Reading

[Theworldsgonemad]

Does anyone know Reading well? Specifically, Reading West within a mile of the station.
Looking to buy property there.
Would you recommend or not?

Along the Oxford Road is rough as fuck. There are some pleasant streets which get better the further you go off the Oxford Road.

Oxford Road near the station is rough. I agree further away might be OK but it would depend where.

NC for this. We used to live on Edinburgh Road and moved fairly recently. On the whole it’s an ok place to live for a few years but we eventually got sick of the noise, litter and prostitution general anti social behaviour. I generally felt safe walking home from the station at night.

The streets going off to the south of the Oxford road are generally nicer than those running to the north and I would say Edinburgh Road up to Tesco are probably the nicest. It is a convenient place to live in terms of having everything on your doorstep and excellent transport. We moved to a different neighbourhood and I miss being so close to the Turkish shops!

Check the quality of the house very carefully as ours (Victorian terrace, as most of them in the area are) had pretty much zero soundproofing so we could hear everything going on next door.

Are you living elsewhere at the moment? There are always plenty of homes for rent in the neighbourhood so you could move there for a trial period to see what you think?

Some nice bits some very grotty. Issues with rough sleepers and drug dealers as well.

Thanks for the posts. Things to think about.

Is it proximity to a Reading station that you need? Because Reading West would not be the one I’d live by.

Every time I hear ‘avoid the Oxford Road’ I think about Kate Winslet as she grew up there I believe. She spoke about it in a podcast about her ten favourite songs and she mentioned Matchstick Men and Matchstick Cats and Dogs (or something!) in the living room in a house in this area.

She has such fond memories of this place!

It’s a shithole now, well the bit we are talking about. The Oxford Road is miles long, with some very desirable properties at the far end.

Yeah I doubt Kate was living on the Oxford road.

If you want to be living near the station @Theworldsgonemad I would think about Caversham or Twyford (fast trains into London on the Elizabeth line).

She did live on Oxford Road.

The Elizabeth line is not that fast. It takes double the amount of time a regular train going from Reading to Paddington.

Reading West is in the branch line between Reading and Basingstoke. If you need to get to London, you want the main Reading station. Why do you want Reading West? There could be other areas that suit your needs better and are nicer.

I lived off the Oxford Road on Albany Road for years. Agree with all the above comments although I never had any issues. Would look elsewhere but you’ll get less for your money. It is a starter part of Reading though.

Blimey … my mistake about Kate.

@Theworldsgonemad The normal train line from Reading is extremely fast - about 25 minutes to Paddington - but a lot of people do commute from Twyford particularly since the Elizabeth Line ( though slower) can take them straight into central or East London.

Reading west has direct trains to Paddington in the morning peak, lots of people commute from there

I'm more used to trains ftom Cardiff and Bristol, so didn't think Reading West was direct. Should have checked before posting, sorry. (Obviously this would diminish the mount of posts on MN by 80% if we all took up this good practice...)

She didn’t. It certainly wasn’t far away but no, not the Oxford Road. One of the roads that runs parallel.

Kate Winslet's early life in Reading before stardom and where her mum won a pickled onion contest - Berkshire Live
Kate Winslet Revisits Childhood Home, Reflects on Her Roots

Elizabeth Line trains to London are as slow as God's wrath and stop at every single station. Take the fast Great Western service. Gets you to London in one-third of the time.

I would not live on the Oxford Road for ready money. On the south side, the side streets, once you get to the top of the hill up by the Rose & Thistle pub, are OK but down the bottom of the hill and Oxford Road itself is as rough as a badger's arse.

Elizabeth Line trains to London are as slow as God's wrath and stop at every single station.
Not all of them.

Reading isn't very nice. Bits of it are OK.