Advice on moving to Reading

[maggie84]

Hello...
We r planning to move to Reading...seen a few properties near Reading West station. I have not much idea about this location and not heard many positive reviews for Reading West(is it a rough/chavy area?). If anyone is living in reading west or nearby....could u please advise on how ur experience has been? Does it have a good community feel? How r the schools around? My DD is entering reception in sep and DS is in year 3 currently. We have liked a property which is around All Saints junior school and Oxford Community school.Any idea regarding these primary schools?

Reading to Canary Wharf is a horrible commute, although it will get better with Crossrail. He would be better off on the Waterloo line, I don't know about the Reading boys catchment, but can you push it as far out to Basingstoke as possible? There's some nice villages in between Reading and Basingstoke. Otherwise, consider Tilehurst. Direct trains from there into Paddington in the morning and you can pretty much always get a seat. Or you can hop on a train and change at Reading once Crossrail is here.

Parts of Woodley are very close to Earley station - prices will drop once you are out of Maiden Erleigh catchment. And it's a downhill cycle into Reading

If I was commuting to Canary Wharf I would be house hunting East of London, not West. Why Reading?

Reading to Canary Wharf would be 2 hours each way pretty much - if the trains were running on time and he managed to get the fast train! Pretty horrible tbh.

My DH commutes to Canary Wharf every day. We live in Earley, he leaves at 7am and if working his usual 9-5.30 isn't back until 7.45pm. He always gets a seat and can park at the station. But, It's exhausting for him!

I live in reading, I le very close to town takes me about 10 mins to walk to the oracle, I would not move to the oxford road though, it is a rough area, I have lived in reading my whole life and I've always known oxford road to be quite rough, I live very close to katesgrove school and it is very good school, my youngest dd is in the reception class and I cant recommend it enough, if you are looking to move close to reading town I would recommend moving somewhere other than the oxford road, have you looked at places along tilehurst road or bath road, that's still close to town and prospect park.

Canary Wharf? I would look at areas like Twyford and those sorts of places that will [eventually] be on Crossrail then. And meantime go to Paddington via Reading. That Waterloo train is soul destroyingly tedious.

I have a relative who lives near Fleet and he travels to CW each day as well, that might be an option?

Second all the opinions about the bits of Reading you are looking at.

Have you looked in/around Twyford? It's a nice area and the station is on the Paddington line into London, so would be a much faster commute than from Earley/Winnersh etc which are on the Waterloo line.

xpost with ShotsFired

I like living in Reading, there are, like most places more undesirable parts of reading, but the most of it is great, I can't comment on secondary schools, I went to Prospect school ( used to be prospect technology college ) I didn't do well there, but that's no necessarily down to the school, I just hated school on a whole and couldn't wait to leave

We live rurally between Reading and Newbury. DH commutes to CW and I commute to the city 2 days a week. It is c. 2 hours each way and we live a relatively close drive to the station. We love living here which makes it worthwhile but it takes its toll. Also second about Reading grammar entry requirements. I know some very very bright boys who applied and didn't get in. You would need a very good back up.