Where to live: Dorking, Horsham, Haywards heath??

[carembri]

Hello,
My husband has got a great job offer for a company in Crawley. I’ve never lived down south so I am looking to hear advice on where to live.

We want to be in the countryside or a small green town, preferably. And within easy commuting distance to Crawley and near a station with direct trains to London (where I’ll likely work). We also have a little boy (2yo) who we’d like to send to a local nursery. We prioritize safety and easy access to playgrounds and nature, but we’d also love somewhere with community and cultural activities (local theater, music nights, kids activity groups, etc.).

please give I’d, give me all the recommendations you can. And also any places to avoid. TIA x

Dorking, definitely. (Lived there for ten years and have a retirement flat waiting for me....) Pretty, market town with loads of green spaces, and three mainline stations around the town!

Horsham is not small and ever expanding, town centre nice though. How far from Crawley are you willing to be? Budget for housing?

How about Billingshurst? Just two stops (if Christs Hospital is still a station) down from Horsham. Village location, although expanding, train station and beautiful surrounding countryside.

Dorking absolutely if you have the budget for it.

I work in all these areas and lived in Dorking too. I'd choose Horsham probably out of those three. It's very white middle class and safe. If that's what you're after!

I'd move to Brighton if it was me though, much more diverse and lots to do

They are all nice areas.

Horsham is a lot more built up and ever expanding. That means you get more facilities and better shops, but not so much of a countryside/village vibe, especially if you want to live walking distance to the station.

Dorking and Haywards Heath are smaller with less facilities and shops but you can live more of a village life while still being walking to a main station and easy access to facilities in other towns.

London commute wise I’d say Haywards Heath is the best; you can go direct to both Victoria or London Bridge both in under an hour. Plus trains are more frequent than your other options; and you can also get direct to Gatwick or Brighton in under 15minutes.

Personally in your situation I’d look at Haywards Heath and bordering villages; Lindfield and Cuckfield. But I wouldn’t rule out Horsham if you wanted a bigger town.

Typed reply too fast

We have set a budget of about 2000pcm for rent. Ideally we don’t want to be more than 25 mins commute each way to Crawley, and my husband will likely commute by car. For me I hope to get a hybrid position so I’m fine with the longer London commute every few days but I’d rather the majority of my commute by train.