Living in Beckenham?

[LifesaBotchh]

I started a thread about Charlton and someone recommended Beckenham so now I'm starting this thread. Always lived in central London but need more space etc. Need good secondaries and fast commute to City.

If you made the move from central London to Beckenham how have you found it? Does it feel like London? Politically speaking how is it in terms of left/right / Brexit? And is it ethnically / culturally diverse? I need to visit but have only been to the park which I imagine was full of day trippers.

I dont know if the parks are full of day trippers, Beckenham Place Park is one end, Kesley and Beckenham Rec the other. The whole area is very residential, hundreds of flats, many locals go there.

We moved to one of the affluent areas of Beckenham and came from a more central, left wing and more diverse area. On the night of 31 January 2020 when Brexit went through someone nearby let off fireworks

But!! Most people that I have met so far including people from our road, people from school, have been really nice and open minded, opposed to Brexit and quite a few openly opposed to Tory.

There are so many things going for Beckenham. It's very green, the many parks, great schools, lots of decent supermarkets, restaurants, bars, sports clubs, a cinema. Bromley is just down the road for shopping. I feel it's a great place for teenagers as there is enough buzz nearby and if they want to go into London there are plenty of train stations to go from.

Following on from the previous post, an interesting thing about Beckenham is that it had a tiny swing to Labour at the 2019 election. There were very few such seats at that election.
Having lived South of the River in both Outer London ( a long time ago, not far from Beckenham) and then Inner London, they had a completely different vibe, worlds apart. May be things are changing slowly.

Beckenham is not far from me. I think it is a nice place to live, especially not far from the high street. Some of the houses are lovely. Personally I would avoid the Anerley/Penge end and concentrate on central Beckenham.

There are good transport links to central London and Bromley Borough has some excellent schools.

The high street has excellent restaurants, cafes and shops. It's a quirky place and mixed.

Chislehurst is good too, lovely village.

The thing is, as has been pointed out with this thread, is that Estate Agents really do try and stretch the boundaries of Beckenham.

Clockhouse, Kent House could be considered just on the very outer borders, but in my mind they are not Beckenham proper.
Elmers End? Eden Park?
Penge and Anerley are not Beckenham.
New Beckenham does just qualify before hitting Penge and lower Sydenham.

It’s all down to budget really and whether budget allows for central Beckenham or the outskirts which I always consider to be their own places with their own merits and downsides etc.

Does anyone do the school run from Beckenham to Dulwich village? How is it in the mornings?

We went to school in Sydenham from Beckenham with my mum who worked in Dulwich teaching and my father in Sydenham. I’m talking many many years ago. There were many others doing the same going to Dulwich Prep, College etc.

It’s perfectly possible but there are pockets of congestion especially now with increased traffic. You wouldn’t be alone doing that school run as it’s a well traveled route with many families from Beckenham getting their children to the private schools in Dulwich.

There are popular “rat runs” that you would discover but you would always have to navigate either Crystal Palace or Sydenham or Forest Hill etc first prior to dipping down further into Beckenham. But realistically it’s no worse than many other journeys if you’ve decided on Dulwich for schooling.

@LifesaBotchh - as others have mentioned, Beckenham is a large area and so demographics will vary. I live right on the Penge border and have neighbours (more than one household) that are Asian; same-sex couples; young families; families with teenage children and retirees.
Our area voted Labour in the last two elections (not sure whether that’s good or bad).
Beckenham High St is 15min walk in one direction and Penge 10min the other.
Clock House, New Beckenham (both on the same line) and Kent House stations are a few mins walk away.

@DulwichMum1234 - we are one of at least 3 families within a few mins walk of each other who have children at DC, DPL, JAGS & Alleyns. Some of us use the coach, others drive and others train it to Herne Hill or a mix.
Driving to DC/DPL and to JAGS/Alleyn’s is 20min. Driving between the two sets is more because of the low-traffic-neighborhood restrictions.

Feel free to PM me.

I will definitely PM you as people have suggested the school run takes 45 mins which has put me off but 20 is do-able.