Moving to Reading, Berkshire.....

maninthestreet

Oxford Road area has problems with prostitution and drug dealing - personally, I would steer well clear of that area.

droodleskins

Hiya, i'm reading born and bred and can give you some good areas but like above it does all depend on your requirements and where your partner is working ? (postcode) so give us some more details and i'll give you my opinion.

ps i'm leaving reading this friday after 35 years - i've enjoyed it here.

cowbutt

maninthestreet wrote: »

Oxford Road area has problems with prostitution and drug dealing - personally, I would steer well clear of that area.

It's a long road; towards the town centre, that is a problem, but once you get out past the Battle Hospital, it was OK.

moneysavingmonkey85

Wow, great, thanks for all the replies!:T
Hubby will be working in RG2 7??, which is near the shinfield road from the map - but neither of us drive so quite nearby or with good buses is essential. No kids either, so schools not important, but thanks

If you dont want to upset agents, if you have any you wouldnt use, you can always PM me - I have been seriously mistreated in the past, but thanks for all your suggestions - I knew I could rely on MSE'rs!

spugzbunny

Yes that is very near the Shinfield Road. I know the RG2 9?? area very well. As a quick reply I'd still recommend lower earley / east reading area but make sure you are close to either the Shinfield road or the hospital as bus routes in that area vary. The Shinfield Road has a very good bus route though and obviously the hospital is well serviced by buses so as long as you are close you will have no problem.

If you look at a map - I live in RG1 5XX and it takes me 5 mins to walk to the hospital bus stop and then another 10 mins on the bus to the part of the Shinfield Road you have indicated. In the other direction it would take me 20 mins walking into the city center.

The University area (if you look at a map) is classified as the area between London Road (A4), Wokingham Road, The Hospital and the Uni. Those locations form a square on a map and the location in the middle is nice and cheap without being dodgy!

Also anywhere immediately around the postcode you gave is also nice but the houses are usually larger semi-detached so rent will be higher.

Have you thought about getting into contact with the company your Husband will be working with. I know my company has a list of letting agents that they recommend etc

spugzbunny

oh and you definately don't want to be anywhere near tilehurst, caversham, emmer green or oxford road unfortunately as that is the completely opposite side of town!

co123456

Considering the place of work, I would suggest Lower Earley for nice reasonably priced accomodation. The area you mention is close to Whitley which is advertised by Estate Agents as 'South Reading' presumably because Whittley has a bad reputation.

Once you are settled, head for a slap up pie dinner at Sweeny & Todds fine pie and ale emporium.

moneysavingmonkey85

Brilliant, lower earley and the university area sounds promising, thanks guys - and i'm sure hubby will appreciate tip about where to get a good pie!

kunekune

Oh dear, now I'm feeling hungry/nostalgic. We lived in Reading when we first left university: initially on Vachel Road (NOT recommended) in a stinky damp basement flat and then we had a shared ownership flat on Kendrick Road. I don't have particularly happy memories of Reading, but what I do remember with enormous pleasure was Sweeney Todd's! It's one of my favourite restaurants of all time, even after all these years: good beer (IIRC), amazing pies, friendly atmosphere, and reasonably priced. We also had one of our first 'fancy' meals at the Ramada just after OH got a job in NZ, it was sort of nouvelle cuisine at the time ... And spent a lot of money at an Italian place (they had several), not always good (matchstick in the spaghetti a la cartoccio) but still fun.

neas

i've lived in reading, plymouth and a small town in yorkshire.

I'd say as others have said avoid whitley, i used to work at b+q which meant cycling down through whitley each day, al i can say is i pedalled fast lol. Altho it wasnt that bad to be honst... 3 years doing it evvery sat/sun (at 11pm too) and never once mugged.

All i can say for reading is, it was quite expensive. Lived on palmer park avenue (houses were nice there but was v close to uni), Church Road on earley (first student house, man was it noisey lol!). and around shinfield road.

Would bike down shinfield and pull a right down towards whitley on way to B+Q store... seemed an ok road to live on.. altho maybe a lil close to whitley ;P.

What are the houses going for in reading these days? I remember them being overpriced at around 300k for a cruddy 3-4 bedroom. They more now?