What's it like to live in Kew

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We're thinking of moving and a couple of houses in Kew have caught my eye. We currently live in Chiswick, but I don't know much about Kew and wondered whether anyone living there would let me know their views. I'm not worried about schools, as my dd is already in secondary school and would continue to attend her current school. Thanks!

It must be lovely to live near Kew Gardens. It's one of my favourite places but we live quite a distance away. You could have season tickets and go all the time!

Beautiful area, but you'd experience a significant increase in aircraft noise. It's the level that: if you are in the garden and chatting to another person, you have to stop the conversation and wait for the aircraft to pass over in order to resume the conversation. Presumably that is a higher noise level than chiswick? That's really the only negative, otherwise it's really lovely.

i think it would be a lovely place to live but traffic would be irritating. and planes. chiswick also bad for traffic too though.

At it's worst the aircraft are every 90 seconds. They do landings/takeoffs in rotation of hours or days though so it's not constant - you rarely have more than a full day (!!) of the noise at that level (I'm sure the rotation is available online somewhere). But it's certainly enough to ruin a summer afternoon's outdoor party, for example, if you are unlucky with the rotation, so that is something you'd need to accept if moving to the area. Given the possibility of increased aircraft movements you need to be prepared for noise before 5am and after 11pm (it's happening now, but not all the time, but it's gotten worse in the past 5 years).

We used to rent there. Very pretty but the noise was horrendous and it made me quite ill actually. We left sooner than we legally had to because it was so bad (aircraft)

The traffic is horrendous. Try getting about on a Saturday afternoon and it takes hours to get anywhere. Steer clear is all I can advise! Pretty area though.

It's fabulous! If you live here you don't notice the aeroplane noise much (at least I don't) and the traffic is rarely a problem. Lots of lovely cafes/restaurants/pubs/shops, a lovely villagey feel, the river and the Gardens - I wouldn't want to live any where else!

Thora - are you an estate agent?

I live in Kew. It is fabulous. The aircraft noise is a pain but I don't notice it any more. Lovely parks. Very nice Farmer's Market. Peaceful and people actually know each other. And no, I am anything but an estate agent.

No, I just love where I live.

If you're in Chiswick I don't think you'll find the traffic a lot worse, although getting across Kew Bridge in the rush hour can be a pain. Have you worked out the increase in your daughter's journey time? Will that be manageable for her?

If you get that season ticket for Kew gardens watch out for falling branches!