To ask you to talk to me about Chiswick?

[EastLondonLady80]

DH and I with newish baby live in East, and have always either lived there or North apart from a brief stint in Queens Park years ago. We want to move from our very urban high-rise area to a more family friendly area of London in the next few years and been looking at Chiswick. (DH needs access to city and I wfh). I have driven through Chiswick when I used to live in West London but never spent time there. I really like the vibe from what I've seen. We are really hoping to be close to very good expanses of green space as well as good transport and walkable to the shops, cafes etc. River walks would be lovely too.

On the map Chiswick looks quite a big area going from Strand on the Green up to Acton borders and then across to Dukes Meadows and over towards Hammersmith. After lockdown we intend to go and explore, but can any locals give me some intel about the best roads and micro areas for families? Can you walk from Chiswick High Road to the river for example? I'm just trying to get my head around distances and the best local streets and areas.

Our budget would be somewhere around £850-900k depending on when we moved.

Thank you!

I find chiswick desperately boring. My parents moved there when we left home and have recently moved out themselves. They lived in the nicest bit of Chiswick IMO but I still loathed the place. It’s lovely and safe and Chiswick Park is lovely and the river is lovely and Chiswick high street has lots of lovely cafes and the transport links are pretty good and so are the schools but nothing interesting ever happens there or ever will. I’m deeply biased being a general hater of London (I left as soon as I turned 18 and only go back for the odd weekend to see friends and family). Grew up in Hammersmith and hate it there just as much if not more. But when I visit north or east London I feel slightly more alive. Sorry not to be more helpful. If what you want is nice safe easy loveliness, you can’t go far wrong with Chiswick.

Oh and Richmond college is really excellent for 16-19-year-olds, or at least I thought so 15ish years ago. It’s the only time during my miserable London years that I thrived.

Chiswick is lovely, very nice shops/coffee shops/pubs etc, green. 900k will get you a tiny 2 bed terrace. Depends how much space you need.

And yes, high street to river is walkable but depends how much time you’ve got! Takes 20 mins ish from what I remember.

If despite my unwarranted attack on the place you’re still set on moving to Chiswick, you could do worse than fauconberg road and surrounding areas. River, high st and Chiswick house (+great park) all within 10 min walk. Handy range of convenience shops and nice cafes.

Go a couple of miles further west to South Ealing/Northfields and you'll get a lot more for your money and still be in a great area with lovely parks & great schools.

All I know is it’s pronounced “Chizzick”

I grew up in Chiswick and moved back in my early thirties for a time. It's lovely. The high road is pleasant with a great mix of useful shops, nice shops, cafes and restaurants. The pubs are great, especially down on the river. If you walk down Devonshire Road from Chiswick High Road you can be at the river in 15 minutes, but if you want to go to Strand-on-the-Green (great pubs) it's about a 20-minute walk.

Bedford Park, Devonshire Road and the Glebe 'Estate', Duke's Avenue, Arlington Road, Grosvenor Road, Magnolia Road, Rothschild Road, any road off the Avenue are all very nice. South Parade has a couple of nice cafés. Turnham Green Terrace is great.

Never felt unsafe in Chiswick. It's a lovely place to bring up a family

Agree on looking at Northfields/Ealing. I grew up there and wish I could afford to live there now.
You'll definitely get more for your money and there's loads for families. It's got more parks than you can shake a stick at and they're lovely, particularly Walpole and the 'Bunny Park' out in Hanwell.
Chiswick is very naice but very expensive and less of a community feel to it IMO.
Perhaps the area around Askew Road would be doable? Lots of nice cafes there but a bit more multicultural and 'London' (which is what I miss personally)

100% agree with Northfields. I also lived there for six years, and I loved it a lot more than Chiswick.

My previous job was in Chiswick. Nice area but quite expensive and not great public transport links. I would agree with others that Northfields will get you a lot more for your money, lots of green space and you can get the bus for river walks.

Chiswick is a lovely area, great transport links to London and near the westfield. I'd say go for it.

"not great public transport links"

Hmm that's not true. You have access to the District line all the time, Piccadilly Line in late evenings and early mornings, mainline train to Waterloo and the overground to Hampstead/Camden. It's also a hop, skip and a jump away on the tube from Ealing Broadway and Richmond for all their rail links. Can't complain!

I was going to come on here and say Northfields/ South Ealing too . I find that Ealing families tend to be a bit more 'normal' and relaxed compared to folks in Chiswick and Richmond where it's all about keeping up with the Jones' and trying to outdo eachother tbh.

We don't want to have to get transport to the decent green spaces, which I think you would in Northfields? We want to be able to walk - ideally to the river as well as to substantial green spaces.

@sbhydrogen

"not great public transport links"

Hmm that's not true. You have access to the District line all the time, Piccadilly Line in late evenings and early mornings, mainline train to Waterloo and the overground to Hampstead/Camden. It's also a hop, skip and a jump away on the tube from Ealing Broadway and Richmond for all their rail links. Can't complain!

It's over 40 years since I lived in Chiswick, but I still remember what a long time it took to get into Central London. It takes us 8 minutes to get to London Bridge from where we live now. It would be a shock to the system to go back to allowing best part of an hour to get home. I did like Chiswick, back then, but I expect it's changed quite a bit.

@EastLondonLady80

We don't want to have to get transport to the decent green spaces, which I think you would in Northfields? We want to be able to walk - ideally to the river as well as to substantial green spaces.

You have Walpole Park, Lammas Park, Elthorne Park, Osterley Park and Brent Valley Park all within walking distance from Northfields.

Chiswick Park is nice, but I think the above is much nicer on a regular basis.

Chiswick is nice to pop up for brunch once a year or so. It's not very exciting but very expensive. If your DH is the one travelling, which part(s) of London does he need to get to? You might do better a bit further out and still by the river, but it's hard to advise without knowing the destination for transport.

Lovely place to live- great parks, cafes and transport links but I wouldn’t live there again.

If you want to give your children a good upbringing I would consider somewhere more ‘normal’, and where as a family you can enjoy a garden and a sense of space. For under a million in Chiswick it will probably be a squash.

Plus - the plane noise may do your head in.

Know chiswick vv well ,
It’s certainly a pleasant location
Very pretty etc
But it’s very expensive and that means you have a flavour of very competitive monied white people either fretting about private schools or trampling to get into state school
Chilled , it is not

It’s not very diverse and London is a very mixed city
I love a bit further out and far prefer it , and we will get Crossrail (eventually )
Also you won’t get jack shit for £800-900 in the main part

Even if I won the lottery I wouldn’t move there , I find it really grating but can’t articulate why !

We moved from Fulham / Chelsea to Richmond ( we looked at Chiswick to )
And do not regret our decision at all.
Chiswick was lovely to but I felt it was still to close to Hammersmith and Fulham for my liking.
Richmond although only one long bus our seemed a nicer area and so far is.

Have you considered St Margaret’s, between Richmond and Twickenham?
Few minutes walk to the river, lovely safe-feeling area.

Used to live in Chiswick, loved it, wish I'd never moved out. But agree with a pp £900k really does not go far. I expect your budget will dictate where you can afford. But you can't go too far wrong.

@givemesteel do you agree with previous posts about it being overly white / not very diverse and too competitive / snobby?

@Knitterbabe I have looked there on Rightmove etc. Wasn't sure if it would feel too far out? We still want to feel as if we live in a city.

I do know Richmond but find that to be a bit too old and slightly too Tory-ish for me personally.