Recommendations on good neighborhoods in Richmond & Kingston area

[GentleMintCat]

Dear all,

We're considering to move to the Kingston/Richmond area and could really use some advice from you about neighborhoods and schools.

As I developed asthma recently, greener and cleaner areas with good local schools and safe communities are priority. However, not too high-end as we are looking to rent.

Which neighborhoods would you recommend that are quiet, have good community vibe, transport links and best secondary schools?

As of schools, for me great extracurricular activities and focus on sports, creative subjects, emotional wellbeing is more important than constantly achieving A+.

Thank you for your help! Your advice will really make a difference as we figure out our next move.

Strawberry Hill, Teddington, Richmond Hill (avoid town centre due to flights). Not keen on Kingston

Thank you so much. Do you know any good schools in those neighbourhoods? 🙏

It's a while since I lived there (pre-kids), but I was a nanny for a while and state schools were generally well thought of. I don't think you can go wrong.
Vineyard on top of Richmond Hill is nice.
All three areas are upmarket, lots of international families.

Kingston is a nightmare for traffic.

This should help

https://whichschooladvisor.com/uk/area-guide/greater-london/richmond-upon-thames

Agree. Is the nightlife still as bad, with knife checks etc in clubs?

I live in the area and Teddington is my fave area.

Traffic in the area is generally bad so if clean air is what you're after then I think Teddington would also be good. Bushy park is great and there's some lovely walks along the river either towards Richmond or kingston. Not sure on schools as we haven't got to that stage but I'd imagine all are good.

The whole area is under the Heathrow flight path, it rotates.

I really don't like twickenham that much, the high st isn't great and Teddington is much better for pubs, cafes, restaurants etc.

I miss living in Teddington so much.

Strawberry hill is also lovely but not much there, you'd need to go to twickenham or Teddington for shopping.

Kingston is a good town to go to though and has all the clothes shops you'd really need.

Barnes. If bridge still closed(no idea if it is) very low traffic area.

I think it's got worse -l avoid it now!

Richmond is lovely but not a lot of choice for secondary so you might need to factor in a journey and traffic is very busy

This is really helpful. Thank you.

Look at Thames Ditton and Hinchley Wood.

Hello,
I know this is an old thread, but we are looking at a similar area with similar criteria and I just wondered if you ended up moving and where? If you did move, how’s it going? We’re looking at Petersham because of the apparently great schools, clean air and proximity to Richmond and Kingston…

Petersham is nice, the only thing is the road is ridiculously congested particularly in the winter as Richmond park closes at sunset and it’s pretty much the only road between Richmond and Kingston that side of the river. Bus service is also a bit spotty as a result.
it is a lovely walk along the river to Richmond, but it also floods with the tide, narrow pavements when forced to use the road make it less fun.

Used to live in Ham and work in Richmond, and would likely have stayed if it was more affordable

Thank you! We are looking at the Richmond side of Petersham so hoping the bus journey is shorter/ easier than Ham?! we were hoping this would help! We both bike and would try to rely on this as much as possible. We’re only going into work twice a week as well.
the transport does concern us as we’re currently by a tube in zone 2, but the payoff seems to be we can actually afford a family house and all the amazing green space…and hopefully easier than commuting into London from somewhere like Oxford or the Surrey Hills, which were among our other options.

do you know roughly how long the bus can take at say 5pm in winter?

I used to live in St Margaret's. Loved it. Was a while ago, though.