Relocating to London - Where to live?

[Tricey]

Hi - We're newcomers to Mumsnet and looking at a possible relocation to London. We could really use some help with several things...

1. What 'neighborhoods' (preferably in London, with Hubby commuting to Poplar area) are best for us to live-in? Looking for a clean, safe place that's toddler-friendly and good fun for mum to make friends.

1. What are rents like...i.e. what kind of budget do we need for rent? Groceries? Car?

1. Any other tips on life there? Nervous about the move and could use some input from those there.

Thanks!

PS - Hope this is the right place to post this topic.

that's lovely NQC, we didn't sing that in nowheresville, Ontario
Harlem is v trendy at the moment (well since Clinton moved his office there). I'd say it was a direct comparable to Hoxton - ie you couldn't give property away 10 years ago, now nobody can afford it

Oooh, really? It's a great song. I have a version by the Crash Test Dummies, and it really is a nice song.

Another American living in East End, so there you go - not all of us are worried about a bit of rough.. (btw, NQC, name and location of bookshop and vietnamese pls? Also, have been to tapas place and don't recommend. V. v. ordinary.) 'scuse hijack.
Must agree about St. John's Wood. I find it spooky and rich - the kind of place where if you were yelling for help people would either close their shutters or drive off in their 4x4's. (though there are obviously some nice m'netters in St.J.W.) I think Greenwich is more family friendly. Marylebone also quite a decent option- esp. if you are into good food, as it is chi-chi foodie central. As well as being close to Regent's Park and the centre of everything.

Bookshop and vietnamese are pretty much next to each other. Bookshop is Victoria Park Books. Small, but independant, competant, pleasant, and almost entirely kids' books. Vietnamese is Namo. Both are on Victoria Park Road - you go to the roundabout just north of Play (the lovely orange toy shop) and take a right (not in a car! it's one way the other way!), and they're in the first quite long block.

The Thai is called the Thai Farmer, and is on Grove Road, on the NE corner with Arbery. I know you didn't ask, but I want to promote it anyway, it's a great place.

(The next NE London meetup is at Namo, so that's a good chance to try it out, with great company too )

Oh, another East End treat is the dim sum joint where they don't hate everyone, opposite City Airport.

Ooh thanks for that. Am now looking forward to Thursday when I will send dh on a viet take away mission after his guitar lesson in Lauriston. Will have to check out bookshop too. Cheers.

Thank you for invite - have a work deadline though, so cannot really go out, all I do these days is work and childcare, shabby, shabby life that I have. Mumsnet is a great company though. Wasn't the Empress of INdia an Italian restaurant a couple of years ago? And then an Indian as well no? Will check it out next time I take ds to the park.

No, Empress was that flower shop/school thing. I forget what it was called.

There's still Chilli'z and some other dubious-looking places up there.

How old is your DS, eastendgirl? And where are you from, originally?

(Oh, I have two DSes, 5 and 2, and live about 10 minutes' walk south of the park.)

PMSL at "the text that made NO SENSE AT ALL from a number I didn't recognise??!!!! ended with Arf "

Thanks again for all of the advice. I went to bed after my last post and am amazed at how many responses are here. I have to print the thread out to read with the baby; limited computer time. Will be back.

Oh, I noticed nobody is answering your weather question. There's no snow, essentially. Maybe once a year. It is pretty grey, it's pretty wet. The really crappy bit is, in the winter, it's very dark (because so far north), so the sun is only "up" part of the day. I put "s around up, because that doesn't mean you ever see it.

The summer is warmer, but very humid.

I don't miss the hot weather from home, or the snow, but I do find the winters a bit draining.

NQC - Where is 'home' for you?
I'll be back!

I'm from Canada - Toronto and Montreal. I've been in the UK for 10 years now, though.

NQC - Nice. We spent a little time in Montreal and liked it very much.

Thanks for the weather tips. I really am not big on rain---particularly gray rainy days, but Hong Kong has trained me a bit on the wet and humid part. Ugh. As I write, it's an unexpected rainy and gray day here.

The rain in London is a bit weird. It only rarely really buckets down, but it drizzles, off and on, a lot. So apparently there are fewer cm of rain in London than in New York or Tokyo, but London is the rainy one, because it spends more time overcast and slightly drizzly.

Back again with bubs on a playdate.
Great info. You've all given us a good platform from which to start investigating neighborhoods during our initial visit. Thanks a lot.

PrincessPea...thanks for the breakdown of neighborhoods by likening it to NYC areas. I must say though that your comment 'you sound american - so I don't think the grittier sides of london will suit you at all' is a little bit of a stereotype...don't you think there are and were tons of Americans in gritty Harlem and Alphabet City as well as still in other gritty areas?!

But as for me, I am looking for non-gritty these days particularly so we won't have to worry too much about the safety of our children, especially if I go back to work and have someone else at home with them during the day. (So good call on the 'safe and clean' interpretation PrincessPea.)

Ok, so now my ignorance shows (and yes I'll fess up to it instead of doing a search on the internet.) What is a 'mew'?

ah, a mews (you never get only one) is a narrow street running behind and parrallel to the main street, or sometimes a courtyard.
When they were builts mews were basically the stables and coach-houses, with living accomodation for staff above, for the big houses on the main street, but now they're used as (smaller) houses in their own right.
Can be a very pleasant place to live as there's little through traffic.

This and \link{http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Dunworth.mews.london.arp.jpgthis} are pics of mews in West London.

You'll rarely get a garden in a mews house (as the big house has it all), but if you're used to apartment living this might not be a problem.

Mews houses are (I think?) traditionally converted stables, made into terraced houses. Here is a page about it.

I honestly think the most non-gritty bit of London is Canary Wharf itself. Very clean, very very safe. Mile End is more gritty, and probably slightly less safe, but I really doubt it's any less safe than the West End etc.

There aren't houses in Canary Wharf, but there are flats.

Are you moving back with a company? Or changing jobs? Will you get company accommodation for the first few weeks? It really probably is best to scout out the areas yourself to see what options suit.

(That being said, I don't think the state schools down in Canary Wharf are any great shakes. Mile End schools probably not much better? There is an ok independent primary near Victoria Park. I think there's a Montessori of some description in Canary Wharf. There are quite a few other independent primaries in the City. If you are going to be considering non-state education, you will need to get a move on and tour schools on arrival, because private schools are often first-come-first-served, and the lists fill up fast.)

bother, that second link should be this

Yes, we'll opt for temporary housing before committing to a place, so that'll help too.

Mews! I know exactly what you're referring too; have seen a few of these in the States as well. Very quaint, pretty...and exclusive. Thanks for educating.

NQC: I am Italian, there are hundreds of us living in the eastend these days, I have a 3 year old ds

blackheath is gorgeous, safer than most, v v childfriendly, got great schools for younger ones and is v v convenient for DLR to poplar etc (connect at Lewisham but don't live there)

Ah, EEG, I know quite a few Italians locally, actually. Don't think I know you. There's a cafe in the Roman Road market whose owner is Italian (southern, not sure which bit). The food is lovely, but there is a large annoying TV on all the time these days .

oh and it's extremely non-gritty - gorgeous village shops, lovely architecture, wonderful heath, nr parks, tons going on culturally & for kids, good transport links. Loads of expats/docklands workers choose to live there.