Is Crawley a nice place

[tulipsniffer]

Hello, I'm just wondering if Crawley is a nice place to live in terms of crime, friendliness etc.

Crawley is a brilliant place to live, with plenty of employment thanks to Gatwick Airport and the servicing industries. You're on the main train line to London and Brighton, with each being only 35 minutes away. I hope this blog may help in deciding if Crawley is a good place to live.

Three Bridges is on the mainline, Crawley is on the Horsham line.

Update to this post. Some little shits tried to mug us the other week at the cinema complex. It was very organised and deliberate. Ive never had this anywhere in my entire life and I lived in central London, Brixton, Peckham etc in the nineties and 2000s. So maybe it is getting rougher.

I dont think Redhill is rough tbh, just a bit functional.

I’d class it as deprived op. As folks are saying some areas are ok, but when you’re in the centre or shopping centre there is a sense of deprivation., and things being run down too. However house prices reflect this and the shops are mainly budget, reflecting the deprivation in the area.

it was never great but with Covid and Gatwick not operating it took a significant turn for the worse at that time and hasn’t recovered.

id not chose to live there if I could avoid it. We go in occasionally when we have stuff to do, and we always come away saying how run down it is.

I moved there as it was the only way I could get on the housing ladder. As soon as I could I moved on.

It's a horrible chavvy hole. I worked there and lived in Horsham. We called it creepy Crawley.

Its called Creepy Crawley. Crawley Down is nice though.

Oohhh, I lived in Crawley in my early 20s, way back in the 1980s/90s.
It was soulless then, with a bit of an edge.
I haven't been back for ages.
But Horsham, a few miles away, is lovely.

I’m thinking of moving to Crawley as my previous hosue speech in Cambridgeshire fell through. Someone tell me something. Goos about it plz? I’m trying to get closer to Brighton to be near family. but of course it’s hard. Is Crawley really that bad?

If you can avoid Crawley itself do. It is not on the mainline London to Brighton unless you are near Three Bridges station. Very different to Cambridge!

@2014mumma okay good things about Crawley:

• it's half way between London and Brighton so easy and quick to get to both
• Tilgate Park is lovely with a playground, petting zoo, nature centre, maze, go ape and quite a nice American 'western' restaurant
• Extremely handy for Gatwick Airport
• lots of job opportunities in the aviation, car and tech industries
• Huge leisure centre (K2) with a big pool and climbing wall
• I believe there is a good go karting place
• It's good if you drive as most places are set up for drivers.

I worked there for 5 years and it was fine, most of my colleagues were local to Crawley and they were very friendly.

Personally I would choose Brighton, Hassocks or Haywards Heath over Crawley but I like places that are walkable.

I agree with a lot of posters, Crawley isn’t somewhere I would ever choose to live.

Thank you so much! I would personally prefer Brighton but it’s near impossible to find me a home there sadly. I’ve been trying for
two years and no luck which is why I started to look up the other end of the country! So when this came up I grabbed it knowing it was as close to Brighton as I could get for now. I do drive so that won’t be an issue and I’m self employed so jobs not too much of an issue either.
i just keep reading what a dive it is and how anti social it is and im like really? Is it that bad? I do like nature walks and stuff but im presuming there are green spaces etc around to do that in? And of course being closer to the beach will be a godsend for us all, even if I do have to drive there! At the moment im just considering it but I really have my hopes set on this as it’s the closest I can get to my family and my sons grave right now, so just wanted to read something positive about it. Thank you for your reply! Are there any craft markets about or near Crawley? A spiritual community? Prob a silly question to ask but I’m immersing myself more and more into the esoteric world since my son’s death and it would be nice to find like minded folk. X

You might find Horsham or East Grinstead more crafty and social. Crawley is rather soulless.

Reading your post you might want to look at the village of Forest Row, near East Grinstead. It’s obviously not going to have the things a large town like Crawley does, but it’s very arty and has an alternative kind of feel. Still fairly simple to Brighton and on the edge of the Ashdown Forest which is peaceful and beautiful.

It's got very little to offer.

Forest Row is a good shout ... nice walks and bike rides on the Forest Way Country Park. Sorry for your loss x

Thank you so much I will look into that. Totally appreciate this! X

I live fairly near Croydon but my local friends all go to Crawley for shopping, so there's that.