Best places to live in Kent

betsybee

I'm currently living in Gillingham but moving at the end of the month. I can't wait to get out but compared to London it's not too bad.
The more affluent streets are nice with some hidden gems. The houses near Gillingham Park are gorgeous, nice and big with good sized gardens. Some Darland houses have nice views over the banks. The further away from the high street you go the less petty crime you see.
Also the links into London are amazing.

I've never lived in Chatham and I would never choose to, I'm sure there are lovely streets but it has a really bad reputation locally. 

Jackie1813

There are some lovely areas outside of Chatham center. Walderslade, Lordswood to name just a couple.
Every place you look will have both good and bad.
I lived in Lordswood happily for 29 Years, hated Gillingham  but, that is only my opinion. Only moved to downsize.

SaintJudy

I just moved to Paddock Wood at the beginning of the year and I absolutely love it, but I appreciate that it may not be up everyone's street. It is very quiet and not much at all to do here, but that's fine by me and was not high on my list of must haves anyway. There is currently a lot of new building planned for this area as Paddock Wood, Capel & Tudeley seem to be taking the brunt of the new build requirements in the Local Plan. This might be good news for you if you're looking for a new build, but there's a lot of concern re. flooding and the local infrastructure not being able to cope with the huge number of new properties being planned and the pressure on schools that more families will bring. 

I know no one here and had no connection to the place before I moved, it was solely based on the property I wanted to buy and the transport links of the area into London for work.  Having a car here is essential for me to be able to get around locally though. I joined loads of local groups on FB when I moved here, and there's always some outrage about some sort of petty crime but I moved here from living in London for 21 years, and I think my idea of crime is probably a bit different (3 murders and a serial killer on my old street in London!) I still feel like I'm on holiday living here and the surrounding areas and villages are absolutely breathtaking. Loads of incredible country pubs!

Like in most cases, suitability will depend on what you want to get out of an area. Is a bustling high street important? Commuting to London? A vast array of local amenities? Do you have a car and the inclination to get to the places you want to go to if they're not in the immediate area?

I also lived in Rochester, Chatham and then up towards Gillingham by the Dockyard in the 90's and although it's a good few years ago I would absolutely never go back. There used to be a Sky1 programme called Street Wars that was filmed in the Medway towns, which should tell you what you need to know about that area.

ka7e

Kings Hill  is a bit like a US-style gated community. It suits a certain lifestyle! You pay a service charge for the upkeep of verges and communal areas and there is also a security team that police the area. Everything looks very tidy and crime rates are low. The community is centred (pre-Covid)  around the local David Lloyd fitness complex which has pools, tennis courts, restaurants and gyms. There is also a community centre, pubs, cricket club, golf course, tennis club, football, cycling club etc.Nursery, primary and secondary schools are on site, with lots of mum and baby groups, kid's clubs and activities. Asda and a small Waitrose are soon to be joined by an Aldi store.

aaryal

ka7e said:

Kings Hill  is a bit like a US-style gated community. It suits a certain lifestyle! You pay a service charge for the upkeep of verges and communal areas and there is also a security team that police the area. Everything looks very tidy and crime rates are low. The community is centred (pre-Covid)  around the local David Lloyd fitness complex which has pools, tennis courts, restaurants and gyms. There is also a community centre, pubs, cricket club, golf course, tennis club, football, cycling club etc.Nursery, primary and secondary schools are on site, with lots of mum and baby groups, kid's clubs and activities. Asda and a small Waitrose are soon to be joined by an Aldi store.

Thanks I tried to buy a new build here but was too late. Are there any other American style development sites like kings hill around?