Crawley - should I be worried about buying in this area?

[HangerLaneGyratorySystem]

Currently living in Dorking, I only see signs for Crawley when I'm on the way to Brighton. I've heard very little about it, property seems reasonable, should I give it a chance? I'm only after a 2 bed flat or maisonette so I don't think I'm going to be in whatever the best areas are ...

Might be a bit creepy.

BTW Just put Crawley into the search and there are some amusing posts; quite a few not keen. Trouble is, if its what you can afford, no point hoping for Horsham instead!

Stop it! Already been done on other threads but I think you need some sort of prize for being the first on this one 😅

Depends what you are looking for.

Which area? Not all parts of Crawley have the same reputation but depends on budget too.

Sorry, couldn't resist. A friend grew up there but that was decades ago. It's convenient for London and Brighton, and Gatwick.

There are some nice parts of Crawley. Look at Pound Hill and Maidenbower.

There's a new development coming, I think its "West Of Ifield"

Really depends on which area of Crawley. We live very close by and looking to move in the next year or so, good chance it would be into Crawley but there are certain areas/roads I wouldn’t consider.

The "new" houses around Broadfield are fine - known as Tolgate Hill by Estate Agents to make them distinct from Broadfield. Broadfield itself is a sink Estate.

Apart from that none of it is that bad. I lived there for 10 years and quite liked it. You're never short of visits from friends who want parking if you live near Gatwick.

Frankly I'd prefer Crawley to Horsham because Horsham is rapidly declining with development whereas the direction of travel of Crawley, if anything is slightly upwards.

The Gatwick express makes commuting to Central London totally practical.

So I'm a fan.

Absolutely not , Crawley is no longer a place to raise children , its very unsafe , we moved out of Crawley 15 years ago and its just gotten worse , plus you will get stuck there , it has a bad reputation for a good reason

I moved away 10 years ago, so you and I didn't get stuck there!

Horrible place. No doubt there's nicer areas and less nice areas, but overall its pretty awful, crime, drugs, asb. It'll be a big culture shock coming from Dorking, which is mostly lovely.

Don't agree with this. I do wish a lot of the development was more thoughtful, but Horsham is thriving in so many ways.

I'm talking about direction of travel rather than absolutes.

Crawley is just an average commuter town, nothing majorly wrong with it, nothing majorly exciting, nothing majorly risky, nothing to attract you or detract you. Bland perhaps, but functional, practical and plenty of happy people living there.

If you live in Dorking that isnt far away so not sure how you dont know much about it.

Crawley is just an average commuter town, nothing majorly wrong with it, nothing majorly exciting, nothing majorly risky, nothing to attract you or detract you. Bland perhaps, but functional, practical and plenty of happy people living there.

That was my take in my few years there. From memory it was a 45 minute commute to Central London and that's why myself and half my neighbours were there. My neighbours were all lovely and I lived in Tolgate Hill which was certainly nearer the bottom end of Crawley than the top.

I lived close to Broadfield which was the worst area and I always felt safe-ish to walk into the Bronx (as we called it) to collect takeaways or buy milk etc day or night.

I worked in Crawley for about 5 years. Live about 8 miles away which is much nicer!!!
pros: cheap housing and great rail links to London, Gatwick and Brighton. Close to M25 too. some nice ish residential areas.
cons: the most racist place I’ve ever been. Honestly the things my patients used to say to me that they thought were totally ok. Shocking.
lots of petty crime.
generally run down and grotty
Schools not great.
would east Grinstead work better? Not great rail connection though.

Crawley is really a suburb of South London.

Good transport links but the town centre has gone massively downhill over recent years.

Some parts have a bad reputation e.g Broadfield, Bewbush and Langley Green. The better areas have historically been Pound Hill and Maidenbower, but this might have now changed.

Have a look at the local Facebook pages to get an idea of it.

Horsham isn't much better these days imo.

Haywards Heath or Burgess Hill might be worth considering instead.

@Klp122 , are you sure you're not thinking of Croydon? I get the two mixed up sometimes.

Crawley is well into the greenbelt, not the suburbs.

Horsham town centre is lovely. Crawley’s is dire and depressing

Crawley High Street has some (unexpected) character IMHO.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/zLG3cKhHtuoXFSXU9

...but yeah, the shopping area has a bleak Basingstoke feel to it.

It REALLY isn't

Yes, I know both very well.