Can it be possible to be wholeheartedly OS in London or am I just being a bumpkin?

Popperwell

Badger_Lady wrote: »

It's not far. Paddington is right next door but you can get to King's Cross direct via Hammersmith & City or bus.

Thanks for that...sorry about the typing errors. I remember Thames TV having some kind of building there...I'd love to visit London again perhaps one day I will and...Bournemouth but money will probably be the thing that gets in the way but perhaps I can catch a coach(trains are too expensive)

Again thanks...

adelight

Some people have really good ideas for alternative living arrangements but I'm thinking about more traditional and realistic (let's be honest, whilst amazing a housing co-op and grow bags on your roof is not realistic for 99.9% of people) set ups. Moving from Wales to London is a big jump, I would suggest moving to somewhere on the outskirts initially to get used to working and socialising in London. Herts, Essex, Surrey etc or a quieter area of London like Camberwell. My advice is to look at the nearest tubes and train stations to your work and find out how far out of Central London those lines go and what areas along it are like.
Kingston, Surbiton, New Malden, Wimbledon are wonderful places to live. Have the feel of towns but all the amenities you could want and Waterloo is only 15 mins by train. I lived around there while I was at uni and loved it. As long as you avoid the Cambridge estate you can't go wrong.

After your current financial commitments, season ticket (<£200 a month each say) you're left with £1850 which doesn't really go that far if you don't want to be sharing a flat with others. £1000 for a nice 1 bed flat in zone 6? Use regular property sites and estate agents and research areas extensively. Many bad areas have small pockets that are perfectly nice but you should always be careful. Places may seem different on a sunny viewing than when you're running down alleys and up dark public stair wells past yoofs and drunks.

There are some cheapy shops and good markets but not in all areas, you can still travel to those though but sometimes you just don't wanna fight with your shopping on a busy tube! So make sure there's at least a SM or something nearby. You can forage though it's not as fun as in the country where you can be there hours and not see a soul, it's getting really popular.


Everyone so far is talking about the best bits but neglecting all the negatives of living in London and I'm just trying to be fair. Not negative, I swear I've had the experience of taking others advice about how amazing such and such area is and finding it to be awful or a flat black being completely different and awful at night and being stuck there months. Ooh also definitely get as short a lease as possible!

gettingready

On the note of the post above...

Before signing any contract, good idea is to visit the place several times - various days of the week and various times of the day/night to see if "friendly neighbours" possibly means a drug addict knocking on your door at 4 am trying to borrow a tenner

Best really - if you can stay with friends for a bit and give yourself time to look properly and be really happy with what you sign for.

Looking on the tube map distances may seem ok BUT - imagive 1.5 on the tube each way with your nose under some smelly's person's armn, having another person's back pack slammed in your face AND several mp3 players on full blast around you.. and you having to pay around £200 per month for THAT pleasure.

I travel to work just over an hour and absolutely hate it although my journey is not too bad, I use train and overground so never in the tunnel, I also avoid zone 1 so only pay £84.50 per month.

Still - absolutely hate the time wasted on travel to/from work.

Badger_Lady

adelight wrote: »

(let's be honest, whilst amazing a housing co-op and grow bags on your roof is not realistic for 99.9% of people)

That's a bit closed-minded... perhaps you mean that a high proportion of people don't want to live this way? Because the thing about London is that it's absolutely rife with communes and squats (which are generally much more pleasant and reliable than their reputation conjures up) and there's loads of opportunity if you just look for it. I know of some fantastic guardianships right now that have plenty of space and would welcome new people.

I had to move from Wales to London for work and I got straight into this disused building in Paddington. I could walk to my office and to central, I had green space and canals just outside and I had secured off-road parking. I had an enormous private studio and building facilities included a cinema, basketball court, dance studio and library. Monday was Yoga night, Tuesday was dance lessons, Wednesday was choir, and every Sunday was a barbeque in the grounds. Everybody had the same open, friendly attitude to their neighbours and would help each other out.

