Find me a new area in Greater London to live! :0)

[TransatlanticCityGirl]

Really hoping someone can give me some tips on possible areas to consider settling down in. I'm originally from Canada and moved to London 12 years ago, and for the last 11 years I've lived in Rotherhithe (near Canada Water station - no coincidence, that!) :)

My husband is from Hornchurch and there is no way I could see myself living there.

Criteria for a new area:

• Easy commute to Liverpool Street Station / St. Paul's, and good transport links generally for someone who dislikes driving.
• Good schools for our DD (she's only 10 month old - we're planning ahead) and good selection of family activities, e.g. things I can do with baby no. 2 if there ever is one)
• Nice moderately priced area (large 4-5 bed houses with a garden for a 6-figure budget)
• I don't care how big the season ticket cost is as long as the trains are frequent and reliable.
• Suits a city girl at heart! (Wide open country = no thanks)
• Preferably also easy commute to Canary Wharf just in case of future job change!
• If 'The Only Way is Essex' could have been filmed there it's probably not for me

Suggestions? Ideas? All I've come up with so far is Blackheath (a bit too pricey for what you get), and Gidea Park (too close to Hornchurch).

Crystal palace is definitely a possibility and fits most of your criteria. It's great for babies and mums and is a really lovely place to live, transport links pretty good too!

We used to live in Blackheath, tis very nice. Also Greenwich would be my choice if I were to move back to London - have you looked there? There's Hither Green nearby too altho not so much going on there, and Herne Hill. Is Dulwich over budget? I've never looked there...

Blackheath and Greenwich are really lovely places to live, maybe have a proper look around and see if you can find something in budget? Never been to Crystal Palace, sounds like a good prospect to look at too though!

You'll probably find what you're after in East Dulwich. I love it there but DH is too much of a bachelor to move to family central, the bastard as it has good schools, an easy commute, lovely community and has 5 bed houses at well under £1m.

Telegraph hill/brockley would fit your criteria - lovely houses near telegraph hill park for c£750k, Edmund Waller v good primary and new free school run by haberdasher askes hopefully opening sept 2013. Overground from new cross gate/brockley is v good service, also thameslink trains from nunhead go to city thameslink (easy for st Paul's), plenty of stuff for mums/babies and lots of young families

I second the vote for East Dulwich.

Thanks all for the suggestions!! There's some good ideas in there including places I've never considered (or even heard of before!).

I did consider Greenwich previously but I can't seem to find the size of house I'm looking for near a station for the price I'm able to pay. I do love it there, and I spent much of my maternity leave in that area as they offer so much for babies.

Now to get researching! :)

Beckenham is nice. Big houses m.rightmove.co.uk/quickPage.html;jsessionid=FE08C74245E8B570F266118FB8F83F48?page=8&cc=html5%2Fhomepage.html%3Fgoto%3DHOMEPAGE#detailsthis
m.rightmove.co.uk/quickPage.html;jsessionid=FE08C74245E8B570F266118FB8F83F48?page=8&cc=html5%2Fhomepage.html%3Fgoto%3DHOMEPAGE#detailsthis

and this

Trains into London bridge/charing cross/Victoria (three train lines so different options on routes), shed loads for mummy and babies, good schools and the options of grammars, loads of parks and easy driving distance to the coast/countryside.

If you like Blackheath, I would try for the residential areas near to it. Slightly cheaper etc. Places like Hither Green, Ladywell, Brockley, Charlton, Maze Hill, Westcombe Park etc.

They're all near to Lewisham or Greenwich so good for DLR / train links so your commuting needs are covered; cheaper than Blackheath; really lovely Victorian/Edwardian housing stock, great parks, lots of things to do for you and DC, and some great schools. This part of South-East London is lovely!

I should declare an interest though as I live in Hither Green. As a guide, friends of mine have just bought a 4-bed in the area for about £450k. Our 3-bed was just over £300k 2 years ago (but it's a bit of a project). So it's all within your budget. Brockley and parts of Hilly fields will be more expensive, as will Maze Hill. Charlton might be a bit cheaper.

Oh and if you go for Hilly Fields you'll be in the catchment area for Prendergast Secondary School for your DD.

I hope that helps!

My use of semi-colons in that post is shocking! Apologies!

Just an added thing. East Dulwich is too expensive for what it offers (I speak as a former resident). It really is. And personally I think it's a bit 'if you don't have a Bugaboo, we're calling social services'. Blackheath can be like that too.

Friends of mine have an amazing house, on a lovely street in Camberwell. Be open minded! You never know what you'll find!

I agree with Lime re East Dulwich - very overpriced for what it is, even though it's reasonable nice.
Crystal Palace looks quite nice but I don't think it's a very safe area - it's also very unkempt around the shopping triangle, with some dodgy characters hanging around the streets all day. But it does have a good park - it's also quite expensive (you d get a maisonette but not a house).
Is South Clapham/Balham (not right by the tube) over budget? they are ok, and much more choices locally than in Crystal palace (re shops, cafes, tube which CP doesn't have, lots of terraces).
Beckenham quite nice (clean, good houses) but very suburban for a city girl, imo. It depends how much entertainment you need !

