Advice re Mitcham

[somanymiles]

Moving back to the UK after 8 years abroad with 3 children - 15, 12 and 3. Husband says Mitcham is "up and coming". I remember it as not very nice. anyone live in Mitcham? Would you recommend it? What are the schools like? Is Mitcham Common safe to walk on? Pros and cons of the area in general?

I live in Merton Park, have been here (and in Wimbledon/South Wimbledon) for the last 30 years.

As far as I know, there is nothing up and coming about Mitcham and i would avoid it like the plague.

Haha Mitcham has been "up and coming" since the 60s!

Agree with you Giselle99 we live in Mitcham and don't like it at all...great struggle getting DS into a good school (elseewhere in the Borough) and that was quite a few years ago - you might be okay if you move to Colliers Wood/Mitcham borders but unless you can afford nice house around Cricket Green would avoid like the plague!

No way would I live in Mitcham. Depends on how much you are thinking on spending - I would look at Raynes Park or South Wimbledon.

Thanks- we are hoping to stay near family in croydon (but I don't want to live there). Will probably look at somewhere south like carshalton.

Esher or epsom also nice

i live in mitcham,where i live it is lovely because it is very quiet and right next to the tram,and near morden hall but there are two very good primary schools near by but most of the secondary schools are rubbish

Just moved to Mitcham from uber-hip North East London. For what would buy me a flat in N16 I bought a huge detached property set in it's own landscaped grounds.

Mitcham Eastfields station is 10 minutes walk, and gets me to Kings cross/Victoria/London Bridge in under 20 minutes. Streatham is 1.5 miles away with an absolutely huge range of shops, and Brixton only 4 miles away if I want to go out for the night.

There's colour diversity, and loads of open spaces with the added bonus of having Surrey on your doorstep. Admittedly, there's a poor underclass, but so has hackney.

Ahhh, Hackney. We moved to Raynes Park from Dalston a few years ago. We miss it in some respects. As for living in Mitcham, I suppose it helps if you're made of stern stuff. Have a look around Raynes Park somanymiles.

I've noticed the Colliers Wood border area of Mitcham is improving. Same houses as you get in the SW19 postcode but cheaper so what's to lose? A new bus route, the S1 is coming soon too for a link to Sutton. Wimbledon is a manageable walk away so you can live in Mitcham but entertain yourself and shop in Wimbledon. The priory park retail area has PC world/Currys Toys R Us and Mothercare whilst the Tandem centre has TK Maxx, Boots, Starbucks and WH Smiths. Ok it also has Sportsdirect but you can't have everything.

I think Mitcham gets a bad press to be quite honest and sometimes I do wonder whether many of the people who are so rude about it, have ever been there? Admittedly it does have its issues but there are some lovely houses around the Cricket Green Conservation Area.

I didn't particularly like it when we first moved but only because I'd lived somewhere much more upmarket before. Sadly we couldn't afford to stay there once we'd started a family. I think once you live there you see it in a different light.

I agree with Nomadicdonkey that there is a poor 'underclass' but doesn't every area have that? Even chichi parts of London. I personaly think they are gradually being edged out (not sure where to though) as many of the council properties have been sold off and are now owned by young families or landlords who then rent them out to the burgeoning Eastern European working population.

Parts of Mitcham, particularly on those bordering Colliers Wood and Tooting, have certainly changed in the decade or so that we've lived around here, if only because they offer good transport links and housing is more affordable for the 'squeezed middle'.

I agree with Williamdefoeismine. Mitcham gets a bad press. If you actually look at a map Mitcham covers an expansive area. A ward like Colliers Wood which is tiny should not be compared to Mitcham. Housing is soooo expensive in London that recommendations of Colliers Wood, Merton Park or Raynes Park are only possible if you have the dosh.
Mitcham does have some social problems in pockets but there are lots of pockets that are very family orientated. Just ordinary people working and living in London raising their families. It's a diverse area and a wide variety of housing stock. It has a range of good to outstanding primary schools. The two secondary schools are run now by the Harris chain of academies.
Mitcham is a historically rich area but has always been under valued and de valued not just by Merton residents but by Merton council. If LBM spent the time and money they have in other parts of the borough then Mitcham wouldn't be so bad.
Parts of Mitcham are definately improving such as the Tooting/ Colliers Wood end.
If the planned tram link to the centre goes ahead that will have a huge knock on effect. The story of Mitcham just reminds us of the inequalities that exist in life generally.

