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.

Can people stop recommending Tooting? It's primarily South Asian communities. This is not what the OP is asking after.

The nearest best place nearby Tooting with black communities would probably be Streatham/Streatham Hill, which has changed a lot financially in the last decade.

@SimplySoo has it changed then? When my son lived there in 2019 there was always a large black community very visible, rather than just an Asian one. - I loved the carribean bakery too .

I live in Tooting, there absolutely is a black community there. It's not as big as in say Streatham but it is a decent size. About a third of my children's school is black

I wouldn't say there is a large % of black people living in the houses on the Heaver Estate/Trinity road way or around Graveney though.

I guess it depends on how narrowly you want to look at these things, you might be able to find half a road here or there in Tooting without a black family but I would be astonished in Tooting if you could find a school with less than 10% black children. Including Graveney.

There are much whiter areas that have been suggested on this thread .. I still roll my eyes at Chislehurst as a suggestion! But also suggested were Oxford, Windsor, Maidenhead, Brighton. I would suggest that Tooting isn't the obvious suggestion to pick out as not black enough.

@diterictur totally agree -!! I lived in 2 streets in Oxford - both in summertown which is likely the area the OP may well fancy house wise and cannot ever remember seeing a single black family , a few Asian families yes but not that many either proportionally to be honest -lots of Americans and Germans and comfortably off white Brits.

@diterictur have also lived in Windsor too ( we get around) and lots and lots of Asian families but again I can’t remember a single black family in the area we were - although the Tory MP at the time was black

@diterictur obviously I've not knocked on every door but I spend a lot of time on these roads so have some insight. The OP I believe wants families like her on her road.

I have never ever ever heard the term “he / she is a diverse person”.

Applause emoji

We’re in leafy Sanderstead - just outside (4 miles up the hill from) Croydon. It has two direct train lines into town (Purley Oaks and Sanderstead, 25 mins to London Bridge or Victoria, plus the Thameslink at peak times) and has great state schools - both primary and secondary. I would say that the primaries are less diverse but then some of that is because we moved up here from Selsdon, so it’s more of a ‘by comparison’ rather than ‘not diverse’, if you see what I mean. DD1’s secondary (which is Outstanding and gets excellent-for-a-non-selective-school results) has an intake which reflects the demographic of the borough it’s in, so it’s very mixed.

It’s also nice and cheap (for houses in London z6) because people get put off by the fact that it’s in the borough of Croydon 🤷🏻‍♀️😁

That is ridiculous. If indeed the OP is looking for a ‘genuinely diverse community with visible black population’ then Tooting is probably the perfect place for her.

The 40% is predominantly in Mitcham, although Morden has become more "diverse" in the past 20 years or so.

Morden and Mitcham are not desirable locations at all, regardless of their supposedly increased diversity.

I was simply explaining the demographics as the person I was responding to seemed unaware. And while the town centres may seem "undesirable" to some, there are parts of both areas which are nice and leafy. House prices in both regions will reflect that.

Maybe it’s worth remembering that what the OP appeared to want is a vibrant, thriving area that she and her family would find stimulating and exciting to live in. Some of the places people are listing are, as far as I can recall, quite unbelievably dreary, dull and depressing. The fact that there may be two particular streets with a number of Black residents doesn’t, in itself, make them suitable for her purpose.

@MissPrismsMistake totally agree- in all fairness it’s why I liked Tooting when my son lived there - not swanky but had a good vibe, nice markets , some nice gastro pubs , a very mixed population including large Afro carribean one, decent hospital and a very big mix of housing both leafy and urban -plus tube and the train . handy for popping to Wimbledon too

@Paniconthestreetsof have you considered West London at all?

Hello! Just popped back to update, in case anyone was interested. We’re moving to Brockley. 🙂

Kingston

Well done, fantastic area!
Now you need a cockapoo and a yoga mat.

Chislehurst is lovely.

<Awaits detailed account of decision making process>

Glad you’ve found somewhere you like, @Paniconthestreetsof!

@Paniconthestreetsof oh amazing! be sure to get yourself a welcome breakfast at Good as Gold, Broca, or Dream Story, and a welcome dinner at Babur, Mauby, or (in Nunhead), D1400!