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!

Not much help....
I drove through chiswick once, on my way to kew.
It took half an hour to cross the chiswick roundabout.
And when we got to kew, the planes felt like they were about to land in the street.
But I am not a londoner.

900k will get you a tiny 2 bed terrace. Depends how much space you need.

A quick look on rightmove reveals plenty of three bed houses for less than that.

@yearinyearout I got my Information from
Rightmove. The 3 bed for less are further out and not in Chiswick just within a few miles, which the Op doesn’t want. Chiswick is very expensive.

@yearinyearout

900k will get you a tiny 2 bed terrace. Depends how much space you need.

A quick look on rightmove reveals plenty of three bed houses for less than that.

We looked at moving to Chiswick years back, and even then £900k wasn't enough for a family house. You're looking in a wider radius, and at places that would more properly be labelled Acton (and not the nice part of Acton).

Agree that if op is open to a flat and doesn't want suburbs, she should be looking further inside London, in any case.

@MothershipG I love Notting Hill but assume it would be way out of price league

Traffic is a ‘mare and getting in and out is slow.

I was born and brought up in Chiswick. Lived there for over 55 years, and only moved away in the last year. I thought I would miss it desperately but I don’t.

The combination of park. river and high street along with leafy streets is great. It definitely is family friendly, but so are many other surrounding areas.

In my view it used to be fabulous place to live. Not so much now.

Transport isn’t that great especially if you live on the South side of the A4. You will spend your entire time queuing to cross the A4 or walking to and from the high street (using subways to get across the A4). Travelling through Chiswick High Road is now an absolutely nightmare with the silly dangerous cycle path. Street space has made it a pain to get in and out of Chiswick without sometimes having to double your journey time.

Tube is OK, but would be much better if the Piccadilly stopped there, or Crossrail. Buses are good, but now there are no bus lanes in the high street they will get held up.

As PP said, parking can be a problem without a drive. Lots of multi-car households with big cars in some parts.

Planes are loud on some roads. By loud. I mean twice a minute in Summer they will drown out your tv if you have the window open.

The restaurant scene used to be amazing but crippling rents forced some out, and many have closed along the way. Removed parking due to Covid won’t help. There are still a few amazing independent shops hanging in there.

It also isn’t as safe as it might appear.

Honestly - Northfields, parts of Brentford/Ealing/Osterley way better. You would get better transport, bigger property and still be able to pop into Chiswick.

I honestly think if you don't want a suburban feel, you won't want to travel further out than W6/W4 borders. What about around Brackenbury village/Ravenscourt Park/Shepherds Bush borders? The streets off of the Askew Road are better value and you are close to Shep Bush/Ravenscourt Park/Hammersmith for lots of different tube lines so much quicker into central London. Schools very good here too (both state and private, lots of choice). We loved taking the buses to Holland and Hyde Park from there.

The problem with moving further East like Holland Park/Notting Hill is there is less community and schooling becomes more complicated as the demographic is like Chiswick on steroids: lots of super rich next to pockets of real deprivation.

Know it well.

Bang for buck I don’t think it’s great idea and definitely not multicultural. Why not Clapham/Dulwich/Herne Hill, lots of green space.?Chiswick transport options really are rubbish.

Ah yes I forgot about the traffic. Almost missed out flight from Heathrow once as we got stuck in awful traffic in Chiswick!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88414069#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/74504277#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88294297#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88512757#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/82477252#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/100485002#/

@Pleasegotosleep01

I live in Chiswick. Absolutely love it. Been here 6 years. We have a 4 year old and the nurseries are brilliant and always bump into friends at the playgrounds and on the high street. We are but the river so either cycle into the city or get the train into Waterloo. We are really close to dukes meadow and Chiswick house so tonnes of green space and run lots along the river. If you have kids it is brilliant as so many classes, playgrounds and things to do. Always feels safe walking gone from the tube at night.

It is important if you have kids to pick a good catchment area though as otherwise you are stuck with private school fees. Happy to answer any specific questions.

@Pleasegotosleep01 hi Do you think Chiswick school is good as just moved into the area and applied to Chiswick school for my Dd who is in year 9. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I only know Chiswick School by reputation which isn't good - however a friend sends his children there and really rates it. And I imagine it takes a few years for reputation to catch up with current reality.

Chiswick School's reputation has suffered over the years but a new head was appointed a couple of years ago and the school has rapidly improved. I know several parents with children there and they are very happy with the school.

Chiswick school has had a great turnaround with the new headteacher. My DD is in yr10 and doing amazingly well.
They are oversubscribed for year 7 starters this year.

I lived on Hartington Road in Chiswick for a few years which backs onto the river on one side and has some beautiful family homes. It's very convenient for Richmond, Twickenham, there are mainline trains on the Waterloo line. I used to run & cycle in Richmond Park and it's very easy to get down to the river in Richmond which has the best local riverbanks for relaxing! I loved the neighbourhood, it was very quiet and safe and peaceful and I would definitely consider living there again if I were ever to move back to London.

Cons: The District line is slow if you want to go into town, the high street is very busy and although there are some nice boutique-y shops & cafes etc it doesn't manage to feel as interesting as places like the Kings Road or the Northcote Road, and it doesn't feel especially walkable as a neighbourhood I think because it's bisected by the main road.

Can't speak to child-friendly aspects as I did not have kids when I lived there!