North & West London - nicest areas?

[Deleted User]

I like Highgate, Belsize Park, Hampstead and Muswell Hill in North London.

Lusignan

Crouch End is quite nice and Bohemian, and you can take a short busride to Finsbury Park tube. Chingford is about 25 minutes from Liverpool Street overground and very 'green.' Further west, Chiswick is lovely. The nicer parts of Walthamstow like the Village are worth investigating, and you'll get a lot of bang for your bucks out that way. Enfield is another possibility - again about 25-30 minutes into Liverpool Street or a bit less into Kings Cross.

Alan_M_2

Tiger_greeneyes wrote: »

I wish I had more money now, Secret, I've been windowshopping on rightmove!!! I must stop that

______________________


Pkrnts, can you buy this one instead, please? :D:D

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-13335224.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

£375K for a studio apartment.....you must me mad:rotfl:

If you really want to dream, get off rightmove and windowshop on Country Life....now there's a site worth a bit of window shopping

Sisyphus

Van1971 wrote: »

I like Highgate, Belsize Park, Hampstead and Muswell Hill in North London.

yep plenty of charm, clean air, green spaces - £350k just about enough for a bachelor pad but you'll need to look around - renting is definitely cheaper than buying in those areas at the moment

pollyanna24

Whereabouts are you living now? It might give us an insight as to the types of areas you want to live in or not? I.e. lively etc.

My parents live in I suppose is what is considered Greater London (it's on the tube line anyways) and I've always felt that it was the best of both worlds. 30mins on the Northern Line to Leicester Square or a short stroll up the road to see the horsies in the fields.

I've since moved even further out of London and commute in. Partly due to not being able to afford a house anywhere on the tube line, but mostly because all these places are crowded with foreigners (no offence meant, but it's the truth), and cos I was sick of London (born and bred there and all that) and I like it. It's 20mins now to Euston and I love it out here!

pkrnts

Thanks all for the great comments, think I'll drop Battersea (didn't realise it had no tube of it's own) and replace it with Kensington. Once my shortlist is sorted I'll be off to scout the areas properly, it's just really helpful to be able to get overall opinions from others who probably know much more and to help narrow it down

edit for pollyanna: After many brainstorming hours I've come to the conclusion that I want lively nearby, I want peaceful and scenic nearby (nearby, read as: walking distance), I want a place that's easily rentable if I ever (for whatever reason) decided to go somewhere else for a year, I don't really want a big house seeing as I'll be living alone, don't need a garden and so on. I currently live in Essex, extremely quiet and green but I guess in all honesty, quite boring. I want to experience some city living before I get [dare I say it] too old for it and/or settled down.

filigree_2

From your list I would prefer Fulham. I'm sure there are nice bits of Shepherd's Bush but a lot of it is grim. Battersea has some posh bits overlooking the park, but transport isn't so hot.

For your money you could get a stunning flat in Balham. It has both tube and overground, in Zone 3, I believe it's about 15 minutes to Victoria and 25 minutes to London Bridge. Wandsworth has the lowest council tax in the country. The area is improving all the time with better quality shops taking over from the grotty pound shops. There are three commons in the borough (Clapham, Wandsworth, Tooting) and you could probably afford somewhere with a view. As for facilities, there is an independent cinema, a comedy club (Banana Cabaret), a library, a council run leisure centre, CAMRA recommended pubs, a Sunday Farmers Market and an absurd amount of trendy bars and restaurants.

Generali

£350k would just about buy you a 1 bed Barbican flat or a place around Smithfields (e.g. Charterhouse square). You don't get much more central than in the Square Mile! Alternatively Wapping is nice (although Mrs Generali hates it).

My experience of Docklands is that you can get a nice flat but unfortunately you're right by some real hell-holes.

Melissa177

Barbican prices have shot up in the last two months - I think even £350K for a one bed might be too little.

Battersea is very nice, but the transport links are rubbish (unless, like me, you live near Clapham Junction, and work in Surrey).

Have you thought about Kennington (SE11)? Or Vauxhall? (Can be a bit dead mind..)?

I have also seen some superb flats in Clerkenwell which are fairly reasonable, slightly boho, and very close into the City - cheap taxi rides after a night out to think about!

Tiger_greeneyes

Alan_M wrote: »

£375K for a studio apartment.....you must me mad:rotfl:

If you really want to dream, get off rightmove and windowshop on Country Life....now there's a site worth a bit of window shopping

Damn damn damn! That's put paid to my evening fixing the laptop!!!