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!)

Doesn't Cookham have a resident pervert who is famous? Maidenhead has been recommended but I do not like the housing stock. I am interested in living by the river but not in an area prone to flooding. Recently, I saw a map which identified that many SW London areas were at risk because of global warming.

Could I ask which city? I absolutely love Scotland but I could not live in the parts with extreme weather.

I live in Kingston and I absolutely love it. Moved here from Maidenhead a few years ago funnily enough, and I honestly never want to leave.

I live in Lewisham and feel this way, apart from the hospital which I can't comment on as I rarely have to use it and have no idea what staff satisfaction is like.

I live in a block of flats on a compound and while I may not leave the door open, Amazon regularly disregards my 'safe place' instructions and leaves my parcels sticking out of the (outdoor) mailbox or just happily sitting in the open outside the building door. 2 years and have never had parcel go missing.

Aberdeen. I don't know if you'd call our weather extreme or not. We've had bad storms this past weekend and last year, but in the city at least away from the river banks there weren't any issues. We sometimes get a lot of snow but I love that. Generally I'd say weather is probably better on the east coast/central belt - Perth/Stirling/Edinburgh. We are quite far north and the west coast is a lot wetter. Our weather is less extreme in the summer

Currently in Leatherhead and I wouldn't leave my door open!!

I think Aberdeen would be too challenging for me, unfortunately!
@imaditto Noted 😃
Does anyone know much about other parts of Dulwich, Herne Hill, Sydenham or Forest Hill?

Nowhere OP and I say that as a lover of London! We moved for the exact reasons you talk about. Can't say where in the UK we ended up as it's outing but yes we can leave our door unlocked all the time here.

Yes I live in one of those areas. I'd say Dulwich and Herne Hill are nicer than FH and FH is nicer than Sydenham.

I wouldn't say Sydenham fits the description you've listed, a lot of Sydenham is en par with Catford. In my personal opinion of course!

We have lovely parks, it's "leafy". Although there are some roads which aren't as picturesque as others. East Dulwich has a vibrant high street (Lordship lane) but North Dulwich, Dulwich village and West Dulwich have more village vibes obviously! Herne Hill borders Brixton and there was recently trouble and crime occurring around Brockwell Park area.

We still get a lot of crime around here - mostly opportunistic thieves jumping into gardens and breaking into sheds, smashing car windows to grab 10p's, grabbing parcels off of porches and stealing catalytic converters from cars. The Nextdoor app this week is rife with all the crime that is occurring.

I don't think you'll ever find a part of nice London that doesn't have crime as where there's money there's opportunistic crime. And as with a lot of London boroughs a lot of crime is not investigated. Someone attempted to break into my house a few years ago and the police never came out. Lots of locals have CCTV footage of thieves and again this is not taken any further by police so the perpetrators continue with the same crime.

Forest Hill has nice parts but not idyllic like Dulwich Village or as new and independent with shops as East Dulwich

It’s really good for community though - people care and know each other in each street

I have a friend who lives in small village in Somerset. She never bothers locking the front door when she goes out!

I'd say there are a few places in Surrey that still seem safe and are surrounded by beautiful countryside. Someone's mentioned Godalming already and I'd add Farnham and Haslemere. Further out (and in Hampshire), is Petersfield. I live in one of those places and I feel safe in all of them, day and night.

Closer into London, and bigger, is Guildford. My daughter is in the process of buying her first flat there. I have no worries about her safety.

All have trains into Waterloo. All have community hospitals, except Guildford which has a big one, The Royal Surrey. I don't know what staff satisfaction or retention are like at any of them though.

For all of those places you could do without a car if you didn't live far from the station. My husband and I used to work in London and deliberately chose to live within 10 minutes' walk of the station. The children also used the train to get to school in Guildford.

Incidentally, before we moved out, we lived in Teddington, which we also loved. Trains went to Waterloo and the tube at Richmond was only a bus ride away.

Hampstead Heath is lovely, if you have £££££££.

@StollenAway Whereabouts is that in Scotland? I genuinely think a lot of people would move up there if not for the current political situation, esp with women's rights.

Harrow-on-the-hill. But only on the Hill itself, within the boundaries of the road that goes round it. It is a little enclave of loveliness like a village surrounding Harrow School. And good value. The rest of Harrow is a shit hole.

Kingston is London - zone 5/6 - it has red buses. Not on the tube though which Richmond is.

Teddington and Kingston are both outer London zone 6 but they still have red buses.
If looking in Kingston I would look specifically in North Kingston.

@GrowABackBone I understand what you are saying, thanks. The houses did seem cheaper in FH and Sydenham.

Thanks. Well, I guess I have a few options to investigate and probably a lot of time given the imminent house price crash (which is for another thread!)

@Nevermindthesquirrels North east. Oh I agree the political situation and women’s rights are very troubling. On the flip side kids can start school later, we get more nursery funding, and there just seems to be less pressure on them (admittedly I am comparing my kids’ experiences to friends’ kids in London and the Home Counties - sure there are many parts of central/northern England where the lifestyle feels more like here). I’ve got a lot of friends up here who have relocated from England and can’t really imagine moving back. I didn’t expect it to feel so different but it does.

Sawbridgeworth. 30 minutes on the train info central London.

I'd say Kingston, Richmond and Teddington all feel similar in term of outskirts vs London. Richmond and Kingston v well served by buses but Richmond has the overground and tube in addition to rail so much better served in that respect. Parking prices in Richmond are pretty horrible.
Kingston obviously much better than the rest for shopping. I'd say look at Surbiton too, it's a quick easy walk or drive into Kingston and has some nice pubs and restaurants and still has the advantage of being close to river. Surbiton also has better rail service into London than Kingston. Having Richmond and Bushy Park nearby is a huge benefit of all the listed places.

@Kerfluffle very much so , hampton wick adjoins kingston and Teddington only just about a mile and a half away from kingston with its own high st. Thames ditton nice too, adjoins surbiton ( decent shopping) and about 2 miles to kingston- villagey feel and by the river

Round Guildford/Haslemere - lots of villages some with train stations direct into London. Leave doors open all the time, do end up with neighbours dogs sometimes wandering in

Definitely not Lewisham and I dont think Forest Hill or Herne Hill will fit the bill. I would say Dulwich village or maybe the Cator estate in Blackheath.

Outside of London, maybe somewhere on the outskirts of Lewes - hour on the train to Victoria. Quirky, lots of community stuff going on, South Downs on the doorstep and affluent. Close to Brighton for bigger shops.

Another vote for Teddington and Hampton Wick.

Leafy and chic, deer in Bushy Park, calm and safe, frequent trains and buses into central London.

I'm not particularly remote, and people in my village regularly leave their garages not just unlocked but wide open and unattended - all day long. Houses are often left unlocked, and crime is very rare.

North Yorkshire