Do idyllic places to live still exist in and around London?

[Kerfluffle]

I was just reminiscing with a friend and we are not really sure it does anymore. She was raised in Leatherhead where you can apparently still leave your front door open during the day (if you want to!) without anything happening.

It needs to tick these boxes:
Little/no antisocial behaviour and low crime rate. Safe for teenagers to walk home in the dark
Excellent nearby hospital with high staff retention/satisfaction
Lot of green spaces and community centres
Some form of transport link into c. London (even if it is a couple of buses per day)
Affluent population (I know - but I am looking for an ideal!)

What’s your budget?

Budget is pretty flexible depending on the house but not tens of millions like St John's Wood or Bishop's Avenue. I want to find THE area first and then consider whether the particular house is worth it.
I have previously visited Kingston and Winchester. They seemed nice and had good shopping facilities too but I never felt a compulsion to return so perhaps they are not my areas. I don't really know Surrey well. A neighbour moved back to Godalming and recommended it but she was brought up there so the attraction would be different in her case. Cheam has also been suggested but I have passed through there and I am not keen on the architecture.

the kids would play out and leave their front doors open even though they were out of sight. They would pop in and out of one another's houses for several hours a day during the school holidays without worrying about their own safety or the safety of their home, even if their parents were at work all day.

You don't need a great area for that. We achieved it in a still raw concrete new build estate in Dublin in the 1980s. Random dogs and swarms of children - great times! But these days the children are in childcare or camps...I would guess that is true of most places.

Barnes or kingston, Chiswick, East Sheen/Mortlake. I don't think anywhere completely ticks those boxes.

But Leatherhead is horrible! It won crappest town in UK once

Kids play out where I live but it's not near London. When people talk about leaving doors unlocked do they mean when someone is in the house? You can do that in my area but I wouldn't go out and leave it unlocked.

Barnes, Chiswick, East Sheen/Mortlake all have really bad plane noise which would put me off.

I don't know much about it at all but she said that it was lovely and green and felt rural.

@CaptainMyCaptain whereabouts do you live? Might tell my sister to move there lol

Sheffield area.

Dulwich Village, not great shopping but everything else you're after and such a pretty and relaxing place to live.

Radlett. Big houses, very affluent, good primary schools and buses to two good grammars (or privates in St Albans). Good local shops but great shopping in St Albans.
Train into Kings Cross (around 20 mins or so). Green spaces all around it.

Lots of places on the lines out from Waterloo are like that: Claygate, Oxshott, Stoke D'Abernon, all within striking distance of Kingston and Guildford hospitals which are pretty good. They are all near Leatherhead so similar sort of area. Has changed a bit but still has that feel of being very safe, clean air, loads of local walks, easy reach of London etc. Not cheap though. Affluent areas.

How far out of London and which counties?

Not sure even Blackheath escapes crime...

www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/no-acid-attacks-no-stabbing-23695186

www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/19572183.police-probe-rape-17-year-old-girl-blackheath-village/

www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/alan-green-rapist-sexual-assaults-blackheath-greenwich-jailed-a4334056.html

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/22/man-who-killed-banker-with-one-punch-cleared-of-murder

I'd have thought Teddington was worth a look - crime stats are pretty low, it has a sweet high street with nice shops and restaurants, cafes pubs etc. Two miles (5 mins on train 10 on bus) to Kingston for bigger shops. Trains in to Waterloo are every 30 minutes. It is right on the Thames path - Teddington lock etc so nice walks/cycle rides and rowing and sailing clubs to keep children occupied. It is about as green as you can get with Bushey Park and Hampton Court Home park and Kew, Richmond Park etc all very close by. There is a hospital with urgent care in Teddington and Kingston Hospital is nearby for bigger problems.

Pricewise you'd probably need upwards of £3million if you want a property on the river with a mooring. Otherwise £2 for a sizeable family home in a pretty street.

Meant to add that if you teenagers are very very very clever and intensively coached for the 11+ two of the best state schools in the country are a few minutes away in Kingston (Tiffin boys and Tiffin girls)

Haslemere, Godalming and surrounding villages.

There's no area in London that is crime free but I agree Dulwich Village ticks lots of your boxes

How far from London? As a PP says places like Marlow, Cookham and then Guildford, Farnham (all within an hour of London) meet those criteria (and I live in one and sometimes leave my door unlocked!). There is a lot of affluence... but you miss out on other things like diversity, culture etc. etc.

Yes Dulwich Village is idyllic for a London area

Henley on Thames might suit you OP.

Well, my DC are sorted for schools so thankfully I would not have to deal with the crazy competition for places. I hoped that it would make it easier but probably only a little bit. I forgot to add that I am looking for an area with good (enough) adult social care policies to cover an older family member who may need to live near us in the future!

I probably don't want to go too far out. A local mum moved to Haslemere and said that she was quite dependent upon her car. Teddington and Dulwich as well as Richmond and Kingston are probably a good start as they will be less alien to a London family than a proper idyll Am I right in thinking that of those, Dulwich and Richmond are technically London proper whereas Teddington and Kingston feel more like the outskirts? Are they all served by red buses for example?

It's a shame you won't consider Scotland OP! I live in a small Scottish city. Have left the door unlocked more times than I can count (accidentally I should add - I'm very forgetful) and never had any issues. Went on holiday leaving the garage wide open and nothing taken. And it's so idyllic in so many other ways.
The downside is I've become very un-streetwise. I go back to London (where I grew up and lived for 25 years) and find it really unnerving.