Other people in my building were artists, photographers etc who didn't earn a reliable income, but many others were young couples who were using it to save up really really quickly. A couple of years of being super frugal and makng friends, then they would get payrises and have a lovely big deposit saved up so they could comfortably afford something more 'traditional' by the time they wanted to settle down and have children.

And my building wasn't atypical - I know plenty of others that produce the same kind of living experience.

I'm at the age now where most of my friends are getting married and settling down, and those who never took advantage of alternative living during their youth now regret it, knowing it's too late now at their stage of life.

If it makes you turn your nose up, fair enough - not everyone is attracted to the lifestyle. But if you think it sounds good, go for it! The commitment is low so you can walk out whenever you like (with a month's notice). It's not unrealistic - if you want it you can easily have it.

By the way, look out on here for cheap deals back to Wales too - I went home every other weekend for three months using a £1 deal on National Express. Bargain

dandy-candy

I've lived in London all my life (40 next year) and I have to say it has changed massively over the last 7-8 years. Poorer areas which were cheap and inhabited by the "artistic" types are more likely to be inhabited my rough types and druggies now.
Really check out the areas before signing a contract, especially at night. There are parts of London you don't want to be walking in alone after dark is you're female.
I would rent in the best area you can even if it's a studio, rather than bigger in a poor area. Yes poor areas will have cheaper shops and more street markets, but you can hop on a bus to visit those. You safety and a quiets night sleep are more important.

midnight_express

dandy-candy wrote: »

I've lived in London all my life (40 next year) and I have to say it has changed massively over the last 7-8 years. Poorer areas which were cheap and inhabited by the "artistic" types are more likely to be inhabited my rough types and druggies now.
Really check out the areas before signing a contract, especially at night. There are parts of London you don't want to be walking in alone after dark is you're female.
I would rent in the best area you can even if it's a studio, rather than bigger in a poor area. Yes poor areas will have cheaper shops and more street markets, but you can hop on a bus to visit those. You safety and a quiets night sleep are more important.

Which areas would you describe as "poor" ?

Toonie

adelight wrote: »

After your current financial commitments, season ticket (<£200 a month each say) you're left with £1850 which doesn't really go that far if you don't want to be sharing a flat with others. £1000 for a nice 1 bed flat in zone 6?

I beg to differ...£1000 easily gets you a decent property in Zone 4 (I was living in a 2 bed flat for £800/month) and often Zone 3. I'm currently helping friends who are moving down from Edinburgh and they are looking for a 1 bed flat for no more than £1000 a month and have sent them details of 8 nice places in the last few days.

I also agree with gettingready...an hour and a half travel tagged onto a possibly long working day is not anyones cup of tea, especially is you are nose-to-armpit with someone who doesn't understand clothes, as well as people, need washing.

gettingready

The downside of my commute is that I take a bus to station then train to stratford then train to camden rd station and then walk about 15 min from the station to work place. So changing 2-3 times and waiting each time. It all adds up and is such a total utter waste of time. BUt even going through zone one (and paying so much more) would not be quicker.

Find a place where you can easily walk to a station, preferably to more than one and with more then one tube line - in case one is down and you still need to get out.

Relying on buses outside central London is a nightmare.

I love where I live - for the greenery, massive open spaces (got a GS dog so those are a must for her walkies) so suffer the commute but...if I had no dog - would live somewhere within 30min max from work.

dandy-candy

midnight_express wrote: »

Which areas would you describe as "poor" ?

There's a good site here that talks about the problems in London http://www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk/. The borough statistics are here http://www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk/key-facts/overview-of-london-boroughs/

My SIL is a social worker in Limehouse and Tower Hamlets is certainly one of the worst for poverty/deprivation boroughs she's worked in.

gettingready

I think Newham would be straigh after Tower Hamlets - despite all the recent Olymipics slogans