South Croydon or further out for starting a family?

[roamingcat]

Hi all,

We currently live in South Croydon and have been really happy here (shock horror I know!). The choice of both trains into Victoria and London Bridge from nearby station is really convenient as we both commute in 5 days a week, it makes it really easy to go and see friends or go into central London on the weekend for shopping/eating-out, and we like how close we are to the m25 for trips away/out of London. The schools near to us are outstanding/good, and it would work well for commute/school drop-offs in the future.

We've come to the point where we're thinking of starting a family in the next year or so and need to decide whether we're going to stay put here for a few more years (and invest more in the house) or move to our next home. We both need to commute 5 days a week into central London and this won't change, so any future location is going to be constrained by the need to be in walking distance to a train station and our budget. Our max budget is 550 but we would be much more comfortable on 475 when you factor in the cost of future nursery fees.

We would welcome thoughts on whether South Croydon is okay to raise a family (fully expecting comments from people saying how horrible croydon is, but South Croydon is much nicer than East or West and I was born and raised in zone 2....!) or whether we would be better considering an area slightly further out within the larger Croydon borough (e.g. Purley, Kenley etc). The key thing will be finding that magic unicorn area which works for our budget, but also still has the good transport links and isn't too long or expensive on the train. It's ideal if it has a local park nearby which is good for running, and a coffee shop which does a good breakfast! Thanks all.

Ha, I loved IKEA when mine was small! The cafe is so reasonable it’s practically free for small children, about £1.99 for a full meal, or 99p for pasta during the week if you have the card. mine was crawling in the height of summer it was a bloody godsend to let him roam about in the set up rooms and enjoy the air con! Now he’s older he still likes a look about and there’s the playground outside. They should be re opening the crèche later this year, too.

Sanderstead is lovely and we always go to Gruffy fête in the summer and the light switch on at Christmas, there’s a messy play Saturday session at the tennis club too.

Always feel like we have the best of both worlds really, benefits of living near a big city plus all the small town bits if you go out the other way.

I hadn't even thought of IKEA but that's super convenient on the tram too! and for when any future children get older there's the cinema and bowling there....

Just wanted to say thank you for your responses - I was feeling a bit worried about how we were going to make having children work with our budget/commute constraints so it's a massive relief to hear about all the lovely things available here. I love our house too, it's small but so cosy! If you have any other child friendly local recommendations for the future then please feel free to share them 😀

Further along on the same tram route OP is Morden Hall Park (NT place and such lovely grounds and they do lots of outdoorsy stuff for kids) then Dean City Farm. Lovely for little ones.

sorry to have hogged the thread but honestly there’s just so much for children and families here.

If you live near the tram then you must live in a really nice part of South Croydon.

This thread is making me feel nostalgic.

I live about 15 mins away and have small children. I think it’s a good area to have a young family in. South Croydon isn’t my local town but I go often to the things people have mentioned - the ikea, kid space, beddington park, Morden hall park

@roamingcat

Mine loved an ikea trip. Design a sofa combo, sit on all the furniture. Finish with 50p hotdog. Cheap day out 😂

Check your secondary school catchments. We're near Sanderstead station and have realised we're too far from Riddlesdown, Warlingham and Coombe wood schools to get in. So will likely only have a choice of Purley Harris academy or Selson Quest academy.

I also wish we had chosen to settle more towards Coulsdon for the driving transport links to M25. The slow slog down through Purley or Caterham is painful.

We were in a small terraced house near what was the Red Deer. If we hadn't needed more space, we'd probably still be there.

I'd stay. Croydon - excluding Thornton Heath, Broad Green, and (shudder) New Addington - is a perfectly good place to raise a family IMO.

We're not far from the station and lots of kids go to Riddlesdown and Coombe Wood from round here.

I am near Little Bay and got kids into Tenison/Riddlesdown and Coombe Wood (totally outed myself now)!

