Brixton vs Shepherds Bush

[tt7488]

I currently live in Shepherds Bush but think I am being priced out. We can sort of just about still afford to live here (just sold our flat and looking for somewhere) but I am finding it painful to think that we are going to have to spend 550k for a two bedroom flat (we are looking at one now with bloody QPR stadium in the garden)!

I grew up in Brixton and a lot of my friends live there so I am open to uprooting us there I think (although I love my childminder more than my own family and REALLY don't want to leave her). My DH is not so keen. My family also currently live very nearby in Notting Hill and Shepherds Bush. That is something I would miss enormously.

What are the schools like around Brixton? Are there any really lovely nurseries as well?

I know Brixton is on the up at the moment so quite expensive but I am hoping it will keep heading upwards.

Is it a good idea? I feel like Brixton is similar in a lot of ways to Shepherds Bush, just a bit more urban. Is it a bit trendy for a family these days?

I would rather stay in Shepherds Bush but I wonder if that is just me being scared of the new, the idea of settling my son into new childcare etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I think you will be exchanging pretty much like for like, but without the benefit of having family closer by. My parents used to live SE London and after many horrendous journeys they moved to West London to be nearer us. Much better as we can see each other regularly without it having to be a big upheaval. How about moving slightly further west towards Acton?

Absolutely no offence intended to anyone who lives there but I am not keen on Acton as an area. There don't seem to be any nice parks, shops, cafes, restaurants etc. Are the schools there any good? And it is that bit further out. I love that it takes me 20 minutes to get home from work and can spend maximum amount of time with my DS. People also come and visit us a lot (even though they mostly live in Brixton or North London) because it is relatively easy. I know they wouldn't if we moved out to Acton (we are the first to get married and have children, all our friends are living very much the young professional lifestyle!).

I prefer Brixton to shepherds bush myself (in part because I don't like huge shopping malls, in part because I think Brixton has got great nightlife, great food and is more central). However I think close proximity to family and good childcare trumps all of the above. I'd stay put. Tbh I was slightly surprised that there's a price difference sufficient to make it worth considering.

Much prefer Brixton.

Brixton has brockwell park, the lido, the ritzy is near to clapham common. Good tube and fast trains plus great leisure centre, market loads of nightlife.

As a young professional I loved my flat in the Bush, we watched Westfield going up from our back windows. But 2 DC later we wanted a bit more space than we could afford there so we hopped over Acton and live in South Ealing now where we could afford a small house with a garden!

It adds 20mins on the commute but I'd definitely say it's worth it and I'm quite happy with the schools, although you do have to be careful not to end up in a catchment hole.

Go west! I say, go west!

I don't know Brixton at all so can't really help, but I've lived in Shepherd's Bush for years and I am now desperate to move away. It's becoming more separatist - ethnically and economically - and that makes me very uneasy.

It was always very ethnically mixed, but now there are massive tensions between the Eastern Europeans and the various Muslim communities. The Uxbridge Road is particularly rough these days and the thing that staggers me is how many people are stoned, pissed and aggressive in the middle of the day.

I know literally a dozen people who have been mugged or burgled in the last year. The very rich and the very poor do not make good neighbours. There's a lot of mutual suspicion and the rich incomers are easy targets. There's literally an apartheid situation. How often do you see a white face in Nando's or a black one at the Hummingbird?

Now the BBC has gone, and the hospital is about to go. The police station is going, and the swish new hotel that was supposed to go up on the Green is actually going to be a budget hotel.

I just don't like it here any more and I can't wait to move .

Wouldn't you miss all the parks in west London? I live in the west with 2 small children and just love using a range of amazing, clean, well kept parks. Brixton's brockwell park is lovely but a bit littered with beer cans to be perfect for small kids.

But either area has brilliant points.

You'd be fine in either and make a home and good community.

Brixton is pricey now though. Shepherds bush is still pricier!

MrsH Come join me in Ealing! It's lovely!

I used to live in Brixton and still miss it terribly - the good shops, foodie scene, superb travel links, proximity to East Dulwich and Clapham...but I agree with tiger about how important it is to have family a good childcare nearby. Stay where you are if you can.

This flat is a bit cheaper than what you've been looking at:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-26343978.html

Don't know the area terribly well so might not be quite what you're after in W12.

Mothership, I would LOVE to live in Ealing and we are looking there. DH more taken with Putney, Sheen and Barnes so who knows where we'll end up.

In an ideal world we would move out altogether and if you've seen my other thread, I'm desperate to change career in order to make such a big change possible.

Good luck with your search TT748 and I'm sorry if I depressed you!

Snap! MrsH DH & I were planning to move out of London altogether but the logistics of moving to a new place, finding new jobs etc. defeated us so we moved from Shepherds Bush to Ealing instead.

We're in the Northfields area, if you ever need any local area give me a shout.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Mrs H you have a good point revShepherds Bush. Didn't know that about the hotel though. Makes me scared well buy at a premium and then prices will come down again.

Everyone keeps telling me how the market is going to be the borough market of the West, I'm not holding my breath!

Looked round Brixton places. Not sure we can afford there either! Woe is me!

Here's a suggestion - camberwell/peckham rye border.

Good schools - lyndhurst, dog kennel hill if you can get into the catchment. Direct journey to shepherds bush on the overground/ginger line. Walking distance to brixton.

Not sure what you're looking for in a flat, but eg

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37972060.html

Slightly over budget but gives you an idea. Lots of conversions going on around here at present

www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/28085583?search_identifier=c828a9c01e5f71b55e2236ad3eb24fd3

East dulwich - busy road but four beds and outdoor space, and probably within sought after st johns and st clems catchment

www.kfh.co.uk/residential-properties/flats-for-sale/london-east-dulwich-se22-east-dulwich-road/2098481/

(Hopes op will come back)

Parts of Acton are nice. Try looking around Derwent Water primary (I've heard it's good). That nr the mainline station which has pretty good connections.

I've lived in both and much prefer Shepherds Bush for location, tube connections and feeling of safety (was mugged twice in Brixton).

Thanks so much for advice everyone. That East Dulwich place looks great and we could afford it! Loathe to leave the tube though but think maybe that is just because of always growing up with a tube on the doorstep. At the moment I really just want to maximise my time with DS it takes me twenty minutes to get from work to collect him and really don't want to create a long commute for myself which means I only get to see him just before bed (work full time)

Where do you work? East dulwich is about 12 mins from london bridge. You will get used to the overground, much more pleasant than the underground. Really :)

To be honest, you may even be priced out of the "nice" areas of Acton.

You have a lovely primary school in Ealing (close to Pope's Lane), but house prices are ok, especially towards Brentford side (Gunnersbury Park almost on doorstep).

Disclaimer: ds has spent the Afternoon playing football on goose green with two friends who go to st johns and st clems so i may be slightly biased. Was tempted to walk up the road and check out the flT, but that would be weird. And it was nearly snowing.

I'm moving to one of the streets just off the south end of the Askew Road, all this talk of muggings is making me nervous. Is Shepherds Bush really as bad as that?

Don't worry! I've lived in w12 for the last 4 years and never been mugged...got mugged in Brixton a few years ago though. It's not perfect but Askew Road has really developed over the last few years and lots of new independent shops and cafes etc, sure you'll love living there.

Thing is, I lived in Shepherds Bush about 15 years ago, on Coverdale Road - round about the time of the shooting in Nandos, but I thought things had changed. But your assurances of the ever increasing niceness of the Askew Road is welcome