Moving to London, looking for advise

agrinnall

Where do you actually have to get to for work, assuming you don't work in Victoria Station?

buggs

The office is just around the corner from Victoria station, a 5 minute walk.

bouicca21

do you want suburban or a bit edgy?

Bromley has good shops restaurants and transport connections from Bromley South to Victoria but is a bit bland outside the shopping centre. Orpington is very mixed, and you'd need to suss it out. Beckenham is leafy, has coffee shops, restaurants, and on the Bromley line into Victoria. Crystal Palace has lots going for it too. Brixton is vibrant and well on its way up. Croydon is cheap but has some quirky coffee shops and an inner city feel that you would either love or hate. Catford is surprisingly expensive, which presumably means it's on the way up too - one excellent pub but a bit short on nice restaurants and coffee shops.

cashbackproblems

I would recommend being on a tube line so if you miss a train you have a few min wait whereas places like Bromley (which i agree is bland) your stuck on overground

I lived in Stanmore and had a easy commute to Green park..victoria only 5min from there. For your budget you can get a 2 bed in north west london area, ruislip also very nice. Edgware is now Eastern European central and Somalian x10 kid mothers

another_casualty

Not sure about prices, but Waterloo , elephant& borough spring to mind. You can get a tube , or a bus direct from Waterloo .
Bermondsey also .
Good luck in your search

benjus

Overland trains and the tube have their advantages and disadvantages. The tube is good for service frequency, but I just can't bear it at rush hour - being crammed in like sardines. I commute using overland trains and the DLR and I much prefer it. Occasionally I use the Jubilee line (e.g. if there's a problem with the DLR) and I hate it.

People in London will mostly give you recommendations based on where they have lived, and most people tend to stick to a particular side of London. It's such a big place that it's hard to find anyone that will give you recommendations from all over the city, as most people have never been to large swathes of it. Personally, I've mostly lived in South East London. I lived for 4 years in Blackheath and loved it. It's got a big open heath, it's right next to Greenwich Park, and it's got great pubs and restaurants. Lots of nice Georgian/Victorian houses. There's a direct train to Victoria, although it's not very frequent. More frequent trains go to Charing Cross via Waterloo East.

As mentioned above, Clapham would be well worth considering - I know a couple of people that live there and it seems very buzzing with lots of places to go out.

elverson

Victoria has National Rail trains from all over South London - operated by either Southern or Southeastern.

I think Beckenham would suit all your requirements and it has direct trains to Victoria.

Southern stations - see this map http://www.southernrailway.com/download/36090.6/route-maps-sn3/

Southeastern stations - see this map
http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/your-journey/network-map/

You could also try the far end of the Victoria line i.e. Tottenham and Walthamstow.

As others have said - if you can, walk around and get a feel for a few different areas to give you an idea of what you might like.

BlaEm

bouicca21 wrote: »

Catford ... one excellent pub...

Ooh, which pub? I'm near Catford

lr1277

You might have already thought of this but I would combine my rent and travel budgets before deciding.

You can pay more to live closer to the centre and pay less for travel, or live further out and pay less for rent but much more for travel.

When I lived in London I chose to live in central London so my travel money was negligible. I could walk home from a night out on the drink. This meant I could be a dirty stop out and not pay for taxis to get home.

However back in 1994, I was returning to Leeds from London after an interview. Two chaps behind me were talking. One commuted daily to London from Harrogate and the other daily from Whitby (I think). What they paid for in travel was made up by cheaper living costs and quality of life up north. I think both of them were at their desks by 9 or 9:30.

Something to think about.

bouicca21

Bla em
check out the constitutional
http://catfordconstitutionalclub.com/