Relocating Kent or Essex?

[Poppie2023]

Which area to relocate to: Rochester, Maidstone, Gravesend or Colchester?

Don't need to think of schools but will need to commute into London 3xper week for work.

Out of the above suggestions which area has more appeal, also may consider letting out occasionally.

Which part of London do you need to get into?
Maidstone etc not easy for City, Colchester direct to Liverpool St but an unreliable line.

(Parents live in Sudbury, Dad commuted from Colchester, I live in West Kent, husband commutes to City and had to move from Maidstone)

@balloonsintrees thank you for your reply. I'll be travelling to both Barking and Leytonstone.

For Barking and Leytonstone, then Colchester would seem the most direct. There are some lovely villages around there if you didn't want to be IN Colchester itself. Do you have family/friends you want to be near?
DH worked in Maidstone for 2yrs and said he'd never return. Sorry to anyone from there, but he found it run down and awful. Admittedly, this was a few years ago, so maybe its has a make over. 😬

None - I'd stay in Leytonstone/Epping Forest if I were you.

Defo Colchester then, BIL commutes from there to Barking.
(I'm the family outlier living in Kent, they're all up in North Essex!)

With that commute - Colchester.

Rochester is the nicest place from those options imo

Rochester would be the nicer place to live - but not with commuting to East London. So definitely Colchester.

Rochester is my home town and my parents still live there, it has its nasty bits but is mainly still lovely.

I live in East London and getting there on the high speed is easy, although you'll need to change from Stratford International to Stratford for tube lines.

Maidstone has not had a makeover but the surrounding areas and villages are fantastic . I’ve lived on the outskirts of Maidstone for over 25 years and actually been into Maidstone about a 20 times . If I want to shop I go to Bluewater or Lakeside which are 25-35 mins in the car and there are plenty of supermarkets / M&S / Next on the outskirts . Obviously Kent has the grammar system , Maidstone has 2 boys grammars /2 girls grammars and some actually very good high schools . Areas to look at would be Weavering , Bearsted, Hollingbourne so basically the areas near M20 junction 7 .