Relocating from London to Gillingham

[Jesusforreal]

Hello, my family and I are moving out of London and we are looking at Gillingham as a possible option. We're from South East London, so we're not too worried about the area, but we'd just like to ask what are some areas that we should really stay away from in Gillingham and what are some really good areas to bring up children. They're all secondary school age, so preferably an area with good schools or at least good schools within commuting distance.

Thank you so much in advance :)

Gillingham Kent or Dorset?

Just placemarking in case it’s Kent, as I know it a little bit.

Gillingham Kent :) some of the kids are doing exams, so we don't want to move them too far out

Why Gillingham specifically, rather than the Medway Towns generally?
There are parts that are nicer than Gillingham!

The town centres tend to be streets of small terraced houses. You'll probably need to go further out to find bigger family houses. You'll need to check that there are buses going where you need them to go. Public transport isn't bad, but it's not London.

Medway and Kent are grammar school areas.

Pros - good rail access to London, Canterbury and the coast.

Cons - It's not good for shopping, but you have Bluewater in one direction and Canterbury in the other.

Very run down high street with limited food shopping options, few local amenities, quite a lot of fly tipping/dumping around resi areas. I've heard concerns about the quality of teaching in the secondary moderns. (I don't live there but am a landlord there so spend quite a lot of time in the town.)

There is a lot of development on the river, but it's a fair distance from the station.

I'd go for Rainham over Gillingham - it's right next door. Wigmore being the nicest bit but also the most expensive.

As PP said, there are nicer towns in Medway, Gillingham wouldnt be my first choice.

I'm also from SE London for what it's worth.

Gillingham really isn't very nice OP, sorry. Somewhere like Walderslade is close by, affordable and much much nicer!

Somewhere like Walderslade is close by, affordable and much much nicer!

But it depends what the family's transport needs are. Walderslade isn't near any railway station. And since one of the things Medway does have going for it is the good rail connections, it would be a pity not to take advantage of it, especially if op's dc are old enough to go about on their own.

Agree with the others I’m from SE London and moved to Kent not far from there, Gillingham is one of the worst sorry. Why not have a look at the surrounding areas and compare crime rates, public transport, prices etc then go visit at different times of the day.

Gillingham isn't great in fairness. I live in Luton Chatham and its awful where I am for crime, anti-social behaviour and drug related problems and Gillingham is pretty similar. Especially the areas close to the town centre. Depends on affordability but Rainham is much nicer as are parts of Rochester.

Thank you all for your contributions but I'm settling for Strood.

Strood is not too bad OP. I lived there for years. Good and not so good bits like everywhere but on the whole was a nice place to live in my experience. Good luck with the move. 🙂

@jesusforreal..What made you decide on Strood? Have you made the move?