Best places for diverse, professional families near London?

[Paniconthestreetsof]

DH and I currently live (very happily) in Zone 1. We’re now thinking about moving as we want more space (a house and garden), good schools, and access to green space for our kids. Budget is around £1.5m.

We’re looking for:

• A genuinely diverse area, with a visible Black community (we’d prefer our children not to be the only ones in their class)
• A mix of middle-class professionals from different backgrounds
• Green spaces and a relaxed, family-friendly feel
• Good connections into central London for work a few days a week

We’re not from the UK originally and don’t have ties outside this bit of London, so wide open to ideas.

Worth saying upfront: well-meaning replies like “well I’m not Black and it’s not very diverse around here but we don’t see colour” or “there is a large (insert non-Black ethnic minority) community here” aren’t what we’re after.

If you’re Black or mixed race and living somewhere you love outside Zones 1–2 (especially if you moved from central), I’d love to know where you are and what you like about it.

If I were you, I'd get this moved to the Black Mumsnetters board.You'll get more useful answers there.

That's what I was going to suggest.

Are you looking for near London per your title (if so which direction /where would you need to commute into? - makes a difference if you're heading to City versus Westminster for example).

If i had your budget I'd look at Herne Hill but is that too central/built up for your preferences?

Yes, are you looking specifically outside London, or outside Zones 1-2?

Also, do you want state schools only, or are you looking at private as well.

The villages around Reading are very pleasant and fit your budget. There are also good schools.

Reading itself is very diverse.

I'm asian, so a person of colour if that counts. I also wouldn't want to be in an area where my child was the only POC at school. For 1.5 million I'd be looking at Ealing (around Ealing Common, South Ealing or Broadway) or Northfields areas, both have good schools and connections to London. The high street is getting better and better, house prices have shot up, Elizabeth line is nearby, there's a nice mixed community and also a big Japanese influence.

Ealing is the nicer and better connected of the two but also more expensive. I think you'd probably get a 4 bed though for 1.5 million.

Some options:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/164529911

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150678062

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/164366591

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/163788410

Forest Gate - zone 3, Elizabeth line. Forest Gate Community School has been rated Outstanding for many years and the local primary schools (Woodgrange and Godwin) are excellent too

www.forestgatecst.org/#

I think somewhere like Blackheath/Greenwich/Charlton. Greenwich Park and the river, loads going on but easy to get to the countryside or coast. Lots of options re; independent schools, good primaries, some good state secondaries and access to grammar schools if dc are very academic.

Newham is a shit hole though and the crime rate is higher than most other London boroughs.

I used to live around Forest Hill/dulwich/Crystal Palace and it’s patchy… there are some very white middle class/wealthy bits and some much more black/brown bits but if you look carefully I think you could pick a good spot for diversity in state schools. Tbf the kids in the private schools are kinda mixed, it was the lake of mix in the staff that bothered me more when I looked around

It can be very green, I miss Sydenham woods. Was 15 mins on the train to Victoria

I don’t think there’s anywhere near London at all where you will find your children being the only children of colour. You’d have to go back to the 1950’s to find that.

Not in a state school but the OP didn't say whether she was looking at state or private.

Annoying that they didn't even hang around for 1 or 2 minutes and answer a couple of questions.

Ealing, Walthamstow, harrow on the hill, Sydenham, Highbury, Arsenal

Oxford. Oxford Oxford Oxford.

The only disadvantage is that housing (renting or buying) is ferociously, staggeringly expensive. But if you live there you can see why.

Looking at your list of requirements:

It’s the most (or one of the most, I forget) diverse cities outside London. (You can google the data.) Given that, I’d assume the state schools reflect that. And obviously some of the most sought after prep boarding schools are clustered in and around the area, so that also attracts an international pupil body.

Middle class professionals from different backgrounds? Well, people come from all over the world for study or research purposes, and stay for the burgeoning career opportunities in science and arts and social sciences, not just in Oxford but everywhere including London.

It really does have an astonishing amount of green space in the centre of the city. It’s easy to feel a little sorry for tourists who arrive for a couple of days, find themselves squished amongst a million others on the High St, or crocodiled through a couple of colleges, and then go home wondering exactly what they were there for. You need to live there to begin to appreciate the wealth of parks and meadows and woods and weirs - in addition to the college gardens you may have access to as a resident.

Commuting? 55 minutes to London by train. Or there’s the Oxford Tube (a bus) if you prefer.

Oh - the other disadvantage is that traffic in and around the city is beyond ghastly. Don’t plan a life that depends on driving through the centre at all. Walk, cycle, scoot, take the ample buses.

Look - I remember Oxford in the 80s when there might be only one Black face amongst half a dozen colleges. And they wouldn’t be from the UK. Things have changed so, so much.

(Maybe skip this bit if you’re not Black …)

The universities are falling over themselves to attract and shout about Black researchers. It’s still a bit - I dunno - if you can wear a Global South badge you’re celebrated, if you fought your way through gang violence on a council estate you’d better be working on a PhD about that (rather than cells or atoms or whatever). If you’re just an average middle class Black person who doesn’t identify as an outsider or disadvantaged - you’ll be considered very much less exciting.

But, the test - when you pass another Black person in the street, you don’t feel the need to nod to them - because neither of you is rare now.

I can’t recommend the place highly enough - despite all the rough and tumble of city life, and the competitiveness of so many clever people politely elbowing each other out of the way.

Oh yes Blackheath, Streatham and Camberwell, Crystal Palace, Norwood If you are looking for black/middle class south of the river is probably a better bet for bang for buck.

I didn’t know there was a Black MN board! Thanks so much.

Yes I have a lot of black family up there and it’s such a good quality of life and community that is rare for London unless you have a lot of family in the same borough.

And it’s lovely to look at

The City and SoHo, so different places.

I haven’t been to Herne Hill in quite a while, but remember not liking it very much. However, places do change (as do perspectives).

I’d also attend to events in the areas you like as it will give you an idea of the crowd and vibe of the area.

I went to a few events in crystal palace full of MC POC that convinced me. That and the size of the houses 😅

north London houses are way smaller

My DS has just finished Year 1 at a state primary school in West London. There is one black child in his class and one child from Japan. Everyone else is white-European (mainly not English though). It depends entirely on the demographics of the area.

You could stay in zone 2 or 3 and have a family house with garden. Will be diversse guaranteed.

I initially thought of Herne Hill/West Dulwich.

Yes to Blackheath and Greenwich. Very diverse area. I’ve just returned from church and there are now only 5 white people in the church and over 40 others who are black or from other ethnicities. I absolutely love this area. There’s a square of Westcombe Park/charlton/blackheath standard/greenwich/lee/lewisham and Hither Green where you’ll find an amazing house with great schools and you will live in a properly safe and diverse area.

Really? Where in west london?