Brixton or South Croydon for young family

[Brixtonvssouthcroydon]

We are thinking of moving to South London and found two properties we like but we are unsure about location.
There is dh, DD (baby) and myself. We both work central but only a couple of days a week.
Property 1: in Brixton very central but small garden
Property 2: South Croydon (Lloyds park area), larger garden

Both similar size, South Croydon one is 20% cheaper but it's a complete different lifestyle over there.

Family friend tells us South Croydon would be better for a young family; we are also a bit concerned that Brixton might more a young professional neighbourhood rather than young family so maybe less baby friendly.

I know you can't decide for us! But any opinions on both areas?

I am shocked by the comments here tbh. Just to say, I am a born South Londoner in my late 30s. My dad was born in Clapham, and I grew up in Brixton and Streatham and now live in Sanderstead South Croydon. My husband is from SE London and I've also lived over there. All these people saying don't live near Lloyd Park, honestly take a walk down there and see the amazing houses opposite and feel sorry for all of us poor people with large houses, large gardens, good transport, off street parking, good schools and nice neighbours. If you can get a house near Lloyd Park, take it because if you don't, lots of others want it. My family church in Brixton has to deal with drunks outside, prostitutes, theft, laughing gas paraphernalia outside and more on a regular basis right now.

One of my friends who’s lived in Streatham for years and moved out to the country as she was feeling more and more unsafe walking her big dog on the common.

Heard similar from others re laughing gas, drunks etc in certain parts of Brixton but hey ho loads of others here think it’s the perfect area to bring up children!

brixton seems big and varied. my dd lives on the boundary of brixton and kennington there are some really nice sections by day that might be really different by night. by day i take the grand kids to both myatt's field common park and the myatt's field park water park and have no concerns going over towards vauxhall park. will tootle quickly down to clapham.
but my dh and i have daytime issues of there being really poor grocery options.
a poorly stocked tesco express is not where you enjoy a fab shopping experience and nearest waitrose is at nine elm and a nice grocery on the clapham old road i believe.
for me i would prioritize; a safe play park, groceries and good walking/transport.
she also lived near battersea park and again by day lovely but groceries difficult.

I’d go a bit further south like Sanderstead where PP lives, Riddlesdown, Whyteleafe, Caterham. Much nicer than Croydon and not far away. Lloyds park area is quite leafy and very different to Central Croydon for those that don’t know the area

Exactly, I doubt some of these people commenting have seen the huge houses at Lloyd park, pretty nice

Oh there’s always been “nice” areas. I got a scholarship to an independent school for my sixth form and despite me coming from a poorer area (lived in Norbury / secondary school in Brixton) most of my new friends had those huge houses in better areas. I distinctly remember one of them living in a mansion (or what seemed like it!) in Sanderstead, which is also where my uncle lived, and for her 18th birthday she was given a brand new car, which she proceeded to drive in circles around the house while we all sat outside having drinks on the chairs laid out on her lawn…! These areas can feel safe, but the difficulty is they are literally a short drive away from other areas that are not safe. My Aunt was upstairs one day putting washing away in her leafy Green lovely house in Sanderstead when a man walked into their house through the back garden. My Aunt was able to lock herself in the bathroom and ring for help.

It’s a melting pot of the have and have nots and that makes a lot of it quite unsafe.

My dd had a medical appointment at a clinic in Brixton and we arrived early so let her play in the lovely looking play area next to the clinic whilst we waited. The next day it was on the news that a gun had been found there by a child - thankfully the child didn’t fire it and it was taken away but the outcome could have been really different.

I could go on and on and on. That doesn’t mean to say I don’t love aspects of where I lived. I mean it’s where I grew up. I lived there almost 30 years. Many happy memories and of course there are advantages to living in such close proximity to central London, the diversity, vibrant nature and culture is lovely. But it’s also not a safe place for a young family. That’s why we moved out (to South Norfolk). But I appreciate we were lucky to be able to do that and it doesn’t suit everyone for many reasons - and yes salaries are much lower and jobs harder to come by.

But anyone trying to tell themselves that people here don’t understand the areas because they’re writing negative things or aren’t aware of the better areas are being really blinkered.

Well of course crime can occur in any area, but in general areas like Sanderstead are much safer than South Croydon and Brixton. I’ve lived in the area 22yrs (having grown up in north wales) and feel perfectly safe. It’s a great experience of being close enough to the city (30 mins from my station to Victoria and I’ve got 2 train lines 5 mins from my house) and also so much countryside on the doorstep. Anywhere can have its bad places but in general leafy Surrey is going to be a better place to raise children than inner city London

And I completely dispute that places like Sanderstead are not safe to raise families. I’m sure the many families living happy & safely in the area will disagree. It’s a lovely area, and I’ve personally witnessed no crime or issues in the 2 decades I’ve been in the vicinity. Everywhere can have issues, including Norfolk.

Of course. Norfolk has a lot of issues - drugs amongst young people for one. Mainly because of the lack of transport and opportunities for younger people, I’m not saying Norfolk is perfect, move here…! I’m just saying that it’s really naive to think because you’ve moved 10/20 mins down the road in London that you’ve moved to an amazingly better area because you’ve got a nicer house and a large park or whatever on your doorstep. You’re still in the thick of it all, and that’s fine, you get the good with the bad but you need to accept that.

Well I work in central Croydon and live in Whyteleafe and they are worlds away. So in my experience it is a much better area, obviously not free from crime but nothing like the rough areas of Croydon, worlds apart. South Croydon / Lloyd park is a lot closer to central Croydon than sanderstead / whyteleafe so will be different but is a lot nicer than other parts of Croydon. I can only go on lived experience and how safe I feel at 9pm in central Croydon and 9pm in Sanderstead is different ball game. We are in the thick of anything out here in the suburbs, not at all. It’s a lovely area to raise families in my experience with brilliant schools

It’s a melting pot of the have and have nots and that makes a lot of it quite unsafe.

tbf that's London all over.

