Best way of judging an area?

Best way of judging an area?

Author
Discussion

Countdown

Original Poster:

39,691 posts

195 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
We are looking at moving house (after 30-odd years in the same place). The new house will be a big step-up "size wise" and "money-wise" so, preferably, I don't want to risk moving into a dodgy area.

Is there any way of judging how "nice"/"decent" an area is?

TIA

dmitsi

3,583 posts

219 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Say where and let PH tell you.

nyt

1,803 posts

149 months

Friday 29th August 2014
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Stroll into the local pub and see how comfortable you feel.
infallible guide imho.

scdan4

1,299 posts

159 months

Friday 29th August 2014
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Sit outside the nearest comp school at kicking out time.

All the local wildlife will be there.

dazwalsh

6,095 posts

140 months

Friday 29th August 2014
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Most of the time property prices alone will tell you how good/ bad it is, but then again its personal opinion how decent an area is to live in, so have a long drive round the local area at various times of the day and make your own judgment.

There is of course crime statistics etc to go off, perhaps even ofsted reports for the schools. If you find a house then speak to the neighbours about how they find the area.

KingNothing

3,159 posts

152 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Go round at different times of the day/night, see how busy it get's if people are parking their cars like tts, scumbags hanging around etc. also good to go round now during the school holidays and see if there are young feral kids roaming around causing bother without any intervention from their parents, as they'll only get worse as time goes by.

Fittster

20,120 posts

212 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Price is the best indication. Can anyone thing of an example where an area is dodgy yet the prices are high?

smn159

12,449 posts

216 months

Friday 29th August 2014
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Take a walk down the high street and note the prevalence of Poundland / Cash Converters / betting shops


Miguel Alvarez

4,944 posts

169 months

Friday 29th August 2014
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I drove round the area at times it was likely to be busy, went to the local shop, pub etc. Had a nosey at the other neighbour's gardens that sort of thing.


dazwalsh

6,095 posts

140 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Anything within the M25 fittster
biggrin

Sorry, I'm a northerner and couldn't resist, i will get my coat.

Edited by dazwalsh on Friday 29th August 10:20

wseed

1,501 posts

129 months

Friday 29th August 2014
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There used to be a site called "Up My Street" I think it's now renamed to this one http://www.findahood.com/locations that has statistics on areas crime, education...

As others have said though there's no substitute for how you feel while you're there.

DavesFlaps

679 posts

190 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
smn159 said:
Take a walk down the high street and note the prevalence of Poundland / Cash Converters / betting shops
I prefer to use the fast food takeaway method.

i.e. The scummer rating is proportional to the number of stty indian/chinese/chicken takewaways in the immediate area.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 29th August 2014
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http://www.police.uk

Check out the crime stats for the area

GarryDK

5,670 posts

157 months

Friday 29th August 2014
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When I recently moved I used the police website for crimes in the area, Zoopla’s heat map and on driving around check the level of cars around the area. Old bangers and rust heaps in gardens are not a good sign.

V8mate

45,899 posts

188 months

Friday 29th August 2014
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Fittster said:
Price is the best indication. Can anyone thing of an example where an area is dodgy yet the prices are high?
Central London?

Miguel Alvarez

4,944 posts

169 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
GarryDK said:
When I recently moved I used the police website for crimes in the area, Zoopla’s heat map and on driving around check the level of cars around the area. Old bangers and rust heaps in gardens are not a good sign.
To a point. Cycling around nicer areas I've always been struck how some of the bigger country houses have older cars. Well maintained granted but older. Newer cars for the council estates. But yes clapped out bangers is never a good sign.

Fittster

20,120 posts

212 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
V8mate said:
Fittster said:
Price is the best indication. Can anyone thing of an example where an area is dodgy yet the prices are high?
Central London?
If it's a 'Everything in London is st' comment then fair enough.

However you can judge the desirability of different areas of London by their property prices. There's a good reason for property in Belgravia being rather more expensive than that in Hackney.

nyt

1,803 posts

149 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
If the sites where you are looking give floor plans with total square footage it is always informative to plot out the £/sq ft for each property that interests you.

You can then roughly compare prices between areas and notice if the price of a property within an area is out of line.

The only thing to watch out for is that the price of an area can be skewed by proximity to a good school or public transport which may or may not be necessary for you.


Magog

2,652 posts

188 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Countdown said:
We are looking at moving house (after 30-odd years in the same place). The new house will be a big step-up "size wise" and "money-wise" so, preferably, I don't want to risk moving into a dodgy area.

Is there any way of judging how "nice"/"decent" an area is?

TIA
Surely it's a quite subjective thing as to what's nice or decent. Just clicked on your profile to see where you are, and it says you work in town planning!

Spare tyre

9,461 posts

129 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Litter and crap like fridges rust bikes all over the lawns give you an idea

That said there are always exceptions, my parents live in a nice part of the world and on of their neighbours died, their estate got left to a lazy nephew who is a bit of a scum bag