American family moving to London with 3 little kids...

[Arty3542]

Hello all!

I have no idea where to post this... My husband and I might relocate to London at the beginning of next year. He has a job opportunity in Covent Garden. Our kids are 6, 4 and 2 years old. We will be moving from the NYC area. We are very excited but I'm very nervous at the same time. I'm so worried about being isolated and lonely.

Which area is best for American Expats? Do we try for a church/Christian school? Do we attempt to apply to the American School? I heard this is very hard to get into. Will we be in for a culture shock? Do you think it will be easy to make friends with people? Only asking because a couple people told me it's very hard to make friends, the British keep to their own. I didn't know what to say to that and thought it was a bit silly.

AIBU? ;)

Thank you in advance!

same day GP appointments - depends.... on demand (always huge) and surgery systems. Many working systems have been stuffed up by 'targets' which of course change nothing. You may have to do the 'phone at 8am and pray' thing for an appointment.

but as you will be in or near London you'll have plenty of minor injuries, walk--in centres and urgent care clinics, and you won't be more than 10 miles from a hospital.

God, don't live in Kew, unless the deafening roar of 747s every minute is your bag.

It worth noting that there is a real North/South London divide and the opposing sides will always diss the other taking exception to south London being described as ropey until you get to outer zone 2.

I would assume your DH's work will provide private healthcare, just get him to check if it covers the whole family or not (no idea how this works).

Given your whopping budget and that your happy with a small garden and don't want to drive I would go as central as possible - why not! It'll be fun, I'd love to live in the centre of town.

RiverTam I am thinking of Vauxhall, Kennington, bits of Southwark, New Cross, Elephant and Castle...I wouldn't think any of those would suit the OP, would you? not trying to make some North vs South point for the sake of it.

I would put my vote in for Chiswick, green, zone 2, family friendly yet close to everything.....but I'm biased...

Well, given Vauxhall will be the new home of the whopping great Amercian embassy, with attendant blocks of flats all doubtless with penthouses and views of the Thames (it's got a Waitrose already!), it may well be!

Kennington very trendy now, three parks, some excellent primary schools, Jessie. And Vauxhall/Nine Elms/Battersea about to be stuffed with Americans when the new Embassy building is finished.

The school in Cobham is more international than American, although there are a good percentage of American kids there.

The Waitrose is fab - always empty as no-one seems to know it is there!

None of it is finished yet though. I already said Battersea was nice. Just my opinion. Sure OP will visit and make up her own mind.

Op, battersea is literally the other side of the bridge to Chelsea, if you really want to see the divide just put it to the vote! For added entertainment you add east/ west to the debate!

All great! I don't know much about the north vs south. I guess it might be similar to Uptown vs downtown NYC?

When we visit, we will begin in the center of London and branch outward.. testing the commute and all.

So the upscale areas are Kensington, St Johns Wood, Hampstead, Notting Hill, Chelsea, Mayfair and Richmond?

The neighborhoods that are more on the artsy side are Primrose Hill and Camden?

You all have such wonderful neighborhoods!! And so many!! Lots to choose from. NYC is smaller and more cramped compared to London. Less options than London.

Sorry for the ton of questions! I sound like a broken record...

Ooh, Battersea looks like it has a great park!

Camden is, IN MY OPINION grim. Only artsy if you are a 20 year old student who thinks bong shops and lava lamps are artsy. Plenty of drug addicts hanging round the tube station. Think St Mark's Place.

Got it. Yeah, way past my art student stage.

Yes, agree about Camden, and I was a student there, albeit 20+ years ago. Mayfair is quite grand and stuffy. And the embassy is moving in in January (a friend works there) so it should all be finished by the time the OP arrives!

Battersea park is lovley, but there are parks everywhere! I switch between 3 my favourite being Ravenscourt at the minute. Camdens great for an afternoon wandering but I'm too old to live there now lol

Oh wow, The Embassy! Cool. Probably not Mayfair if it's stuffy.

We don't want stuffy. We already live in a stuffy place and it's not my cup of tea. But schools are important to us.

Is Primrose Hill too close to Camden?

Camden is grim. You can afford better. Primrose hill is gorgeous .it was Boho but as london has gentrified it has lots of bankers now but still a genteel Boho vibe there of people who stuck around through the changes.

Don't go and live somewhere like Ealing unless you can't afford to be more central.

Battersea park is a really good one although london has lots of very good parks. I think I would go for Chelsea or battersea if I could afford them..

Agree re Camden. I always thought it was a terrible place for Amy Winehouse to live. Drugs everywhere and it seems to be a haven for alcoholics.

Dartmouth Park is lovely though. Or Belsize Park. All ok for Covent Garden - Northern Line straight to Leicester Square (which is basically next to CG).

OP, I am way too invested in where you are going to live .

The problem you will have is that you can go from a lovely naice area to a grim one in the space of a couple of roads, your best bet is to wander about and get the feel of the places.

Primrose Hill is next to Camden but a world away iyswim. Everywhere is jumbled up together so you get nice bits and bad bits all cheek by jowl. That's the thing about London.

Me too. I may end up doing a Right Move search for you. £10k a month!!!!!

So the upscale areas are Kensington, St Johns Wood, Hampstead, Notting Hill, Chelsea, Mayfair and Richmond?

Richmond is right under a landing path from Heathrow and I mean right under. Think virtually at the end of the runway. I stayed in a hotel on Richmond Hill to get away from a neighbour's party years ago and incoming flights start at 4.30. Just down the road Richmond Green, where the houses go for millions, the planes are so low on their path into the airport that the wheels are down; and they come over every 90 seconds or so.

www.richmond.gov.uk/home/heathrow/heathrow_expansion_local_impact/flight_paths_over_richmond.htm

That's 4.30 am when the flights start, sorry, I didn't make that clear.

I like to watch the planes going over in the evening but we are not under the flight path, I grew up in Hayes now that is noisy!

Re Richmond. It's really lovely and yes while sometimes you can hear planes it's really not as bad as some people are making out. I honestly cannot recall hearing a plane go over head ever (but I can in Kew). I think you need to be aware of school fees. In some area, like Richmond, private schools are much more common while the state schools are a bit rubbish. Chiswick and Ealing are very green and you wouldn't need a car.