What is Croydon like?

Soundgirlrocks

Another one recommending Croydon I'm in Woodside and Addiscombe is really lovely has a real village feel with a fab butchers, greengrocers and fishmongers on the high street. Transport is great East Croydon is one of the few London station open all night so you can get the train home from Victoria after a night out (Gatwick Line) and there is lots being spent to regenerate the area around East Croydon. I just wish I had been able to stretch my budget a bit more an buy a house, rather than a flat. As others have said though I would avoid New Addington, but its so far out I don't think it would be on your radar in the first place.

sarahevie1

We have friends who live in Cr2 O** and have done for the past twenty years.

Seems from visiting, very large properties for the money, there's one on their road detached for £650,000, which is expensive but not for a 6 bed detached in London. Similar house where I live, west yorks, would cost at least £450,000.

In the same postcode as my friend there are houses for £350,000 - which seems amazing for London

car0line123

I would stay well away from West Croydon, the place is awful (just look at the photos of the riots there a few years ago). Cherry Tree and all the sites accessible by tram are not that great.

East Croydon is superbly convenient for commute, but not many attractive houses around there.

South Croydon is for me the best place to live. Only one stop from East Croydon, much more quiet, a nice mix of houses and flats (mainly in converted houses), plenty of restaurants on the main road.

I really don't know why Croydon has such an awful reputation. It is what it is, but no way any worst than Clapham/ Bromley/ Wimbledon....any suburb really. The city centre and shopping centres get packed, but you don't live there, they are just convenient.

Sanderstead is even nicer, Purley is very convenient for London but not that cheap at all. Many of the new properties are on the main road/ busy roundabout and awfully noisy.

richdeniro

I live in Croydon, I reckon it will go one way or the other in the next decade.

South Croydon, Purley, Selsdon, Sanderstead, Kenley, Coulsdon, etc are lovely and very suburban but the prices will be very high. There are some nice pockets around East Croydon - Addiscombe, Shortlands. West Croydon and Thornton Heath though are not as nice and I wouldn't feel particularly safe walking around certain parts late at night.

I would be worried about the volume of flat building though, there are literally thousands of new builds going up all across the borough, there are even plans for a massive 10 story high rise in Purley which currently doesn't have any tall buildings. You have to wonder if there is enough room and services to cope with such an influx - Southern Trains into London are already at capacity and sometimes you can't get on them in rush hour.

Addiscomber

We have lived in Addiscombe for over 20 years and are very happy here. As others have said around West Croydon is a bit grim, and so is New Addington.

If you don't mind a bit of work you might be lucky and find something like this
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55117145.html

Most of the areas off Addiscombe Road are OK, and a reasonable walk into E Croydon Station. The local hospital (Croydon University Hospital - previously called Mayday Hospital - almost in Thornton Heath) is a single bus ride (198) from there too, which is handy as parking at and around the hospital is an absolute nightmare.

blues

Personally I really dislike Croydon, having lived close by and taught at a school there! It's depressing and I always felt unsafe at night. I wouldn't think about about buying there myself.

[Deleted User]

I personally find that 'feeling unsafe' is quite subjective. When I first moved to London I lived in Streatham and thought it was really rough and unsafe, now I'm a bit more worldly I realise it's basically the same as anywhere else in SW London.

Maybe_its_because

I would definitely recommend Croydon. We moved nearby 3 years ago and dont regret our decision one bit. It looks unappealing upon first viewing but scratch the surface and there's a lot on offer.


my recommendation would be to search near the Croydon tramlink route between East Croydon & Beckenham junction. That gives you the village feel of Beckenham & shopping etc in Croydon in close proximity.
Both have excellent commuter links.

Your budget is reasonable. E.g.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55225223.html

Good luck with your search

MIB

theEnd

[Deleted User] wrote:

I personally find that 'feeling unsafe' is quite subjective. When I first moved to London I lived in Streatham and thought it was really rough and unsafe, now I'm a bit more worldly I realise it's basically the same as anywhere else in SW London.

It's shabby and busy, but I've never felt unsafe in Streatham.

I've felt unsafe in West Croydon, cycling through in the middle of the day. There's pockets of it like a bomb site.

South Croydon seems very nice. Lloyd Park and Shirley very nice too.

They're building a lot in the centre and around East Croydon. Really could go either way.

At some stage they'll finish the station, which seems to have taken 10 years and achieved very little.

cashbackproblems

Maybe_its_because wrote: »

I would definitely recommend Croydon. We moved nearby 3 years ago and dont regret our decision one bit. It looks unappealing upon first viewing but scratch the surface and there's a lot on offer.


my recommendation would be to search near the Croydon tramlink route between East Croydon & Beckenham junction. That gives you the village feel of Beckenham & shopping etc in Croydon in close proximity.
Both have excellent commuter links.

Your budget is reasonable. E.g.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55225223.html

Good luck with your search

MIB

thanks, I think I did see that property but it looks like there are no close by overgrounds and I am unsure how the trams work/how much time they add to the journey.

I have lived in Wealdstone before which is a ghetto and never had problems so I'm sure Croydon cant be that bad!