What is it like in Purley, South London?

dominoman

After spending a few months unsuccessfully looking to buy around the Honor Oak, Forest Hill and Sydenham area in S London we are now looking a bit further out, in Purley.

Does anyone have any experience of Purley? Is it worth the extra commute to be able to get a slightly bigger place than we could if we were more central. We are both a bit nervous about moving to the suburbs and feeling like we are not really in London anymore.

philby79

it's sort of a hlfway house between London and the towns a bit further out (Reigate/Dorking etc.). A friend of mine lived there for a while and eventually moved out to Reigate - they said that although it was quite nice the crime was quite bad (they were burgled twice in two years) and it felt like neither one thing or the other - not far enough out of London or near enough to the centre to get the benefits of either.

It has great transport links into London, although the trains going into London at rush hour tend to be packed by the time they get there.

Davesnave

What is it like in Purley?

"Purley squire, famous place, nudge nudge...Say no more! "

1.07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ona-RhLfRfc

Kinda obvious, but I thought I'd get in first! :rotfl:

abankerbutnotafatcat

Purley and neighbouring Coulsdon are very nice; i'd certainly rather live in them than the surburbs you've mentioned.
They have some gorgeous housing, are very leafy and have good transport links (both into London and to other areas via M25, A23 etc).
The southern parts of Purley and Coulsdon are probably more Surrey than Croydon in feel (they're both in LB Croydon).