To be interested in which London areas young families are living in

[NameChangeNewMum]

NC for this. Interested to know where in London new families are living, (if they are not extremely wealthy Russian oligarchs and living in Mayfair). I live near Silvertown but would love to live more centrally and in a more family orientated or leafy area - the kind of place I used to live in when I rented. I was just reading a thread about London Mums and a lot of them said they lived in Zones 1 - 2 and it got me interested.

If you are a newish Mum and in a "normal" to "very good" income bracket (as London is so skewed so we are all wealthy in the content of UK) can I ask whereabouts in London you live, and if you like it?

Bermondsey! We're walking distance to Tower Bridge and London Bridge, I love it! I have friends in Surrey Quays area and when I visit it hardly feels like London there is so much greenery!

Streatham. Not far from Balham but more reasonably priced (sadly a lot less fancy but there are some pretty nice cafes, shops and restaurants in amongst everything else), with access to lots of big green spaces. Fairly good transport links but no tube. Just down the road is Norbury which is cheaper still.

Sydenham, Penge, Beckenham and Crystal Palace have lots of lovely young families. There is a fantastic service all along the Orpington line. Penge East to Victoria is only a 17min journey.

Walthamstow. I don’t know if we’ll stay here forever, but it’s been a great place to live with young kids.

Chiswick! I love it!

Hackney, the Islington side of it if that makes sense. We swapped zone 6 suburbia for it, downsizing from a four bed detached house for a three bed flat and we are much happier. Lots of parks in our area, great community feel, plenty of independent shops/restaurants and lots of free or cheap children's activities.

Lots of families where I live, but people are generally older than where we were before. A local friend said she was the youngest by seven years aged 31 at her NCT group, whereas everyone in ours was 30-34.

Maida Vale is great, we love it. Big park, lady streets, nice cafés and restaurants and lots of baby and toddler groups and activities.

Oops that should say leafy streets.

Walthamstow. Didn’t think we’d stay long, but it’s great for a young family. Previously lived in Bermondsey, which we loved, but we wanted a nice big(ish) garden.

Dulwich Village lovely little village feel, pub, restaurant, art gallery, large park and short train ride to London Bridge and fantastic local schools

Bromley. Crystal Palace and Beckenham are lovely. Lots of green space, independent shops and bars, and good schools.

We lived in West Hampstead. Great for families. Houses were unfortunately out of our budget, so we moved.

Another vote for Blackheath/Greenwich

Leyton. It's awesome.

Muswell Hill

Hackney.

Love it, so many families and so much to do for children.

I would recommend following the London Overground orange line. Runs like a tube but seems to be off so many peoples radar making it relatively affordable.

Streatham

I lived in Forest Hill which was great with young kids. But have just moved to Bromley for better secondary schools. That is just one of the things that Forest Hill didn’t do well and Lewisham has terrible choices at secondary level. Lots of people move out when their children are approaching secondary school age.

Walthamstow. DH grew up here. I grew up in Hackney and my parents still live there. If we had the choice we would be in Hackney. It’s amazing but way way too expensive. If you want to be near a good secondary (we’re not too far off that point with our eldest) you’re looking at 850 plus for a house (and I might be being generous there. Anything decent we saw was a million).
Walthamstow is pretty cool though. Lots to do. Family events always going on. Good community feel. Its ‘rough’ but that’s par for the course for a lot of London.

If I was looking to move I'd think about Walworth. Super central and loads of big family homes. It's still quite under the radar as well. Used to be rough but now getting nicer. Nunhead is lovely and the top of Camberwell around Ruskin Park. Also Herne Hill. Loads of places in zine 1 and 2. Good luck!

We live in Leytonstone and really like it here. No children yet, but hopefully soon! I’ve also worked in one of the local primary schools and they’re all great in this area.

Not central but we are in zone 6 - south London / Surrey border. We live in Caterham, nice area, you have the benefit of being in Surrey, so less crime, countryside on your doorstep but we can be in Victoria in 30 mins on the East Grinstead line (also Thames link runs from there) from Upper Warlingham or 45 mins on the Caterham line. So easy commute for working up in town, or can get home in reasonable time from a show. My kids go to a great state school, one of 60 super schools and they are getting a great education there. I really recommend this area of London (technically Surrey)

I live Muswell Hill. It's so green with the woods and Alexandra palace. Loads of parks. Great cafes and places to eat. Tons of baby groups and very child orientated. I love it.

Earlsfield for young families, lots of amazing primary schools, baby / toddler groups, parks and easy commute into Waterloo.

It really depends on your budget. Maida Vale fairly near the tube and towards Warwick Ave or SJW is great but £££.

West London has some great spots for families like Chiswick, Ealing Broadway and Richmond.