Anyone know Reading?

[FruitSaladIsNotPudding]

Hello,

We're looking a buy and are considering Reading - we need to be commutable to London and Reading is close ish to family as well. But we don't know the town at all so would be grateful for opinions.

We currently live in a small town and it's too quiet for us so we would be looking to live in Reading itself and not surrounding villages. I've heard Caversham is nice but know nothing about any other areas. We have about 250k to spend and want a 3 bed house.

I know there is a grammar school for girls - is it hard to get into?

Any advice at all would be much appreciated because it's a bit of a stab in the dark for us, and we're having to move quicker than we would like after our landlord announced he is selling up (see other thread!).

Thanks in advance.

Zeldapinwheel, it really matters which roads you choose, even which end you live on in west reading! Most are fine. I guess some people can live in areas with darker aspects and some can't. I personally couldn't ever live in Woodley, it seems pretty characterless suburbia to me! Horses for courses really.

Yeah, I used to live in Lower Earley and it was just weird! No one walked anywhere so the streets were always really quiet and there were no corner shops, just a massive Asda so if you wanted a pint of milk you had to go there. I much prefer the character and variety of West Reading, even if it is a bit rough around the edges sometimes... And I would much rather walk along the Oxford Road at night than through a quiet surburban street.

Totally agree borntofolk. Variety is the spice of life round here!

And I would much rather walk along the Oxford Road at night than through a quiet surburban street. Absolutely :-)

No one's ever offered me drugs, huh. I think the children might be a deterrent. And yes, there is some obvious (though it took me ages to realise!) prostitution, but it's never had any negative impact on my life. The worst things are people cycling on the pavement and the arsing dogshit.

Blimey! Half of Mumsnet seem to live in Reading.

I lived in West Reading at one point of my time there, just around the corner from the prostitute area (which like I said is under the railway bridge, opposite Lidl supermarket) and it never caused any problems at all. The Oxford Road is so busy and 'open' I can see why people would have no problem walking home after dark. When I was a student I used to walk all over Reading accepter dark and wasn't very comfortable with it really, but I was in the university area so the streets were quieter. I remember reading awful stuff about student attacks in the local newspapers though.

accepter should have read after

Isn't Lower Early meant to be the biggest housing estate in Europe or some funny fact like that?

I thought that was ingleby barwick near Middlesborough?

Just what I used to hear on the grapevine, just googled it though and it's the third biggest in Europe www.commuterguide.co.uk/counties/berkshire/earley#.UXUVmYy9KSM
It is a bit of a suburban sprawl from what I remember.

Reading is a practical town, rather than an exciting one - but it's ok, really. The great thing about it is the river, and walks - which are easily done from Caversham. You can walk to cute villages and nice pubs easily, and the centre of town is also within easy reach.

We almost moved to Caversham 3 years ago, and have lived in Reading before, but only for 6 months.

The schools seem ok, I did go to see Thameside and the head teacher was indeed very motivated. The secondary for Caversham is Highdown, which is outstanding - so probably still a good option if kids don't get into grammar schools.

Oh, and possibly the most scenic Tesco in the country - in a park, on the side of the river Thames!

I've just seen that Priory Avenue property had a second open house yesterday. Perhaps there is still a chance for you as it wasn't snapped up last week.

I suspect a lazy agent. It's not on with a Caversham based agent - they can't be bothered to travel for one off viewings.