Yes, if you look at some of the lovely housing stock around the Cricket Green Conservation Area you can see that Mitcham was once a very affluent village!

I know this thread is old, but me and my hubby bought a house in Graham Road in Mitcham a few months back - we moved out a bit to buy a family home to renovate, we're both 30...and...NORMAL! :)

The neighbours we've found here are absolutely lovely; young families, middle aged couples and people like us. We truly feel like we've made a good choice. We have a huge Edwardian 3 bedroom house for little more than we sold our old 2 bed flat in Denmark Hill, with some green space (Figges marsh) at the end of the road.

I can run to Mitcham Eastfields station in 5 minutes when I'm late (which is often!), we can get to Victoria or London Bridge in just over 20 mins. It's actually quicker to get to work in North West London than where we used to live.

With the wonderful Gorringe Park pub opening its doors on the other side of the marsh (right on the border of Tooting), and Tooting overground ten minutes away having trains into Farringdon, we haven't looked back.

The common is huge and good for kids, the cricket green charming and village-like. Really happy we moved here, and I think for people being priced out of Tooting it's a good choice.

Sure it can be a bit rough around the edges, but we've found it to be so much nicer than what people on forums made it out to be. It's affordable, has its own town centre, and the people we've met so far are genuinely nice people.

There seem to be lots of other people renovating too here, which can only be a good sign :)

Good that your experiences have been largely positive! Yes, I do think that many people have a negative opinion on Mitcham (including BIL who has never lived further 'south' than Nottingham!) without doing it the honour of a visit.

I think the Tooting Station makes all the difference. It's an area well served by public transport. The only thing is that it doesn't have a large stock of large, quality housing to be totally up and coming...

Not that many decades ago people were saying equally negative stuff about Battersea and Balham.......enough said :-)

Glad to hear some positivity about Mitcham by a Mitcham resident. Like I said before it covers a vast area so sadly the better aspects always seem to get lost.
The library used to be very good I hope it still is.
I heard an old pub in Cricket Green was going to be turntable into an arts centre. I hope that's true.

Bit late to the party (as usual), but wanted to add my twopenceworth. We (DH/DS and I) live on Mitcham/Tooting borders and love it! We are very close to Tooting Railway station and Figges Marsh and find transport links in and out of central London very quick and easy. The Gorringe Pub has had a revamp and is fab for all ages (cinema in basement shows kids films during holidays - yay!), Figges Marsh and surrounding playgrounds excellent, good shopping (Lidl/Sainsbury's/local independent traders) and good primary schools. Prices rising ridiculously quickly though, probably due to Graveney-Effect? Can appreciate Mitcham in general is a bit of a Curate's Egg, but we love it, particularly multi-cultural vibe and "village-y atmosphere".

Really think it is up and coming but as always, the Mitcham side of the borough is regarded as the poor relation.... sigh.... Pretty sure that many of the people who are so anti it have never visited it - or not recently!

The area around the Cricket Green has some lovely properties and I totally agree that the area around Tooting Borders/Figges Marsh is up and coming.....

It lacks the quality of housing stock to make it into a potential prime location but still, those elsewhere in the borough may find themselves pleasantly surprised if they ever deign to visit!

Mitcham love fest occuring

Hi all, I know this is an old thread but thought I would try anyway. I'm looking at buying a house on love lane, the church road end, and just wanted to ask advice of area round there. The neighbours all seem really nice and lived there for years but I'm not sure of the direct area around there and the church (house is sort of next door to it). I don't have kids but I will be commuting from colliers wood so would be walking up church road in the mornings/evenings most of the time unless I get lazy and get the bus. I know Mitcham gets bad press and has its bad areas (where doesn't?!) but I'd really like to hear from people who live and know the area as I know it's supposed to be regenerating - it's an expensive mistake to make if I don't do my research properly. There is a temporary housing place on church road, near Vicarage gardens I think does anyone know if there is trouble round there. Thanks and I hope I hear from someone