Anywhere can have its bad places but in general leafy Surrey is going to be a better place to raise children than inner city London

Depends on budget surely. There are plenty of inner London areas I would prefer to Surrey!

Honestly neither are good for kids. Try further out. Brixton still has its collection of crackheads and drunk and the associated services, and Croydon has a serious crime problem with knives. One that will spread, so even parts away from the centre aren't really safe.

Lived in and around the area for 20 years. Moved to get away from both places.

So you lived in Brixton, and moved because of crime, so chose Croydon, and moved because of crime? Really? If Croydon is as knife-crime ridden as you say (and while some parts do have gang related knife crime incidents, South Croydon doesn’t) why did you choose to live there after trying to escape crime in Brixton? Just a bit confusing.

I've lived in around the area for twenty years. Brixton is probably better now than when I lived there but to judge from friends not much and Croydon was definitely a pit stop because it was cheap. Neither place was good for small kids. As a childless adult these places didn't bother me.

Think of other areas. Check whether travel to central London really will be twice a week for good. Anywhere near a tube line or London Overground has a more frequent service especially in the evening.

Urghhh.... Croydon is a HUGE borough and has different areas. South Croydon (from the South Croydon station and further downd south) is very nice and safe area to raise children, grandchildren, pets and etc. Croydon and South Croydon are different areas!

I can't comment on Croydon, but I have lived in Brixton for over 30 years now and have brought up a family here. We love it.
We are close to Brockwell Park which we all adore and where we still spend a lot of our time. Other places that we love: the Ritzy, the Lido, the market, the library, Brixton Rec, Morley's, Urban Art Fair, Brixton Chamber Orchestra, Herne Hill Sunday Market
I would definitely make the decision based on schools though.
Schools were fine for us, but we are catholic, so our daughters went to Corpus Christi in Brixton and then on to Grey Coats in Pimlico.
I have always worked, so I really appreciated being close to the tube with trains every few minutes and a short commute into town (and always a seat on the tube) and being able to do the school run in the morning and getting home before my daughters went to sleep.
Now that they are young adults, they appreciate that they can get easily to places all over London.
None of us ever had any experience of crime, other than my daughter's bike being stolen after she forgot to lock it when she went to the cinema.
There's definitely crime around of course, but I think that's the same all over London
Oh, and we have a small garden, which is perfect for us, as Brockwell Park is only about 3 minutes walk from our front door

I don’t know how old your children are, @Brixtonvssouthcroydon, but wherever you choose, check the local schools - not just catchment areas, but also whether all children in catchment actually get places, or whether they have vacancies in the years you need.

Having lived in both zone 2 (Peckham area) and in the south of Croydon borough, I’d say they’re two completely different areas.

I was in Kenley for around 5 years when ds was around 2-6 and really liked it. In all that time I only ventured into central Croydon once, and although that was one time too many, I never felt I needed to. Kenley, Sanderstead and Coulsdon are all decent areas imo, just south of South Croydon area. They’re all very close to the edge of the green belt and have lots of proper countryside to roam in. I think there’s lots worse places to bring up a small family, and enjoyed our time living there.

Another one who's lived in South Croydon for 30 years (SC/Sanderstead borders) and not had issues. Brought up DCs from babyhood to young adults. The area is fab for babies/young children with lots of parks, classes, nurseries etc. Decent schools. Into their teens there are good public transport links, easy access into central London, the coast etc.
Yes, town centre is very run down - as are many others, and there are definitely areas of West Croydon I would not feel safe in at night. East Croydon I generally just use for transport.
Location wise, you have easy access to countryside and Gatwick.
Amazing what others views are because they passed through once 20 years ago!

I’m from Croydon, went away to uni and moved back and some of the comments here are just insane. There’s crime everywhere, but you are in much closer proximity to serious violent crime the closer to central London you get, of course- and yet, in all my years of living in Croydon (getting the bus to school, hanging out in central Croydon with my friends, getting night buses home from central London, and then working as a lone worker often on call at night in places including Brixton) - I have never ONCE been involved in violent crime, mugging, etc etc.

I now live in the south of Croydon borough in what is essentially countryside. I’ve not been to Croydon town centre shopping for years, mainly put off by the parking prices! Tend to go to Bromley but blue water is only 45 minutes away anyway 🤷🏼‍♀️

Croydon council has a lot of issues. However Croydon itself is a large, diverse borough where you can have an extremely good quality of life depending on what you want, there are a lot of opportunities and travel links are amazing to everywhere because you are in such close proximity to Gatwick and direct to Kings Cross on the Thameslink, as well as an easy hop to the M25.

If you are looking at houses round Lloyd Park, you’re looking in a nice area, I think it just depends what you genuinely will use in your day to day life. Like, are you ‘sit in the garden’ people or ‘go out to a cafe/shops/into central London all the time’ people. Because so many people get houses with the idea of the garden and then hate the upkeep and never use it!

It’s pointless making generalisations like “crime is the same all over London”. It most certainly isn’t. Do you think the crime in Wimbledon village or Barnes is the same as Hackney? Do you think the type of crime is the same? The crime figures are widely publicised so you can see for yourself. The violent crime for Lambeth be will largely around Brixton town centre and for Croydon will probably be more West Croydon. South Croydon is much safer but of course if you’re commuting you may need to access West or Croydon stations.

I have been to Eastbourne (that lovely retirement place, apparently) this summer. Far more homeless / drug users / beggars than I encounter in Brixton. The whole seafront was really sad. Didn’t feel unsafe, and don’t in Brixton, but I was shocked how bad it was.