Brooklyn NY to London--Where should we live?

[BklyntoUKmom]

Hi Everyone,

My family (me, DH, one year old son and 2 geriatric poodles) are moving to London in January. We are very excited (especially as DH is British and has been away for 15 years) but totally CLUELESS as to where we should consider living. DH is working near Green Park Underground Station and I was hoping that we might find an apartment or house to rent that is less than an hour commute for him. In addition, I am hoping to find a neighborhood with lots of other stay at home moms and young children.

In a word, I am looking for a place that accepts my mommy vibe and all that comes with it: the glamour of overloaded strollers (pushchairs), dirty diapers (nappies), pureed food chunks in the hair and inappropriate screaming at any moment.

I appreciate any advice you might have to share with a very bewildered American as she begins her thrilling journey into the land of Londonalia!

Too late!!!

agree that kingston and sheen are suburban (watch cd kill me for that).

but wandsworth fab. sort of got character but posh and rough bits too. very very very baby friendly as is sheen and putney and wimbledon.

tbh if you want amazing transport links do between the commons northcote road...clapham junction goes everywhere fast.

however, watch out for flight path in sheen and richmond (landing at heathrow) bit of a nightmare.

MOR?

Boy do I have alot to learn about British English...

MOR: middle of the road (which is an american record company originated expression!)

x

I presume she meant middle of the road.

"middle of the road" like music

Ok, advice on which areas to avoid.
Brixton for one. Rough doesn't describe it.

also mumsnet is not an accurate reflection of real world with babies and small children.

we're all shockingly amusing and clever in here, but utterly retarded and uptight out there.

East London tends to be poorer, generally, and west richer, generally (sorry east enders).

oh no, loved living in brixton and there are loads of mummies in brixton. however, it is erm bit moody in parts. at night. and during the day outside the corner shop on tulse hill where they deal 24/7. however the dealers did act a bit like a neighbourhood watch: no trouble apart from them like....

I never felt safe living in Brixton, whether it was morning, noon or night (pre-children). I was quite new to London then though, which explains how I ended up there. it was cheap...

Busted by Sophable.
Super Duper

And now my true acronym ignorance is uncovered. It isn't a question of British to American English. I am just a bit lame.

supa dupa fly darling.

so exciting moving to london. it is such a beautiful dirty scummy gorgeous city.

Putney is one of the closest marginals in the country IIRC -- tends to swing between Conservative and Labour. It is Tory at the moment, with that helpful Justine Greening woman who addressed me as "Ms Ryan" when replying to my letter about protecting the right to breastfeed (my name isn't Ms Ryan, so it wasn't a good start to our MP-constituent relationship).

she lives round the corner from me, and is very lovely irl but irksome in the extreme when replying to letters. she totally fobbed me off about the closure of the nearest library. git.

SW London is alright
Easy for getting into town but a pain if you want to go East-West
St Johns Wood is nice if you can afford it and would be an easy commute

Definitely avoid Brixton and Stockwell

oh ffs. if they have st john's wood money....go right ahead....lovely. why not belsize park while we're at it?

I would MOST certainly not advocate moving to Sheen
It is about to become unbearable I suspect due to mixed mode landing at Heathrow.

It is indeed MOR, very dull in many ways, most restaurants totally shite - but the good things about that are that you don't get gangs of yobs ranging about all night, it is nice and peaceful (bar the planes) and if you have dogs it is ideal as you have Richmond Park and the river very close. Most of the mummies are rather shrieky and squeaky tbh, I work so I don't have to do too much shrieking and squeaking with them thank fuck. There are also some lovely and very sound people here, I love the fact that it is not yet colonised by banker wanker eurotrash like so much of London.

If dd wasn't in the school she is in I suspect we would be moving soon though due to impending plane situation...

If I was to move, I wouldn't touch most of the rest of S London with a bargepole though

At the risk of inflaming riots of civil unrest between various postal codes. Which neighborhoods should I avoid?

Remember, consider who you are advising--a young(ish) SAH mom of a one year old who will want to walk around freely without threat or prejudice. I would like to be able to have every expectation that when I enter a park, I will also be leaving it in one piece. In addition, I personally don't consider the local drug dealers hanging out on the street corner to be considered the local neighborhood watch (although other opinions may differ).

Been there, done that. Lived in that cheap, down and out, thuggy neighborhood when I first moved to NYC. Not looking to go back.

Last time I was in Brixon I got smashed on the head with a baseball bat and mugged btw

East London is def poorer - but can be better than shit bits of n, w, or s london, because it's undiscovered. Green spaces, good schools. Lots of dog shit. But it's all up for grabs

Eg - i'm almost weeping with happiness because where I live in Walthamstow (I know! and theres a bit called Walthamstow Village! I know!) has just got (today!) a butcher/deli/restaurant/baker/cake-shop (I know!) that makes me feel like theres some weird Dr Who parallel time/space passage-thing, direct to Marylebone High St.
bk that means v v v v posh and organic-y.

Anyone with a spare £280K buy here now!

oh no cd no bankers in sheen at all....

you moving north then?

Oh well if you don't mind planes then Sheen or Putney would be fine I would say, or Wandsworth or Richmond

I take it you want green for the dog within walking distance?

msn

No staying put due to school

There are no bankers where we live tbh

On parkside yeah but that is another world really