for years!

For cheaper rents, and as you need to get to St George's, I'd suggest you look at areas around Tooting Broadway/some of the roads near Tooting Bec Station - on the Tooting side (not the Balham side, as you might be outpriced)/the Tooting end of Garratt Lane/Fishponds Road area/Mitcham Road - and, as a PP said, Colliers Wood.

I would go streatham - has become very nice in last few years. There's a thameslink train to tooting station (rail not tube) that's quick and you can get buses too. Or tulse hill which is on same line

Tooting Bec itself would be my preferred place to live out of those you’ve mentioned (other than Islington).

South Wimbledon gives you the Northern line (for Tooting) but also access to SW Trains to Waterloo and the District linena short walk way at Wimbledon. See if there’s anything in your price range between the stations (but closer to S Wimbledon, as that’s your main commute and anyway it’s cheaper).

You could look for houses in areas such as earlsfield, furzedown, tooting/Streatham border, Mitcham/tooting border. Morden is more of a suburb area so quieter than around Tooting so some would say it's a much better area to live. Good luck.

Tooting Bec, South Wimbledon, Morden

Sutton? It's a bit boring though, but rents have always been reasonable.

I'd second Streatham if you want somewhere with a bit more going for it.

Depending what you want - accommodation wise - have a look at Du Cane Court (SW17) on Balham High Road (between Balham and Tooting Bec stations).

Or somewhere on the Heritage Park area (look for Massingberd Way/Macmillan Way - SW17).

Personally I would also recommend Streatham, not keen on Colliers wood and Morden. Streatham seems to be on the up, nice little cafés and multicultural community. I used to live in Tooting while studying in Kingston and it's not a great commute, the bus takes ages especially in the morning. You could take the train to Earsfield and then a bus maybe? Not sure Kingston is much cheaper rent-wise though, the nice parts at least.

I live in Collier’s Wood and it’s lovely! Not comparable to Morden IMO.

Thank you for all the local info! That's really helpful.

Streatham is somewhere I would never have considered before (I remember visiting my sister there when I was a kid and really not liking the area) but I think maybe I'll go and have a look - lots of people say it's a different place nowadays.

I want either a studio or a large en-suite room in a decent house share. I seem to have been mistaken thinking I'd find more reasonable prices if I went out a bit further - they're just all similar so I may as well stay within zone 3.

What's your budget, what about hospital accommodation short term while you look around.

What about Tooting? The market, good shopping, quick tube to Balham and Clapham for good cafes / cinema.

Brixton or Streatham, 133 bus. Brixton expensive now, Streatham: fine.

St g.have a new block of keyworker affordable flats in St George's Grove, all the hospitals I have worked in advertise accommodation to rent on the staff noticeboard.

Streatham. Especially Streatham Hill end is really nice now, I lived there happily when I was in London.

Earlsfield. It’s just down the road from St Georges.

Colliers Wood? Has the tube, shopping and is up and coming. Nice parks too along the wandle river.