Raising teens in London - good areas?

[Citylifemum]

I listed a question in another section but users suggested I try asking on this forum.

I've one young child, a boy, and TTC. We live in London and will remain here due to our jobs and because we like everything it has to offer, the diversity and the variety. At the moment the area we live in was great pre-kids but isn't very suitable for family life.

I am looking ahead to teenage years / secondary school and aware of the rise in problems young people face as I work with young people in a support sector. Like all parents I want to do my best to support my DC to stay safe and thrive.

I'm wondering if we would do well to choose the area we want to live in now whilst DS is still small, and make a go of it in a new area with a view to staying there until DC have left home. My concerns are finding good Co-Ed secondary schools (not Catholic) and it being a good safe area for teenagers (as far as possible). Obviously I know that nowhere is untouched by violence, gangs or drugs etc. but some areas are better than others.

We are fortunate enough to have a pretty healthy budget for a home so lots of London would be available to us but as a newish mum it's the first time I've looked round London areas through a family lens.

What are other peoples experiences of raising children / teens in London and areas which tick most of the boxes?

My cousins are all arty types and their kids go to Fortismere and Stoke Newington and they all love it…. It is a bit champagne socialism arty stuff but the kids all end up at Russell Group unis and Oxbridge anyways.
Mossbourne in Hackney is super strict and neither they nor their kids would have enjoyed that. Mossbourne won’t go downhill - far too many photos of policitans like Keir on their site.

"London"

Depends on where you are obviously, but in North Dulwich/Herne Hill you can walk over to Denmark Hill (overground) or Brixton (tube) if none of the three train lines are running. Plus plenty of buses, though obviously they take longer.

We don’t have a car - we found we were using it once a month or so, so we sold it and switched to using Zipcars. They are not perfect, but fill the gap when you need them to.

This. The amount of friends cars’ I was in as a teenager growing up in the burbs and countryside, drinking and drugs aplenty, much fun was had but so many risks taken and I will be much happier raising my kids in the city. Mischief will still abound I’m sure but there’s much more to do and public transport galore.

Depends on where you are obviously, but in North Dulwich/Herne Hill you can walk over to Denmark Hill (overground) or Brixton (tube) if none of the three train lines are running. Plus plenty of buses, though obviously they take longer.

Surely N Dulwich to brixton would be a 30 min walk though, it's certainly not around the corner.

You're confusing a leafy London zone 2-3 area with Victorian houses (Dulwich) to a predominantly 1950's suburban looking London town in zone 4 (New Malden). The aesthetics are very different.

This. The amount of friends cars’ I was in as a teenager growing up in the burbs and countryside, drinking and drugs aplenty, much fun was had but so many risks taken and I will be much happier raising my kids in the city. Mischief will still abound I’m sure but there’s much more to do and public transport galore.

Tbf as someone who grew up in London I get confused by this posts. If people had cars & were driving surely they were older? As a 14 yr old I don't think my lifestyle was very different to other kids around the country. I was going to the cinema or hanging out in the park, I wasn't going for brunch & art galleries. At 15 & 16 I had the luxury of underage clubbing but it's not the 90s anymore 😆

Dulwich and Greenwich used to be considered London suburbs when I grew up… obviously not anymore!

@YayayaCookaYaya why do you think I was talking about aesthetics?

My 2 DC, now university aged, both survived being teenagers in Ealing, as did all their friends, having started their lives in Shepherds Bush. Both went to the local outstanding rated high school.

Only 28 mins on the tube from Northfields to Piccadilly, so we got to live in a family friendly area with easy access to town.

16-17 year olds with licences borrowing cars, from parents/siblings etc, picking up friends (older and younger) and driving a while high/drunk is what I was referring to. Because to get anywhere required a car. Happens in the city too but not as often I’d wager.

I'm a 2nd gen immigrant, the vast majority of my neighbours & school friends were either 1st or 2nd gen. My London is very ethically diverse & quite gritty as we originally lived in z2 & going to catholic schools it was pretty socio economically diverse too with friends from big houses in Wim village & Coombe to council housing in Mitcham etc. It was a melting pot of cultures & I see that more represented in somewhere like New Malden then Dulwich Village but as I said it depend what London is to you.

@footstoop well as a July-born kid with some friends in the year above, I had friends with driving licenses from when I was 15.

Mostly at 13 or 14 it was a PITA for my parents always having to drive me everywhere. After that it was a mixture of this and me taking my life in my hands with lifts from friends! Narrow country roads with no lighting is no joke.

@Intergalacticcatharsis we moved to Wimbledon & I consider myself as growing up in the suburbs but posters get really tetchy about that! We originally lived in Brixton & had family in Hackney, those area's particularly back then were completely different.

@Bear2014 my parents often had to ferry me about a bit because I did sport in the evening. At the weekends I did take public transport but tbh we didn't travel that far so often walked. Some friends did get cars at 17 which we would use as there weren't that many night buses back then & often it would be somewhere a bit random for a night of raving.

My picks would be Muswell Hill/Crouch End

Teddington, Kingston, ham and surbiton

Wimbledon and Putney

I would say Muswell Hill/Ally Pally for North London or Herne Hill for South London

I like Ealing but where is there a mixed state school? @MothershipG ? We didnt move there exactly because unless you go to church, I found it pretty barren for secondaries unless you go to Northfields and then transport is a bit rubbish.

Richmond or Chiswick are both good for families.

Where in London are you now?

What are the good state secondaries in this area?

Wimbledon was voted the most desirable area to live in London recently. I searched there to buy some years ago but ended up elsewhere. I found property searching really difficult in Wimbledon. I know someone who bought in nearby Southfields - where houses are smaller but they like it there. Good transport, shops and parks (communal tennis courts etc). Don't know about state schools. Wandsworth (includes Southfields) has the most highly educated residents in London apparently!

@jhiyp96676y Drayton Manor, Elthorne Park, Brentside, Ada Lovelace, Ealing Fields. The last 2 are run by the Twyford Trust (not our cup of tea) but don't select on religious grounds.
Northfields is on the Piccadilly Line or hop on a bus to Ealing or Brentford if you need a train so transport is fine.

Unfortunately Holland Park School was rated ''inadequate'' in latest Ofsted Report with culture of ''fear favouritism and inequality''. I know some pupils there have been quite ''rough'' too in the past.

Southern we're on strike for several years but aside from the odd national strike days, they are much more reliable than they were back in 2016ish.

I'd second Herne Hill and would live there in a flash if we could afford it.

Fulham or Putney!

West Norwood/Streatham.

Good community and good primary and secondary schools - Dunraven, Elmgreen, Norwood, Kingsdale etc