# Reputation of London Suburbs



## Akatrin (Nov 17, 2007)

Me again. This time, trying to decide where I want to rent/work in London. Obviously there's great variation between the various areas, and there are some places that are probably best avoided.
How can I find out what they are? 

I've put in a tentative application for the general "North London" area.. but I don't know if that's actually any good. All I've seen are the touristy bits 

Any ideas will be much appreciated


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Dont know the London areas that well I'm afraid, but also is it worth moving outside of London & communting. I have friends in London that say rental costs are horrendous

You just have to offset the cost of the commute against the rental difference. Just very briefly I looked:

For instance this two bed flat in NW& is £270 per *week*.
Immaculate modern spacious 2 double bed, 2 bathroom flat, with roof terrace Mill Hill, London NW7 North: 2 bedroom flats London houses London

Where as here you will find a two bed house close to the station on the line to Kings cross for £695 a *month*!


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Hi Akatrin,

Have had a look on Find properties to buy, homes to rent, overseas houses and new homes on rightmove.co.uk That's one website that does rentals as well as property sales. 

Do you have any idea where you'll be working?
DO you have you any idea about how much you'll want to pay?
Do you want to rent a flat by yourself or share a house or flat? If you want to share then there's another website as well Flatshare - House Share & Rooms to rent 190,000 Flatshare ads in the UK which is specifically for house & flat shares. 

As Stravinsky suggests you may be better off travelling into London from the outside. I lived just North of London in Hertfordshire and I could travel into London on the Thameslink in about 25 minutes to Kings Cross. Of course you also need to take into account the travelling costs from anywhere outside London since that may not be that cheap either depending on where you are travelling from, although travel cards are available.

Hope that helps,
Karen


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## Akatrin (Nov 17, 2007)

Hmm I don't know where I'm going to be working yet, and cost is secondary to other concerns. Things more important:

-Security: I must be able to walk the streets alone and be pretty sure my stuff is safe sitting in the flat. This could also rule out commuting if certain lines/whatever are unsafe.

-Accessability: being close to transport is obviously important but apparently the last tube runs at midnight and is often cancelled or dodgy. I don't want to be too far out so that I'm not running up large taxi bills after a saturday night out. Half an hour out of the city centre would be ok.

Thanks for the links


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Akatrin said:


> -Security: I must be able to walk the streets alone and be pretty sure my stuff is safe sitting in the flat. This could also rule out commuting if certain lines/whatever are unsafe.


That one's going to be tough. When I think about what times I used to travel from London to Borehamwood (on Thameslink - now called First Capital Connect) my parents used to worry since it was around midnight sometimes. However at the time I was fine with it. I only lived about 10 minutes walk from the station and there were very few people around. I didn't want to bother with a taxi since it didn't seem worth it but I can't say I felt safe since I was always on my guard. Now I live in a small city in Australia I feel much safer at night. 

What feels safe to one person may not feel safe to another.....

You may want to have a look at UpMyStreet - For Where You Live - I just remembered it. It has things on it like crime statistics, age of population, local transport etc. 

Another website is Homecheck from Landmark Information Group. which gives you environment info and also a neighbourhood summary. Both of those websites are free and you just need to type in the post code of the area that you are thinking about moving into.

Good luck on your search.

Karen


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

There's a book out called "Buying or Renting a Home in London" by David Hampshire and Sue Harris, which details the various bouroughs in London (possibly a few around London, too) - right down to the availability of grocery stores and public transport. This could give you the information you're looking for.


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## asea (Feb 27, 2008)

You can ask me, I'm a Londoner born & bred & would be happy to give you advice if you want to ask about a particular suburb.


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

I'm also a Londoner born and bred and would also be happy to give you advice. I was born in East London, grew up in North London, although not the nicest part, and lived all my married life in the London Borough of Redbridge, East of London (a suburb at the end of the central line).

I never walked at night alone - I went everywhere by car and alway checked my mirrors and locked my doors. According to the police, when we were burgled, we lived in one of the London boroughs with the least crime.

Fortunately, here in Argentina I feel safe, even at night.

Regards

Michelle


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## asea (Feb 27, 2008)

I'm a bit more reckless than Michelle & have often been wandering around drunkenly quite late at night & haven't had any problems. Like anywhere London has it's fair share of crime (everywhere!!) but to be honest as long as you keep your wits about you you will come to see that London is actually quite safe. I use the tube everyday as driving in London is a big pain in the neck & it's faster & less stressful than driving. Sometimes I cycle, which is scary with the traffic but the most enjoyable way of getting around (& getting to know the city!)

There have been alot of gang-related incidents in the past year or so but most of those have been between different gangs so don't really affect the normal populace. Like anywhere, you need to not take silly risks & pay attention to your surroundings & you will hopefully be fine!


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## marc (Mar 10, 2008)

Hi,

I live in North London so please come to me with what you want, theres several places which are very nice, the best of which is Mill Hill (most expensive), but also there is Kingsbury, Wembley, Kenton. these are all nice places and have very little crime, i have lived in North London 19 years and never had any problems.


