Page 2 | mixed race family - where to live outside of london?

expecting · 2006-01-12T00:26:57+00:00

Having a real dilemma so please help me out. Want to leave London so we can afford a house but want to stay South. Don't mind so much if area isn't multicultural so long as it's inhabitants are liberal minded. Been considering areas by Essex coast such as Leigh-on-sea or Westcliff but open to suggestions.

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crunchie · 21/01/2006 16:46

TBH you don't really notice the squaddies much. Since I don't go out clubbing I never see any really.

I would come and check out various places to get a feel for them. Like I said we live in a village but it isn't small, and loads of people work in LOndon so it isn't bad at all. I wouldn't want to live in a tiny village or right in the town centre though

emmawill · 26/01/2006 16:53

We live in Kent and my husband is mixed race and I'm white. My hb moved from East London and has found at work he is the only coloured face but finds people are more interested with the fact he comes from "the big smoke". We 1st lived in a poor area and even though my hb didn't get any problems we would hear alot of racist language outside and after moving there was a racially motviated attack in the area and one person who was arrested was from the same block of flats that we lived in. However we have now moved to a much nicer area and all seems fine so far. My hb would never want to move back to london as he thinks its a far better area to bring up children however we are thinking that we might want to move a bit nearer possibly surrey where it is a bit more multicultural and liberal minded.

expectingsummerihope · 27/01/2006 12:33

Glad to hear all is ok in Kent as I used to live on the outskirts and found it quite racist BUT it is a large county and I only knew a small part of it. We used to get people driving past us and men spitting out of their van/car at my then boyfriend. Lots of curtain twitchers too. It was acceptable to be a benefit scrounger and drug dealer but not to go out with a non-white person. What part of Kent do you live?

Nightynight · 27/01/2006 13:06

WWW - know exactly what you mean by mono-culture in Devon!

WideWebWitch · 27/01/2006 13:19

magicfarawaytree, I don't live far from there and 50% of my son's school is non white. I've never noticed any racist undertones and have spent a good deal of my life in Bristol.

Rianna · 28/01/2006 13:20

I live in Woking. 10 years ago the town was divided into white, asian and a little chinese.
By now it is one of the towns with the most different nationalities.
there's a lot more traffic as well though...Still it might be a good compromise between London and going completely rural.

emmawill · 30/01/2006 10:24

expectingsummerihope - blimey that sounds awful. We live in Ashford. Were did you live?

wyls · 01/02/2006 16:17

hi expecting, I am chinese and my husband is english and have been living in Essex area for the last 20 years. We used to live in Chelmsford and have now moved to Rayleigh, which is very close to Leigh-on-sea/Westcliff. Rayleigh is a much smaller town to Chelmsford but we like it here. I think Chelmsford would be idea for you as it's only 30mins away from liverpool street and there are lots to do, shops, bars, restaurants. There are swimming lessons, yoga/massage classes and jo jingles in Chelmsford for babies. We still go out in chelmsford a lot and it is very cosmopolitan. Schools are very good too. Hope this helps. Btw, I personally wouldnt move to Colchester as it's too far to London.

expectingsummerihope · 02/02/2006 13:44

Hi Wyles, thanks for advice. Worth considering. Emmawills the area was Mottingham - nr Eltham where Stephen Lawrence was murdered. I wouldn't recommend it needless to say.

expectingsummerihope · 02/02/2006 13:48

Sorry Emma - added an 's' to your name! Mottingham is SE9 but it is next to Chislehurst which is in Kent. Unfortunately there are many council estates which take ASBO rejects from other areas - basically white trash. Sorry if that sounds un pc but it's true.

emmawill · 04/02/2006 03:11

expectingsummerihope - i would of thought it would be better up there but its just horrendous that anywhere is bad in this day and age. We've just had our 2nd baby on Thursday little baby boy and he also looks totally different to our baby girl who is blonde hair blue eyed but has the afro curls and our boy has got straight dark hair and dark eyes, that'll get these country folk talking!!!!!!!!!!!!

