Help us decide which place fits our lifestyle best in England (Richmond, St Albans, Bath, Reading, Oxford)?

[mrszusi]

Hi everyone,

We're currently residing in Richmond upon Thames and working in Soho. We're considering relocating because, while we adore the natural beauty surrounding us, Richmond is crowded, everything feels quite distant, and there's a transient vibe to the community. Our ideal location would offer safety, abundant access to nature, a river nearby, a sense of community, and fewer crowds. However, one of us needs to continue working in London.

Could you suggest which place might best suit our needs? Any tips or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot. You're not the first one to mention Guildford, so I feel like I have to give it a shot.

Hitchin town centre is dying on its feet though.

Places I can think of on or near a decent-sized river are Bedford, St Neots, Huntingdon and Cambridge. Further afield, Northampton.

As pps say, Guildford, but also Godalming (smaller, perhaps a bit cheaper, perhaps more community feel, less good rail connection though).

Berhamstead seconded. Cheltenham, Rugby and villages around Guildford with a train station perhaps other options.

I live in Cambridge where there's lots of river based activities. Really lots. It's a fairly small city but is expanding rapidly with many new housing developments around the perimeter.
It's popular with tourists but probably less so than Bath and it doesn't feel overly crowded -- yet.
If you cycle it could well be the place for you - it's Bike City.

Oxford is rammed with students and tourists. Not sure about community but very transient I think. It would also be a long commute.

Reading is awful.

Not sure about the others.

Marlow, Henley, Berkhamsted? All very popular and not cheap for the locals but may be okay for coming out of London.

Cambridge is an hour's commute (on the fast trains) to London King's Cross

Where do you need to commute to in London?
Places to kayak and canoe in London

• Canals. ...
• The tidal Thames. ...
• The non-tidal Thames. ...
• The River Lee (River Lea) ...
• Other London rivers. ...
• Lee Valley White Water Centre. ...
• Lakes and reservoirs. ...
• Beyond London.

canoelondon.com › places-t... Places to kayak and canoe in London

I would do Wokingham rather than Reading, lovely place to bring up a family

What’s wrong with Reading?

Bath is beautiful and will give you a different lifestyle but depends how often the Commute is needed

haha thanks a lot.
I need to commute to Soho.

1-2x per week. I am not sure is it manageable or not

St Albans is lovely and 20 min from St Pancras but you can’t kayak there

you’d have to drive to Hertford, Lee valley, Bedford or Cambridge

St Albans is surrounded by woods and countryside so good for walking

I’ll throw Chelmsford into your mix. Granted, not a scenic city centre but fast train line to Liverpool St (jump off at Stratford for Elizabeth line) and loads of kayaking on the River Chelmer. You can kayak from there all the way down to Maldon. The surrounding countryside is beautiful.

As someone who lives in Reading - yes. It’s grotty, it’s got a lot of anti social behaviour, it has a fairly transitory population with lots of HMOs and students, and it’s lacking community (with the potential exception if you’re from an ethnic/national group where there are also a lot of expats here or if you’re religious (any religion)). And the Thames floods with increasing regularity which will impact kayaking.

Have you tried it? You could get an Airbnb for a few days/a week and test it out (that applies to any of the suggestions, not just Bath).

For a 2x a week commute definitely rule out Bath. I've known people do that commute from Bath and Chippenham twice a week and they've been completely worn down by it. It's fine occasionally but not that regularly.

The surrounding villages are lovely, but Reading itself is a bit shit to live in, yes. Soulless.

Have you considered somewhere like Lewes? Great river, in the South Downs national park, seaside 20 mins away. Schools are fine. Train to London is ok (about an hour each way). Not as lovely or as close to London as St Albans, but property prices reflect that - you’ll easily rent a 3-4 bedroom house for under £2k

Reading is a really easy commute into Soho. The fact it's easy to get out of is the best thing it has going for it!

The town centre is pretty grim, but many town centres are shabby and run down these days.

North of the river in Caversham and Emmer Green is nice enough with some nice local independent shops and restaurants and a nice community feel but the area really doesn't make the best of what could be a lovely river setting.

Both Oxford and Bath are lovely- commute would be longer than some of the other places mentioned though so probably worth a dry run before committing to it.

As others have said, they are both very popular with tourists in the hotspot areas and both have large student populations, so you would need to consider carefully where you live to avoid the more transient areas of town.

What about Hertford. Attractive town. Quite a lot going on, decent housing, lots of greenery. Close to Lea Valley canoeing & kayaking in Broxbourne.

All these places will have a transient community as they are suburbia commuter belt. What you’re looking for doesn’t exist.

Northampton?? Really? I can't believe anyone would mention that as in the same ilk as Oxford and Richmond. Have you actually been into the town centre recently?!

I live in Bath - it fits your bill but in my opinion is not commutable - it's down to 1 hr 17 minutes now but a very expensive commute. I would go somewhere like Guildford or even Teddington - which is smaller and a bit less transient - a bit more community- I have lived both there and Richmond. I have also lived in St Albans twice - I liked St Albans back in early 2000s but not when we went back in 2013-found it decidedly deadly at night and in the week in daytime it was empty - depends if that matters to you though - it may not. Maybe home working has improved it a bit- I couldn't say- definitely not water sporty though.