Moving to London - Where??

MrsB2004

Hi,

My husband and are are relocating with work to London, we will be working in Canary Wharf. We need to find somewhere to live but have no idea of good/bad areas. Can anyone recommend an area? We don't want a big commute and would like to live in an area that has good amenities such as cafes, restaurants, bars etc. As we are both runners, greenish space and/or good running routes would be useful.

Can anyone recommend an area? It will be appreciated as we have no idea - we only visit London as tourists on the odd weekend.

Help!:wave:

CLAPTON

give us a few hints... annual income is ....
looking to rent or buy?

talulahbeige_2

When I moved to London a few years back (I didnt stay long!) I bought a book that had reviews of all areas and covered every aspect of living in a neighbourhoood that you could want, I'm afraid I cant remember the exact name but Amazon have hundreds of versions
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_i_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Aliving+in+london&keywords=living+in+london&ie=UTF8&qid=1273751664

On a personal note, I would go for greenwich or Blackheath.
I didnt when I moved to London and ended up in East Ham and Stratford which I would suggest you avoid!

lostinrates

talulahbeige wrote: »

On a personal note, ....!

which is the problem, we can all make those suggestions but people are drawn to different areas.

My suggestion would be to look for rental near Canary wharf , spend sometime enjoying London, and every weekend explore a different area either within London or into greater London commuter routes you might consider for longer term.

Personally I'm not a fan of that area, but a lot of our friends have found very affordable rentals near workplaces,and lots of them even really like it there .

MrsB2004

CLAPTON wrote: »

give us a few hints... annual income is ....
looking to rent or buy?

Sorry - forgot to include this!

Combined Annual Income will be £85k - looking to rent as we don't want to buy straightaway as we need to see how life in London works out.
We also don't want to sell our current home yet - we will rent this out.

Thanks

princeofpounds

Lostinrates advice is good. London is a huge place with many different options if you are working anywhere that has decent transport links. Most people who move here have rented for a year and then moved to either rent or buy once they know their way around. It really is worth putting the effort in to look around.

In terms of Canary Wharf area, it's hard to know what to advise given we don't know your budget. However, a few ideas...

Anywhere on the Jubilee line will be quite accessible. Many people live up in northwest London (hampstead if you are rich, further out if not!) and come in on the line. It's not a really short commute, but it is direct and the advantage is that you are then closer to 'real' London for the weekends.

The Isle of Dogs (the wharf area) suffers because whilst it has some life in the week connected to the business activities, it's dead at weekends. And the areas immediately adjacent to it to the north are relatively unpleasant (not dangerous, just dull). There are however some great flats there (the wharf area itself I mean, not the adjacent bits) at prices that are no longer extreme, and you can run along the river, so if you aren't a person who needs much to keep you occupied you might consider it.

Greenwich, on the south side of the river, and Blackheath up the hill from there, are both absolutely wonderful areas. They still don't feel close to central london, but they have more than enough to keep you happy in their own right. The commute will be short, there is tons of green space and lots of cafes and so on. I'd urge you to put this on your shortlist if you have the budget - often it's not too expensive if you back off the really central roads.

Also on the jubilee line is borough, which is close but probably too urban for you although again you can run along the south bank here. It's expensive near to the river, though very nice, and not so nice away from the river. It's also very central and there are lots of restaurants and a famous market there.

The areas in between the city and the wharf on the DLR are also accessible to you. This is the East End, so it's a bit down at heel and has lots of council housing, although some new places have gone up over recent years. Bits of it can be quite decent now (Wapping), others not so much (Shadwell!). If you find a nice corner it might work for you, and again it's a bit closer to central London and a short commute. Only little patches are open and green though.

Finally, there might be areas to the east that will work for you if you aren't bothered about actually being in London proper. There are loads of towns in Kent and Essex you could travel in from, although I'd recommend relatively few of them they are cheap. And of course you might wish to look at Stratford if you can buy into Olympics fever... I know some people that really like it and believe in the area, I don't know it personally. It does have ok transport connections though.



Also think about how you might get out of London if you travel 'home' often. Crossing or going around London can add an hour and a half to the trip at times.

princeofpounds

ok, on those salaries, I'd highlight Greenwich, Blackheath, Wapping or the wharf area itself.

Tony_R

Greenwich and Blacheath are nice. But you also might want to consider Crystal Palace. The East London line/London Overground is being extended to Crystal Palace this month.

Crystal Palace has plenty of restuarants and cafes and you also have Crystal Palace park nearby.

talulahbeige_2

lostinrates wrote: »

which is the problem, we can all make those suggestions but people are drawn to different areas.

My suggestion.................

Pot Kettle, Black!

They asked for reccommendations, I gave them as well as other places to look for advice!

I can't stand ignorant people

kmmr

The river all along from Wapping to Tower bridge has nice areas. And you can run from work back home - takes about 30 mins to get to Tower bridge, all along safe (ish) riverside areas. Close to CW end of the river there is a lovely wide walkway alongside the thames that is always full of runners, walkers and cyclists.

On the weekends you are a shortish walk to Brick Lane area (although you need to traverse Shadwell area - best done in daylight!), and easy commute to the rest of London.

Even Shadwell is improving a little - as you would expect as prices rise, and the areas all around it improve, but it is moving at a glacial pace...

lostinrates

talulahbeige wrote: »

Pot Kettle, Black!

They asked for reccommendations, I gave them as well as other places to look for advice!

I can't stand ignorant people

Absolutely I realise what I did (and in fact thought I'd put a wink in there, but obviously not, I did however put the green grin after ''personally'' to emphasis the irony, and I thanked your post.) My point was that I suggested to find over time where they feel drawn too as part of settling in a wonderful city. I'm sorry I missed the wink, perhaps it would have been clearer that there was no slight intended against you. I do find it sad when things become heated and personal when we are all trying to help someone.:(