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## asea (Feb 27, 2008)

I've worked in Wembley & would say that it is pretty rubbish! It's one of the few places that I have not felt safe whilst walking around at night and is generally very grim.


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## marc (Mar 10, 2008)

yeah Wembley is not that great, i think the nicest place in NW is mill hill, NW7.


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## asea (Feb 27, 2008)

The pubs are fantastic in Mill Hill too!


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## marc (Mar 10, 2008)

i agree, the bell is very nice, the hammers e.t.c


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## Rachel_Heath (Mar 16, 2008)

I ended up living in Watford - close to the mainline British Rail station. I used to catch the local Silverlink commuter train to Euston and would get there in just 20 minutes. Even with the cost of the rail pass I found it a whole lot cheaper to live there than to live in one of the London based postcodes.

I even took (during any non-rainy day) to walking from Euston across town to just North of Fleet Street (often faster than catching the Northern Line then the Central line).


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## marc (Mar 10, 2008)

yeah watford is great, great shopping, nightlife

if you dont need to be near an underground station i suggest watford or somewhere in hertfordshire, radlett, borehamwood e.t.c

but even without underground you can still get into city via overground trains thameslink, silverlink e.t.c


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

marc said:


> yeah watford is great, great shopping, nightlife
> 
> if you dont need to be near an underground station i suggest watford or somewhere in hertfordshire, radlett, borehamwood e.t.c
> 
> but even without underground you can still get into city via overground trains thameslink, silverlink e.t.c


The huge Watford Tesco is my favourite supermarket - could spend all day there. Do miss some things from home, but certainly not the weather


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## marc (Mar 10, 2008)

is argentina weather very bad?

i heard some of the worst storms in the world are there becasue of the mountains? is that true?


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

marc said:


> is argentina weather very bad?
> 
> i heard some of the worst storms in the world are there becasue of the mountains? is that true?


Not sure about storms in the mountains as we live much further down the country. For me, the weather in Argentina is great. It is supposedly autumn now, but today the temperatures are still around 28 degrees and many people are still on the beaches


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## Rachel_Heath (Mar 16, 2008)

MichelleAlison said:


> The huge Watford Tesco is my favourite supermarket - could spend all day there. Do miss some things from home, but certainly not the weather


I was a Sainsburys lass. They had introduced those nifty hand scanners that allow you to scan your own shopping and checkout really quickly! I moved later to Cheltenham and the local Sainsburys there didn't have them. 

I think I left at just the right time though; they were doing a huge amount of new road construction north of Garston & around Leavesdon (around the film studios) which really began to get on my goat. 

Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Subway had opened up in the Parade (this was after my first jaunt over here).


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

Rachel_Heath said:


> I was a Sainsburys lass. They had introduced those nifty hand scanners that allow you to scan your own shopping and checkout really quickly! I moved later to Cheltenham and the local Sainsburys there didn't have them.
> 
> I think I left at just the right time though; they were doing a huge amount of new road construction north of Garston & around Leavesdon (around the film studios) which really began to get on my goat.
> 
> Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Subway had opened up in the Parade (this was after my first jaunt over here).


I never lived near Watford, just happened to visit it a couple of times and came across the biggest Tesco ever. 

I was a true Sainsburys lass also and just loved the scanners - I was probably the first person to register for them - great invention - couldn't understand why more people didn't use them - there was never a queue if you had a scanner.


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## faisalsazhar (Feb 27, 2008)

I live in West Of London in Hillingdon near Heathrow. It takes me 22 minutes to get to Paddington Station in Central London. 1 month pass is £171 for all underground zones and from my over ground station.

As I am moving to UAE I will be renting out my house for £1200 / month. North London and SE London has higher crime rate as compare to West London.


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

faisalsazhar said:


> I live in West Of London in Hillingdon near Heathrow. It takes me 22 minutes to get to Paddington Station in Central London. 1 month pass is £171 for all underground zones and from my over ground station.
> 
> As I am moving to UAE I will be renting out my house for £1200 / month. North London and SE London has higher crime rate as compare to West London.


Hi and welcome to the forum. 

Good luck with your plans.

Michelle


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## JuliaH (Apr 12, 2008)

*Highgate*

Hi, we lived near Highgate for several years, and I have to say it was a really good place to live in. Near Hampstead Heath which is great for long strolls and running, decent pubs and plenty of public transport to the centre.

However, with regards to safety I'm not sure that any place in London is really great. In fact, I remember police men stationed outside all the schools to stop drug trafficing etc and my boyfriend was mugged several times whilst out in the evening. But you'll get this overall in London, whether you live in Knightsbridge or Hackney. 

With regards to culture, you can't beat London and there's sooooo much history in every part.

I think your best bet is to go by what you're prepared to spend on accommodation and think about how long you want to commute to your work. Or do you want to cycle? It's also worth checking the reliability of the public transport system - unfortunately London doesn't have a brilliant track record of that 

hope this helps

Julia


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## Sati (Apr 23, 2008)

You guys make London sounds so scary... I never even felt scared in New York City. That's a definite consideration though. I always felt pretty darn safe in Seattle.


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