Esher vs Cobham vs Weybridge

[somekindofmagic]

Choosing between these three areas for a move next year and would really appreciate advice / opinions on what it’s like to live in each area for young ish family. ....... Traffic at rush hour / school run, sense of community/friendliness, general vibe for e.g. young vs old, vibrant vs boring etc. This will likely be a ‘forever home’ move and we want to get it right!

For context we have young school-age DC. Our priorities are a vibrant high street, sense of outer lying green/leafiness, commute to London (schools are kind of sorted hence narrowing it to these areas)

If I had to sum up I guess we are looking for village-y living but with proximity to life and civilisation!

V happy to hear good and bad!

I don't live in the area but find the traffic bad whenever I visit. With regards to Cobham, it might be worth checking out the plans for the new A3&M25 junction as you might be affected.

Are they in independent or will you need to apply to local schools? I'd scope out schooling. All three are very expensive but neither are villagey. Look at Thames Ditton, Claygate and Hinchley Wood for village life.

Cobham is a village.

OP, do you want to be in a town or village? Do you need/use things like leisure centre etc? Will you be commuting to central London? Eg Cobham village centre and the station are far apart.

I live close to Weybridge, it doesnt feel villagey to me at all. Weybridge, Addlestone, Chertsey, Byfleet even Woking are all pretty much joined up in a big suburban sprawl. Terrible traffic (try driving between Weybridge and the M25 at St Peters in rush hour) and lot of development planned as well.

Dont know the other two.

I wouldn’t do any of those. Traffic is horrendous. Does not feel like a village. I know many people
That have moved out of Cobham and Esher for those reasons. Try Horsley’s, Bookham etc

None are villages, more small towns. All have traffic as they're in built up areas close to main roads like the A3 and M25. I think Esher is particularly bad due to the big road running through it. Weybridge is nice but further out and always busy when I go there. I'd go for Cobham out of those as it's a bit closer to London if you are needing to travel in, has a decent sized town and is right on the edge of countryside. They are all very 'Surrey', though, but Cobham is a bit more footballers wives than the others. Essentially nice and as close as you'll get to a compromise between London and the countryside. But they are commuter towns in the Stockbroker belt so expect lots of blonde women driving their children to private schools in 4 by 4s and keeping up with the Jones's.

I wouldn't describe Hinchley Wood as a village. In my opinion it's a bit of a dead commuter suburb with not much there other than being close to Surbiton. People I know who live there just moved for it's very good secondary school and the fact they got a bigger house. Claygate is more of a village but has a massive travellers site very close by , which may affect your ability to sell in the future. If you want true countryside then you may need to move further out to Bookham/Dorking. Farnham is also nice. Not so much the town itself , but the surrounding countryside is beautiful.

Guildford has some nice surrounding villages as well.

@Lucinda88 not all of us private school mums drive 4 x 4s But yes, it is a bubble.

Yes, I know because I'm one of them! I don't live in surrey, dont have a 4x4 or blonde highlights though so I like to feel smug

OP, the places you’re looking at are all very affluent areas popular with families. Cobham and Weybridge are particularly popular with American expats (there’s an American school in Cobham). Given the places you’re considering, you’re looking for an affluent commuter bubble and not a country village.
In terms of the negatives, you’ll get lots of traffic, rush hour or not. I take it you’re going down the independent route for schooling so it might be worth doing a few trial runs in the rush hour to see just how long the drop offs will take.

Personally, I’d be bothered by plane noise - decibel-wise, Cobham is on par with Wimbledon or Richmond + you’ll hear the M25 some days too. But again, some people aren’t bothered by it at all.

The affluent commuter bubble of Cobham is noticeable in the Waitrose; the parking spaces are enormous! An “ordinary” hatchback looks lost.

Thank you everyone for the helpful comments. Sorry for the delay in responding.

Perhaps I chose my words wrongly and should have said we’re after a small town / village feel and in comparison to where we currently are they all feel more villagey! I do agree that Cobham feels more like a village.

We are tied to this kind of vicinity due to schooling and location of our larger family. We can’t go further down the A3 as such towards Guildford or Godalming for eg to get a more truly rural feel. So I’m trying to strike the balance of small town / more leafy not too far from esher area.

Out of them all Cobham is my favourite by far but we have concerns over public transport / buses once DS is a teen and wanting to meet up with friends. Where do they go and how do they get there?! Do mums spend a lot of time driving around?

Is anyone familiar with Thames Ditton? I’m
Not sure if it’s a little twee?! Or is it a lovely place to live? I wonder if it ticks the boxes for me because of its proximity to Kingston etc and more reliable transport but still a small village feel?

@JoJoSM2 thx, you seem familiar with the areas. Any comment on TD.

Many thx all!