Living in Chesham... Does anyone know much about the area?

[velvetviolet]

Hey!

We are a young couple and have seen our first house we would love to purchase in Chesham! We aren't from the area and wondered if anyone knows much about Chesham itself (in particular living near the centre).

Is it safe? Is there a community? Is there young couples? Is there much crime?

I also have to commute into London, is this an OK commute?

Would love to hear if anyone knows more about the area - thank you!

It’s fine. It gets looked down on a little from the surrounding towns and villages. High street is useful with some nice restaurants. It also has a Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. The park is lovely and it backs on to a super walk, the pednor loop.
Commute isn’t great, it’s a long way. You will want to make sure you catch the ‘fast’ trains that miss out lots of stations.
There are really nice towns, villages and countryside to explore. South bucks is a fab place to live overall.

I’m from here - but we’re actually moving away though!
There is a Facebook page ‘OurChesham’ that you might like to join.
There is definitely a community. People are friendly. There are couples and young families. Our road seems to mainly have couples moving in from outer london.
I used to rent in the high street and it was completely fine -close to shops, occasional noise at pub closing time but nothing worrying.

Lovely place. Beautiful park and walks. Good community. Great markets. Safe. It’s looked down on by surrounding areas (Amersham, the Chalfonts) as it has traditionally been more industrial and has a large council estate to the north (Pond Park), so is more socioeconomically mixed. It has very expensive areas (some of the villages, Chartridge Lane, Manor Way) but also more affordable ones. The old town is stunning and Waterside is very pretty.
The commute to London: it’s a single train commute on the metline so you should get a seat but the trains are only once every half hour so you have to time things right. If you want more trains or a quicker commute you can drive to Amersham or Chalfont & Latimer Station.

When you say young couples, I assume you means in your 20s, no kids?

In which case, no there will not be many of young couples there.

People move there after they have kids. It's a pretty sleepy place (rather dull to some) of people with children and retirees.

It's quiet, there is nice countryside near by, considered a bit more common by some very posh places nearby but that's only relative.

If you want young couples to hang and have fun with, it's probably not the place for you.

I think a lot of people there are buying their first home as it’s cheap relative to London and the surrounding areas (but still £££ compared to the UK as a whole), so there are quite of lot of late 20-something, early 30-something couples. The schools are excellent so it also tends to attract people with kids. It’s not an area for clubbing or nightlife, if that’s your thing, much more an area for country walks.

I used to live there and got out as soon as I could. There are areas where there are lots of drugs and antisocial behaviour. Generally there is nothing to do and as a PP says 'OurChesham' fb group will give you an idea of what it's like

thanks everyone - this is really helpful!!

The art, food, and live music in this Chesham venue is outstanding. We have stayed there a number of times and think that Chesham is really lovely.

Chesham and the surrounding villages are nice. Lovely park, excellent schools (it is part of the Bucks grammar school system for Secondary), close to countryside, regular trains into London. I think it's a good place for a young couple.

It might not be as posh as the Chalfonts, Beaconsfield etc but then that makes it affordable.

We are also looking to move to Chesham. We would like to know about the area by the station, as that's where we’d need to live. Is it one of the nicer or rougher areas?..Same question does for Amersham too! Thanks 🙏

Agree Chesham has much more soul than Amersham. Right by the station might be a bit noisy because it’s just off the high street. There are plenty of lovely residential areas 5-15 minutes walk from the station which might be better.

Used to live in Chesham years ago and liked it. It’s set in a valley, so depending on where you are you may be in quite a hill with a very slopey garden! The town centre had the usual issues with being a bit run down, but not as much as most places. Lovely countryside, not far into London and plenty to do. Lots of money sloshing about, which shows. I think Sophie’s chocolates is still there, and they make the best chocolate EVER!

We love living in Chesham. We moved out from London 7 years ago and have never looked back. We find there is something to do most weekend and the sense of community is second to none. It is a family friendly town and a wonderful place to raise children. There are walks, pubs, restaurants and bars for the adults. We use the tube from time to time to go into central London and we find it great.