Just had a lovely day out at Ightham Mote with DH and DS16 then lunch and a mooch around Sevenoaks. So many possibilites from here.

and (shudder) New Addington

You are not wrong. Most of the kids at my school were from there and I found a lot of them quite intimidating.

Coombe Wood school was built long after I moved away, but it is handy for the tram.

I was interviewed at Archbishop T @Phunkychicken but didn't get in. Apparently I would have done had I been a boy.

ooh that's awful @RampantIvy . It had a bit of a low period but is back on the up. But they don't fill their quota of CofE places any more

I wasn't bothered. It would have been quite a walk, and I wouldn't have fancied crossing Lloyd Park after dark in winter.

I stuck around this side of town because the trains made life easier, and I never felt the need to rush out once we started thinking about kids. I kept an eye on local stuff with Croydon crime, which helped me feel more grounded about where we lived rather than spooked by gossip. If you’re happy with the vibe, parks, and commute, it might be worth staying put and seeing how things feel once the baby arrives.

I think it’s great for young families but as the dc get older the local areas they want to go aren’t so great and will involve being a taxi service ime.

I had my first baby when living in West Croydon, and found places to go / new friends in both South Croydon and the other way (Selhurst, West Norwood). There was a good baby yoga class and Matthews Yard community which were fab for a new mum but I think both are gone, but there will be others I’m sure. Where I lived in WC isn’t great nowadays and its proximity to Mayday meant lots of noise, but South is nicer and I agree that proximity to Lloyd Park is good. My DS does tennis at a lovely little club in Sandilands just by Lloyd Park.

We then lived in Shirley for six years which isn’t as great transport wise but there’s buses and the SL5 now, and you can get to the Hayes line at Eden Park fairly easily. I found Shirley good for raising small kids. Quieter than central Croydon, very green etc.

We are now on the Hayes / West Wickham border and close to the lovely countryside round Layhams farm / addington. V good transport links with the Hayes line or bus to EC.

We live about 5-10 mins walk from Sanderstead station, with older teenagers. When they were younger, we used to live further south (Purley/Kenley border, near Reedham station).

The commute is a lot better from our current location. As in, it saves a LOT of time every single day to be commuting from Sanderstead instead of Reedham. I would say this is a great area for families.

I would disagree with a previous poster who said that teenagers would start hanging out in less great areas. I had the same thought when we moved here, but it hasn't turned out that way. Mine avoid central Croydon (for example) and so do their friends - for a start, because there's nothing really there! They head to central London, or to Bromley for shopping, or sometimes Wimbledon on the tram. Or to each other's houses. Central Croydon is crap now, even for shopping (as I'm sure you know), but they just tend to bypass it, as I do myself.

@Deralip I said local areas to hang out aren’t great & to go further afield involves being a taxi service.

As in you have to travel to go somewhere nice.

I grew up on the outskirts of South Croydon but that was 50 years ago. I have relatives in the Whyteleafe and Kenley and Purley area. I don’t think South Croydon is awful but central Croydon isn’t great. If you have good schools nearby maybe stay put if your house is big enough. Moving house is expensive and if you like the area and it is good for work why move?

Yes, you have to taxi them sometimes (like parents of teenagers pretty much anywhere). But mostly they go by public transport, because the public transport provision here is huge. Trains, buses, trams. They can pretty much get where they need to go.

I mean, I grew up in a village, and you genuinely DID need a lot of driving there. But South Croydon? Really not very much!

I grew up in z2 and had friends in South Croydon hence why I said ime…

I grew up in Sanderstead, and moved back there to bring up ds as it's such a lovely place to raise kids. He went to Gresham, and then Riddlesdown, both were great. Sanderstead is pricey but has a lovely 'village' atmosphere and a community feel still. If you could find something there within your budget, it would be worth it.

But in your position I would stay where I am. Croydon gets a bad rap, and it's well deserved if you're talking about central/West Croydon, but south is fab. Moving is expensive and stressful, so if there's scope to extend your house instead, do so. Stay put!