To be honest when people say 'this place is a dive' you need to think about what they are comparing it to, anyone can say that about somewhere, but lots of people are happy and live well in places where other people turn their nose up
This is good advice, and the PP is not wrong.
So, all of my family grew up on council estates in South London. Ours was the sort of estate where a kid wouldn't be allowed out on their own without older sibling supervision. One where I saw my mum get violently mugged in front of me. The muggers returned to beat her and her friend up, in front of us - then aged 7 and 10. Muggings and stabbings were common.
We moved to Strood and half our family followed.
Every one of them referred to Strood as a shithole, both when they lived there and afterwards.
The two who remain still call it a shithole.
These are not people who have airs and graces; there are no Hyacinth Buckets in my family.
Of course, as with everywhere, there are pockets of Strood that are absolutely gorgeous, with lovely houses, and are probably quite safe.
But the town centre is an absolute dive with no redeeming features and I'm not aware of any investment having happened. I can't think of a single place you would want to go to. It's not a shopping destination, dining, not even any nice drinking establishments as far as I'm aware.
There's a very long road that leads into the town centre called Darnley Road. In the summer, the residents there drag their sofas out and put them on the pavement to sit in the sun. Maybe they don't have gardens? Idk. But it made them the butt of many jokes.
It's the sort of place where people would admit to living whilst claiming 'but nearer to x or y' - basically, the nicer places.
I think to really get the measure of a place, you need to spend a lot of time walking or driving around it at various times of the day.
There's absolutely no way I'd walk up Darnely Road on my own after dark, for example.
So another way I try to consider the nature of a town when I can't physically get to it is to put it into google and hit 'news' - these are some of the things I found on the first four pages of search results:
Woman sentenced to life imprisonment for Strood murder
Woman who murdered Strood man jailed for life
Violent man bit off part of victim's ear in Strood
Search for missing Gillingham couple moves to Strood
Huge chain retailer unexpectedly shuts after landlord repossesses property
Teen taken to hospital after 'assault' at school football match
Major search launched after 'reports of body' in river
Staff in tears as 'much-loved' community shop rocked by 25k rent bill
Strood: Council considers selling off 13th Century manor
Man in his 70s dies after falling into river
Woman accused of murder 'stabbed partner six times in the back as he ate pizza'
Bargain hunters queue for hours for Poundstretcher opening
Body found near supermarket amid search for missing man
Suspect charged after e-bike rider seen driving in 'unsafe manner' down high street
Man charged and two more arrested after town stabbing
Emergency services descend on cul-de-sac behind pub to assist officers engaged in arrest
Those are all from the last year.
OP should absolutely make up her own mind and due her due diligence, I've said all I need to say now - there's a reason people from Strood, in the main, tell people they're from Rochester.
There are many far nicer parts of Kent to live in if you have 600k. Iirc the only things it had going for it was its proximity to Rochester and that it's just off the A2.
I've lived in loads of rough areas in both Kent and London as an adult, but even if the house was a mega bargain (I can't believe my dream oast house sold for 640k!), I STILL wouldn't return, because - I can take rough - but to do so, even for a dream house, the place needs to have other redeeming features.