I'm of two minds about the whole suburbia thing. On one hand, I'm a huge fan of off street parking and detached / semi-detaches houses with gardens made of grass and not stone. On the other hand, I wouldn't be willing to commute more than 1 hour door to door, ideally no more than 45 minutes. :)

Definitely Hither Green then. It's about 40 mins to Liverpool Street and 30 mins to Canary Wharf!

You might not get off street parking though but then it is in London!

but what do you tend to do on weekends? if you have to use transport to get anywhere for some cafes/shops, would it suit you? I think this may be an issue with places like Hither Green/Beckenham (Lewisham which is shopping area close to HG is not so nice with a small child imo, unless it changed dramatically recently).

I don't know about Beckenham but Hither Green is fine. It's about 15 minutes walk to Blackheath for restaurants etc and there are some really interesting nearby places (Korean BBQ anyone?).. We have 3 or 4 really nice family friendly cafes on the doorstep. We have 3 great parks and Greenwich park is nearby. We have 2 or 3 local pubs now which serve food (this a recent thing actually - lack of drinking opps was a bit of an issue .

This is not a place that you need a car to get by.

And central Lewisham is FINE!

Clearly I need to set up some sort of Lewisham based tourist information service!

wow, likeatonneofbricks, have you actually been to Crystal Palace in the last ten years?! Am a bit that you would think Balham is a more budget option! You can definitely get a decent four/five-bed house in CP for a much more reasonable price than Balham/Clapham South, and it actually is on the tube these days (East London line), for those that like to travel with their head wedged in someone else's armpit. Plus as far as I'm aware it's much safer than a lot of other parts of South London. And the Triangle is no more unkempt than Balham High Road! Just saying...

Beckenham has shops and restaurants but if you want proper clothes shopping etc then you drive to blue water or bromley.

Trains are 20 mins to Victoria/blackfriars/London bridge and half an hour to charing cross/cannon street.

Lime - sounds nice, I went past HG a couple of times but didn't see all the cafes/pubs so it 's useful to know. where aer the cafes (street?) and also what ae the prices like now?
OneLittleHopper - yes, I've been to CP a lot a year ago as I was thinking of buying a flat there. I agree Bal;ham High st is also unkempt but at least htere is more choice there (twop large supermarkets incl waitrose, more cafes and proximity to Clapham common shops and also Bellevue area in opposite direction. Balham is def not budget option but if you look away from the tube you can find a house which wd be same price as best parts of CP - which is not cheap! yes, best of balham is more expensive but there isn't that much difference between best andworst iykwim, it's just distance to tube. East london is not really tube is it and it's crammed because of the City rounte. Balham has northern line to charing cross but even better 12min to Victoria. I decided against CP as I never go to London Bridge andto get to centtral london is REALLy slow, as just to victoria it takes 35min or so, and then onwards. I do like the houses around triangle in CP - very impressive! but to me there is hardly any shops/cafes and I'd have to travel elsewhere most days and weekends because of this. If someone is working all hours and gets back just to relax, and works in London Bridge then yes, it's a good option. As to dirty-ish high st. and dodgy characteers - seen them most days I've been there. Maybe it improves in the eve! there is very rough neighbouring area though, forgot the name.

If you need to get into Liverpool St then I'd be looking at Essex rather than some of the very dodgy parts of London being suggested here....!

We're talking south east London because the OP mentioned Blackheath earlier on.

And having worked a lot in Essex, I'd genuinely rather eat my own head. But each to their own!

I think you need to look again at Essex - Chelmsford perhaps. It's a new city, the county town, has some very good schools, a lovely university, access to some beautiful countryside and is about 40mins from Liverpool Street.

likeatonneofbricks. Parks are Mountsfield Park, Manor House Gardens, and Manor Park. All three have nice cafes although the Mountsfield Park one closes in the winter which is a bit irritating.

Other cafes are Hither Green Deli and You don't bring me flowers which are both just by the station. My particular favourite is the Cafe of Good Hope on Hither Green Lane.

Pubs are the Ravensbourne and the Jolly Farmers on Lewisham High Street, and the Northbrook on Burnt Ash Road. The presence of good pubs is VERY important to me (slightly shaming).

Anyway, we're a friendly lot!

What are the 'very dodgy parts' that you refer to, Nancy66? Genuinely intrigued...!

I personally would not want to live in the centre of Lewisham, and the high st and shopping area are a bit grim and run down IMO - but other than that, the areas suggested are quite normal, non?

Camberwell, New Cross, Crystal Palace, Ladywell....not areas I'd chose to live in

Here here Emsyj! I agree.

And for the record I wouldn't particularly want to live in central Lewisham either. But it isn't any worse than many other parts of SE London and it has a very good deli! I certainly don't feel unsafe taking DC there to go to the post office or buy fruit from the market. Parts of Lewisham High Street are pretty run down but it depends where you look and how much time you spend there.

The bottom line is if you choose to live in London you're going to experience variation. Some streets, parks, whatever will be nicer than others, and they'll quite often be very close to what are perceived to be more attractive areas. That variation is one of the reasons I live here. For others, it's a reason to leave. As I said before, each to their own.

Nancy66 have you been to Ladywell recently?! Everyone and their Aunt is trying to get houses there to get their DC into the very good local schools. Property is expensive, particularly around Hilly Fields.