expectingsummerihope · 04/02/2006 17:04

Ooh congratulations to the three of you on your addition. Well I'm sure they're both gorgeous however different - not that I'd want to say m r kids are cuter (a shootable offence you know) Let those country tongues wag away

treacletart · 04/02/2006 17:16

Brighton's a great place to live - not as multi-cultural as you might expect but a very happy place and great for kids. Sadly property prices are almost on a par with London though.

expectingsummerihope · 04/02/2006 17:30

I know and if you factor in commuting costs it's more expensive.

tahira · 06/03/2006 14:35

Hi expecting
I live in Hornchurch Essex and I think it's great. I'm asian and my husband is white and we've never had a problem at all.

blueshoes · 06/03/2006 15:13

I visit Leigh a lot because have relatives there. It does not strike me as multi-cultural, though you do have increasing numbers of Londoners moving in. As visitors, my family does not get stared at (we are non-white) but I think it is quite different if you live there. Apart from the ex-london crowd, a lot of mums there (this is coming from a relative) grew up in the area/Essex and the cliques can be hard (but not impossible) to break into.

Otherwise, good schools, good facilities for children, trendy high street.

expectingsummerihope · 07/03/2006 23:20

Thanks, that's very interesting. Kind of thought that might be the case. Tbh, I appreciate good neighbours but I'm not into mum and toddler groups etc so I probably wouldn't be trying to break into the cliques anyway. Have long term friends from different parts of London whom I stay in touch with. What's more important to me is how ds would be treated at school etc. Anyway, we continue to deliberate and go round and round in circles on this issue. It's a tricky one.

lounan · 18/03/2006 23:04

We live in guildford, surrey i'm white and DH is black DS is mixed race. We have never been stared at or had any negative comments made, if anything we always get the grannies coming up to DS and saying how gorgeous he is and can they have his lovely curly hair.
When DH used to live in london we had very negative looks and comments which really used to us.We love guildford for the open spaces and we dont seem to be the only mixed race families, oh and the shopping of coursecant beat it.

expectingsummerihope · 20/03/2006 22:28

What are the schools like there? I heard guildford is v expensive for property etc. Is that true? What areas are decent within Guildford?

likklemum · 21/03/2006 00:22

We have just moved from SW London to Maidstone in kent. I am white and originally from the area. DP is Trinidadian (mixed Asian, Chinese and Black). DP was very nervous and I was a bit as when i was growing up, it wasn't very multi-cultural.

However, we are both pleasantly surprised. We do not stick out as it is more multi-cultural than either of us expected. there also seem to be more mixed -race couples than same-race (other than white).

I think there is more curiosity, but I think people are more cautious that they don't say anything to offend.

lounan · 21/03/2006 08:22

Guildford can be very expensive ,depends what sort of house you would like? A typical 3 bed on the better side of guildford(not north) would set you back about £270,000+. North guildford is having alot of development at the moment with some nice houses being built,its like most places there are areas that you wouldnt want to live in.Schools are excellent on the merrow burpham side hence more expensive properties.

lounan · 21/03/2006 08:23

Guildford can be very expensive ,depends what sort of house you would like? A typical 3 bed on the better side of guildford(not north) would set you back about £270,000+. North guildford is having alot of development at the moment with some nice houses being built,its like most places there are areas that you wouldnt want to live in.Schools are excellent on the merrow burpham side hence more expensive properties.
Still alot cheaper than london though!

lounan · 21/03/2006 08:23

Guildford can be very expensive ,depends what sort of house you would like? A typical 3 bed on the better side of guildford(not north) would set you back about £270,000+. North guildford is having alot of development at the moment with some nice houses being built,its like most places there are areas that you wouldnt want to live in.Schools are excellent on the merrow burpham side hence more expensive properties.
Still alot cheaper than london though!

expectingsummerihope · 25/03/2006 23:12

Well we have finally made a decision and we have had an offer accepted on a house in South Croydon. For now it ticks many of our boxes as it is multi cultural yet has access to lots of open green spaces, good schools and excellent commuter links. Will let you know how it goes. Would like to thank everyone for their advice. It isn't wasted as I have taken note of it all and I'm sure it will be useful when we finally decide to shun city life.

shoobaloo · 11/06/2006 19:48

bumping...