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Welcome to our UK travel forum where you can get advice on everything from holidays to exotic destinations, to tips on London travel.

Original poster

Brooklyn NY to London--Where should we live?

139 replies

BklyntoUKmom · 07/12/2007 15:39

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!

OP posts:
onebatmother · 07/12/2007 23:28

move to north london

Original poster
BklyntoUKmom · 07/12/2007 23:34

Not far from Park Slope. At the risk of offending any other Brooklynites out there, PS is a bit fuddy duddy. My neighborhood has similar architectural ambiance but it is a bit more hip with younger families and not quite such an emphasis on 'competitive parenting'.

OP posts:
onebatmother · 07/12/2007 23:38

when you say competitive parenting, do you mean 'proving how amazingly child-centred,organic, wooden-toyed, no tv, baby-wearing, extended bf-ing you are"

or 'eustachius has a reading age of 25 even though he is 3"

Original poster
BklyntoUKmom · 07/12/2007 23:40

C. All of the above.

OP posts:
onebatmother · 07/12/2007 23:42

okaaaay.
And where you live is less crap because they don't do

A
B
or
C

Original poster
BklyntoUKmom · 07/12/2007 23:56

sorry for being unclear. while no where is free of 'competitive parenting,' I would say there is less of it where I live as compared to park slope. In other words, there is less of what you so accurately described (in both respects): a) look at me I am super eco-mommy with the wooden toys and superior nurturing parenting skills and b)look at little johnny, he's a proven genius.

OP posts:
Heathcliffscathy · 07/12/2007 23:58

franca

seriously, it does sound a tiny tad boring...everyone is lovely and no one is a wanker and everyone has sacrificed????

Swedes2Turnips1 · 07/12/2007 23:58

Highgate or Muswell Hill
or if your budget will stretch to it Hampstead, Belsize Park or even Regents Park.

onebatmother · 08/12/2007 00:02

Cat ate your profile swedes?

forgot muswell hill.

Swedes2Turnips1 · 08/12/2007 00:03

Sorry, I just saw the budget. Scratch my earlier suggestions.
Go to www.rightmove.co.uk or might be .com
and put in Hampstead or Highgate or whereever else you want to explore and rental (rather than to buy) and then the lower and upper budget and have a look and see what you might get.

onebatmother · 08/12/2007 00:03

lol bk

i am proven genius but off to bed now.

Swedes2Turnips1 · 08/12/2007 00:04

onebat But I've been knitting you the snood that you so longed for

onebatmother · 08/12/2007 00:05
Swedes2Turnips1 · 08/12/2007 00:06

Onebatmother - It was one of those days - a constant stream of people and phone calls, I was gettng all agitated (pulse racing, cold sweats etc) for my crystal meth mumsnet fix but it wasn't to be. Next week.

Original poster
BklyntoUKmom · 08/12/2007 00:06

Busted AGAIN by Sophable

I guess the thing is that I am not moving because I hate it here. I am moving because DH is British, got a good job in London and I welcome the challenge of living abroad. Doesn't mean that I don't feel pretty good about where I live and the friends that I have made. Maybe it isn't terribly edgy but I kinda like it.

As for the sacrifice issue, I hate to say it but for Americans, it is a sacrifice to SAH. Remember that we have to pay (ALOT!) for healthcare, have NO childcare subsidies for the middle class and our economy is going into the toilet pretty fast. Forget about the fact that our money is hardly worth the paper it is printed on these days....

OP posts:
onebatmother · 08/12/2007 00:07

okay swedes, sleep tight.

francagoestohollywood · 08/12/2007 09:46

soph my zzzzzzzzzz was at CD's eurobankers, not bklyntouk mum's neighbourhood . I heart nyc, as you know. I also heart London, though don't know it so well to make suggestions as to where it'd be nice to live...

francagoestohollywood · 08/12/2007 09:48

haven't solved my wonderpets problems sophable. didn't know you lived in london btw

foxinsocks · 08/12/2007 10:01

the problem with London is that you have lovely bits right next to some more err gritty parts so it can come right down to the street you pick, let alone the area!

If I was you, whatever you do, don't sign a long lease to start with. As you don't have to worry about schools, treat the first place you move as an experiment until you've found your London bearings.

I also think you need to make a decision about whether you want to be near Dh's brother. Wimbledon Park is a lovely area (as is Southfields, Putney, parts of Fulham....all along that side of the district line) so if you want to be near Wimbledon, I'd base your search round there.

If you don't, then I'd look up towards the Jubilee Line and into norf laaaaarndon and St John's Wood/Marylebone, Hampstead Heath....

onebatmother · 08/12/2007 10:41

good idea fis

Heathcliffscathy · 08/12/2007 10:45

franca, i heart nyc so much....my second fave city after london, would go live there in a heartbeat (are you listening dh?). i think you have a serious problem re the wonderpets english accent thing....and not only do i live in london, i think it's possible we live not so far away from each other

francagoestohollywood · 08/12/2007 14:21

lol soph, my problem with the wonderpets is not the accent. no, we don't live in London!! btw we are moving back to Italy in two weeks

margoandjerry · 08/12/2007 21:35

I have North London prejudices but I would be happy living most anywhere in South London. Except Brixton. It makes me want to cry. It's just horrible and hassley and edgy in a bad way and a good friend of mine was violently mugged there in the summer.

I live in central London but if I didn't live here I would go to West Hampstead, Dartmouth Park, Queen's Park, anywhere round there. Reasonable mix of pushy mums doing organic whatever and ordinaryish (given the prices in all these places) families doing normal stuff.

BadZelda · 08/12/2007 21:41

How funny you should say that MargoandJerry...having lived in brixton for 13 years I have found it's adapted wonderfully to now having 2 young children, it's very friendly, community focussed and child-friendly. Also has a lovely park, lots of one o'clock clubs and even a parents room in the local pub on a friday evening. Well - more perspectives can only be good. Plus v. handy for green park being on the victoria line

BadZelda · 08/12/2007 21:42

And in all the time I've lived here (and that included wandering around totally off my head at 4 in the morning on many occasions) I've never been attacked, mugged or hassled.